Page 260 of Secret Shifters Next Door

I sat in silence, enjoying the quiet, until it was time to go. I patted the tombstone. “All right, brother. I gotta go. I’ll see you soon.”

Standing, I brushed off my pants, then turned to leave. As I did, I froze in my tracks, my hands immediately curling into fists. I was staring into a face I hadn’t seen in years. A face I’d hoped to never see again as long as I lived. My breath hissed out in cloudy puffs in the winter air.

Right there, in front of me, stood Ava, holding a bouquet of flowers. She seemed just as surprised to see me.

The most horrifying thing of all—the thing that sent my mind reeling and filled me with a rage I did not even know I had—was the feeling in my chest. The pull, the ache, the desire. In the back of my mind, my panther purred low and insistently.

Mate.

I reeled at that. It was more than shock. It was horror.No.Not her. Anyone but her. I’d rather die.

Blinking the thoughts away, I let the dread and anger fill me. It was all I could do to keep my lip from curling in disgust as Istared her down. At least she looked embarrassed to be there. Of all the people, she had the least right to come to Liam’s grave.

Eyes wide with shock, she brushed a strand of hair from her face. “Uh… Blayne…I…I didn’t think I’d see you here,” she said, stumbling over her words.

“Me?” The words burst out of my mouth with enough venom to make her take an involuntary step back. “You didn’t think I would be here? You’re the one who has no business being here. After what you did, Ava? Christ.” I said the last word with a sneer, hoping it hurt her.

She lowered her eyes and stared at the flowers in her hands. “I only wanted to pay my respects. That’s all.”

“Pay your respects?” I hissed. “Ava, you're the reason Liam is in the ground. If not for you, I’d still have my brother. I seem to remember telling you and your damned uncle I didn’t want you anywhere near this grave. I think it would be best if you left. Or do I need to go get security?”

My panther squalled at me in fury, raging at me in a way it never had before. It didn’t want me to treat her like this. Luckily, I was in control. I’d treat her however I damn well pleased, curse be damned. I lifted a lip and let a feline growl erupt from my throat.

“You can put the cat away, Blayne. I’ll leave. No need to shift and try to scare me.” Ava walked around me quickly and laid her bouquet on Liam’s grave, then turned and strode away. She didn’t look back at me. As I watched her go, I was overwhelmed with the urge to scream. I wanted to rip trees out of the ground, to crack boulders with my fists—anything to release the rage inside me.

“Emily, I hope you’re rotting in hell for this,” I whispered under my breath.

That witch had cast the spell on us and made our lives a living hell. She’d forced these mates on us, and while my friends hadall been paired with women they could live the rest of their lives with, I was stuck in this hell. Emily was gone. Dead. But her legacy lived on.

How could this be possible? The odds had to be astronomical. How could my fated mate be this woman? Ava. My brother’s ex-girlfriend. The woman who got him killed. The person I hated more than anyone else in the world.

After I was certain Ava was gone, I hissed out a breath and kicked at the grass, ripping up a chunk of turf. The soil flew several feet, but the display felt childish and impotent. Huffing, I shoved my hands into the pockets of my jeans and stomped across the cemetery toward the parking lot.

My panther was losing its shit. I could barely focus on walking. All it wanted was to chase after Ava. It had never wanted anything more. There was no question. The panther’s reaction confirmed she was my fated mate. There was no denying it.

I needed to let the guys know about the this. We’d all known I would succumb to the curse next. Of the four of us, I was the only one who had yet to find my fated mate. Finding my mate was not what had surprised me and pissed me off. No, what pissed me off was who my mate was. If I dug deep into the recesses of my mind, I could feel my panther having inappropriate thoughts about Ava. Thoughts that were already verging on desire and need. It nearly made me gag. I was literally, physically ill thinking of her in that way. This would be the fight of a lifetime with my panther, and I dreaded it.

As I drove over to the office, my anger only seemed to increase. How could my life turn out like this? Things had been hard enough the last year without having this thrown in.

I stopped at a red light close to the office, impatiently waiting for it to turn green. My thoughts drifted back to the scene at the cemetery. Back to Ava. Ten years had passed. She’d changeda lot. When she and Liam were together, she’d always been a mousy little thing. Since then, though, she seemed to have blossomed. She was even prettier than she’d been ten years ago.

I blinked, then growled and slammed a palm into my steering wheel. Already? It was already happening? My own body and mind was betraying me. Simply knowing that some part of me was attracted to her made my rage boil up all over again.

The honk of a horn behind me ripped me from my internal struggle. The light had changed without me realizing it. I slammed my foot on the gas, my tires squealing as I sped toward the office. Not even bothering to turn into the entrance of the lot, I drove straight over the curb and pulled up to the front door.

Miles was out front, talking on his phone. His head snapped around when he heard my truck bumping over the curb that surrounded the parking lot. He raised an eyebrow when he saw me.

I jumped out of the truck and slammed the door with both hands.

“Hey, bud, I’m gonna need to call you back,” Miles said, seeing the state I was in.

Not ready to talk, I stood beside my truck, hands resting on the hood, head hanging down. Miles walked up behind me as I tried to calm my hammering heart and ragged breathing.

“So.” Miles cleared his throat. “Looks like your day hasn’t gone well.”

Unable to stop myself, I laughed. The sound surprised me. It was nice to laugh.

I took a breath and straightened to look at him. “Yeah, you could say that.”

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