My breath came in short pants while the enormity of that filed my mind. I would no longer be human, so what would I become? From their comments, I assume Tyger and Snow are bonded as Arctic and me, so would I be some kind of fox? Why are shifters different animals? I suppose a vampire having to free the suppressed blood explains why shifters are stronger than werewolves. They might be a little of both. Half-vampire, half-wolf? Or half-wolf, and a quarter of vampire and human? Trying to figure that out helped keep my mind from panicking over the fact that my only choice was to change or die. Why does a shifter die if they don’t change once a vampire begins the process, anyway?
“Before you ask, I had a fake birth certificate created for you which reflected Molly and Peter as your parents so you wouldn’t question your parentage when you saw it. Since you weren’t born in a hospital, it wasn’t hard to procure. As for your father, I found him not too long ago. That’s what I could not miss the other day. A meeting I arranged with him so I could tell your father of your existence. He mourns what might have been with Jazzy since he knew there was something special there. It turns out, he tried to find her once the contract with his band was over. Alas, by that point, she was gone, and his search was in vain. He wants to meet you once you are ready. I believe your gift of empathy comes from him. While he isn’t an empathy healer, with a little digging, I discovered there were shifters in his family history. He’s human, so they bred only with humans until the wolf blood diluted into nothing. If a human and a shifter have offspring, the child is human. Whereas if a shifter and a werewolf have kids, they will have a werewolf pup. If two suppressed shifters breed, well, it can go either way. Either you get a human child or a werewolf. Same if one is awakened and one suppressed, although the odds for a werewolf go up. Vampires are incompatible as we discussed earlier,” Ryker sighed. “Now, you noticed what I left out, so I shall address that. Two awakened shifters may not breed. Why? Because their child will be a shifter. We have several geneticists who ran the numbers and experimented with their DNA. All conclude that a union between two wakened shifters will beget a fully awoken shifter cub. That’s something that, as vampires, we cannot allow. They would no longer need us. Thus we could no longer justify enslaving them to the werewolves who don’t care. If they become their own independent species, however, well, that changes everything.”
I stared at the ground for several moments, my mind racing while I put that together. “Yes, Angel,” Ryker sighed, “one could argue that Arctic is your true mate. Fate chose the mutt, knowing it would be unlikely the two of you could be together. When a vampire witnesses the bond you share, they kill whichever shifter is less valuable. In this case, it would be Arctic. I’m not sure who they would pick between Snow and Tyger. Snow is more weaponized, but also could turn against you. Whereas Tyger’s ability is useful but less threatening. I left something out. A shifter breeding with another shifter is only viable if they share the bond you do. Otherwise, they cannot breed with one another. Fuck, yes. Often for the entertainment of the vampires who own them. But, for whatever reason, they cannot reproduce. I suppose that’s to prevent one shifter from impregnating another to get them killed. And to prevent vampires from breeding shifters to develop specific abilities. For example, a shifter with Snow’s mental capabilities but Arctic’s strength and speed would be quite the weapon. So, it appears to be more for their protection than anything. Plus, if you are a bonded pair, well, neither will abandon the other. It will hurt far too much. I’m sorry, little one, I know this information pains you. But that’s why I promised to provide you aid once it’s time to save the shifters. Whoever you choose as your mate will be the alpha of the community you shall create. Regardless of who you pick, I pledge my aid. Never doubt that. Once you finish saving them, there’s the wolf council to deal with as well. Then the humans who despise werewolves and find it amusing that their ‘half-breed’ children suffer as they do. If they realized what you were before you were born, they would have captured Jazzy to use you as a bargaining chip. Thus, the vampires would have gone to war with the werewolves at their behest. Yes, Angel, for the chance of a born vampire, my species would have decimated the wolves.”
My eyes were unseeing while I stared at the ground to process this flood of information. No wonder Ryker didn’t want to tell me until he had to. A sob tore from my throat while chaos wrung my heart like a soaking shirt to remove the water. Only in this case, it took away my ability to fight the warring emotions trying to tear me apart. Anger at how shifters were treated filled my soul. Then pain because of the deaths surrounding my existence, followed by
