Page 159 of Secret Shifters Next Door

I rested my head against the wall, too tired to even look him in the eye. “Steff, I don’t need your apologies right now. I only want all this to be over.”

THIRTY

STEFF

The cops got there faster than I’d expected. It was only one cruiser at first. Leaving April to sit on her bed, I went downstairs to join Tate. The officer that came in didn’t look older than twenty-one. The kid took one look in the box on the island and promptly sprinted from the house to puke his guts up in the front yard. Once he was done, he called in backup and a crime scene assessment team.

Within fifteen minutes, the house was buzzing with activity. It irritated me that they seemed more concerned withthissituation than they had when Aiden had been kidnapped. One of the detectives that arrived to question us was one of the same guys who’d been there the night the dead body had been left outside the door of the security firm.

He took one look at me and Tate and raised an eyebrow. “Mr. James? Mr. Mills? I have to say, I’m getting a little tired of meeting you in these situations.”

“Trust me, Officer. We’re equally as tired,” Tate said.

“Any idea who did this?”

“Yes,” I said. “Ryland Fields. He did this, just like he kidnapped Aiden Knight.”

The detective gave us a skeptical look before pulling out his phone. “Hey, this is Duggan. Can we send a cruiser up to the high school? I need us to do a… uh… welfare check on Ryland Fields. He’s a teacher there. Let me know what you guys find.” He hung up and looked at us again. “Happy?”

I nodded, relieved that they were doing something. Maybe this time the cops would actually be a help to us.

“Mind if I see the box?”

Tate led Duggan over to the kitchen. Duggan glanced inside and whistled. “That is… not pleasant. Who’s in the picture?”

It was my turn to answer. “His name is Luca Karson. He goes by Luca. He’s been hassling April for a while now. We’re pretty sure Ryland did this to try to show April how much he cares about her. Sick fuck.”

“Hearsay, Mr. James. I’ll write it down, but currently there is no evidence of any of that. Can I speak with Miss Knight?”

I was reluctant to have April subjected to questioning with how distraught she was, but it was necessary. Nodding, I went up the stairs to get her. She was still sitting on the bed, a blank look on her face.

“Hey, babe. The… well, the cops want to talk to you.”

“Okay,” she said in barely a mumble.

Downstairs, Detective Duggan took her to the couch, out of the way of the crime scene unit. His face and voice became softer and more compassionate with April than it had been with us.

“Miss Knight, I’m sorry this has happened to you. Can you detail what happened this morning?”

April went through everything that happened. I got more and more pissed off as she talked. I wasn’t mad at her, I was mad at Ryland, and even angrier at myself. I’d left her here to deal with this by herself. My bear had been acting more like a beast than a companion, so I’d gone on a run to try to reason with it. It couldn’t keep trying to take over and claim April without herconsent. The run was supposed to get some of the pent-up angst out of both of us.

I’d snarled and snapped at every rabbit and squirrel I’d seen as I’d gallop through the underbrush until we came to the open clearing where we liked to relax. We sat there, and I tried to reason with the bear, chastising it for mounting April that morning. It growled back at me, angry that I’d question its motives. I then reminded it of how scared he’d made her, and the bear had wilted in shame.

My body was aching from not sealing the bond with her, but I could handle the pain. The bear needed to as well. I made it a deal that we would talk to her about the claiming as soon as the danger with Ryland was over. The bear hadn’t liked that and had grumbled and growled at me, desperate to do it right then. For the first time in my life, I’d been pissed at the beast that shared my body. I’d told it that April would actually be in more danger from the hunters if she were turned before Ryland was dealt with. Did it want her to die because it couldn’t wait?

The bear had finally, grudgingly, accepted my deal. It didn’t care for usual human things, but the thought of protecting its mate was one thing that seemed to break through its stubborn head. The beast finally settled and calmed down. The guilt the creature felt bled through, and I knew it had regrets for how it acted. Instincts could be a difficult thing to overcome. Still, we’d wasted all that time in the forest hashing things out instead of being with April.

As I came jogging out of the forest, shifting back to human form, Tate’s truck had pulled up in the driveway. He’d gotten out and waved me down.

“Bro, April called. You freaked her the fuck out, man. What did I tell you about this?”

I’d opened my mouth to respond but was cut off by the blood-curdling scream from inside the house. That had both Tate andme setting off at a sprint. I nearly tore the door off its hinges as I plowed in, panicked to find what had caused her to scream like that.

Now, we stood there watching her answer questions about something she never should have had to deal with. If I’d been here, I would have demanded I be the one to open the box. I would have seen the disgusting mess inside it. If I hadn’t been out in the woods arguing with my damn bear, she wouldn’t have had to endure this. I wanted to drive a fist into my own face. It had almost broken me to see her crumpled on the floor, terror and disgust on her face. All I could think was that I was a piece of shit.

Detective Duggan finished speaking with April and stood, walking back to Tate and me. Before he could speak, his phone rang. “This is Duggan.” His face went slack, and he threw a suspicious glance our way. “Okay. Go ahead and check his house. Get a picture out there so all the patrols can look out for him.”

He hung up and looked at me. “Mr. Fields didn’t show up for work today. Didn’t call the principal or anything. Full no-show. Principal is pretty pissed about it. There’s a crew heading to his house to look for him. Looks like you all may have been right.” He nodded toward the security panel by the door. “We’ll need to see those videos. Try to make an ID on whoever dropped the package.”

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