Page 26 of Pandemonium

“I’ll call them now, and if they want to video chat or get-together, we can plan that.”

“Sounds good.”

She found a number in her contact list and put the phone on speaker. A woman answered.

“Hi Mom. Is Dad around? I’d like to talk to you both.”

“Sure, he’s in the backyard.”

There was a muffled sound and her mom’s voice was heard calling for her mate.

“Everything’s okay, right?” her mom asked.

“Very,” Demi said.

“Ah, interesting. Oh, here he is.”

“Hi honey,” a male said.

“Hi Dad. I’ve got some great news and I wanted to tell you both together.” She paused and inhaled, then continued, “I found my heart-matches last night.”

“Oh! You did? How wonderful,” her mom said.

“Wait, did you saymatches?” her dad asked.

“I did. They’re brothers—Rafe and Rhaider—and they’re part of the new house band at Tails. They’re grizzly bear shifters.”

There was a long pause, and Demi glanced nervously at Rafe and his brother.

“Well, how about that!” her mom said. “Congratulations.”

“Yes, yes,” her dad said, “Congratulations. Are your males on speaker?”

“We are. Hello, I’m Rafe.”

“I’m Rhaider. It’s nice to meet you, by phone,” Rhaider said with a chuckle.

“Demi, honey,” her father said, “could you take us off speaker for a moment?”

“Sure.” She glanced at them and switched the phone off the speaker. “Okay, what’s up?”

Even though she wasn’t on speaker, they could still hear the conversation very clearly.

“Two males, honey?” her mom asked. “It’s…just not done.”

“Mom,” Demi said, “they’re my heart-matches.”

“Are you certain?” her dad asked. “It’s not normal.”

“Is this because they’re not lions?” Demi asked.

“No, of course not,” her mom said. “It’s just a surprise. How do you know they’re both for you?”

“Because I feel it all the way to my bones, Mom. And my lioness is crazy about both of them. If I didn’t feel a connection to them both as heart-matches, then I wouldn’t have introduced them to you as my mates.”

There was a pause, and then her dad said, “You always did have to do things differently.”

Demi snorted. “I guess having two mates is about as different as a person can get.”

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