At his harsh words Glen cast him a soft growl and interjected. “Stop! You are always so critical of who you used to be. But you know it was your fathers hatred for Snow Leopards that made you act the way that you did in the past.”

Seeming touched by her words Mantilo squeezed her hand, but with a frown he told her.

“I know that my father was a cruel man at times Glen because of his madness....and that I perhaps suffered for it, but I also know that the War between our people may not have gotten so bad...if I hadn’t been so hungry to please my Father and to honor the ignorant legacy of the Western tribe.” Mantilo steadily replied, glancing at Glen, then back at Brandon. “The last day that Greseh came to me he had a small hand maid with him. A small, but enchanting woman...”

“So...when Glen told me she was taken....she meant that you took her...as a slave?” Brandon started to ask and with dawning horror he began to let his imagination take over.

No way!? Mantilo hurt Glen? He abused her?

Brandon quietly thought.

Luckily Glen saw the horror on his face and quickly set him straight. “Brandon it’s not like that. Yes it was Mantilo who took me as his personal slave and held me against my will, but Mantilo was not the one who hurt me.” Glen lifted Mantilo’s arm, wrapped it around her shoulders and leaned into his side as Mantilo pulled her close.

“You see soon after we met Mantilo and I began to fall in love. We were drawn to each other as Mates.... but with all of the hatred and death around us, we couldn’t ever cross such a line.”

As Glen slowed to a stop Mantilo rumbled in on the end of her sentence. Mantilo turned his eyes on his Mate as he spoke, saying. “Glen.... was this amazing little balm to my soul. I gave her rage and rudeness and she gave me back kindness and sincerity.” Mantilo smiled softly. “But.... she was also able to cut me with her tongue and her claws. She was frustrating and delightful. She soothed me like nothing else could.” Mantilo quietly admitted.

“And even after I subjected her to slavery...She opened her heart to me. She forced me to see the darkness in the way that the Western Leopards thought and treated the Snow Leopards. But...as much as I grew to crave her love...I knew that touching her out in the open would lead to my own ruin. So, I held back. Until I discovered the truth about my father’s demise and the Civil War.” Mantilo finished with a stiff hiss.

“What truth?” Brandon wondered aloud and Mantilo quickly answered.

“It was my people...” Mantilo hissed hotly. “My father’s very own Clansmen had poisoned my father, conspired and killed Uror. They blamed his death on the Snow Tribe to ignite a full blow war. They had betrayed us all.”

“But Why!?” Brandon breathed. He was openly shocked and confused as Mantilo and Glen took him further into their story.

Glen suddenly hissed in resentment. “The cowards killed Uror and blamed it on the Snow Leopards...because Uror was secretly hammering out a peace treaty with Garesh the Shaman. In his madness and old age Mantilo’s father had grown weary of bloodshed. But his men were unwilling to let such weakness prevail. The Western Leopards killed Uror and placed Mantilo on the throne as a puppet, then pushed him to War.”

Mantilo suddenly snarled harshly in his chest, and yellow light touched his eyes as he said. “I hunted down the traitors once I knew the truth...and I killed them all.” Mantilo lifted his hand and curled it into a fist, his eyes were hard and dark and terrifying to look into.

“With glee I ripped apart the fools who had manipulated me and fooled me into killing so many in the War. I was merciless and gave no quarter, but in my rage, I made a grave mistake....and Glen paid the price.” Mantilo dropped his fist as he grew even colder and expounded

“Unfortunately, the last surviving traitors of my father, took Glen from me and they threatened to kill her unless I committed suicide. The wanted me dead so that they could then take back control of the Clan and finish the war.”

Brandon was wholly shocked at this dark turn in the tale and as he saw the raw emotion on Mantilo’s face and heard it in his voice; Brandon felt his heart squeeze in sympathy.

Heavy silence swallowed them all, as Mantilo and Glen both seemed to need the time to settle their hearts. Unwilling to rush them, Brandon waited patiently for the tale to continue...and soon enough Mantilo was speaking again.

“I knew that the traitors were hurting her and it killed me every moment that they had her in their grasp.” Mantilo swallowed, then hissed darkly. “But unknown to the men that had taken Glen I had Mated with her in secret. She bore my Mark...and she held my soul. Her pain was like a strobe light...and soon enough I reclaimed her. I got to her in time to save her life....” Mantilo leaned over and placed a kiss to Glens temple, and then the man simply lingered there, seeming to soak in her warmth and proximity.

Letting Mantilo and Glen have their moment Brandon released a small sigh of relief that he hadn’t realized he was holding. Then he asked the first questions that popped into his head. “So, in the end...what happened to the men that betrayed your father? And.... how did the Civil War finally end?”

Glen spoke up this time. “Oh. The men that had plotted to hurt Mantilo and I were executed or slowly died during Mantilo’s rescue attempt.” She reported and it wasn’t hard to see the utter indifference she had in her eyes as she spoke of execution. The darkness in her demeanor was perhaps disturbing, but more than understandable.

“After that, Mantilo and I openly became the first Snow Leopard and Western Leopard Mates. Our union ushered in a new age. For many years there was tension and fear, but we worked hard.... we worked tearlessly. And then....one day I got pregnant.” Glen smiled happily. “Walter was the first child born of the two Blood Lines, a hybrid. Soon after him came Lander, he was second born as one of the first Hybrids. After Lander we did something no Leopard had ever done before.” Glen shook her head as Mantilo nodded in agreement.

“What was that?” Brandon wondered aloud at the pair.

Mantilo chuckled and relied. “Cant you guess? WE adopted a very handsome, and very skittish stray wolf into our Clan. Our people thought we had gone crazy!”

“Oh! You’re talking about Nate, right?” Brandon asked the Mates. And both of them smiled.

“Yes.... Nate a wild wolf, had somehow managed to wonder in and started killing local wild life.” Glen explained. “We had no idea where the Wolf came from....and for a long time he refused to take his mortal form, but we could tell that he was very lost and young.” Glen shook her head.

“He stayed Shifted at all times so we had no idea what he looked like. A little feral grey wolf with a damaged face is all we saw.” Glen smiled sadly then finished. “But.... after I became pregnant with Ezekiel Nate started to hover around me and the Mansion more and more. He seemed intrigued by the new life in my stomach. He was very protective of our youngest son for some unknown reason. And once Ezekiel was born? Well, Nate started sleeping beneath his crib.”

Brandon smiled at the image he had of baby Ezekiel and Nate the Pup.

Glen seemed to take joy from his smile and she laughed. “Then as Ezekiel started walking.... Nate started De-Shifting. He had a special connection to Ezekiel from birth. Over time Nate took his mortal form more often.... but no matter how much I or Mantilo pushed Nate refused to tell us where he had come from or what had happened to him. In the end we officially adopted him into our home.”

With a sudden sigh Glen suddenly captured Brandon’s eyes and said “So it all comes full circle. The conflict that seemed unending was finally settled. The factions of our different bloodlines came together....and under Mantilo we have had peace, and wisdom and prosperity.” Glen stopped, breathed out and then she gestured to Brandon, asking him to take his feet.

Hesitating for only a moment Brandon quickly choose to comply and he climbed to his feet.

And as he took his feet Glen and Mantilo walked up to him...and Glen touched his arm and asked him. “Now, I bet your wondering why I’ve brought all of this up to you.”

Unable to hide his confusion Brandon shrugged and admitted “Yeah I am.... I mean I’m happy that you wanted to reveal this chapter in your lives to me, but why are you telling me this now exactly?”

To Brandon’s surprise Glen transferred her small hand from his arm, up to his cheek and she slowly told him “Brandon we.... we all have something kindred about us....and it is the tragedy’s that we have faced. Tragedy’s that have bound my family closer over the decades. Tragedy’s that have empowered us. Tragedies that have made us the Guardians and protectors of our Clan.”

Glen blinked and paused, but Brandon found it impossible to pull away or step back, before the Healer was once more speaking to him. “The trails we have faces have changed us all, but because we stood together we overcame them and sloughed on. We’ve survived....and now we only want to see you do the same.” She implored sharing his gaze.

Swallowing Brandon looked from Glen to Mantilo. “Okay...but what does that mean?” He said, feeling something huge about to come out of their mouths....and he wasn’t disappointed.

“It means...” Mantilo hissed at him “That we want you to stay here...with us. We want to ask you to stay.”

Before Brandon could even fully internalize what was happening his lips and heart were pushing him to withdraw. As always fear and uncertainty and pain were his first and only shelter. But Mantilo somehow stopped Brandon from outright refusal with a stern look and a gentle hiss.

“Brandon you have nowhere else to go.” Ezekiel’s father hissed heavily, but not with anger.

“You simply have no one else to rely on outside of this Clan. Trust me. I am not bullying you or attempting to scare you, but I am nothing if not blunt. So, let me put it to you the only way I can...”

Mantilo leaned in and his deep gaze helped his words shoot straight to the core of Brandon’s being. “You aren’t safe out there boy. You won’t be safe until the Alchemists, Hovel and Jacob are put down. So, to this end.... we’re offering you a place here. A place in this Clan. A place in this family. We’re offering you a chance to become our Clans men.”

Brandon swallowed, swallowed again and asked. “What? Wait.... I’m a mortal. So can I be a Clans Men? I mean can I actually join a Shifter Clan?”

Glen smirked. “Our tittles basically afford us the power to do this.... We want to do this for you. We want you to stay. We want you to make this your new home.”

Before Brandon could reply Mantilo said next

“It is not unheard of for a mortal to join a Shifter Clan Brandon.” The Clan Head informed him. “If that Mortal was willing to live among our kind and follow our rules there shouldn't be any issues. Still It would be very.... strange at first, for some of our Clans Men to adjust to seeing you or interacting with you in ways that won’t endanger your life or bring you harm.... but Me and Glen are the Heads of this Clan.”

Mantilo hissed and flashed some yellow eyes at him. “What’s the point of being in charge if you don’t throw your weight around every now and again, right?”

Brandon tried to deny them or make them reconsider the offer as he said. “I’m not sure. You guys know what I could do. I’m a danger to you and your people if I lose control.”

To Brandon’s surprise Glen hissed at him in frustration.

“WE don’t live in fear of the future Brandon.” The Healer sternly told him. “All we can do is have faith and push forwards past uncertainties. Can you do the same? Knowing that you don’t have many other options....I still want you to see this as a positive.” she said

And Mantilo finished. “You can live with us. You can be safe and free of your father and Jacob. We can do our best to protect you.” He didn’t demand or pressure. The Clan Head simply outlined his opinions.

Brandon closed his eyes and sighed. Inwardly he felt torn.

I.... honestly don’t know what to say. I don’t really want to say no. But......isn’t it selfish from me to take their protection and stay here leeching off their generosity? I never wanted to use them like this....

“I....I don’t know what I could ever do to repay you for the things you’ve given me...” Brandon whispered. “I cant pay any of you back for the blood you’ve spilt over me and my problems...”

“That doesn’t matter to us.... Sweetheart don’t be mistaken.” Glen softly and suddenly ordered him. “We aren’t just extending this offer to you out of concern for your safety. I can see how all of this weigh on your heart. Your past experiences drag at your heels...as do all of ours. But at some point, we have to start fighting back. We have to claw and rip our happiness out of the misery. We are trying to give you a chance to live your life for once.”

Glen took Brandon’s right hand and squeezed it. “We have to start living our lives despite the pain.... We have to move forwards. YOU have to move forwards.”