"Oh?"
"Yeah—Holly's a girl. And she's human."
Zach knew exactly what Bryan meant. No matter their animal, changelings were physically tougher than humans. Their bones were stronger, their bodies healed faster, and, in the case of predatory changelings, they could do a hell of a lot more damage. "Which doesn't explain why you hit him." He knew and liked his nephew. The boy had been born with a solid code of honor, a code that had been strengthened by the rules DarkRiver men lived by. "You know we don't bully weaker people."
A shamefaced expression. "I know."
"Did the cat get angry?" The leopard was part of who they were. But for the younger ones, the wilder side of their nature was sometimes difficult to control.
Right then, Bryan's curvy temptation of a teacher shifted up front. Her delectable scent whispered over on disturbed air currents, ruffling the leopard's fur in the most enticing way. He barely bit back a responsive groan. Sometimes, adults had trouble with the cat, too. "Come on, JB. You know I'm not going to get mad at you if you lost control."
"Yeah, I guess I kinda got mad." Bryan shuffled his feet. "I wanted to growl and bite, but I hit him instead."
"That's good." A leopard's jaws could do a lot of damage.
"And it wasn't just the cat," his nephew elaborated. "It was all of me."
Zach understood. They weren't human, and they weren't animal. They were both. "What made you angry?"
"Morgan said something mean."
Zach knew that sometimes it was those who appeared weakest who bore the nastiest of streaks. At least Ms. Kildaire seemed well aware of that—he hadn't missed the fact that she hadn't automatically blamed Bryan. "Tell me what it was."
Bryan darted a glance toward his teacher, then leaned closer. "I didn't want to say anything to Miss Kildaire, 'cause she's nice, and I like her."
"I like her, too." A truer statement had never been said. There was something about the little teacher with her jet-black hair and dark brown eyes that had the cat purring in interest. He wondered if she realized she had one hell of a sexy mouth, then wondered if she'd let him do all sorts of wicked things to that mouth, hater, he promised himself. Right now, Bryan needed him. "What does this have to do with Ms. Kildaire?"
"Morgan said that his mother said that Miss Kildaire is sitting on a shelf."
Zach had to think about that one for a few seconds. "He said she's on the shelf?"
"Uh-huh." An emphatic nod. "I don't know why Miss Kildaire would sit on a shelf, but that's what Morgan said."
"I'm guessing there's more."
"And then Morgan said that his mother said that Miss Kildaire was too fat to get a man."
What a load of horseshit, Zach thought. Morgan's mother was probably some shriveled-up jealous twit. "I see."
"And then Morgan said she was a cripple."
Zach had a sudden urge to punch out the little rat himself. "Go on."
"I told him to take it back. Miss Kildaire is the nicest teacher at the school, and she's not a cripple just 'cause she has a sore leg sometimes and has to use a cane." Temper flared in Bryan's eyes, the irises shifting to the jagged green of the leopard.
"Hold the cat, Bryan," Zach said, forcing a choke hold on his own anger. Cubs had to be taught control. Once, a long time ago, the animal fury of changelings had run unchecked, and it had led to the carnage of the Territorial Wars.
The other races might've forgotten those tormented years, but changelings never would. And they'd never allow it to happen again. "Hold it." He put his hand on Bryan's arm and allowed a low growl to rise from his throat. It was a gesture of dominance, and it worked to bring Bryan's leopard back under control.
"Sorry."
Zach felt his own cat pacing inside him before it became distracted by the exquisite scent of the luscious Ms. Kildaire. "It's okay. We all had to learn."
"Yeah." Bryan blew out a breath. "Anyway, Morgan kept saying she was a cripple, and I got mad and hit him."
Zach found himself in a quandary. He really couldn't disagree with his nephew's actions, but punching out another kid was against the rules. He looked into Bryan's intelligent face and made the only decision he could. "JB, you know we don't condone this kind of violence."
Bryan nodded.