Filed To Story: Secret Shifters Next Door Series PDF Free
I took his hands in mine, instinctually. “Steff, I’m sorry. That’s terrible.”
He lifted my hands to his lips and kissed my knuckles. “Thanks, but this isn’t about me. We were talking about you. I want you to do what makes you happy. But there has to be balance. You can be happy but stifled. You can be free but miserable. You have to have common ground between both. The glamorous life is fun as hell. I know, I’ve been there. At the end of the day, though, you have to remember where you’re rooted. Where your heart lives.”
Those words brought back thoughts of my younger days. I’d known that my heart lived with Steff. I was rooted to him, to this town. For the first time in all these years, I realized that if he hadn’t broken up with me, I would have missed out on so much.
I’d seen so many things and done amazing stuff that I never would have if he hadn’t broken up with me. Crazy as it sounded, I was actually a little grateful for it.
We were looking into each other’s eyes, enjoying simply being together when a voice from above us broke through. “Well, isn’t this precious?”
Glancing up, I almost flinched in surprise. Ryland stood over us, hands jammed into the pockets of his jeans. What surprised me most was not that he was there, but the look on his face. It was a sickly-sweet mockery of a smile. Like he was trying to cover up an unfathomable rage. It was terrifying. The smile never reached his eyes, which were cold, hard, and drilling into Steff.
Steff’s lip curled in disgust or anger, I wasn’t sure which. “You need to keep moving. No need to cause a scene.”
Ryland smirked, but there was nothing funny about it. It made me more uncomfortable. This wasn’t the same sweet man I’d been getting to know. This was someone else entirely. It was almost like the Ryland I had gotten to know had been scooped out, and some angry, bitter
thing had been inserted in its place. He exuded negative energy, however crazy that sounded.
Then he turned those baleful eyes on me, and I almost jumped. “Is this why you haven’t been answering my calls or texts?”
“Your… what?” I hadn’t gotten any messages or calls from him. I had no clue what he was talking about.
“You’re making a mistake. This is disgusting. Tying yourself to this
thing, this monster.” Ryland practically spat the words at me.
The venom in his voice dripped acid, but I couldn’t figure out his choice of words. A thing? A monster? What the hell was he saying? Was Ryland insane? Maybe everything before had been an act, and now I was able to see the real man below it all.
“You have to be careful, April, because monsters bite. Once bitten, there’s no coming back. You’ll be unclean then. Unclean. Your life will be forfeit.”
I gaped at him. Had he just threatened my life? He must have. Because before I could even think of how to respond to that, Miles and Kellan both stood, having heard the exchange, each one looking pissed as hell. Steff, vibrating with rage, stood next and pushed his chest right against Ryland’s. The three men blocked me from view.
Kellan poked a finger into Ryland’s chest. “If you were smart, you’d move on along, and forget about my sister.”
Kris, finally seeing what was going on, barked at Ryland from where he sat. “Get out of here. We don’t want trouble, but we aren’t afraid of it.”
I couldn’t see Ryland around the three men who were blocking me. Even without seeing his face, I knew he had to be fuming from the way his voice quavered. “You’ll regret choosing to lie with some filthy beast, April. Trust me on that. You can hang on him like a parasite all you want, but I don’t have any problem taking care of a few fleas.”
EIGHTEEN
STEFF
I nearly forgot who and where I was. I was less than half of a second from flying off the handle and shifting, then I would show April what kind of monster I really was.
Before I could do exactly that, Miles put a hand on my arm. “Easy.”
My head snapped toward my friend, and for a second, I wanted to punch him right in the face. How could he tell me to calm down? Hadn’t he heard what I had?
Ryland leaned forward and murmured so quietly that only I could hear it. “Go on. Show the monster. That would be a sight.”
April pushed through and put a hand toward Ryland’s chest, warding him off. “Why are you doing this? Acting this way?”
“Get back,” I growled. April jerked away, her body reacting to instinct and preservation. My voice was deep, too deep to be human. Her expression was one of fear. Ryland smirked at me again, and I unleashed a deep and throaty and distinctly inhuman growl.
April reacted to the sound by staring at me, her jaw hanging open, but to her credit, she recovered after a few seconds. “Ryland, it’s time for you to go. It’s none of your business what I choose to or choose not to do.”
Ryland’s face twisted with revulsion, his eyes narrowing and his lips pursing. “You’ll regret this. I can swear to that.” He looked at April, his revulsion turning to fury. “April, you better not forget that I warned you.” He pointed a finger at me. “I warned you about
it. Whatever happens after this isn’t on me.”
With one last look of disgust at me, Ryland walked away. Kellan shot me a worried glance. I’d told him about the hunters, but I’d neglected to tell him about Ryland. It looked like he’d made the connection. Miles glared at Ryland as he pushed through the crowd, his jaw clenched. The fact that Ryland had been so open with his hostility and anger was not a good sign. I had a bad feeling about what was to come.
My own rage was threatening to boil over. I tried to calm myself, but the bear wasn’t having it. I clenched and unclenched my fists. Breath hissed in and out of my nose, and my face flamed from the anger. April appeared in front of me and cupped my face between her hands. The coolness of her skin was like refreshing ice against my own skin.
“Look at me, Steff. Not him, me.”
It was all I could do to tear my eyes away from the figure of the departing hunter. I did, though. I brought my eyes to hers. As soon as I did, her own eyes widened in surprise and confusion.
“It’s… uh, it’s all okay,” she said, her voice stammering.