Epilogue
An issue had arisen that had to be addressed. It seemed cat shifters weren’t as rare as they had all assumed. It seemed none of the paranormal kinds were. So what was the problem? Many of them were half human or more. The human population seemed to be full of paranormals, some who were unaware of what they were.
How was this happening when everyone knew fathering a child with a human and leaving that child behind was against the law? Apparently no one was following the law. Some may have believed having children with humans was impossible, but many were aware of their children and had turned their backs on them when they tired of the mothers.
Ciaro had mentioned this discovery to Seb and now they were meeting to discuss how to handle it. He couldn’t wait to see what Seb came up with. Mairi had said the wolves had addressed this already, but she hadn’t mentioned how. Entering the room, he slipped quietly into a seat. Whatever they decided, it was going to cause problems.
“This is my concern, cats as well as other paranormals, have been breeding indiscriminately with humans and leaving cubs behind.” Seb explained.
“So what do we do?” Titus asked.
“They need to either stop chasing humans who aren’t their fated mates or wear condoms.” Seb directed.
“That will go over in a big way.” Ciaro said.
“The wolves initiated this a couple years ago. If a child is found to belong to a wolf, he pays child support. If the child has no family, he is responsible to see to the cub’s care until eighteen or older if they go to college.” Seb described.
“Just like the humans.” Titus observed.
“Play with them, pay with them.” Seb said with no sympathy. “Can you truly side with someone who abandons their cubs?”
“Not even a little.” The leopard alpha, Azrael, said. His voice was the deepest one any of the others had heard in person. “Some of us wish we had cubs, even mostly human ones.”
“Everyone welcome our new leopard alpha.” Seb said directing the attention to the handsome well-built male sitting in one of the seats in their newly available meeting house.
“Four down, how many to go?” Titus asked.
“Three more.” Seb replied.
“Why three?” Ciaro asked.
“We lions, tigers, panthers, jaguars, cougars, lynx combined with cheetahs, and leopards will make this work. The cheetahs and lynx are combining with a few of the other smaller cats. Their numbers for the move are lower than expected, but it’s the money that is causing the biggest problem. Rumor has it, a cheetah plans to step up. He’s a wealthy male and one able to lead, but no one will share his name. As the four of us know, wealthy paranormals don’t want to be recognized. There’s no way to explain living hundreds of years looking the same with little change. We’ll see for sure, when the person arrives.”
That gave them all something to think about. All of them were wealthy recluses, but this new federation and the place they lived would make them take a more public stand. That would require careful handling once years began to pass.
Their mates were at their sides. At least three of them, all white cats, which defied the odds. Would a white leopard even be a possibility? And who could it be if it was? Ciaro wished the new alpha the best, but he knew Mairi would always keep him too busy to involve himself in more than his party of panthers and the feline federation, a name that was sticking despite Seb’s cautions about a final vote needing to be taken to confirm it.
As the last three alphas slowly wandered in, they would have real estate shortages and job scarcities to deal with far worse than the first four had. Even though those white wolves in real estate and construction hadn’t slowed down at all. New apartments and houses were being built and remodeled, but they were all for those already presented or those lions, tigers, panthers, and now leopards still coming in.
Sometimes the early bird truly caught the big juicy worm. Seb certainly had and even Titus had it easier than the others. He’d been lucky Mairi had helped him, but some of his people had to go further afield into Blake’s territory. The wolf had agreed to allow it. That had surprised Cairo but meeting him and Ariel had been the biggest surprise of all. They’d been real people, down to earth and easy to talk to.
Sure, he and Mairi had their work cut out, much of it still ahead of them. His mate had proven to be an invaluable helper. He hated to admit it, but she was worth two of anyone else he knew in his party including himself. For now, they would keep working to make things better for his panthers, but he could see a good future ahead.