That was why taking a shifter like Declan as a familiar was forbidden. If I was powerful enough, I could subvert his will. I could take his choices away, and that wasn’t right and it certainly wasn’t legal. I didn’t think it was an okay thing to do with animals, either, but the laws were less concerned about their rights. From what I knew of Eva, she wasn’t the kind of person you wanted having any power over you. “So in the mating bond, it’s more like they were equals?”

Declan didn’t answer. He was already fast asleep.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Declan

“How’s everything going?” Juliet’s voice was muffled. She was currently in downward dog and speaking into her armpit.

I smiled, not that she could see it. “It’s been quiet.”

Juliet was checking in with me between sessions and suggested we do it over yoga, since we were both stressed, and she thought movement would help us. It was a good idea. I was more relaxed talking while we were outside, moving, than I would have been sitting on a couch in an office somewhere. The afternoon was overcast, but not cold, so we’d decided to go to the park again. We’d picked a flat area where we could both keep an eye on the playground where Lou was playing with Savannah.

I followed Juliet’s movements as we straightened. I hadn’t done yoga in a while. Not that I minded it, but I didn’t usually like the classes. Too many distractions and people who rubbed me the wrong way. I’d tried hot yoga with Sidney once and that had definitely not been for me. But this—this was kind of nice and peaceful. Especially since I could still see Lou and hear Savannah’s giggles as they played on the swings.

“Does that bother you? That Eva and Angus have been quiet?” Juliet straightened, twisting into warrior pose.

“Yeah. I don’t particularly want to be attacked, but the fact that they haven’t tried anything makes me nervous.” I held the pose and watched my breathing, keeping it slow and even.

“That’s understandable,” Juliet said. “It’s very stressful, waiting for something bad to happen.”

It had been four days since I’d gone on my beach run with Lou. Four quiet days, and I’d loved them, but as each minute ticked past, I got more nervous. “I’ve been checking in with Zoey. That helps.” I moved carefully, mimicking Juliet’s movements. “I forgot to tell you. I talked to Sidney the other day.”

We moved into the next pose, Juliet twisting to face me. “Really? How did it go? How did you feel about it?”

I told Juliet all about the call until we ended up in corpse pose. I liked corpse pose. It’s got a creepy name, but there was something nice about stretching out and just relaxing. To not do for a moment. “It wasn’t easy, talking to Sidney. It wasn’t hard, either.” I searched around, trying to figure out how to say what I was feeling. “It was more…weird? Strange. This was someone I saw every day. Someone I cared about, and things are different now. For the better, but still kind of sad? I don’t know.”