He wanted to kill whoever the fuck it was that had targeted his mate, but as the threat was years old, the scent no longer about to trace, he couldn’t do a damn thing.Something his Lion railed at in frustration.With a sigh, he murmured, “Shawn, you did what you did when you were a different man.She can’t hold it against you forever.”
“If it was any other woman, then I’d agree.But it’s her mother.A woman she hates.”He shrugged, misery coating his features as he whispered, “I’ll be lucky if she ever talks to me again.”
Trip shot Ryan a look, and clearing his throat, changed the topic.“What time’s the ceremony starting?”
Like he didn’t know already… Jesus, Trip’s segues were getting worse.Could he be more obvious?“Four.”He eyed the clock.“A couple more hours until we need to change clothes.”
Shawn frowned.“I still don’t understand why this is a big thing.”
“That’s because you’re not Pride,” Marc told him without heat.
Shawn rolled his eyes.“You don’t say.”
“We spend more time looking for our Triad brothers than we do for our mate, Shawn.Think about that, then think about how even though these dicks piss me the fuck off, how important they are to me.”
“Said like a true poet,” Ryan retorted, hiding a grin at Trip’s bluntness.
The man in question flipped him the bird, then continued, “It’s just officiating something they already know to be true.Until we do this, the Pride doesn’t recognize the Triad.If the Pride doesn’t recognize the Triad, they won’t recognize the mate bond when they eventually find her.”
“So, until all three of you got together, you knew there was no point in looking for your mate?”At Ryan’s nod, Shawn frowned.“But surely you fell for people over the years?You’re all fucking old enough to make me feel like a kid.”
Marc sighed.“You humans.You always focus on the negative.El asked me that the first night.Like those loves could, in any way, compare to the love we feel for her.
“Of course we fell for others.We loved them with all we were capable of feeling.At that time.But the Marc of that period is as different as you are to the one who slept with Annabel Forsythe-Drew.”Seeming to sense he’d touched a nerve, Marc paused at that, let it sink in, and continued with, “What you have to understand is that the past is the past.It makes us who we are.Eventually, El will come to see this too.Your past, even if it involved some unfortunate interludes with her mother, forged you into the man you are today.There is no crime in that, no need for you to be punished for past mistakes.”
Ryan, in full agreement, murmured, “El’s very young, Shawn.That’s why she’s holding onto this hurt.She’s questioning things she doesn’t realize don’t need to be questioned.
“Neither of you understand the uniqueness of the link you have.”
“A uniqueness which only adds to my belief that she’s Shifter.”
Marc’s interruption had Ryan scowling.“Don’t go on about that.We’ve already got Shawn investigating Annabel’s DNA.You agreed to keep quiet about it until we have the results.”
“I will, and I am, but I’m trying to make a point.”
“Point made, otherwise I’d have told Shawn to back off the investigation.”Ryan wasn’t dumb.Marc’s hypothesis held merit, a merit that made no sense, but still, a lot of things weren’t making a whole lot of sense at the moment.“As I was saying, the mate bond is something that’s beyond question.You have that with her, just as we do.There is no hiding from it.No shying away.But again, I reiterate… she’s young.She will make mistakes, and you have to accept them.Even if those mistakes will make her cry.”
Trip grumbled, “Try not to make too many though, eh?Not if it means we’re all locked out of her bedroom.”
Ryan snorted.“Stop thinking with your dick.”
“But it’s so intelligent,” he teased, and Ryan, chuckling, got to his feet and murmured, “Who’s going to go get her?”
Shawn said, “I’d like to, but I think it should be either you or Marc, Ryan.She seems to react differently to you guys.”
Trip scowled.“I think I’m offended.”
Ryan snorted again.“Don’t be, dumbass.She’s calm with Marc, and she recognizes my dominance.The two of you just have to figure out how she responds to you, and you’ll have your own unique bond with her.”
For himself, he wasn’t particularly enamored of the fact that she sensed his dominance, and was cowed by it.
That was the last thing he wanted of his mate.But the truth was, it was why, when Marc had explained his beliefs as to her maternal heritage—entirely unfounded beliefs, at that—Ryan could almost begin to believe it.
El’s reaction to him, to his Lion, was something he’d not discussed with the others, but something he’d sensed from the very beginning.When he’d shifted and struck Jamie Pantera, something integral to El had flared in response.
That flare was what had him murmuring, “I’ll go and get her.”
The others nodded their understanding, but Trip looked set to argue.He shot him a look, one that he rarely used among his Triad brothers because he didn’t want them to loathe him, and headed out the door well aware that Trip was bristling at his display of dominance.
