Page 84 of Secret Shifters Next Door

“If you kill me, shifter, you won’t know the flaw in Emily’s curse.”

Tate threw the man to the ground. The guy rolled on the ground there for a few seconds, retching and coughing, rubbing at his throat.

“You are a scary son of a bitch,” he said, after getting his breath back.

“What damned flaw?” Tate asked.

The man stood and took a few steps away from Tate. He pointed at me. “The flaw is her. Emily got sloppy and was going native. That’s why we had to put that magical bitch down. She got close to Harley. She tried to reverse the spell but couldn’t. Instead she cast a new spell of protection. Each one of you nasty motherfuckers is going to be fated to mate to a human. None of you get to be with other shifters. But her new spell will protect those women. At least as long as they accept youthingsfor what you are.”

He looked like he wanted to be sick, as if the very idea of a human wanting to be with a shifter was too much to stand. He was a bigot of the highest caliber. He mademewant to be sick.

He then held up a finger and smiled a dark, mischievous smile. It made my skin crawl seeing it. “Just ’cause we can’t hurt you ladies, doesn’t mean we can’t make your lives miserable. And we very much plan on making your existence a living hell. At least until the boss decides it’s time to end your unnatural lives. You see, this is your warning. To get all the humans in your life out of here before it gets really bad. I’ve seen the young girls who live here. They haven’t been sullied yet. They deserve to go on and live good human lives. This is your one chance to get them out of here. Do what you need to before we come back.”

He took a step closer to his team, and they all began to try and fade back into the woods. He pushed his rifle back behind him and rested his hand on the pistol at his hip. He and Tate stared at each other, each radiating hatred back at the other.

The man flashed a feral smile at me. “One thing Miss Shifter-fucker. That protection for mates only covers humans. Once you let one of these filthy beasts change you? Protection is gone.”

Without hesitation, he swiftly pulled the pistol from his holster. Time seemed to slow as he raised the barrel toward me. Tate roared out in rage and shock. The pistol bucked in theman’s hand. There was time for me to think of all the things I’d done, all the people I’d loved. My girls’ faces, their first cries when they were born, the first time my son kicked in my womb, the moment Tate said he loved me.

In less than a half second, the bullet slammed into my chest. There was a massive flash of light and a pop like an electrical conduit blowing. I was thrown back, stumbling, but I remained on my feet. The bullet, smashed and warped, fell to the stone patio. The slightplinksound was the only thing I could hear. I looked at my chest, looking for a bullet hole. Instead, I saw the opal necklace Emily had given me.

“Fucking damned witches,” the man screamed and turned to run, his team following.

Steff and Blayne leaped into action, sprinting into the woods after the hunters. I eased myself down to the ground. My hands and body shook. I should have been dead. A bullet should have ripped through my chest, bursting my heart and blowing a hole out my back. Iwouldbe dead. If not for Emily.

Tate knelt next to me, his eyes as bright as flashlights. I’d never seen them like that. His face was a mask of rage and worry.

“Are you okay?” His voice shook as he spoke.

Gunshots echoed from the forest. I tried to ignore them. I looked up at Tate and touched the necklace. “I am. I’m fine.”

There was a deep bass growl from behind Tate. We both turned to look, and the biggest grizzly bear I’d ever seen erupted from the trees. It had to be a thousand pounds, if not more. Behind it came a thickly muscled panther. The creatures skidded to a stop. The bear turned into Steff, and the panther morphed into Blayne.

Even after watching Tate become a dragon, after seeing what they’d done to Luis’s men, hearing the stories, and knowing it was all true, my jaw still dropped. I was still shocked that all thiswas real. Magic wasreal, but so was the danger that came with it.

Blayne put his hands on his knees, sucking breath. “They got away. They had a truck waiting in the woods. I ran as fast as I could, but I couldn’t catch them. They took some shots at us while they went.”

“Assholes nicked me,” Steff said, fingering a bloody scratch on his shoulder. “I’ll live.”

Once we were sure they were gone, we went inside. Tate secured all the windows and doors and checked and double-checked that the alarm system was on while Steff and Blayne helped bring Miles downstairs. They set him up on the couch, and I was surprised at how much better he looked. It made me wonder if shifters healed faster than humans.

Tate, finally sure the house was secure, sat with us. “Okay, good news. I don’t think the hunters are going to make any more moves very soon.”

“Why do you say that?” Miles asked, frowning in confusion.

“Well, the guy made sure to let us know that there’s someone bigger in charge, who wants me for himself. They know I’m a dragon, and that will require they take their time planning. I think this whole thing today was their attempt to kill Harley or one of you three.” He nodded toward Blayne, Steff, and Miles. “They wanted to do something that would send me over the edge and make me easier to take down. That whole plan went to hell. They’ll have to drop back and be more careful with the next plan.”

“We can’t let our guards down, but I think we’ve bought some time. For now, the danger is moving away from us. It’s coming back, but not immediately.”

Steff pointed at my necklace. “So, I guess the witch wasn’t all bad after all. Did you guys see that thing?

Tate raised his hand and gently thumbed the opal around my neck. I could see the look in his eyes. He was as thankful for Emily as I was. Even in death, she’d saved my life. It made me more heartsick. Maybe she could have truly changed if she’d had a little more time. I wished she was here, even for only a few seconds, so I could tell her how grateful I was to her.

THIRTY-SEVEN

TATE

I had one more job to do. It needed to be done before I could ever relax. It had been a couple of days since the hunter attack. Miles was almost back to normal, his shifter healing had brought him back better than I’d thought. None of us had ever seen someone get shot full of that much silver and survive. Saying I was grateful was an understatement.

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