“More importantly, has anyone talked to El?”Marcus asked.
“No,” Trip and Ryan said in unison.
“We need to call.It’s not healthy to break contact with our mate.Aren’t either of you feeling this pain?”Marcus asked, throwing himself down on the couch.
Ryan felt the pain, it was tearing him apart, but he didn’t know what to do.To hear El’s voice would have soothed the pain a bit, but Ryan felt as if he didn’t really deserve to have the pain subsided.He had betrayed his mate’s trust.He could see that now.
“Having Claudia and our mother-in-law in the house right now may not be the best time to call El.Let’s speak with Shawn, and just make sure she’s doing okay,” Trip commented.
Ryan pulled out his cell and called Shawn.The phone rang a while before Shawn finally answered.
“Hi,” Shawn said in a low voice.
“How are things going?”Ryan asked, placing the phone on his desk with the speaker on.
“I take it you’re all on the line?”Shawn asked.
“Yes, we’re all here.How is El?”Marcus asked.
“She’s fine.We just got back from a hike, and her and my mother are outside gardening.”
“At least El likes one of her mothers-in-law,” Trip commented.
“Speaking of which, how is your mom, Ryan?”
“She’s fine.Up to her usual antics,” Ryan replied.
“There’s been a new development.I haven’t told El about it, yet.I’m trying to give her the day of normalcy she wanted.
“Developments?”Ryan pushed him to speak further.
“I’m a Pantera, and apparently there’s a prophecy regarding El and our situation.”
“This can’t be happening,” Trip said.
“Well, it is.Apparently, the Pantera have known that El would be.They knew about her having both beasts inside her, as well as that she would mate with a Lion triad and a Pantera.”
“What more is there?”Ryan asked when Shawn went quiet.
“She will bear a chimera child that will unite the Pantera and Lion pride, and she will rule over them both.”
“This is a shitstorm,” Marcus said, Ryan could hear the frustration in his voice.
“There’s one more thing.The prophecy states that El may not survive childbirth.”
“Your mom knew all of this?”Trip asked.
“My mom is Pantera and my dad was human.He asked her to live a human life for me, so she did.She didn’t know that I would be the mate of the prophesized woman, but she said the prophecy is very much true.”
“Uniting the Pantera with the Lion’s is a fool’s errand, prophecy or no prophecy, there is no way it can be done,” Ryan said.
“The Pantera are firm in their belief of this prophecy.I’d say that’s why they’re trying so hard to get to El.”
“How would they know El was the prophesized woman?”Marcus asked.
“I’m not sure, my mom didn’t even know, but I’ll see what I can do to have her find out.We need to find a way to do whatever it is that needs to be done to prevent El from getting pregnant,” Shawn said.
“She won’t let Claudia within a mile of her,” Trip said.
