Not necessarily the man she was with, either.Just in general.
A general murder spree instead of one with specific victims… He snorted at the mental image that raised.
Trip grunted, making Shawn realize he’d been shoring up his position in their unusual relationship.Shawn held up a hand to stall the man.“Trip, it’s okay.I didn’t mean it the way you took it.”
He eyed him, narrowing his gaze to scrutinize his reaction.Apparently, he saw something he liked because he murmured, “I was actually talking about the Panther being mated to a Lion thing.”
Shawn frowned but nodded.“I can see the sense of that.You’re two different families of genus, after all.”
Marc winced.“Not really.It’s only because of stupid scientific classifications.”
Trip rolled his eyes.“Though she’s called a Panther, in America that’s a cougar.Cougars can purr, Lions can’t.”
Shawn scowled.“Yeah.I knew that already.Jesus, you don’t have to dumb everything down for me.That’s the normal shit about this fucked up situation.
“Like I said, you’re two different genus even if it’s only because one of you purrs and the other doesn’t.”
Marc grunted, but Trip nodded eagerly.“Yeah, so, it’s happened before.We’re not the first and we won’t be the last.It doesn’t even have to be within the same species.There are tales of a Bear being mated to a Wolf.A Tiger to an Eagle… They’re all close to fairytales though.We never see those kinds of pairings living openly in a collective.They tend to live alone.”
“Because they’re judged?”Shawn snorted.“Yeah, I can see that.Leilani’s doing a great job of putting El in her place for something she can’t help.”
Marc grimaced.“She’ll have to shut up eventually; if she won’t, Ryan will have to challenge her, and nobody wants to see that.Leilani’s being stupid and short-sighted.
“She knows we have no choice in the mate bond.I figure she expected more for Ryan because he’s damn powerful.”
Shawn frowned.“More, how?He’s already Pride leader of a state.”
“Yeah, the state.Why not the nation?”
Shawn rubbed his forehead at Trip’s comment.“There’s like a Shifter president?”
“Yeah.There are national leaders just as there are state leaders.”Marc shrugged.“It’s pretty much like human politics.”
Shawn grunted.“That’s just great.”
Trip’s laugh died down into a snicker.“Don’t worry.We don’t impeach, we challenge.”
“That’s my kind of politics,” Shawn retorted, rubbing his hands together with a grin.
“We digress,” Marc grumbled.
Trip huffed, then said, “Anyway.Leilani’s reaction, as you say, is a prime example of why most relationships of this nature live outside of their familial collective.”
“They might not be as rare as you think.These pairings, I mean.They just know they have to live on the downlow to avoid prejudice.”
Trip shrugged.“Whatever.The point is, we can’t do that.Not with Ryan’s position being what it is.So, that’s the first issue.
“Secondly, it’s very rare for those partnerships to have children.If they do, then the half of them that’s the stronger is usually the dominant species.”
Shawn nodded.“That also makes sense.”
Marc blew out a breath.“So, what doesn’t make sense is if the two halves are equally as strong.”
“Whoa.”
“Yeah,” Trip mumbled at Shawn’s exclamation.“That’s the doozy.”
“What happens?”
