Chapter five

Eren was a tiger.

A literal tiger.

I was in a room with two of the deadliest predators in the world.

Thane looked away from Eren, his eyes hard. "You're asking the last member of the Lion Clan to join your clan, and what, allow mine to officially go dead?"

My lips curled into a frown. Right. Technically, if Thane left his clan, it would basically be extinct. It was an unfair request.

"On top of that," he added. "Being your clan member means I'll have to abandon this house. My family home. Then after that, I'll have to submit to you."

Thane watched Eren with hard eyes. "I submit to no one."

Eren's smile faded, but he remained calm. "I'm not asking you to abandon anything or submit to me."

"Then what are you hoping to achieve from making me a part of your clan?"

"Certainty," Eren blatantly said. "It's like how humans force their children into arranged marriages. A business agreement isn't enough sometimes. It's just a piece of paper, after all, but a bond? That's hard to break."

I looked between them. I guess his reason was fair enough too.

"Why can't you just take my word for it?"

"Words are the cheapest currency there is, Thane. I know you know that."

His eyes narrowed. It was clear that he didn't want this.

Eren glanced at me and shrugged. "Or we could do it the other way."

"No. "Thane immediately said.

"You haven't even heard what it is."

"I know what it is."

I blinked. "What? What's the other way?"

Eren pointed at me. "You're the other way."

I looked at him in confusion. "What could I do?"

Eren looked at Thane. "You haven't told her much about shifters, have you?"

"She's only been here for twelve hours." He responded. "Besides, she's been through hell. The last I wanted to tell her was that."

"Well, tell me now." I demanded.

Eren looked at me in amusement. "Easily."

He lifted his finger. "There are very few humans that know about the existence of shifters. A common reason is for business, which is how your father knew them."

A second finger lifted. "Another way is by chance. Accidentally stumbling across a shifter in the process of changing forms. That's how your mother found out through Thane shifting as a cub."

A third finger raised. "The third was because some humans want to be in clans. Not for business or alliances. Through special cases."

My brows shot up. "What kind of special cases?"

Thane sighed as if he couldn't believe this conversation was even happening.

Eren dropped his other two fingers and started counting again. "I know you've seen very few shifters so far, but have you noticed that you haven't seen a female shifter yet?"

"Yeah."

"That's because most of them are dead."

I blinked. What?

"The world is no longer how it used to be long ago. Conditions have changed. The air is less clean, and the land is hotter. Female shifters, no matter what kind they are, cannot survive in these conditions like they used to. There are only a few clans with females."

Wow. That was... sad.

"Fortunately, us males are doing pretty well, but of course we still need to keep our clans alive by having cubs..."

"And?" I asked.

"And that's where a human woman comes in."

My face churned as I finally understood. "There is no way in hell I'm falling pregnant for you!"

Eren's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "That's not where I was going with this."

Thane shook his head. "You could have started with the simpler part."

Eren turned to him. "This is the simple part. You think she'll want to do the other thing more than this?"

It couldn't be worse than having a half-animal baby.

Thane suddenly stood up, facing me. "Let's just forget this conversation. I'll agree to join his clan."

I shook my head. "I want to hear the other way."

"You don't. Believe me."

I looked behind him. Eren had a smug little smile that I wanted to smack off his face. "Stripes, start talking. What's the other way?"

"Stripes?" His brow shot up. "Fine, I'll put it simply. You currently have two problems facing you:

1. Thane interfered in the Hyena Clan business by saving your life, which is against shifter law. Whatever a clan does is none of the other clans' business, unless it directly affects them.

2. You are a human who just discovered that shifters exist, and since it was an accident, killing you is the most sensible thing to protect our secret."

I bit my lower lip. So I got Thane in trouble by calling in that favor in front of the hyenas. It seemed he was already on bad terms with them, but I made it worse.

Eren thought for a second. "For the first problem, Thane could just use your mother's favor as a reason, but that will get him into deeper trouble because it means he was aware of a human who knew of his existence for seven years and said nothing."

He scratched his head. "The only way he could justify saving you was if you were somehow related to him. Either carrying his cub or his mate."

Thane shook his head. "Saying she has my cub will risk her life further, and saying she is my mate is dangerous because she needs a mark to prove it."

"Not only that, but since you're the only one in your clan, even more shifters might try killing her to get to you." Eren groaned in annoyance. "Ideally speaking, the mate bond could solve both your problems but bring many more to you because of your weak defenses."

"That's where your clan comes in as my allies," Thane added.

"Like I said. Words are cheap."

"Then you mate with her. The end goal is to keep her safe. If she's mated with you, she has the protection of your clan, and you can have a permanent connection with me."

"And how do I know you won't change your mind in the future and leave me with her?" Eren asked. "You're telling me to dedicate my soul and body as her mate, but what guarantee is there that you'll stick around?"

Thane didn't respond, making Eren scoff.

"Face it. The only way this will work out is by joining my clan. You take her as your mate; I defend the both of you when the hyenas decide to start trouble again."

"Don't you understand?" Thane sighed. "Having more clan leaders in your clan will cause trouble. You already have Julien, and everyone is wary of him. Now you want a lion as well? Everyone will think we're planning something and try to wipe us out. If we're going to be linked, we all need one harmless reason to do so, and one clan won't cut it."

Julien. He was the shifter who wiped out an entire clan of vipers.

Eren looked at me for a moment, thinking carefully. He glanced back at Thane.

"This might be a crazy idea," he started. "But because I empathize with you and Wren, and I will also benefit from aligning with you... I have a solution."

"Well, say it."

"I just don't know how we would convince Julien to do it..."

"Talk."

"He'd probably refuse..."

"Just say it, dammit," Thane snarled.

Eren blew out a breath. "Okay, it's clear that Wren is the best reason for us to have a harmless connection to one another."

"In what way?"

"In a way where... she's our mate. All three of us."