The Secrets of the Panther
Chapter 8

BLAKE

Both I and my mother walked back toward the couch. I sat back down, but I could see that she was tense and worried. She doesn’t sit. She looks at me with an expression that is hard to read.

“I know your father told you about Izzy’s mum, I could feel the tension when I walked into the room, also the way Graham acted, but there is something that your father and Graham don’t know. It is to do with Izzy, Izzy has powers, and her panther is special. Lucy and I were best of friends,” she says as a tear escapes her eye. She loved Lucy.

“I lost my friend and her daughter. I would have done anything for them both. Lucy told me a few days before Graham rejected her about her worries about Izzy. I didn’t even know he was going to reject Lucy. She didn’t answer my calls afterward as I wanted to tell her I had nothing to do with it, but she never talked to me again after the last time I saw her.”

She sat on the couch beside me, and I placed her hand in mine. “I found out about her death through Kat when she came here. I knew Kat back then too. A few months ago, I found out that Lucy passed away ten years ago; she died a few months after the rejection. That’s why I have been avoiding everyone when you were away.”

I remember Dale and Kacey saying that mum didn’t leave her room for a few days, maybe even a full week, not until I came home.

“Neither Graham nor your father even tells me about Lucy,” she says. “I hate this whole thing. Whether you have one, two, or more mates, I would accept them. The elders have a lot to answer for.”

I know she is hurting from the loss of her friend. But she is right; the elders didn’t have to be involved. They broke a family apart. A family that had not even anything to do with them.

I look at my mum. She is staring into space. I need to give my mum some hope, maybe telling her about Izzy being my mate would give her that I know I would have my mum’s support, and I know she won’t mind me keeping it a secret if I asked her to “Mum, I found my mate” I say to her, she looks at me and smiles but before she can comment, “before you ask me, I won’t tell you just yet who she is as it is complicated and I know she needs time”

“Does your father know?” She asks. I shake my head “No, only you, Dale, and Graham. I don’t want it broadcasted yet, which means not to Dad either.”

She looks at me. “It’s Izzy, isn’t it,” she says with a knowing smirk. “Lucy and I used to take the two of you for walks in the prams around the side of the territory. We always wanted the two of you to be mates. Your secret is safe with me, Blake. I have to see her.” she says, “She was a gorgeous little girl when she was younger.”

“She hasn’t changed then; she is gorgeous,” I say, suddenly going red. She laughs “I bet Lucy was stunning. Izzy always looked like her; if she does now, she will be a stunner too.”

I nod, and we both get up, but before we both head out to get ready for this ceremony, my mum turns around and looks at me. “Please, Blake, be careful with her. She might hate Graham, but she needs to know that you truly want her as her mate.”

I look back at her and know exactly what she means. “I will try to make sure I win her over mum, but it needs time. I think there is more to how she acts, though,” I say, remembering what Kat had said to Graham before Dale and I walked into the café.

My mum hugs me as we leave the office.

Leaving my mother near the hall, we heard a crash from where the ceremony was held. She ran off to make sure everything was ready for the ceremony and shouted at the person damaging the glasses.

I walk back to my room, but Kacey greets me. She smiles at me. “Where have you been?” She asked.

I look at the dress that her mother mentioned earlier; it is a black dress.

Someone wanted to make an impression.

Kacey notices me looking at her. “You like?” She says with an eyebrow raised. “I know what my mum is trying to do, Blake, and we both know we are not mates, so I know this won’t work for you,” she says, smirking. “But we also both know I love girls more than boys too. A good pussy to eat is better than a dick.”

I laugh, Linda might hope for a lot, but Kacey is not straight. She has been with more girls than me and Dale combined.

“That’s not an image I want Kace to be stuck in my head, but you look good,” I say. She hugs me and smiles. “We could keep my mum off our backs and happy for tonight if you want, but I know Chelsea is waiting for me after the ceremony when it is time to leave. We have been hooking up for a while.”

I laugh again. “Okay, You might want to make sure no one, especially your mum, hears you saying that,” I say and walk into my room.

Kacey suddenly becomes more serious, standing in the doorway, “Blake, I will pretend for you if you want me to. I always got your back, dude.”

I smile at her. “I know, Kace. I will meet you by the stairs.”

She nods and walks always.

I look at my clothes that are already laid out for me, my mum knows how to throw a party, but my head has so much going through it right now. I want to see Izzy, but I know I can’t.

I quickly

showered and dressed. I best mind linking Dale.

“Hey, Dale, can you do me a favor? You haven’t mentioned Izzy being my mate to anyone, have you?” I ask him through the mind link, feeling a little worried.

“No, I haven’t. Mum did try asking me about her and what she was like, but I didn’t tell her much, only that she has a lot of resentment towards Dad and the family. I will help you win her over, but you have to help me win her over as her brother,” he says.

“Yeah, I think we both are going to need a lot of help with her, but I think we should wait a day or two first, let her settle into the town,” I say to him.

“Yeah, you’re right, we could ask Alice for help, but we need to know if she will be okay with the idea first,” he says. Oh crap, I forgot about her cousin Alice.

“I wonder if she will help,” he says, feeling a little hopeful. But after the café, we might have to talk to Alice at the ceremony or after.

“We will have to wait till after the ceremony to talk to her; by the way, did you see what your sister had on,” I asked him, knowing he would want to kill her.

“Don’t get me started on that; she will be fighting all the girls off,” he says, laughing.

“She is staying with me tonight to keep your mum happy. She seems to be trying to force us together, to be mates,” I say to him as I check myself before leaving to meet Kacey.

“Huh, my mum is driving her nuts. I just wish Kacey would tell her that she is lesbian,” he says, “We will talk more after this. Let the three of us get drunk,” as he ends the mind link.

I couldn’t agree more with him.

I am missing my mate again.

I need a drink and a good night.