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“He marked you,” Althea said.
“It was his tiger,” Hedra said. “He scratched at my door last night. When I let him in, he marked me a few times before lying on my bed. I told him to leave, but he didn’t listen, and it’s not like I could drag a full-grown tiger out of my room.”
A small grin crossed Althea’s face as Hedra said, “I asked him to shift to his human form, but he ignored me.”
“His human side was sleeping and doesn’t remember it,” Althea said.
“How do you know?”
“Boone was terrible for sleepwalking in his tiger form when he was a cub,” Althea said. “He mostly outgrew it by his teens, but it happens again anytime he’s stressed or upset. His tiger takes over and roams the house.”
“He must be more stressed about the new assignment than he’s admitting to,” Hedra said.
“Maybe,” Althea said.
“You don’t think that’s it?” Hedra asked.
Althea sipped at her coffee. “The anniversary of Derek’s death is coming up.”
“Oh,” Hedra said.
“You know who Derek is?”
Hedra nodded and sank into the chair next to Althea. “Yes. He served with Boone and the others in the military, and he was Boone’s best friend.”
“That he was,” Althea said. “Awful way he died. Shot by a sniper right in front of my boy and the others. All of them struggled with his death, but Boone and Wes took the brunt of it. I imagine Wes’s little human mate is helping him now, but Boone doesn’t have anyone to go to with his hurt.”
Hedra’s chest tightened, and she was weirdly emotional and close to tears. “Has he tried therapy for it?”
“Yes, and it’s done him a world of good. But to lose someone like that, it changes a person. He’s not the Boone he used to be, and I don’t expect he’ll ever be again. But that’s life. It isn’t always easy, is it, human?”
“No,” Hedra whispered. “It isn’t.”
Althea studied her. “You know better than most what Boone’s been through, don’t you?”
She nodded. “My best friend, she… she died in front of me as well.”
Althea sighed. “I’m sorry to hear that, Hedra. Don’t take offense if he’s snappy in the next little while. He won’t mean anything by it.”
“I won’t,” Hedra said.
Althea patted her hand. “Don’t tell anyone I said this because I’ll deny it if you do, but you aren’t half bad for a human.”
Hedra smiled. “Thanks, Althea.”
“Uh-huh. Now, help me to my chair in the living room. My game shows are on.”
* * *
“You’re doing a remarkable job of not looking bored out of your skull.” Camilla joined him, her slender body dressed in a skin-tight silver dress and her hair pulled into a complicated looking twist at the back of her skull.
Boone smiled but didn’t take his gaze off Abena, who was about fifteen feet away. Twenty or so people surrounded the elegant lynx shifter, but she looked completely at ease, and none pressed too close.
“I’m not bored,” Boone said.
“Right,” Camilla said with a laugh. She sipped at her champagne, studying the large room. “A private pre-screening of Camilla’s latest movie with a bunch of snobby celebrities and one hundred of her biggest fans is absolutely your scene.”
“I enjoyed the movie,” he said.
