Filed To Story: Secret Shifters Next Door Series PDF Free
Steff held his hands up to slow me down. “That’s what we’re trying to figure out. The pack sent word through the typical shifter channels. The only reason we know about this is because I checked my email when I got up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night. I sent a message back saying we had a former member and we needed a list of the dead. We’re waiting for that. We need to hang on, okay?” He glanced at Blayne and Tate. “Um…I’m sure that they’re fine.”
His hesitation didn’t ease my anguish. I was dizzy and a little nauseous. The worst part was that we couldn’t do anything but stand around and wait. Tate called the rest of the staff and gave them the day off with pay, and I was immensely thankful for that. There was no way I could even attempt to act like everything was okay. Hell, I couldn’t even stand—I didn’t trust my legs enough. Blayne walked down the street to get us donuts, but even after he got back and set the donuts on the table, they remained untouched. None of us had an appetite.
My brain was preparing for the worst. Inch by inch, I was building up a wall in my mind. A protection tactic for when I had to accept the inevitable. A cushion against the agony and pain of what I knew was coming. They were gone. Deep inside, below all the hopes and wishes, I was absolutely certain that my parents were dead.
An hour and a half later, Steff’s phone chimed. He checked it, and his face went tight. “Shit. They sent the list.” He looked at me. “Do you want to read it? Want me to call out the names?”
I gave a tight shake of my head. “Give it,” I said, holding my trembling hand out for the phone.
Steff took a step toward me and put the device in my palm. I took a deep, steadying breath before looking at the screen. A sigh exploded out of me at the sheer amount of names. Oh my god. Wolf packs were typically small familial units formed through blood ties and mating. My old pack had comprised over a dozen family units. It had been one of the largest wolf packs in the country. I was staring at twenty names at the least—almost a quarter of the entire pack.
I stared at the screen for several seconds, but I couldn’t get my eyes to focus. I was too terrified to actually begin reading. Finally, I gritted my teeth and started down the list. The very first name was the alpha, the man who’d stolen Liz from me. I didn’t feel even a hint of my old anger. The man had had a family. People who loved him. Now he was gone. I slid my eyes down the list. Multiple names stuck out. David, a kid I’d gone fishing with when I was younger. Mira, the first girl I’d kissed before I met Liz. Every name I recognized was like a punch in the chest. Then I got to the end. My breath hissed out, and I scanned the list a second and then a third time. Their names weren’t there. My parents weren’t on the list.
I sank into the chair, all the tension I’d been holding in my body releasing in a rush. I hadn’t realized I’d been wound up so tight. I was exhausted, like I’d run a marathon. I looked up at the guys. They looked as emotionally invested in my reaction as I’d been about the list. I smiled weakly. “They aren’t there. My parents’ names. They aren’t there.”
Tate and Blayne sighed in relief. Steff put his hands in the air and hissed a triumphant curse. I sat there for a few moments, thinking about Liz. Her name hadn’t been on the list, either. How was she dealing with losing her mate? The pain had to be unimaginable. She’d ripped my heart out and hadn’t looked back, but I wasn’t so cold that I couldn’t empathize. I would
never wish pain and heartbreak on anyone. Well, maybe on the hunters, but no one else.
I looked at the email again, noticing a paragraph of text beneath the list of names. I straightened as I read it. The pack had managed to capture a younger girl who was one of the hunters. It sounded like she hadn’t even wanted to be there. They were detaining her and would be questioning her after the pack had dealt with the dead. It was signed with the acting alpha’s name. I blinked at the name. My old alpha. The father of the guy who Liz had left me for. The man who had banished me. His son had taken over a few years after I left, but now it looked like the crisis had pulled the old alpha out of retirement. Before the banishment, we’d been on friendly terms. I wondered if the banishment was still in effect with everything that had happened. Or if it was as strict as it had been. Would they let me call? Could I actually speak with my parents?
I looked at Tate. “Do I try calling? I need to try and hear their voices.”
Tate nodded. “I’ll make the call.”
He dialed the number we had, and I sat, listening, while he relayed my request to the alpha. After a few minutes, Tate handed me the phone.
“Hello?”
“Is this Miles Kelly?”
“Yeah, it is.”
“Not sure if you remember me. Name’s Donovan. I’m the alpha, now that…well, I’m the alpha again, that’s all that matters.” His voice was husky and strained. I had to remind myself that he’d lost a lot of people, including his only son and heir.
“I remember. I’m sorry for your loss. Many of those people were my friends once upon a time.”
“Thanks. This wasn’t something we were prepared for. Sounds like you’ve had a go of it, too. We’ve heard the rumors about what’s been going down in Lilly Valley. It’s starting to turn into some kind of legend in the shifter world.”
That surprised me. I hadn’t thought rumors of our issues here would get out into the wider world of shifters. “Yeah, it’s not been a great year and a half for us.”
“Heard you all took on a team of hunters. Gave one of their guys a dirt nap. Impressive. I’ll be honest, everyone here has been following your team’s story pretty closely. The hunters have had every pack I know on their heels. Bigger, stronger packs. And you four misfits have been taking the fight right to them and winning. It’s badass. You guys have sort of become a banner we’re all looking to for courage. I don’t say that lightly.”
I sat there, stunned speechless. Us? Four guys who’d been kicked out of our respective packs for one reason or another? We were considered heroes? It was almost too much to believe.
“Anyway…” Donovan went on, “…it’s good to hear your voice after all these years.”
I didn’t really care about any of the things we were talking about. All I wanted was to talk to my parents. “Respectfully, sir, I really called to talk to my parents. Would that be possible?”
Donovan sighed. “Son, you know the rules. No contact after banishment. I’ve bent the rules in the past. You think I didn’t know you’ve been sending your folks those postcards? I’ve known all along. I figured it was the least I could do after…what my boy did, and me and your old man were friends as kids. I can’t start making even more exceptions. Not now. Not when we’re in so much danger.”
My wolf bristled with rage. Steff and Tate heard the exchange, and wore identical expressions of fury. My lips peeled back into a snarl, and I wanted to give the fucker a piece of my mind for acting like letting my parents read two or three
postcards a year was some big fucking favor. Blayne patted the air in front of me, a signal to calm down. He gave me a look that said: be careful.
Steadying myself, I tried to control my voice. “Understood,” I gritted my teeth. “Can you tell us if you’ve questioned the girl yet? The hunter you mentioned in the email? We’re working on finding the leader of this new hunter organization. Any information could help.”
“Yeah, we got done not long before you guys called. She’s scared out of her mind. Maybe nineteen years old. A kid, really. She didn’t know a lot. Said they got their orders from a new team leader. Some woman, but she didn’t know her name. She did say that this new team leader called the head of the organization ‘Daddy.'”
I winced in disgust. Was that some sexual thing? Or did he actually have his daughter working for him? Either way, it was horrifying. “Did she happen to know where this guy could be found?”
“No, she never actually met him. The only info she did give up was that her training happened in Chicago. That’s all we have to go on.”
Chicago? That was nowhere near where I’d been looking. That was at least a new lead. Another area to search. “Okay, good. What are you guys doing with the prisoner? The girl?”
There was a long pause before he spoke again. “Not sure yet. Main consensus is we use…well…we think we’ll use one of our casualties and set it up so that she’s found by the cops with the body. Make it look like she did it. We aren’t the type to kill a girl, but she needs to pay. A couple decades in prison for murder should give her the message.”
I nodded. “Yeah. Got it. Back to my parents. Could you at least tell them I’m glad they’re safe? That I love them?”