Then he grabbed El’s shoulders and pulled her against him.
“I want nothing more than to have children with you, but not now, not until we figure this prophecy thing out,” he confirmed.
“I know.I feel the same way.Now, let’s see what Willow wants to do next.”
There was a commotion at the front of the house when they both emerged from the bathroom.Shawn looked at El and then pushed passed her.El didn’t stay behind him for long.She was shocked at what she saw when she turned the corner.
Ryan, Trip, and Marcus were all towering over Shawn’s mother and Willow looking every bit their intimidating self.They also looked beautiful.El soaked up their image.It felt like an eternity had passed since she had been in their presence.Her heart pounded in her chest as each of their eyes met hers.
“What are you doing here?”she whispered.
“You’re our mate,” Ryan said.
“It’s true then?”Willow asked, interrupting the reunion.
“It’s true, my friend,” Shawn’s mother told her.
“Why don’t you guys step back from my mother,” Shawn said.
His tone wasn’t aggressive, if anything, it was full of love.The Triad all looked at Shawn and then took several steps back.
“They’re okay, Shawn, they’re just doing what they’re supposed to do.What we’re all supposed to do.Protect our Luna,” Shawn’s mother said.
“You’re Pantera?”Ryan asked, Willow the healer.
“I am Pantera, but under our Luna’s rule, we will not be separated.This hostility you feel towards me is ill-placed.I would never harm her—notruePantera would.”
“Does the entire Pantera know about this legend?”Shawn asked.
“I can’t be certain if every last living Pantera does, but yes the majority should,” Shawn’s mother answered.
“Maybe that’s where the problem lies,” Shawn said to Ryan.
El wasn’t sure she was capable of speaking.All of her men were in the same room for the first time in days.The days had felt like years, though.Her heart was pounding and felt like it was ready to burst with happiness.
Ryan was focused on his discussion with Shawn, but Trip and Marcus hadn’t taken their eyes off of her.
“I agree.This makes sense as to why some of the Pantera would want to harm El, but now we have to figure out how they knew El was the woman from the legend when she didn’t even know who she was,” Ryan agreed.
“An elder would have known, and the healer who birthed El would have known,” Willow said.
“How could we figure out which healer or elder would know?”Trip asked, jerking his eyes away from El to finally join in the conversation.
“The only thing I know is that the healer was from the Pride, but the elder was Pantera,” Willow said.
“How do you know so much?”El asked.It wasn’t that she didn’t believe Willow if anything, the longer she was around the soft-natured panther, the more El found she liked her.
“Healers are taught to see past lines of loyalty and just see creatures that need healing.We’re also in a way history keepers since we see so many births and deaths, so this was just something that I was taught.You’re not that old El so the healer wouldn’t necessarily be old either.She could be my age.”
“How old are you?”El asked.
“I am only fifty-four, so not much older than you.”
El took a deep breath.For some reason, the one name that was coming to mind for her was Claudia.El wasn’t sure if it was just out of her overall distaste for the woman, but her gut told her Claudia knew more than she was saying.What El wasn’t sure of was if she should mention the thought to the Triad.They weren’t going to like El accusing one of their own in having a hand in the things that had happened to El.What she needed was proof, and the only way to get that was to get Willow alone and see if Willow would help her.
“Gentleman will you excuse us ladies.Before you barged in and started towering over everyone, Willow and I were about to handle a very important piece of business.”
Ryan’s eyes were begging her to not go into a room with Willow alone, but El wasn’t going to give him a chance to voice his argument.She grabbed Willow’s hand and led her back to the bedroom El had been sharing with Shawn.
