Page 202 of Secret Shifters Next Door

Instead of going back to sleep, I cleaned my apartment, did a load of laundry, and then killed time the rest of the night. At seven in the morning, I woke with a start when my cell rang.I’d fallen asleep in my recliner while trying to keep my mind off Celina and her body by reading a book. Good. That meant I got about three full hours of sleep. Fuck my life.

I grabbed my phone and glanced at the display. There was no good reason why Blayne would be calling me at seven in the morning.

“What’s up?” I said as I answered, trepidation already growing in my gut.

“You need to get to the office.”

I frowned. Blayne was usually pretty laid-back and easy-going. Now, he sounded strained. Scared. Whatever was going on was bad.

“Are the guys okay?” I asked.

“Tate and Steff are on their way. They’re fine. Just get here, bro. You need to hear this in person.” Without another word, he hung up. Definitely not like him. Something had gone sideways. I didn’t bother changing out of my pajama bottoms and T-shirt. All I did was throw on socks and shoes, then I grabbed a coat before I rushed out the door.

I got to the office in less than ten minutes. It was still way too early for the rest of the team to be in, and the other guys stood right inside the door. Also weird. We usually met in one of the offices or conference rooms. They looked…I didn’t even know how to describe it. Like they were at a funeral or something. Fear jolted inside me, and I had to know exactly what was happening.

“What’s going on?” I asked

Tate stepped forward. “It’s your pack. The hunters attacked again, and they were much more organized this time. There’s…” He winced, looking pained, which had my heart beating a mile a minute. Tate shook his head. “Multiple casualties. A lot.”

The ground was ripped out from under me. My legs went weak, and I started to lower myself to the floor, but Blayne was there with a chair. I sank into it and buried my face in myhands. My pack. My family. Even though I’d been expelled and ostracized from them, it was still where I’d grown up. I had friends there. My parents…

I jerked my head up. “My mother and father? Are they alive?”

Steff held his hands up to slow me down. “That’s what we’re trying to figure out. The pack sent word through the typical shifter channels. The only reason we know about this is because I checked my email when I got up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night. I sent a message back saying we had a former member and we needed a list of the dead. We’re waiting for that. We need to hang on, okay?” He glanced at Blayne and Tate. “Um…I’m sure that they’re fine.”

His hesitation didn’t ease my anguish. I was dizzy and a little nauseous. The worst part was that we couldn’t do anything but stand around and wait. Tate called the rest of the staff and gave them the day off with pay, and I was immensely thankful for that. There was no way I could even attempt to act like everything was okay. Hell, I couldn’t even stand—I didn’t trust my legs enough. Blayne walked down the street to get us donuts, but even after he got back and set the donuts on the table, they remained untouched. None of us had an appetite.

My brain was preparing for the worst. Inch by inch, I was building up a wall in my mind. A protection tactic for when I had to accept the inevitable. A cushion against the agony and pain of what I knew was coming. They were gone. Deep inside, below all the hopes and wishes, I was absolutely certain that my parents were dead.

An hour and a half later, Steff’s phone chimed. He checked it, and his face went tight. “Shit. They sent the list.” He looked at me. “Do you want to read it? Want me to call out the names?”

I gave a tight shake of my head. “Give it,” I said, holding my trembling hand out for the phone.

Steff took a step toward me and put the device in my palm. I took a deep, steadying breath before looking at the screen. A sigh exploded out of me at the sheer amount of names. Oh my god. Wolf packs were typically small familial units formed through blood ties and mating. My old pack had comprised over a dozen family units. It had been one of the largest wolf packs in the country. I was staring at twenty names at the least—almost a quarter of the entire pack.

I stared at the screen for several seconds, but I couldn’t get my eyes to focus. I was too terrified to actually begin reading. Finally, I gritted my teeth and started down the list. The very first name was the alpha, the man who’d stolen Liz from me. I didn’t feel even a hint of my old anger. The man had had a family. People who loved him. Now he was gone. I slid my eyes down the list. Multiple names stuck out. David, a kid I’d gone fishing with when I was younger. Mira, the first girl I’d kissed before I met Liz. Every name I recognized was like a punch in the chest. Then I got to the end. My breath hissed out, and I scanned the list a second and then a third time. Their names weren’t there. My parents weren’t on the list.

I sank into the chair, all the tension I’d been holding in my body releasing in a rush. I hadn’t realized I’d been wound up so tight. I was exhausted, like I’d run a marathon. I looked up at the guys. They looked as emotionally invested in my reaction as I’d been about the list. I smiled weakly. “They aren’t there. My parents’ names. They aren’t there.”

Tate and Blayne sighed in relief. Steff put his hands in the air and hissed a triumphant curse. I sat there for a few moments, thinking about Liz. Her name hadn’t been on the list, either. How was she dealing with losing her mate? The pain had to be unimaginable. She’d ripped my heart out and hadn’t looked back, but I wasn’t so cold that I couldn’t empathize. I wouldnever wish pain and heartbreak on anyone. Well, maybe on the hunters, but no one else.

I looked at the email again, noticing a paragraph of text beneath the list of names. I straightened as I read it. The pack had managed to capture a younger girl who was one of the hunters. It sounded like she hadn’t even wanted to be there. They were detaining her and would be questioning her after the pack had dealt with the dead. It was signed with the acting alpha’s name. I blinked at the name. My old alpha. The father of the guy who Liz had left me for. The man who had banished me. His son had taken over a few years after I left, but now it looked like the crisis had pulled the old alpha out of retirement. Before the banishment, we’d been on friendly terms. I wondered if the banishment was still in effect with everything that had happened. Or if it was as strict as it had been. Would they let me call? Could I actually speak with my parents?

I looked at Tate. “Do I try calling? I need to try and hear their voices.”

Tate nodded. “I’ll make the call.”

He dialed the number we had, and I sat, listening, while he relayed my request to the alpha. After a few minutes, Tate handed me the phone.

“Hello?”

“Is this Miles Kelly?”

“Yeah, it is.”

“Not sure if you remember me. Name’s Donovan. I’m the alpha, now that…well, I’m the alpha again, that’s all that matters.” His voice was husky and strained. I had to remind myself that he’d lost a lot of people, including his only son and heir.

“I remember. I’m sorry for your loss. Many of those people were my friends once upon a time.”

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