Page 64 of His Treasured Mate

“When do you plan to tell them?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Now, I guess. I don't want this hanging over my head when I head off to the ARC in a few weeks.”

“Good call there. This must be eating you alive,” Lily said sympathetically.

“It is.”

“Do you want me to get them and bring them out there?” I offered.

“Would you mind?”

“Not at all.”

“And you’ll stay with me through this?”

“Both of us. We're on your side, tiger,” Lily said.

Oscar groaned. “I thought we agreed it was too soon for that.”

“I'll be back,” I said.

Two years? What the hell, Lil? This is going to destroy Maddie.

And Liam. But at least he's on a path to repairing things now and I'm proud that he’s asked for our support.

I jogged inside and found Madelyn and Liam in the backyard with several others.

“Hey, Mad. Can I talk to you both out front for a few minutes?”

It crushed me how her face lit up. I could tell she thought this was a good thing. It made me feel guilty just thinking about how I was setting her up to be devastated.

They blindly followed me through the house and out front.

Maddie froze when she saw her son standing there getting a pep talk from her best friend.

“What's going on?” Liam asked.

I was sure everyone was feeling the tension in the air.

“Guys, Oscar has something he needs to tell you both and we really hope you'll keep an open mind about this.”

“Oscar? Did something happen?” Maddie asked.

“Uh, yeah, you could say that.”

“What's wrong?”

I sensed my sister was quickly spiraling into a panic attack.

Liam stepped forward to wrap an arm of support around her.

“It's nothing bad,” Lily protested.

We shared a knowing look. There was nothing bad about him being a tiger shifter. But there was plenty wrong about not mentioning it for two freaking years.

“Go on,” Lily encouraged him.

Oscar took a deep breath. “My animal spirit came in.”