Chapter Five
“What do you know about shifter children who have been orphaned?”
Sobek barely made it through his cabin door before yanking out his phone and stabbing at the Paulie app icon.
The screen flared to life with its usual cheerful graphic that seemed to change every week.
This time, it was a cartoon lightning bolt wearing sunglasses.
Paulie’s voice emerged, respectful as always, but Sobek always got the impression the app was laughing at him.
“Greetings, Sobek, Lord of the Crocodiles and the Mighty Waters. Many hundreds of shifter children have been orphaned over the ages. Were you thinking of any one specific?”
“I’m in a rural area in Louisiana in the United States. I have come across three children in a shared household. A wolf pup, male, approximately five years old, a panther cub, female, approximately four to five years old, and a crocodile hatchling, male, also around four.”
Sobek paced the length of the cabin’s small living room, his free hand clenching and unclenching. “All three children are displaying early manifestations of their shifter traits despite being far too young for such abilities to present, and there is no sign of any shifter parents in the area.”
“Early manifestation of abilities is generally only found in shifter children who have been experimented on in some way or subject to the interference of someone like the dark elves, for example. The Cloverleah pack took in a large group of those children a few years ago, however, they had been found in the Underworld. Finding children with similar abilities in rural America is definitely unusual and unlikely to be a coincidence. Give me a moment to check out records relating to that specific area.”
The phone screen shifted to show a loading animation.
Sobek continued pacing, his crocodile side churning beneath his skin.
His mate had three orphaned shifter children, and Rudy had absolutely no idea what they were.
The man had no concept of the paranormal world at all, which meant he’d been raising them completely blind to their needs, their natures, their…
“It appears there are some gaps in our knowledge banks, which will be addressed. The only pack the wolf pup could’ve originated from is the Cascade Mountain Pack in Oregon.
That pack was attacked a few years ago, leaving only three survivors.
However they were all older wolves who relocated to Canada, so I can’t see how your wolf child could have come from there.
The only other alternative is that the parents were lone wolves, not part of a pack, and that somehow the parents were killed by hunters in their animal form.
But that would require further study. I can pass on your request to Coda if you want more information there.
A full name and date of birth would help make the search more specific. ”
Sobek’s jaw tightened. Jack told Rudy he saw something happen to his parents.
So no matter what, he was looking at having witnessed his parents being shot as wolves, or he’d managed to escape from a massacre…
or was carted off…The possibilities were horribly endless, and none of them spoke well of Jack’s short life history.
“The panther cub - this one’s even trickier because panthers are more solitary, but I’ve got a female black panther shifter, who was killed three years ago in a car accident outside of Baton Rouge.
She was a single mother, with no known relatives but a child’s body was never recovered from the scene, and it was assumed by the authorities that the child had been left with relatives sometime prior to the accident. ”
Or Rose had been in the car and somehow crawled out. Either way, she’d ended up behind a gas station dumpster where a human with a good heart found her.
“As for the crocodile hatchling - I can understand why you’d be interested in this one, because of the rarity of them as a shifter type.
The only known crocodile shifter family was one that lived in Florida quite some years ago.
All four adult members of the small group were killed by hunters thirteen months ago, near the Florida-Alabama border.
There was no mention of a hatchling, but crocodile shifters guard their young obsessively, so if there was a child, he would have been hidden immediately when danger appeared. ”
“Obviously they hid him well.” Too well.
But that still didn’t explain how Timothy made it to Louisiana, found that pond, and…
Was he abducted, too, and then what? Just dumped when scales appeared because someone was afraid of having to pay doctor’s bills, or someone thought he was possessed by the devil or something?
Sobek stopped pacing. He’d rented this cabin specifically because of that pond.
It was deep enough for a full-grown crocodile to submerge comfortably, surrounded by enough vegetation to provide privacy.
He’d chosen it for that reason, and somehow Timothy had found it.
That was too much of a coincidence to actually be one.
“So here’s the summary: three orphaned shifter children, all from families that were completely wiped out. No living relatives on record, no packs or prides looking for them. These kids have no one.”
“They have a Rudy,” Sobek said, still distracted, trying to work out the logistics.
“Sorry, they have a who?” It wasn’t often that Sobek had heard Paulie sound surprised, but he clearly was now.
“Rudy. My mate.” The words came out rougher than Sobek intended. “The human who found all three of those children I saw, and who has been raising them ever since.”
A long pause. Then Paulie’s voice came back, now openly delighted.
“Congratulations. You found your mate. I need to update our records…”
“Don’t.” Sobek’s growl would have intimidated anyone else. “Not yet.”
“I see. I take it there are some complications. But seriously, congratulations. A human mate, that’s so…wait. Did you say he’s been raising three orphaned shifter children? As a human?”
“He has no idea what they are.” Sobek resumed pacing. “He thinks the occasional fur, scales, claws, and fangs are...anomalies. Things to be dismissed or explained away.”
“That’s actually kind of adorable, in a concerning way. Those kids must have incredible control for ones so young, especially if you claim they are showing signs of wanting to shift.”
They did. It actually made sense if all three children had been traumatized, that their animal sides had been trying to come forward to help them survive their trauma - an evolutionary trait on steroids, so to speak.
Sobek’s crocodile side surged forward, rumbling through his consciousness. Mate. Hatchling. Pack young. Pride young. Ours. Protect. Claim. For once, Sobek didn’t argue.
His crocodile instincts had always been about territory, family, and protection.
Unlike many other ancient gods, Sobek had never embraced the bedlam and debauchery that seemed to define their kind.
He’d watched civilizations rise and fall.
He’d seen countless families form and dissolve.
He’d remained separate from it all because nothing and no one had ever called to him the way the Nile once had.
Until one small human with freckles and no verbal filter had opened his door and bathed Sobek in sunlight.
“Paulie, what are the protocols for a god claiming a mate with existing children?”
“There aren’t any, really. You claim your mate, the mate claims you back, boom - instant family.
The Mother of All Things blessed all children of bonded mates with immortality and health, remember?
So once you and this Rudy person are properly bonded, the young will be yours in every way that matters. ”
Is that how those children survived? Sobek didn’t know, but his chest tightened. Once he claimed his mate - and he realized it was when not if - those children would become his family.
“I feel I should court him properly.” The words came out stiff because Sobek had exactly zero experience with anything remotely similar to dating. “I need to…what do humans expect? Do you have protocols for this?”
“Most couples tend to find their own way in those matters. Being honest is mandatory, and being consistent seems to be important. I believe, but I only have anecdotal accounts about this, that letting him see who you really are will be vitally important in your case.
Sobek stopped by the cabin’s back window, staring out at the pond where he’d first seen Timothy. “I have to tell Rudy the truth about what I am and what his children are.”
“Yes, although I would use caution for such an interesting conversation. ‘Hi, I’m an ancient Egyptian god, and surprise, your kids are shapeshifters,’ might not work very well. Most humans would struggle to accept information like that.”
“Rudy isn’t most humans.” Sobek didn’t know how he knew that, but he did.
“He’ll listen...correction, he’ll probably listen eventually.
I did mention that his children were shifters when we met, and he thought I was being rude or that I was suffering a head injury.
He’ll...he’ll need proof, but he will listen. ”
“Just don’t lead with ‘I’m a giant crocodile.’ That tends to scare people.”
Sobek snorted. “Noted. I need to...build trust first. Let him become comfortable with me. Then I’ll tell him everything.”
“And in the meantime?”
“In the meantime, if Timothy appears at the pond again, I’ll make him welcome.” Sobek’s jaw set. “I’m not turning away my hatchling.”
“Your hatchling, Lord Sobek. You sound very attached already.”
“He’s a crocodile shifter child with no one to teach him what he is. Of course, he’s my hatchling.”
“And the other two?”
“Mine.” Sobek wouldn’t turn his back on them either. “Rose and Jack are mine as well. If I claim Rudy, I claim all of them. That’s how family works.”
The app was silent for a moment, and then Paulie said, “I wish you luck, Lord of the Crocodiles. Yours won’t be an easy path, but from what I hear, it is well worth it. Contact me again if you need anything. All hail the Almighty Zeus and his beloved mate Paulie.”
The app went quiet. Sobek set his phone on the counter and walked back to the window.
The pond gleamed in the fading sunlight, peaceful and still.
It was tempting to slide back into the water’s embrace, but he had things to do - articles on child rearing to read and finding a way to be someone a human could trust enough to hear an impossible truth.
But he couldn’t deny how his crocodile side settled deep in his chest, content for the first time in forever, and how, for him… Is that excitement I feel? It certainly could be.
It would help if his crocodile side wasn’t still doing his caveman impersonation with his single word phrases. As if he could hear him - and his crocodile could - Sobek heard mate. Hatchlings. Ours. Will protect. We will prove ourselves worthy, running through his brain.
“Yes, yes,” Sobek murmured to the empty cabin. “Yes, we will.” He wasn’t going to go against the will of the Fates, who had clearly worked overtime to bring a mismatched family together.