Page 294 of Secret Shifters Next Door

I sprinted through the woods for over two hours, pushing myself nearly to the point of exhaustion. That was only partly because we were both enjoying it. The other reason was that I wanted to block out the emotions flooding through my mind. As soon as I’d shifted and my panther had gotten to see and touch Ava, an overwhelming sense of adoration, longing, and lust had filled us both. Even though the mating bond had been severed, my panther was still hung up on her.

The emotions hadn’t stopped with my panther, though. When I’d shifted back and stood in front of her, I’d been overcome with desire. I’d wanted to kiss her. That thought had scrambled my brain and made me reevaluate things. On some level, I was irritated and disgusted with myself. But on anotherlevel, I wondered what it would have been like to press my lips against hers.

I’d come running out of the forest and shifted back to human form around nine o’clock, covered in a sheen of sweat. In my mind, my panther was more content than I could remember it ever having been in the last month.

I glanced across the street at Ava’s house, and a little lump of sadness filled my chest when I saw her car wasn’t there. I stood in my driveway, staring at the house. Where did she go? Had she felt the same thing I had? Maybe so. Maybe she’d had to go on a drive to clear her head the way I’d gone on a run.

Not knowing what to do with that thought, I went inside and collapsed into bed, immediately falling into a dreamless sleep.

The next morning, I headed out for work at the crack of dawn. Ava’s car still wasn’t in her driveway. Maybe she’d slept at her dad’s house? She was taking care of him, so that was plausible. He may have had a bad day, and she needed to stay the night. Shrugging, I got into my car.

The drive to work was filled with images of her rejecting me again. Of not wanting to be anywhere near me. What if she’d been freaked out, and packed up and left? That thought alone sent my panther into near hysterics. No. That wasn’t what was going on. In all likelihood, her father had needed her.

I sat at a traffic light. Why did I care what she was doing? All I’d done since seeing her in the cemetery was push her away. The idea of her leaving should have filled me with relief. Why was I now freaking out that she might be gone? My panther wanted her, but…I shook the thought away and continued driving.

The day passed in a blur. My mind filled with thoughts of Ava leaving and memories of that fleeting moment when we’d stood in front of each other, almost close enough for our breath to mingle.

A pair of snapping fingers knocked me out of my thoughts. I jerked back and blinked. Steff’s crooked grin greeted me. “You good? Looked like you were knee-deep in some hellacious daydreaming.”

A quick glance around the room showed Tate and Miles were looking at me, too, but instead of grinning, they seemed worried.

I waved them all off. “Yeah, yeah. I’m fine, sorry. Tate’s voice makes me want to fall asleep. You know how it is.”

Miles burst out laughing and Tate rolled his eyes. “Very funny. Can we get back to what we were talking about?”

“Go on. Try to make it a little less dry, if you can,” I said. I had no clue what he’d been saying.

“Anyway…a call came in about ten minutes ago. We’re gonna have some guests soon.” Tate nodded toward Miles. “Our boy here has been working the phones hardcore. We’ve got several alphas coming to discuss how to deal with these hunters. A sort of alliance, I guess. They all understand that if we go down, they’ll be the next dish on the menu. Steff, your old alpha is flying in. After the attack on their pack, he doesn’t want to be blindsided again.”

Steff’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “Okay. I’ll be ready.”

Things were getting serious. In all the years the four of us had been a pack, we’d never had to deal with a threat as big as this. There was too much at stake here to shrug off any warning or turn away any form of help, including other shifter packs or crime bosses like Gio Francis. Any help was good help. These guys were my pack, my family. And their families were my extended family. If anything happened to them or someone they loved, I’d be as devastated as when Liam had died. We had to do everything in our power to end the hunter threat.

“First things first, we need to make sure our families are safe,” Tate said. “I’m sending Harley and the kids on avacation.”He made air quotes around the word. “Harley knows what’s going down, but the girls do not, and the baby is too young to understand anything. I rented them a place on the Gulf Coast. How did you guys do with your ladies?”

Steff blew out a frustrated breath. “April isn’t going anywhere. Absolutely refuses to even discuss it. Her brothers are hellbent on helping out. After what happened with her nephew’s kidnapping and her brother getting blackmailed, they're fired up. I’ll have her stay with them, I guess.”

Miles nodded. “Celina’s pregnant and she knows how dangerous all this is. She saw firsthand what we’re up against with Mariana. I booked her a flight back out to Cali. She’s gonna crash with her editor. They’d always said they needed to hang out in person, so it seems like a good cover. She can stay there as long as she needs. Until these fuckers aren’t on our asses anymore.”

“Have we heard anything from Gio? “ I asked. I wanted to know if our dirty friend had managed to live up to his end of the bargain yet.

Tate shook his head. “Not yet. I was gonna call him today and see?—”

He was cut off by the speaker phone buzzing and Kennedy’s voice breaking in. “Guys, you have visitors.”

We all exchanged a look before Tate answered. “Who is it?”

“That’s the weird part,” Kennedy said. “Won’t give me a name. Let me patch in the camera feed. Maybe you’ll recognize them.”

We hunched over Tate’s laptop screen. The black-and-white video popped up. Sam Francis and a younger guy glared up at the camera. They shared the same facial features. The younger guy had to be one of Ava’s cousins.

“Son of a bitch. Talk about speaking of the devil,” Steff said.

“Buzz them in, Kennedy,” Tate said. “Escort them back to the conference room.” He picked up his laptop and stood. “Come on. We need more room.”

We entered the conference room right as Kennedy brought in the two men. Miles nodded to her. “Thank you, Kennedy.”

She stepped back out, and the door shut with a soft click behind her. Sam nodded to me, and I nodded back unenthusiastically.

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