Jackie dropped his eyes when he felt his face flush.
“I was born a shifter. Until Drummond did what he did to you guys, all shifters were born shifters. You’re not supposed to make one unless you knock someone up.”
Jackie gasped. “I can’t—”
“No! God, no.”
Jackie blew out a breath. “I like ladies’ clothes, but I don’t want to be one. I like having a dick.”
Boone winked. “I like you having a dick, too.”
Jackie’s lips twitched with the need to laugh. He held it in by the skin of his teeth. “So, male shifters can’t get knocked up.”
“Not that I know of.”
“Let’s hope it stays that way. If I want to have a kid, I’ll do it the old-fashioned way.”
One brow on Boone’s forehead lifted. “The old-fashioned way?”
“Adoption.”
“Oh, yeah.” Boone nodded before taking another bite of his sandwich. “There are always shifters out there in need of a good home.”
“And humans.”
“True, but it’s harder to place a child that shifts into a cat than it is to place a human child.”
Jackie couldn’t argue with that, because he simply didn’t have that information. He just knew there were always children out there in need of a good home. “Have you ever thought of having kids?”
“I have,” Boone admitted. “I wanted to wait until I met my mate before taking that step. I always felt it took two parents to raise a well-rounded kid.”
“My father did all right.”
“My father didn’t.”
There really wasn’t an answer to that.
“Because they’re shifters, those kids that need a home have a harder time of it because they can only be placed with families who already know about us or are shifters themselves. And much like the human world, there are a lot of bigots out there. My brother-in-law and his brothers were chased from town to town because they weren’t lion shifters.”
“Maybe it’s not a human or a shifter thing,” Jackie said. “Maybe there are just assholes out there.”
“I agree,” Boone said. “Which is why I’m so loyal to the Potter’s Creek Pride and my brother. He accepts everyone based on their personality and not what they are or who they love. If you’re loyal to the pride, the pride is loyal to you.”
“That actually…that actually sounds pretty nice.”
Boone smiled again. “When you’re ready, I would love to take you and introduce you to everyone. I promise they’ll be thrilled to meet you.”
Instant fear infused Jackie, but he couldn’t outright say no, not when Boone was doing everything he could to be so nice. “I’ll think about it.”
“I’d like that. As for your other questions, yes, I do have to answer to Hugh. He’s not only my older brother, he’s my alpha. His word is final in our pride. And he’s a good alpha. Probably the only alpha who’s better than him is Stellan Mihos, the alpha of the Mihos Pride, but that’s just because he’s been doing it longer.”
“I don’t think I’ve met him.”
“His pride is a few hours from here. He’s actually the man who gave the Potter’s Creek Pride to my brother. His mate, Benji, had been living here before they were mated.”
“Oh.”
“We live in Benji’s old farmhouse, although we’ve expanded it and updated it.” Boone’s shiver made Jackie chuckle. “You should have seen it when we first got here. It was a shack.”
