Filed To Story: Secret Shifters Next Door Series PDF Free
Sam glared at me, then his face fell and he stared at the ground. “Fuck.”
“Exactly. I can’t let
my brothers go against Antonio without me.”
Sam nodded and stood. “I guess I better make sure Gio gets the best gear and weapons money can buy.”
All the alpha shifters and their teams left for a break. We were filthy and exhausted after training for six hours. I needed to grab some things from my house before I headed back to Gio’s place. Once I checked in with Tate, Miles, and Steff, I hopped in my truck to swing by.
The sun was already setting by the time I was home. My ribs were aching from where Sam had shot me. I grabbed some Ace bandages to wrap myself up and ducked into my closet to grab more pants.
One of the hangers I grabbed hit a box on a shelf. When it tumbled to the floor, the contents fell out. There was a picture of me and Liam standing next to our parents. We were in front of the Grand Canyon during one of our road-trip vacations. We looked like we were eight or nine years old. My panther keened sadly.
I put my clothes down and knelt, picking up the photograph. I ran my finger across Mom’s face. Dad was beaming at the camera. He was really excited about being at the Grand Canyon. I still remember how stoked he was when we first walked up to it. That had been a wonderful trip. The back of my throat cramped and my eyes ached with unshed tears. I kept most of their pictures in boxes. I always had. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to see them, but because it always reminded me of what I’d lost.
I allowed my tears to fall and gave myself a few minutes to mourn them all over again. As much as I missed them and wanted to see them again, I knew it wasn’t my time.
“I love you guys,” I whispered to the picture. “But you’ll have to wait a while longer to see me.”
Antonio wasn’t going to win. We wouldn’t allow it. Sometimes evil did win—I wasn’t blind to how the world worked. This wouldn’t be one of those times, though. I’d be damned if I allowed that. I actually had a future to look forward to, as did my friends. We had to get out on top of this war.
I tucked the picture under my arm and brought it along with the rest of the things I needed. It was time to stop hiding from my past. It would be nice to see their faces every day. It would hurt, but it would also remind me what I was fighting for.
Ava was asleep in my bed in the guesthouse when I got there. At first I was surprised, but then I stood there, watching her sleep by the light of the moon through the window. A smile spread across my lips, and I tiptoed to the bathroom. After taking a quick shower, I slid under the sheets beside her.
As I pulled her toward me, Ava turned and wrapped her arms around me immediately. A peace unlike anything I’d ever felt washed over my body. My panther was the most content it had ever been. It was like he was finally at ease. I’d never noticed how anxious and lonely he was until Ava had barged into my life. I chuckled to myself, and Ava stirred.
“You okay?” she mumbled sleepily.
I winced. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you. I’m sorry.”
“What was so funny?”
Kissing her head, I said, “I guess fate knew what it was doing all along. Even with the broken bond, I think this was meant to happen. You and me, I mean.”
Ava smiled up at me. “Good. Even if Fate said otherwise, I wouldn’t want to let you go.”
I kissed her lips and rolled over, letting her lay her head on my chest. I ran a hand up and down her back until her breathing became steady and deep with sleep. As I listened to her breathing, my heart started to race. Emotions I’d never had before surged through my body. I was scared, excited, and nervous all at the same time. My panther was equally anxious and ecstatic.
Fuck.
I was falling in love with Ava.
TWENTY-SIX
AVA
Blayne was gone when I woke. Off to train with the other shifters again, I was sure. I didn’t know how he was doing it. They’d been going like that for days on end. He was getting less than five hours of sleep a night most of the time. I hoped it was all worth it. If they were working themselves to death, it had better make them good enough to beat Antonio’s guys.
A glance at the clock showed I had an hour before Dad had to be at the clinic. This was the first day of his last chemo treatments. Once we saw how the tumor had reacted, the doctor would either go ahead and prescribe surgery to remove it, or if it hadn’t shrunk enough, we would go to radiation as the next step. The nurses were hopeful thar the chemo would be the only treatment needed. I prayed they were right, though that was a pretty rare occurrence. We had nothing to do but wait and see.
I dressed and headed into the main house to get Dad. The house was bustling with energy even that early in the morning. It had been like this since Dad had aligned himself with Blayne and the others. Our family hadn’t truly had many enemies in all the years I’d known about my father’s business. Mostly it was because we were in the middle of the country. Most of the bigger crime families were concentrated in the big cities—New York,
Chicago, Philadelphia, LA. All Dad and my uncles had to worry about were some of the drug cartels. Antonio’s threat seemed to have injected life into everyone in the organization.
Dad’s bedroom door was ajar. I leaned in and didn’t see him.
“Dad?” There was no answer from his closet or the bathroom. “Are you in here?” I walked in and visually checked both. Nothing.
My father had been an early riser most of my life, but the treatments had done a number on him, and for the most part, he’d been sleeping in most days. Some days he didn’t get out of bed until almost ten. This wasn’t typical.
I hurried out of his room and went down the hall to his office. Also empty. The guest bathroom, living room, and back porch were vacant. I found Uncle Luis in the kitchen with a cup of coffee in his hand.
“Where the fuck is my father?”
He flinched at my tone and set his cup down. “Um, he had some business to tend to.”
“Business?” I hissed. “What kind of business? And how fucking important could it be? More important than his fucking chemotherapy?” My vision was literally going red. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been this angry. I’d also never spoken to one of my uncles like this.