Page 258 of Secret Shifters Next Door

The malice and hatred in my voice jolted the two people before me. Luis took a hesitant step backward, and Ava released me as if she’d been burned and backed away. The fear in their eyes only stoked my anger.

“What the fuck happened to Liam?” I screamed.

Ava flinched and took a few seconds to recover before she spoke. Her voice was clogged, and tears continued to stream down her cheeks. “He’s gone. Blayne, I’m so sorry. You have no idea how sorry I am.”

The world spun off its axis, and I barely heard the gut-wrenching sob she let out.

“Jesus Christ,” Luis hissed from behind her and wiped at his eyes.

“I loved him. I…I needed to be the one to come tell you,” Ava stuttered through her tears.

“You haven’t told me what happened yet. How did he die?” I asked, my voice wooden.

Ava shook her head. “We know what you and your brother are. My whole family knows about shifters. Liam was…he was using his abilities to watch my dad’s enemies and scout for missions. He got caught tonight. They found him, and shot him. Oh God.” She buried her face in her hands.

My rage finally boiled over. The revelation that my brother had told humans about us was the least of my worries.

I leaped to my feet and grabbed Ava’s shirt, yanking her toward me. I pressed my face into hers. “Your piece of shit family got him killed. This is all because of you. You stupid rich bitch. My brother is fucking dead, and it’s all your fault.”

“Hey!” Luis said, stepping forward and putting his hand behind his back, no doubt resting his fingers on a gun.

I swung my head to look his way. Our eyes locked and he froze, seeing God-knows-what in my gaze. Whatever he saw scared him enough to remove his hand from his gun. He raised his hands in surrender.

“Boy, it was a bad night. I understand you’re heartbroken. Christ, so are we. I loved Liam like he was my own son. So did Gio and the others. He got shot, and by the time we got to him, he was almost gone already.”

The mental image of a bullet tearing through my brother’s body was like a knife digging into my heart. I fought back a sob, clutching it deep in my throat and burying it.

Instead, I bared my teeth and snarled, “You got him killed, you piece of shit. You and your trash brothers.” I looked into Ava’s still-crying eyes. “Your whole family is nothing but trash. And now my brother is dead because ofyou.”

Ava flinched at the words.

“Be that as it may,” Luis said. “We came here to tell you what happened. We loved him, and we knew he’d want us to tell you. I’m sorry, son. Dammit, I’m sorry. I don’t want you to worry about anything, though. We’re gonna pay for the funeral and burial. You shouldn’t have to worry about things like that.”

I shoved Ava back toward her uncle. Luis caught her before she fell to the ground. My anger was fiercer than anything I’d ever experienced. No one could have been able to get as angry as I was at that moment. It was as if my entire body was on fire.

Taking a step toward them, I shifted. As I dropped to all fours, my skin morphed into an inky black coat and my teeth elongated into sharp fangs. I prowled closer, growling at them.

Ava and Luis took several hurried steps back. Luis raised a hand. “Blayne, calm down. I know you’re upset, but don’t do anything rash.”

I hissed, pawing at the ground before shifting back to my human form. I pointed at them. “You stay the fuck away fromme. You hear? I never want to see you again.” I glared at Ava. “Any of you. You killed my brother. I don’t give a damn who shot him. You”—I jabbed a finger toward her—“killed him. I’ll claim my brother’s body, I’ll pay for his funeral. I don’t want another dime of your goddamned blood money. Don’t even think about setting foot there. I do not want you tainting his burial.”

Ava’s face crumpled and fresh tears tracked down her cheeks. “Blayne, please. I didn’t have anything to do with this. I need to pay my respects?—”

“Fuck your respects, bitch!” I lunged at her. “I couldn’t give a damn about your needs. Tell me where his body is, then get the hell out of here.”

Luis pulled at Ava and dragged her back to the car. The sound of her sobs vanished when he slammed her door shut. He looked back at me.

“His body will be at the hospital. We know people, and we got it taken care of quietly. No police involvement. You can…you can make arrangements from there.”

Without another word, he got into the driver’s seat.

I sank to my knees as the car sped off and sat there, rocking back and forth until the dam finally broke and the sadness managed to crash through the rage. Leaning forward, I pressed my forehead into the dirt and screamed. It was the inarticulate, keening scream of heartache, loss, and sadness—unlike any sound I’d ever made before. It was terrifying, but I couldn’t stop. The grief I felt now was worse than when my parents died. Because I was alone now. Fully and completely alone. The tears came then, hot and painful. I stayed like that—sobbing on my knees—until dawn broke.

Days later, I stood in the graveyard, my gray suit jacket draped across my shoulders. The priest was the only other person at the gravesite. Our pack had always been small, and after our parents died, the other family we’d lived with haddrifted away to join another group of panther shifters. It had left Liam and me alone.

We’d been everything to each other, had been our own little pack. That had been enough for us. Then Ava came into the picture. I stared at Liam’s coffin as it slowly lowered into the grave, unshed tears welling in my eyes.

I flinched when a hand came to rest on my shoulder. Whirling around, I came face to face with Luis Francis standing behind me in an immaculate black suit and tie.

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