Page 78 of Damien’s Mate

He will not beat us, the lion said inside him. We will defeat him. He will die.

No. They didn’t want Brandon to die. They wanted Brandon to accept them.

We will not submit, the lion insisted.

If we do, we can be in this pride, Damien said.

He is not lion, the lion said. It paused. But he is very strong. Perhaps he is a good leader.

Brandon snarled, pushing at them with his mind. Him and his panther both.

All right, the lion said. He crouched—not very much—and dipped his head the slightest bit. Then Damien felt that bone-crunching, muscle-tearing Change, and suddenly he was human again.

Naked. Like every other damn shifter in this place always seemed to be.

Other shifters. Damn. He was a shifter.

Damien sat on the floor, trying to wrap his head around what had just happened. Lila had Changed back too, and she tossed Damien his jeans before pulling his shirt over her head.

Brandon glared at them both. “Now, will someone please tell me what the fuck just happened?”

The first thing Damien did was put on his pants. Because he’d only been a shifter for like two minutes, and standing around naked did not make him feel powerful.

Lila opened her mouth, but he silenced her with a look. He was the one who had been invited to join the crew, so he was the one who had to answer to Brandon.

He straightened up and looked Brandon in the eye. “Lila turned me into a lion.”

“No shit. Why?” He turned his gaze on Lila.

“Because I asked her to.”

Brandon eyed him again, took a deep breath, and let it out. “I told you one of us would do it. When you were ready. So why the hell didn’t you wait?”

Damien knew Brandon was entitled to know, but he’d bared his soul enough in front of the entire crew for one day. It was done now, and he didn’t regret it. Even if it cost him his place here.

“I needed to do it this way. If you don’t want me in your crew—”

Kitty said, “He didn’t want one of our animals. He wanted the lion.” She elbowed Brandon. “Her lion.”

Brandon frowned, then his eyes went wide in comprehension. “Oh, fuck. Are you two true mates?”

Damien looked at Lila, remembering the blue energy. She said, “I don’t—” She stopped, then finished slowly, “Lion Guard don’t have true mates.”

“Except for a few special cases, no,” Brandon agreed. “They don’t Turn people, either.” He raised his eyebrows at Lila.

The other crew members who’d grown up with him looked at each other in surprise. “What?” Brandon said. “Flynn told me.”

He turned back to Lila. “Since you weren’t raised with normal shifters, you may not realize that if you Turn someone, legally you’re responsible for them until they can control their animal.”

Lila looked shocked. “No, I didn’t know.”

Damien said, “You can’t make her stay here. She has to go back to the Dragonlands, at least to turn over the artifacts. And to clear her family’s name.”

Brandon sighed, running his hand through his hair. “Well, you’re sure as hell not going with her. With a new, uncontrolled, dominant lion, you’ll get yourself killed in about five minutes. You’ll have to stay here.”

Remy raised his hand. “I’ll be responsible for him. I have the bearblob to help me keep him in line.”

Colt glanced at him, then said, “We both will.”