Shifters After Dark Box Set

by S M Reine et al.

She smiled and kissed my forehead. “I don’t believe it, I don’t really understand it, but you’re still my daughter. It took them a while to pull me off you and then I had a long talk with Austin. Ivy made the most sense and I really like that young lady; she has a good head on her shoulders. I’ve seen it with my own eyes, so I can’t deny who you are.”

  “You got near my wolf?”

  My mother was truly a fearless woman.

  She sighed and patted my leg, as if I had just asked the dumbest question on the planet. “Eat up and if you don’t feel like getting out of bed, then you stay here all day.” Her face tightened and she looked down. “I actually liked Beckett; I thought he was a nice young man. Obviously I have no sense when it comes to men.”

  “It’s not your fault, Mom.”

  Jericho slipped into the room and looked down at the wolf. “Austin, you need to come see this. Someone brought you a present.”

  The way he said it rattled me, but Austin didn’t shift. I followed Jericho down the hall, the black wolf never leaving my side. He walked with the same stride, keeping his body pressed against mine.

  Jericho and Denver were in the hall by the front door with their arms folded. I walked around them and to my left, two dead wolves lay side by side on the front porch.

  “It’s a message,” Denver said. “A warning.”

  Parked out front was Lorenzo, leaning against the grill of his truck with one hand tucked in his pocket and the other holding a cigarette. He took a long drag, watching me as I stood there in an ankle-length gown that belonged to my mom.

  Austin growled when I got too close, but I knelt down and got a good look at one of the wolves. “It’s not a warning,” I said. “It’s an offering.” I didn’t know if Austin could understand me or not, but I turned and looked at him as if he could. “This was the dog that treed me in the cemetery. I don’t know who the other one is though. The warning is for Lorenzo’s pack, not yours. But this is a gift… for me.”

  The message being that anyone who thought about hurting me would answer to him. I wondered who the second wolf was—maybe the one who was supposed to have been watching me that night. Lorenzo said he had a man following me at all times.

  Somehow, a dead body was not a romantic gesture.

  “Come away from there, Lexi,” Jericho said, stepping forward with his arm outstretched.

  Austin snapped at him. Jericho turned his head and sighed through his nose in frustration. “Is he ever going to shift back?” he asked Denver. “‘Cause that biting shit is starting to piss me off.”

  “How long was I out? What time is it?”

  “Two days,” Denver said. “Ivy and your mom took care of you; they were the only ones who could get near Austin.”

  “He hasn’t shifted back?”

  Denver strolled out of the room, hiking up his sweats. The motor fired up on Lorenzo’s truck and he slowly backed out.

  “He’s been that way since he brought you in,” Jericho said, putting an unlit cigarette into his mouth. “All hell broke loose when your mom jumped on top of you. We tried to get her off and Austin suddenly shifted and guarded you two like his life depended on it. Between you and me, Austin’s wolf is one badass alpha.”

  “Where’s Ivy?”

  Jericho stuffed his hands in the pockets of his black jeans, shredded from thigh to knee, biting down on the cigarette as if he hadn’t decided whether to light it or not. “Helping your friend at the store.”

  “Do what?”

  “The power is on and the shipments are due to arrive today. The twins are unloading while the girls set up.”

  I tucked my hands under my arms. “Lorenzo paid for all that?”

  His brows knitted and he tucked the smoke behind his ear. “No. Austin did.”

  I took a moment to process that, because I had never asked him for any help in that regard. It wasn’t even his problem, and yet he took money out of his own pocket to keep the store running. A store that only paid me a mediocre salary.

  “I can’t believe it,” I whispered. Jericho shook his head a little to get his hair out of his eyes and I lowered my voice. “What happened to Beckett?”

  Jericho made a slicing motion across his throat and I shuddered. “Austin took care of that problem, and your friend took care of his.”

  “Which friend?”

  The wolf’s toenails clicked on the tile as he turned in circles and sat in front of me.

  Jericho combed his fingers through his hair. “Your neighbor. I guess she knows some cleaners and instead of waiting for the cops, she had the body removed like nothing had happened.”

  “Are you sure you don’t mean Lorenzo?”

  “Nope,” he said, shaking his head. “Shifters have connections, and I guess she’s got the hookup for taking care of dead bodies.”

  “Naya is a Shifter?”

  My legs weakened and I closed the door.

  “Mmm. We went to check on things and she was in there picking up roses. Nice tits on that one.” Then he looked at the shock plastered across my face. “You didn’t know she was a Shifter? Our kind tends to gravitate toward one another, even if we don’t know it. We also look out for those we bond with, so if you two were tight, then that explains why she went the extra mile. Believe it or not, this city is teeming with Shifters. Not sure what her animal is, but I’d be willing to bet it’s a cat,” he said, rolling his tongue over his bottom lip. “Afraid I’m not into cats; too much maintenance. But they’re prettylicious to look at.”

  “I think I’m going to throw up now,” I declared, walking around him and into the living room. Naya was a Shifter? It made sense, but I still couldn’t believe it. “Where’s Maizy?”

  “Denver’s keeping an eye on her in the study across from the atrium. When I last checked, she was looking at the pictures in some old World Almanac we’ve had around for about fifty years. He took her outside to play ‘slay the dragon’ this morning. They were trying to kill the snake Reno saw under the house.”

  “What?” My question was more of a declaration I would kill him if he was serious. “Can you trust him with her?”

  I was beginning to have second thoughts about Denver if snake hunting was on his daily agenda.

  Jericho waltzed by me and lifted a box of matches from the bar. “Emphatically. It’s his wolf I don’t trust. Denver has control over his animal and doesn’t shift on emotions, so she’s safe with him. But don’t ever let that child near his wolf. He’s loco.”

  ~ ~ ~

  I decompressed in the shower and allowed the hot water to rinse away my salty tears. While I had no physical marks from the attack, the emotional ones left behind became fingerprints that would never wash away.

  I’d never seen it coming.

  I kept analyzing our relationship to see if there were any signs that Beckett was capable of that level of violence, but he’d only been aggressive with other men. He obsessed over professional wrestling, and sometimes I wondered if he took the job as a bouncer just to push people around and feel superior. Off the clock is when he got in the most fights, and usually it was after a few beers if he spotted some guy talking to me. But he never actually pushed me around, quite the opposite, in fact. Outside of his infidelity, I thought Beckett loved me.

  Maybe too much.

  His behavior had started to change after we split, with phone calls and confrontations. Losing me didn’t seem to push him over the edge as much as the thought of another man in my life. And being as drunk as he was…

  Then the memory of his death slammed into me like a train. I shouldn’t have felt guilty for someone who tried to choke me on a blanket of rose petals and glass, but I did. Then I got angry and threw a bottle of shampoo against the wall, hating him with every fiber of my being. Rage poured through me as I shut the water off and tore down the shower curtain—the rod clamoring on the tile. I growled, sobbed, and made guttural noises—gripping the edge of the tub and letting the pain consume me.

  Denver called my
name from outside the door and I heard Austin’s wolf viciously snarl.

  “You okay in there?” he yelled.

  Was I?

  Had Austin not showed up and forced me to shift, I would have died. My mother would have had to bury another child.

  I kept to myself for the rest of the morning before talking with my mom. She seemed to accept the facts more easily than I did on what I was. Later that afternoon, she put on a brisket, preparing to floor these men with her world-class cooking. I stirred the potato salad while sitting at the table, but I was in no mood to cook. It was also hard maneuvering around the kitchen with Austin’s wolf at my feet.

  He never once left my side from the moment I woke up.

  Denver said Austin had showed up at my apartment to keep an eye on me. I wondered if he felt guilty and that’s why he wouldn’t shift back. When I asked Denver why he thought I didn’t shift during the attack, he shrugged. Said it happens sometimes with the new ones, especially when mixed signals are sent to the wolf.

  Once the brisket was in the oven, Mom went to take a nap with Maizy. It was hot that day, and the cicadas were singing in rhythm as the afternoon sun baked everything in sight. I sat in a lawn chair in the front yard with my legs browning in the sun, trying to shake off the attack. I noticed someone had parked my car next to Denver’s yellow truck and had given it a wax and shine.

  It was then I decided my mom would have to stay with Austin. Until my father was caught and this whole thing was resolved, she wouldn’t be safe living by herself. Judging by the way he had treated Maizy, my dad wanted nothing to do with his kids.

  At the end of the road, a white car approached and Austin’s wolf trotted off the porch with his head low. The car parked on the right side of the driveway and a man who looked to be in his fifties waited inside, staring at the wolf apprehensively.

  “Austin,” I called out. “Let him out so we can see who it is.”

  His black wolf hopped on the porch and sat beside me. Denver was the only other pack member on the property, and he was snoozing in the atrium with his earbuds on.

  A stocky man wearing a pale blue dress shirt and red tie stepped out of the car. “I’m looking for Alexia Knight.”

  “Who wants to know?”

  He shut the door, leaning against the hood as he stared at the wolf. “My name is Tom Gardner and I’m Charles Langston’s attorney,” he said with a southern drawl. His refined accent that told me he was from money. “I spoke with your neighbor, Miss James, after talking with one of your coworkers. It took a little convincing, but she gave me this address. I need to speak with you on legal matters. Do you mind locking your dog away?”

  “He won’t hurt you,” I promised, grabbing a tuft of Austin’s fur. I should have reconsidered handling an alpha, but I needed to communicate to him that he had to behave. This guy didn’t seem like a threat. “Come up on the porch and have a seat,” I said, squinting at the afternoon sun.

  He tucked a brown satchel that looked a million years old beneath his arm and cautiously approached, not showing fear in front of the black wolf. But I could tell the sweat on his brow wasn’t from the sun. He took the farthest seat on the left and Austin’s wolf sat down in front of my chair.

  “It’s with great regret that I must inform you Mr. Langston is deceased.”

  My heart stammered and I covered my mouth. “What? Oh my God.”

  He gave me a moment to digest the news and I took a seat beside him, staring at my shoes, my forearms on my knees. “I just can’t believe it.”

  “He’s been ill for some time, and we’ve discussed his future at great length. I do apologize you had to hear it from me, but I seem to be the bearer of bad news today as I had to call up his sister this morning. Not the standard protocol, but we became friends and I was there in the end. Charles was a very well-liked guy around my office. He always brought the girls a little something from his store.” Mr. Gardner put the satchel on his lap and pulled out a short stack of clipped papers. “His only family is an estranged sister who lives out of state, and he’s expressed no desire to pass on any inheritance to her. Mr. Langston drew up a detailed last will and testament, which he wanted me to bring to your attention immediately upon his death. His fear was that you’d quit the shop and time is of the essence due to the nature of the company.”

  “What do you mean?” None of this was registering for me, because while I’d known Charlie for seven years, we’d never discussed anything beyond my paycheck when it came to the business.

  “I’m not here to gussy this up, ma’am. Mr. Langston signed over the business and most of his money to you. His house will go to a young family he met a year ago when donating to a homeless charity, along with enough money to pay bills and taxes for a year. After that, they can sell it for the money if they choose.”

  My jaw hung open and I barely heard the last words he said. “He left it all to me? I think you made a mistake.”

  “No,” he countered. “It’s all in these signed documents. He has quite a list of instructions and advice he left behind in print and on a flash drive.” Mr. Gardner reached in his back pocket and fished out a small plastic flash drive and placed it in my hand. Austin growled but made no attempt to move. “He wasn’t a rich man, so the money in his account won’t get you far with the business if you’re not pulling in a profit. Have you ever managed a company before?” he asked in a curious tone.

  I shook my head. And then the tears started to come. Charlie was the kind of guy I could have envisioned as my dad. We weren’t close, but he always gave me good advice and made sure I’d enjoyed working for him. He used to be in the shop four days a week, but in the last couple of years, Charlie felt it was time he allow us to manage things on our own so he could focus on other business matters.

  Little did I know that matter was cancer.

  Mr. Gardner continued. “He said there’s a bright young lady working in the shop who has a head for business that he suggested you keep around. He was concerned about you getting in a financial pitfall, which is why it’s imperative you read over his instructions. He was fairly confident the shop would stay afloat and was pulling in a decent profit. I have papers I need you to read carefully and sign. I’ll leave them with you and you can schedule a meeting with me when you’re ready to discuss this further.”

  The sound of wind chimes in the distance floated in the breeze. A fly landed on his hand briefly before he shooed it away with a wave of his arm.

  I tried to swallow but my throat was dry. “Did they bury him already?”

  “He asked to be cremated; didn’t want anyone fussing over him and he didn’t think anyone would have come to the funeral.”

  I covered my face with my hands and quietly wept. Mr. Gardner’s voice couldn’t have been less somber, which made delivering the news even sharper against my heart. Austin’s wolf licked my fingers and I finally wiped my cheeks and pulled a strand of long hair away from my wet lashes.

  “He wanted his ashes to be spread across the Grand Canyon.” Mr. Gardner stretched his legs out and watched a lone cloud painted against the blue sky. “He talked about how that river carved away the land and he wanted to be a part of something that’s everlasting.”

  After wiping my nose and regaining my composure, I looked apprehensively at the balding attorney. “I need time to look this over. I’m just not sure Charlie was in his right frame of mind when he made this decision.”

  “Well, if it’s any consolation, he thought highly of you. It wasn’t like he was forced to pass off the business; he had other options. But that was his first request and he wanted to make it happen. He said you had a…” Mr. Gardner reached for the right words. “He said you had a nose for business. Mr. Langston felt you could take it wherever it needed to go and only wished he could have stuck around to see what you’d do with it. Well, I need to head out.”

  He glanced at his watch and stood up, eyeing the wolf. “My number is on the card clipped on the top. Regardless of wh
at you decide, we’ll have another meeting to discuss this in detail with any questions you might have. Oh, and something else,” he began with a short chuckle. “He told me to tell you that you don’t have to wear those fruity earrings anymore if you don’t want to. I’m not sure what that means, but he wanted me to let you know.”

  Tom hesitated, waiting for the wolf to move and I motioned Austin with my eyes and he complied, allowing the lawyer to pass.

  “Y’all have a good afternoon,” he said, walking back to his car and wiping his sweaty forehead with a handkerchief.

  My heart ached for Charlie, and I only wished I could have seen him one last time. I wondered if he knew how much he meant to me. But why did he do this? How could he leave something so important in my incapable hands? That got me scared, and I needed to talk to April. She would be able to keep me from going into a full-blown freak-out.

  I leaned back and stared at Austin. He rested his chin on the arm of my chair and I got lost in his clear blue eyes.

  “How long are you going to stay that way? Because I’m starting to feel like you’re avoiding me.” I patted his nose. “Anyone ever tell you that your breath stinks?” Nothing riled him up. “I could take you to the pet store and have them clip your toenails and paint them pink.”

  He snorted angrily and grunted, circling around the porch.

  Then I suddenly felt a tingle between my legs and slid down in my chair a little bit. Maybe it was the hot afternoon sun, but damn if I didn’t feel… turned on. Austin’s wolf was making a peculiar sound of distress while pacing back and forth, as if he were guarding me from invisible predators.

  When it passed, I took the papers inside and laid down for a nap.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Everyone gathered in the kitchen to devour Mom’s succulent homemade brisket. The small table only seated six, so Ben and Wheeler ate at the counter while the rest of us sat down. Austin’s wolf trotted out of the room.

  Mom was still shaken up about Maizy having been left on the side of the road and every so often, I caught that look in her eyes a mother gets when they’ve come close to losing the most precious thing to them. I admired her courage and resilience for all she had been through in the last week, and I guess like me, she valued family even more because of it.