“Mikhail was born four minutes after Dominic—”
“Triplets?” Gabriel squeaked, his eyes widening so much that they started to ache.
“And Rafael is the youngest, born four minutes after Mikhail.”
“Four? There are four of us?” Gabriel’s jaw dropped as Aldrik nodded. “Are they all…can they…” Gabriel cast a quick glance behind him to where the tail grew out of the top of his butt.
“Yes, Gabriel, they are all panther shifters just like you. And I imagine right about now they are all starting to go through the same things you are going through. Granted, their transition periods will be slightly later than yours, but only by a couple of weeks, depending on their birth order.”
Well, that didn’t make sense. They all shared the same birth date. Shouldn’t they be sharing the same transition time? “Why?”
“It’s very simple, my boy. You do not start your transition until you reach the age of twenty-five. Since four of you were born at the same time, nature has taken it upon herself to ensure all four of you do not transition at the same time. The minutes between your births is turned into weeks, giving each of you time to transition separately.”
Gabriel sat back in his chair. He winced suddenly and reached back to move his tail then sat back again. He just stared at the fireplace for several moments as he tried to take in everything Aldrik told him.
“Where are my brothers now?” he asked quietly.
“As I said, I do not have that information at the moment, Gabriel. When the four of you were smuggled out of the country, each of you were assigned a guardian to teach you who you are and keep you safe. It would seem that those guardians failed…until now.”
“Failed? What…what do you mean, failed?” Gabriel sat up straight, his heart beating like a drum against his ribs. He just found out he had siblings he never knew about, and now…
“I’ve received word from an acquaintance that the guardians assigned to each of your brothers have been killed.” The hair on Gabriel’s arms stood on end at Aldrik’s words. “It seems that the same people that started the war”—Aldrik kept an eye on Gabriel as he picked up the teapot and leaned forward—“are now after you.” He continued pouring the tea into Gabriel’s cup. “He couldn’t tell me much else.”
“Do you know…are my brothers alive?” His breath caught in his throat at the thought of never getting to know his brothers. Now that he knew he had them, he really wanted them.
“As I’ve said before, I really don’t know.” Aldrik set the teapot back down on the table and looked directly at Gabriel. “After their guardians took them away, your brothers were adopted into different families in order to keep them safe. Their new identities were not shared with anyone. “
“What happened to my guardian? Has he been killed, as well?” Gabriel frowned. The events of the past week played through his mind up until meeting Aldrik. When Aldrik smiled at him, things slowly started to fall into place.
“I am your guardian, and as you can see, I’m still very much alive.” Aldrik sat up straight in his chair and regarded Gabriel with a stern look.
“If you’re my guardian, where have you been all this time?”
“I’ve been here, Gabriel. I kept a close eye on you your entire life, waiting for you to turn twenty-five. You’re all in very big danger, and even though I am your guardian, I cannot always protect you. Your brothers are already without their guardians, thus making them vulnerable to being found.”
Aldrik sighed. “As your guardian, our biggest mission is to ensure you stayed hidden.”
“What would happen now that my brothers’ guardians are dead? Can they be found?” Gabriel’s protective instincts immediately came up to the surface. Gabriel rubbed his hands on his pants when they started to itch.
“Yes, they can. It’s very important that we find them before anyone else does,” Aldrik replied, rubbing his temples with the tip of his fingers.
Gabriel reached for the teacup with his left hand and gasped. “What the hell?” He reared back in his chair as he stared at his clawed hand.
“You’ll go through many of these changes in the next week or so.” Aldrik got up from his chair and walked over to a shelf against the wall. “Your protective instincts are showing. Just knowing your littermates are in danger will speed up the shifting process.” Aldrik removed a book from the shelf and sat back down at the table, placing the book in front of him. “First, you need to learn how to control it, before it controls you.”
“How do I do that?” Gabriel asked sarcastically as he glared at Aldrik. How was he supposed to control something that seemed totally out of control? He had a tail growing out of his ass. The hair on the tail down his pants tickled Gabriel’s leg as it curled around the top of his calf.
“Here, look at this.” Aldrik opened the book and pushed it across the table toward him. “You see this?” He tapped on a very intricate sketch of a black panther.
Gabriel nodded.
“Now close your eyes.”
Gabriel looked at him suspiciously.
“Go on. Close your eyes, and picture this panther in your mind.”
Hesitantly Gabriel closed his eyes and visualized the black panther in his mind’s eye. He couldn’t understand how this was supposed to help him with his current tail situation, but at this stage he was willing to try just about anything.
