Page 17 of Secret Shifters Next Door

I looked at each of them in turn. “It said: mate. When I looked at Harley again, it said it a second time.”

The air seemed to get sucked out of the room, and they all looked like I’d slapped them. Steff looked less shocked, as I was pretty sure he’d already had it figured out before I said it. I sighed and relaxed in my chair, relieved to have it out.

“Are you sure that’s what it said? Maybe you misheard it,” Blayne said.

Miles nodded. “Right. You said you weren’t feeling well when it happened, so it may have been something else.”

I shook my head. “Nope. It used my voice, my mouth, my tongue. I didn’t misinterpret that. It was clear as day. It was telling me that Harley is my mate.”

Steff said, “She doesn’t know what you are, right? You didn’t let that slip at some point in New York?”

It was a ludicrous question. Humans didnotknow about shifters. It would cause a panic and be incredibly dangerous for us as a race. Hunters were a small but dedicated group, and even then, they caused fear and chaos amongst shifter clans around the world. If everyone knew, the number of hunters would growexponentially. We would have to go into even deeper hiding than we were now.

The few humans who did know about us were very high-ranking government officials. Presidents, joint chiefs, people like that. Other than those, a few very select people and very close friends were sometimes let in on the secret. Shifters did sometimes take humans as lovers, but they were not mated to them. Being a fated mate was a much deeper, more intense connection than simple human marriage. If I had to gauge it, maybe a tenth of a percent of a tenth of a percent of the entire human population knew. Probably less than that, honestly.

“No, bro, of course I didn’t tell her. I’m not insane.”

Steff leaned back and raised his hands in a defensive gesture. “Sorry, just had to cover all the bases.”

“This is bananas, guys. What are we even talking about?” Miles said. “Humans and shifters cannot be mated.”

Blayne, who had gone very quiet, spoke up. “I think it can actually happen.”

I pinned him with my gaze, eager to hear what he was going to say.

“My brother loved a human woman. Fell head over heels for her. And she loved him right back. It was super intense. He even revealed to her that he was a shifter, and she didn’t bat an eye. I’m not sure if they were fated mates, but they might have been.”

Blayne’s face became very solemn. His brother had died not long before we found him. Blayne was nearly feral when we did, almost too far over the edge to come back. Losing his last living relative had almost stripped him of everything but the animalistic needs he had. Steff, Miles, and I had brought him back, but just barely. None of us thought for a moment he was lying or exaggerating.

Hearing this made me wonder if a shifter and a human really could be mated. The pull I had toward Harley was real andundeniable. I even remembered how homesick I had been in Toronto. At the time, I just thought I wanted to go home, but maybe it was Harley. My body and soul had been so desperate to get back to her it made me physically ill. I’d woken up every day feeling more and more like shit. That had never happened before, so maybe it could be true.

We let Blayne’s story settle, then Miles asked, “Did you feel anything when you first saw her?”

My mind drifted back to that night, and I went over every detail as best I could remember. I shook my head. “I know my dragon took notice, but it was nothing like what it’s doing now. It was purely noticing that Harley was a pretty woman and alone. I did the rest. There was no pull, no racing heart, nothing like this, and I definitely didn’t have a desire to claim her as my mate.”

“This isn’t natural,” Blayne mumbled. We all nodded in agreement.

Steff looked up. “What if she’s a witch?” he asked, almost sheepishly. “Maybe she cast some sort of love spell.”

I laughed, so did Blayne and Miles. Witches were real, yes, but incredibly rare. They weren’t the goths who liked to play with tarot cards and herbs and worshipped nature you saw all over the internet and in bigger cities. They were the real deal—spell casters, soothsayers, mystical beings similar to shifters. None of us had ever seen one, but even though I’d never met a witch, I had a hard time believing Harley was one. I said as much, and the others agreed. Even Steff, though grudgingly.

Miles stood and walked around to the computer on his desk. “I need to do some more digging. Maybe I missed something.”

There was very little chance that was the case. Miles was the resident private investigator for our firm, and he was incredibly good at what he did.

“Hang back until we’re sure Harley isn’t a true threat. Stay away from her,” Miles said.

That pissed my dragon off. A sudden surge of irritation and anger flared within, and a deep reptilian growl escaped my throat. When they looked at me in surprise, I sighed and slumped in my chair. The winged beast inside me was absolutely not on board with staying away from Harley. If I even tried, it would give me hell for it.

EIGHT

HARLEY

By Wednesday morning, I was a nervous wreck. The waiting room in the doctor’s office was too quiet. There was only one other woman waiting, and no music played to set me at ease. That left me with nothing but my thoughts as I waited.

I couldn’t even concentrate on the book I’d loaded on my phone. I kept reading the same sentence over and over until irritation made me shove my phone back into my purse. Instead, I stared at the floor, trying not to be too emotional. All I could think about was going in there alone. I’d never done this alone before. Sam had always been there. He’d been right beside me every step of the way with both girls––every appointment, birthing class, and baby registry.

Thinking about being alone only reminded me that Sam was gone. I bit back tears that threatened to fill my eyes. I’d be damned if I would be that lonely woman crying at the OB-GYN’s office. Not happening.

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