Filed To Story: Secret Shifters Next Door Series PDF Free
“Blayne,” she said. “I’m here. What do you want to tell me?”
When she noticed Tate and Jared, her cheeks went red. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to ignore you all. Are you friends with Blayne?”
A year or two ago, Tate would have done the strong-guy-intimidating thing he used to always do. But Harley and the baby had mellowed him and changed him into a much more polished version of the man I’d always known. Now, he was practically a gentleman.
He leaned forward, stretching out a hand. “Tate. Blayne and I are friends and business partners. This is Jared, another of our friends,” he said, gesturing to the other man.
Jared was still gaping at Ava. He’d be drooling any second. He seemed unable to talk much less form a sentence. I nudged him. “Pull yourself together, man. You’re embarrassing me.”
He blinked and finally snapped out of whatever spell he’d been under. Maneuvering the boxes of pastries under one arm, he extended a hand toward Ava. “Sorry, yeah. Jared. My name’s Jared. That’s my name. Uh…Jared.”
“Christ,” I groaned, covering my eyes with my hand.
If Ava thought he was an idiot, she didn’t show it. She only smiled and shook Tate’s and Jared’s hands in turn. “Tate, good to meet you.” She looked at Jared. “And, hmmm, if I’m not mistaken, your name is Jared. It’s nice to meet you, too.”
Jared flushed a deep red, and he looked down at the floor, embarrassed. “Yup. Nice to meet you too,” he muttered.
Ava’s gaze bounced from the two of them back to me. “So, you guys are friends. Does that mean”—she pointed back and forth between us—“you are like him? Like…you know,
special like he is?”
My panther damn near rolled over and exposed its belly, purring and yearning for her to pet it. I gritted my teeth and urged it to shut the hell up.
Tate and Jared smirked at each other before Tate said, “We’re similar, I’ll say. A little bit bigger and much less fuzzy. Listen, we need to get to the office. It was nice meeting you, Ava. Come on, Jared.”
As they headed for the door, Jared kept glancing over his shoulder to check out Ava, and I had to suppress yet another growl from my panther. The beast was acting like she was already mine. I tried to remind it for the thousandth time that she was not ours. Would never be ours. It had to give up on the thought.
It was useless, though. All I received in return was an irritated snarl that echoed through my mind as I awkwardly stood next to Ava and placed my order.
The barista obviously thought we were together, which made things worse. I ordered a black coffee with cream and sugar, but Ava got something with caramel, whipped cream, and a bunch of other stuff I didn’t pay attention to. When they handed it to her, it looked more like a milkshake than coffee.
I led her to a table at the back, away from most of the patrons. The farther away, the better. I didn’t want anyone hearing the crazy shit I was about to spill to Ava. They’d probably call the cops on me, the ranting psychopath.
Sipping at her dessert in a cup, Ava took the seat across from me and gestured toward me. “Okay, Blayne. I’m here. What do you want to talk about?”
I licked my lips and got to it with no preamble. “Well, Ava, you obviously know about shifters, right?”
She rolled her eyes. “Yes, Blayne,” she said with a tone of condescension. “I dated one, and I know you’re one as well.”
Wincing, I held my hands up in acquiescence. “Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m setting the scene, okay? Anyway, shifters are real, but there are other things in the world you probably don’t know about.”
“Like? What are you gonna tell me? Aliens are real? Shifters come from the Lost City of Atlantis? What?”
I gritted my teeth. I wished I were anywhere else but here with this damnable woman. Panther be damned, I wanted to be done with her.
Taking a steadying breath, I composed myself and continued. “No, not that. For one, there are hunters. People who have either been wronged by shifters in the past or those whose loved ones have been hurt by rogue or feral shifters. They band together and form small hunting units, and then, well, as the name suggests, they hunt us down and try to kill us.”
Ava paled, her eyes wide. “Are you serious?”
I nodded. “Yes. There’ve always been hunters. In the Middle Ages, things were dire for shifters because the hunters formed large groups that were dozens, if not hundreds, strong. These days, the groups are small, perhaps ten or twelve men and women who hunt. They’re also not as dangerous as they were in past centuries, what with DNA and fingerprinting technology that can link them to the crimes. So, it’s not really that bad.” I picked up my cup and took a sip. “At least it wasn’t until a year or two ago. A crazy billionaire pulled together a new group. They’re better trained and better funded than any group in the last five-hundred years. They’ve already killed dozens of shifters, and me and my friends here in Lilly Valley are at the top of their most-wanted list.”
Ava blinked and shook her head slowly, like she was trying to clear her thoughts. “This is…insane. How can this happen? Don’t you guys have someone you can go to for help? Someone in the government?”
“Hell, no,” I scoffed, glancing around furtively. I always panicked that merely saying the word “government” would summon men in black sunglasses and unmarked vans. “The only thing worse than the hunters coming for us would be if the
government came for us. We’re sure they know about us, but since we almost never do anything to draw attention to ourselves or kill anyone, they’ve almost completely left us alone. I’m afraid some of the stuff that’s happened will catch their attention, but we’re trying to lay low for now.”
The fact that this curse was allowing humans and shifters to conceive children was not something we wanted the government to know about.
Ava took another drink, then said, “What does this have to do with me, Blayne? It’s terrible, but I don’t see why you dragged me out here for a talk.”
“Here’s the thing. Along with hunters, there are other…shall we say…magical beings. Witches.”
She stared at me blankly. I stared back, waiting for some kind of response from her. Finally, she frowned, her eyes narrowed. “Witches? Like from
Macbeth
or