The Wife Who Rode Her Black Panther Husband Daily Didn’t Know His Child Was A Leopard Chapter 04
I thought long and hard.
I took a deep breath and knelt down.
I looked at the girls seriously.
“Babies, I need to tell you something.”
“Daddy… might not be your real dad.”
Zara’s little face twisted in total confusion.
Her first question was:
“Are you our real mom?”
I nodded fast.
“Of course I am!”
Zara nodded like a tiny grown-up. “That’s all I need to know. No more questions.”
Mia was sucking her thumb and nodded too. “Yep, that’s enough.”
My throat stung.
They just accepted it?
These girls had way thicker skin than me.
Their real dad must be just as calm and steady as Kael.
Zara had just shifted for the first time and couldn’t control it yet.
She forced herself back to human, but her tail wouldn’t tuck away.
Kael hated being lied to more than anything.
If he found out the girls weren’t his…
I shivered, remembering the comments about the Shifter Horde.
I glanced at my pink-dyed hair and got an idea.
Half an hour later.
I led Zara into an upscale private salon.
The manager showed me to the VIP lounge.
“You said this natural berry hair dye is totally safe for her skin, right…?”
Then I saw someone already sitting there.
My voice died in my throat.
A man leaned back on a leather sofa.
Long legs crossed, staring at his phone.
His sharp, familiar side profile looked just like Kael—nearly identical.
He looked up when he heard me.
His gaze slid over the little tail flicking behind Zara, then landed on me.
At the same time, Zara’s Leopard Shifter tail shot inside her jacket to hide.
My heart dropped.
I tucked Zara behind me and tried to slip away.
Jax Reed stood up.
He smiled innocently and greeted me.
“Fancy seeing you here, cousin-in-law.”
He was Kael’s cousin, a Leopard Shifter.
I’d only met him once at the wedding.
He’d been dead drunk that day. I’d heard he was upset because the woman he liked had gotten married.
He’d kept toasting Kael, jealous he’d ended up with the one he loved.
My heart ached listening to it.
What love?
It was just me pining after him.
If I hadn’t gotten pregnant after that crazy night, Kael would’ve never looked at me.
“It is coincidental.”
I studied his face quietly.
I relaxed a little.
He’d been looking at his phone—he hadn’t seen anything.
I scrambled to think of an excuse to leave.
The lead stylist walked over to confirm.
“We’re dyeing this little one’s spotted tail solid black, correct?”
The air went dead silent for a second.
I quickly checked Jax’s reaction.
He leaned down with a warm smile and patted Zara’s head.
His gaze felt like it could see right through her jacket to the leopard tail hidden underneath.
I was about to crack and confess.
Then he spoke, still smiling.
“Kids are always up to something.”
“When I was little, I idolized my cousin. I snuck my mom’s hair dye and turned myself into a Black Panther. We look so alike, no one even noticed.”
“Zara’s just giving her tail a little makeover, right?”
My eyes lit up.
I nodded frantically.
“Yeah, exactly!”
“She was messing around with other shifters at preschool…”
“I brought her to fix it right away. Can’t have her dyeing her fur this young.”
A staff member came to tell him his stylist was ready.
But he waved it off.
“I’m not in a hurry. Let Zara go first.”
He looked up at me with a gentle smile.
My opinion of him shot up instantly.
Zara was taken to the back to get her hair dyed. It was just us in the lounge.
I sat on the sofa.
I stared at a magazine but couldn’t read a single word.
The air felt awkward and tense.
I snuck a glance at Jax.
He kept looking at his phone, his profile sharp under the overhead lights.
He looked so much like Kael.
Especially the eyes and the mouth.
Then it hit me.
He was a Leopard Shifter.
A wild, bold thought crossed my mind.
But… no.
We’d only met at the wedding.
Even if something had happened that night, the timing wouldn’t line up…
Whatever. I’d just ask him.
I hesitated forever.
“Uh… you—”
Just then, the salon door opened.
Kael walked in.
With a woman right beside him.
Her long hair was tangled around his coat button, and they were pressed together in a strange, tangled way.
