Filed To Story: Secret Shifters Next Door Series PDF Free
I shook my head. Panicked by her reaction. “No, that’s not it. The reason we’re being pulled together now is the curse. Before this curse, shifters and humans didn’t—couldn’t—mate. No babies, no future, no claiming, and without that we could never have had the bond shifters needed. I would have ended up hiding things and lying to you. But I did love you, and it was getting harder and harder for me to let you go. I knew I had to do it quickly. Even though I couldn’t mate with you, deep down I was sure that we were meant to be together. This curse has changed that. We have a chance now.
“I wanted to push you away at first, I didn’t want to force you to be a shifter. I thought it would be better to have you reject me. Risk the pain and whatever else came with that. My bear, the inside part of me, knew all along it wouldn’t work. So, I stopped fighting. Curse or no curse, there is no one in the world who loves you as much as I do.”
April looked down at her hands as soon as I finished speaking. I sat, rigid, waiting for what she was going to say. I couldn’t have moved if I wanted to. My body was like a statue.
April finally looked up, and she was crying. Her face was crumpled and miserable. My heart felt like it had shattered. She looked the same as when I left her fifteen years ago—agonized and heartbroken.
“I would have loved you. I would have accepted you. You could have trusted me with your life, because you were my life. Kids, no kids, adoption, whatever. I would have made sure you didn’t feel like you were missing anything. You should have known that.”
Every word she said was like a knife being stabbed into my chest. “April, I did what I thought was necessary?—“
“You selfish bastard. You didn’t even take me into account. All that worry and you didn’t even consider that I would accept you for what you were?”
“That’s not what I meant. All I wanted was the best for you.”
“You were what was best for me,” she screamed.
My bear raged inside me because I was upsetting April. It was doing all it could to make it stop. The fear of rejection and a broken bond was still there. Front and center.
We stared at each other in silence for a beat before her eyes widened. “Did Kris and Kellan know?”
“No, not then. I just told Kellan not long ago. He’s trying to work Kris into being cool with me again. We thought that was best before we told him.”
She sighed in obvious relief. “At least my brothers weren’t keeping secrets all these years. I don’t think I could handle that.” She looked at me with sadness. “This is… a lot to take in. One thing you should know is that I believe you. It does explain a bunch of stuff from back then. I mean, we never had sex. You kept from doing that.”
I cleared my throat nervously. “That didn’t really have anything to do with being a shifter. It was more the threat from Kris and Kellan that they’d cut my dick off if they ever heard it was in their sister. Good-natured joking, but part of me was always a little scared that they were serious.”
April snorted a laugh and shook her head. “That sounds like them.” She wiped the tears from her eyes and sighed. “This is wild. I can’t get my head around it.”
I nodded, not sure where to go from there.
April stood up, then stepped toward me and laid her hand against my cheek. “I have a lot to think about. Thank you for finally telling me the truth. Even though I had to force it out of you. I know it couldn’t have been easy.” She leaned down and kissed me. It was light and sweet. Like a first kiss when you were ten years old. “Bear, dragon, wolf, even if you were an alligator or a phoenix, it wouldn’t change how I feel. I’ve always loved you. I do need a little space to figure it out and accept everything.”
For the first time since seeing her again, true hope filled my heart. Not the false hope that I used to raise my courage and try to win her back. This was the hope of life. “Does this mean you aren’t rejecting me?” My heart filled with joy that she wasn’t running away screaming.
April looked at me. The sadness in her eyes almost brought me to tears. “Steffen James, you’ve had my heart all these years. It’s a little late to ask for it back now.”
NINETEEN
APRIL
There was no way I could go back to the park. Too much had happened, too much to think about. Not only was the guy I loved a magical creature, but magical creatures were fucking real. Like really real. This was world-altering information. Shifters, witches, magic curses? How did you go about your daily life after finding out about something like that?
I’d gone back over to my house because I needed some time away from Steff to decompress. The four walls of my place weren’t usually so comforting. Tonight, it was exactly what I needed. Being with Steff was great, but I needed this alone time. I pulled out my phone and shot Kellan a text:
I know everything.
Less than a minute later, my phone rang. It was my brother. “April? By everything, do you mean…”
“Yes, Kellan, everything. Magic and all that,” I said, trying not to roll my eyes.
“Oh, shit. Well… how are you? Like, are you okay? It’s pretty earth-shattering news, right?”
“That’s the understatement of the year. I’m a little overwhelmed. Knowing my whole life has been put on a path all because the man I loved was… not human? It’s crazy.”
“It was the same for me. Maybe not at the level you’re at, but my mind was blown. Still, after he explained it, everything sort of fell into place. It made sense, you know?”
I sighed. “I guess you’re right. When are you going to tell Kris? He’s got to know. This isn’t a secret you and Steff should keep for long.”
“Working on it. He’s ready to forgive Steff. I need him to be 100 percent before we spring that on him. I think it’ll be soon, though.”
“It’s nice to have someone to talk to about this.” Even as I said it, I remembered Harley giving me her number earlier. If anyone understood this, she would. “Thanks for talking, Kellan. I need to get some rest. I’ll call you again tomorrow. Love you.”
“Love you, sis. Talk to you tomorrow.”
As soon as I hung up, I sent Harley a text asking if it was too late to talk. Just like my brother, she called me within seconds. “It’s Harley, I was hoping you’d call. I thought it would be soon, but I wasn’t sure. Steff called Tate a few minutes ago and let us know he broke the news to you. How are you, sweetie?”
I took a breath and sighed. This was the final nail in the coffin of a normal life. It meant that everything Steff had told me and Kellan was true. Tate was one of these shifters, too, and Harley knew. Jesus, if what Steff said was accurate, she was a dragon shifter. I didn’t even know how to fathom that.