“A chimera?”
“The two beasts will be one in this child, so when she shifts, she will have both the head of a panther and a lion.Only she can rule over both species.”
“Fuck.”
“Shawn,” his mother said his name in a somber tone, and even more concerning, she stopped what she was doing and walked over to take his hands.
“There’s one more part to the prophecy,” she said, taking a deep breath.
“No one is certain if this last part is true, there were rumors it wasn’t, but one can’t be sure.”
“Get on with it, Mom,” Shawn urged.
“El won’t survive childbirth, not without the help from one of the ancient Healers, and no one has seen or heard from any of them in years.Last I heard there was only one living, and sightings of her were rare.”
Shawn tore his hands from his mom’s and dragged them through his hair.Just the thought of losing El had him completely gutted.His heart was racing, and his palms were sweating as if he were about to go into battle.His mind was shooting off questions faster than he could even comprehend.
“I’m sorry, baby,” his mom whispered from behind him.
“It has to be wrong,” Shawn said, even though he knew the prophecy was right.If he had learned one thing in the past few months of craziness, it was when it came to El, she was always the exception.If there were some crazy prophecy linked to her and her, it would be true.
“I love El, baby, and when I realized who she was, my heart broke.I prayed that she wouldn’t find the triad.I mean, what were the odds?”
“She found them before she realized I was her mate.The triad is who found that she and I were mates.I mean her and I were always attracted to each other, but we would have never acted on it without them.”
“Then, I’m grateful for them.You have suffered alone for too long.”
“I would have never touched her if I thought it would come to her death.”
“A healer would be able to tell if she were with child.If she’s not, then maybe this can be prevented.”
“That’ll be tough to do.One of the triad brothers had previous relations with the healer for the pride.El isn’t real fond of her, and certainly isn’t letting her anywhere near her or her possible unborn baby.”
“I can call a Pantera healer,” his mother offered.
“I think it may be best if I speak with the others first.I don’t want to be making all of these decisions alone.”
“I think you’re forgetting whom you need to speak with most of all,” his mother warned.
“I know, and I will talk to El, but I just want to give her one day of freedom.”
His mother nodded her acceptance and then walked back over to finish her cooking.Shawn walked over to the giant bay window in his mom’s house and looked out over her back yard.He went back over the conversation he had just had with his mom and tried to slow it down.It wouldn’t change the information, but it helped Shawn wrap his mind around everything.Then he realized he had skipped over a very important part of the conversation with his mom.
“Mom, does this mean I can shift into a panther?”
“Our family has been dormant for some time.I’m not sure if you could or not, son.I’m sure with the right help you could.”
“Why are we dormant?”
“We’ve mated with humans for so long, we shifted less and less and adapted to the human lifestyle, especially myself and your grandfather.I couldn’t very well keep my promise to your father and risk the chance of you catching me shifting, so I haven’t shifted since you were a year old.”
Shawn didn’t say anything, just turned back to look outside.He tried to search inside himself as if he would be able to make his panther appear, but of course, nothing happened.
The patter of El’s feet coming down the hall halted his thoughts.He told his mom he was going to give El one day of freedom, and he intended to do just that.Before he turned to greet her, he tabled his thoughts and gathered his composure, making sure she saw nothing but happiness.
Chapter 6
El
