Page 331 of Secret Shifters Next Door

He looked at me and nodded. “I’ll be fine. These sons of bitches attacking us won’t be, though.” A gold shimmer flashed across his eyes.

Before we could say anything else, the office phone rang. Tate looked at it, then looked back at us. “Why do I have the feeling this is gonna be more bad news?”

“Answer it,” Miles said.

Tate hit the speaker button on the conference phone. The voice that came through the speaker made my skin crawl.

“Hello. Are all four of you animals there?” Antonio asked.

Growls erupted around the room. His voice enraged us all. “We’re here, you piece of shit!” Steff called out.

“Oh, good. I have to say, I was hoping I would have more time to prepare, but it seems beasts aren’t able to contain themselves. I always knew you creatures were inherently impulsive. Disgusting, really. How many human women have you forced yourselves on because you couldn’t contain your urges? Truly awful to think about. Did my little ruse trick you and those idiot mobsters?”

Tate leaned down close to the phone. “Listen to me, Antonio. You have no idea what you’ve done.”

“Oh, Tate Mills? Is that you? I have many,manyplans for you. I can’t wait to find your family. I’ll make you watch as we dissect your mate. She’ll still be alive when we do. I’ll have that toddler of yours pickled in formaldehyde. You have some teenage daughters, too, I recall. I think I can find some of my moreunscrupulousmen who would enjoy having fun with them while you watch. They’ve been sullied by your presence. We can’t consider them to be human anymore.”

Tate roared in anger and twisted away from the phone, slamming a fist into the drywall. He seethed with rage, and the gold in his eyes didn’t fade.

I gritted my teeth and glanced around the room. The others all looked as horrified and pissed as Tate. This motherfucker had to go. And soon.

“With that being said,'' Antonio went on, his tone sickeningly calm and businesslike, “I don’twantany innocent humans to be hurt. All I want in life is to protect them from your kind. I have a proposition for you to ensure collateral damage is kept to a minimum.”

“What is it?” Miles snarled.

“I’ve been lenient, allowing you all to live as long as I have. It’s time for this to come to an end. If you’d like to die in battle, my men and I will meet you at the Valley of Lilies. I think you know the location. That will be your one chance. If you don’t show, I will set my men loose on the town. Two hours. See you soon.”

The phone clicked off. We all stood in boiling anger. Tate looked the worst. Antonio had specifically threatened him and his family. Threatened them with fates worse than death. If that asshole had been in the vicinity, I had no doubt we would have torn him limb from limb. We wouldn’t even have had to shift.

Tate finally brought himself under control and took a step toward us. “This ends today.” As scared as he looked, his voicewas steady. “You are my brothers, and I’m yours. I’m ready to go to battle with you. I promise I’ll watch your backs. I can’t tell you how this is gonna go, but all I can do is tell you that I’ll do all I can to protect you all.” His eyes grew more intense than I’d ever seen. “I would die for you all. For the longest time, you were my only family. Are you ready to go kick some ass?”

“Hell, yes,” Miles said.

“Bet your ass.” Steff nodded eagerly.

I put my hand out and clasped Tate’s shoulder. “We’re in this. Let’s go finish it.”

We gathered the gear Gio had gotten for us. He had a guy make special body armor for me. It hung uncomfortably loose in some spots and was crazy tight in others. He’d told me he’d it fitted so that when I shifted to my panther form, it would protect me better. It felt ridiculous, but I wore it, knowing how bad things would get.

The fear of what was to come settled over us like a rain cloud. As we piled into Tate’s truck, there was a strange sense of finality to everything we’d done. Would that be the last time we’d walk out of the office together? Would the car ride be the last one we ever took? Would any of us ever see our mates and families again?

Steff and I were too worried about what was happening at Gio’s to think straight. Miles kept dialing the numbers we had, but there was no answer.

“We need to go check on them,” Steff muttered. “We need to go to Gio’s.”

Miles sighed and turned to look at us. “That’s what Antonio is planning on. It’s why he went for April and Ava. He wants us to split up. We have to follow the plan as written.”

Steff looked to be on the verge of a panic attack. I felt the same way. I’d have made the exact same argument for going after our mates, but I couldn’t get my jaw to work.

“Look,” Miles said, “April said they were in Gio’s panic room, right?”

Steff nodded rigidly.

“If that’s the case, they’ll be safe there for hours. Worst-case scenario, if Gio’s guys can’t clear the house, Antonio’s men will need to cut through the metal walls. You know how hard those things are to get into. Fuck, we sell and install the systems ourselves. It’ll take four or five hours to get in, and that’s if they have the right equipment. They’ll be safe. Once we deal with Antonio, we’ll go to them. I promise.” Miles looked at Steff and me with a fierceness that told us he meant every word.

It took all we had, but Steff and I both nodded. We rode on in silence. I was sure Steff was doing his best to think the best. Miles was right—a solid safe room would have some really thick metal walls. They were safe. Possibly in the safest place in the whole county. As awful as it was, we had to go on.

We made one stop on the way: Tate’s house to pick up Jared. I didn’t think it was possible, but the younger man looked even more worried and scared than we did. He squeezed in the back seat with Steff and Miles. We didn’t say anything to him; the haunted look in his eyes told us he was better off dealing with his fear in silence.

---