“How could you possibly know?”Shawn asked, shocked.
“Honey, you two had the mate bond written all over you the second I saw you together.”
“How, though?I’m not a shifter?Furthermore, how do you even know about shifters?”Shawn had a million questions, but he stopped himself from firing off anymore.
“What makes you so sure you’re not a shifter?”His mom asked sternly.
“Well, for starters, I don’t shift into an animal.That’s usually a pretty good indicator.”
“Is that sass I hear?Listen, baby, there are things you don’t know, things I agreed with your dad to never tell you.Only on one condition, though, and that condition has been met.”
“What condition was that?”
“I agreed with your father that I would let you live a human life on the condition that you never found your true mate.He believed the chances of you finding El were slim if you weren’t a part of the shifter world.I guess the joke’s on him, though.Who would have thought El of all people would have been left to live a shifter life?”
“So, was dad a shifter?”Shawn asked.
“No, he was simply my mate.I’m the shifter.”
His mother said it so casually that Shawn would have thought they were discussing the weather instead of the fact that his parents had hidden a huge part of his life from him.Furthermore, his mom could shift into an animal.
“What are we?”Shawn asked, almost afraid to continue.
He now knew exactly how El felt with all the crazy shit that’s been coming at her lately.
‘We’re part of the Pantera, which means we’re…”
“Panthers,” Shawn finished for her.
“Yes, but you’re not El’s only mate,” his mom continued.
“I know.”
“You know?”She gasped, turning back from her cooking to stare at him in shock.
“Yeah, the Lion triad.You mean I actually know something you don’t know,” Shawn said with a chuckle.
“Oh no, I know about the triad.You mean El has found them too?”his mom asked, her voice a bit higher-pitched like she was nervous.
“Yeah, why what’s the problem?”
“This is happening much faster than I ever anticipated.Have you all mated with her?”
“Uh, well, yeah,” Shawn, replied, not liking the turn in the conversation.
“Oh, Mother, help us now.We best wake El, there’s much to discuss.”
“What kind of things, Mom?”
Shawn knew it was selfish for him to want to know the information before El, but if there were any way he could help shield her from further chaos, he would.His mom paused for a moment mulling over whether or not she wanted to speak to him about it without El present.
“Mom, please.I know it’s El’s life, but she’s been through so much if there’s some weight off her shoulders I can help bear, I want to,” Shawn pleaded.
“Unfortunately, you won’t be able to take this burden from her, but you will carry it with her.We willallcarry a part of the burden with her, but she will carry the brunt of it, as is her destiny.”
“Fuck, this doesn’t sound good.”
“El is both panther and lioness, and she has a panther mate and her lion triad, so she will lie with both species.These two species have been at odds for centuries, but that’s not how Mother has intended them to live going forward.There is a prophecy that has been told my entire life about a female who will bare both beasts and give birth to a chimera child.That child will unite both prides and rule over them as one.That child is a dynasty, as is the woman who will bear her, and the fathers who will protect them both.”
