Panther

Chapter Nineteen-Ike's POV

Cleo would be okay with Adan. He was nice and polite, and I knew he would never try anything on her. She... wasn't his type.

I had been texting back and forth with Parker the last couple of days. He's been telling me a few things about panthers, but earlier today he told me he needed to meet with me face to face to tell me something he learned. He had been texting me all sorts of info over the last couple of days so what was different about what he had to tell me now? It worried me.

Panthers live longer than both humans and wolves. While I'll start aging around the time I turn a hundred, Cleo will stay young well into her five hundreds. This made me worry. Would she be interested in an old man? We would still have years and years together, more than most people can possibly dream of having with their loved ones, but even forever wouldn't be long enough with my Cleo.

He told me that panthers are in fact the stronger species between the two of us. He told me she could legitimately kick my ass. I was going to keep that to myself.

But there was one more thing he told me that I would be keeping to myself. The thing that he came here tonight to talk to me about.

He told me that panthers often have multiple mates.

Because of the fact that panthers have a hard time procreating, they are given multiple mates, sometimes up to three. That meant there could be two other people out there who would be challenging me for Cleo's love and attention.

That pissed me off.

I had just gotten her.

I hadn't even marked her yet or made her officially my Luna.

After he left, I grabbed a cup full of whiskey and made my way to the forest where I could be alone. My eyes caught Cleo though.

She was laughing.

She was with Adan. I don't know what they were talking about, but it was making her throw her head back and laugh. I knew I could've listened in if I wanted to, but I didn't want to invade her moment of bliss.

My heart pinched at the thought of another person making her laugh like that. Even Adan doing it made me a bit angry. But I wouldn't embarrass myself or her by doing something petty and jealous.

Besides, I thought to myself as I made my way to the trees, I knew why I was really angry and jealous. It wasn't the thought of another person making her laugh so much that made me shake with rage.

No, it was the thought of her loving another person like I wanted her to love me that made me so fucking angry.

It was the thought of another person kissing her neck, and sucking on her lips that made me want to yell into the sky with rage. I didn't even really know yet if she had any more mates out there, but it seemed unlikely that I would get so lucky to have her to myself when so many other panthers were double or triple mated.

What would I do if she found another mate? How would I act? I knew how I wanted to act. I wanted to kill them, whoever they were. I wanted her to myself.

But I know I can't do that.

It would hurt Cleo if I killed a mate of hers. I had to make myself imagine how much it would destroy me if Cleo died.

And that's what I was sulking about when Cleo finally noticed I was gone. The alcohol I had been drinking the last thirty minutes was making me sulky and moody. That's right, blame it on the alcohol.

I watched as she approached me. She was so pretty. I loved the way her hips moved when she walked. I felt myself heating up as I thought about how those hips felt grinding up against me. I had gone from pissed off to horny way too quickly. I had no business drinking straight whiskey.