Walker (Bowen Boys, #1)(39)

“Don’t freak out on me. And please let me finish before you draw your gun.”

She got up off his lap and sat in the opposite chair. She reached for her gun on the table and held it. “Talk.” He leaned back in the chair and stared at her. She felt the hair on her arms and neck tingle. She looked at the door when someone walked in. It was Khan. He looked pissed.

“You’re a part of this family now and I’m here for you to pledge yourself to me.”

She looked over at Walker and back at Khan. He seemed to be serious. “Fuck off, buddy. I didn’t swear to the president; I’m not going to do you either.” Walker laughed and she decided that shooting him was too easy. He was going to die by bleeding to death as she pulled his hairs out one follicle at a time.

“I told you this was a waste of time. Why you changed her is beyond me.”

Khan stomped out of the room and she looked at Walker. Changed her? “If you don’t explain to me what the f*ck that meant, I will shoot you on principle.”

He grinned at her.

“I mean it, talk to me.”

“I accidentally converted you.”

She looked around the room and back at him.

“You’re now like me, well, like us.”

“I’m assuming you don’t mean you’ve converted me to some religious cult or something.” He shook his head. “Converted me to what?”

“Panther. When I bit you and you me it started the change in you. It wasn’t something I planned and I certainly hadn’t meant for it to happen, but my cat took over and when you—” She raised her hand and he stopped talking.

She put the gun on the table. She wasn’t sure she wouldn’t use it on him right now and she wanted answers. Pacing helped, but didn’t get her any closer to understanding what he was talking about. “Explain to me what exactly that means for me being a panther.” She stopped him again when he took a deep breath. “In quick, easy terms. I don’t think I can handle a long, drawn out explanation right now.”

“I let my cat bite you for him to mark you. You bit me too. During the exchange, he tore at you and made a deeper wound than he should have. His essence filled you and he changed you. We changed you.”

“He’s not a part of you?”

He nodded his head and she frowned.

“Then how is it that he changed me and not you? You blaming him for something that you did?”

“No. I didn’t mean it…I wanted you to be converted, but didn’t want to take the chance that you’d die. Only about one or two percent of humans can handle it. It’s painful and a long process. Most humans die within hours of the initial bite.”

“But I didn’t.” When he shook his head she paced some more. “Can I change into a panther?”

“I don’t know. Like I said, very few humans live—”

“Could you please stop calling us humans? I’m a little overwhelmed right now and I’m trying my best not to kill you. Call it…I don’t know, call us people.”

“But you’re not human any longer.”

That stopped her in her tracks. She turned to look at him and he shrugged.

“And you can’t hurt me either. Not now. It’ll be in your DNA.”

“That you know, but you haven’t a clue if I can change.” She picked up the gun and pointed it at him. He was right, she couldn’t do it. Tossing it back on the dresser, she stalked around the room again. “So your cat changed me into something you don’t know about, and you have no clue what I can do, and aren’t even sure that in a few hours I might not keel over and die. Just great. Anything else you’ve neglected to tell me?” He grinned at her and she glared back. “What?”

“The president is downstairs in our living room. And he’s not human either.”

She sat down hard. It might not have hurt so badly if there had been a chair or even the bed behind her, but she hit the floor.

“What is he?” She spoke softly, but knew that he could hear her. “What is he if not human? A panther?”

“Weretiger. And his aide is too. Mr. David is a yellow Bengal and the president is a white Bengal. They both have come to help and run on the property.” Walker stood up and moved toward her slowly. “They want to talk to you. They’ve been waiting for over an hour.”

She didn’t reach for his hand, but stared at it. He hunkered down to look her in the eye and she felt a connection. It snapped into place like a rubber band to the wrist.

“You and I are a mated couple. We’ll be able to speak like this over long distances no matter where you are. Try and talk to me with your mind, love.”

She shook her head.

“You have to try. You might need me, or I you, and if it doesn’t work both ways we won’t be able to help one another.”

“I’m a little…okay, I’m f*cking overwhelmed right now. Not about the changing stuff, though I’m still having issues with that one, but the president? And Marshall?” She looked toward the door where Khan had gone. “And he wants me to pledge myself to him? Why? So he can pretend to protect me? I’m not sure he’d do that even if I pledged to have his baby.”

His growl made her smile. “According to law, anyone new to the family has to make sure they are pledged to us. That way we can hear each other’s thoughts. Not the ones you and I have, but when we’re a group.” She started to ask him if they were a pack when he answered it for her. “Panthers are called groups, not packs. Wolves run in packs, not us. There are different names for each of the species of cat. We’re simply called a group or, with us, a family.”