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“I get it now. I won’t complain about it again,” I say, holding up my hands, the bottle hanging from my fingers.

“That would be a nice change from the daily phone calls about it.”

“You love my daily calls,” I say, offended.

“Sure.” His grin slips. “I have news.

“I assumed. Hit me,” I encourage.

“Grant is evil but not exactly smart. He doesn’t hide his actions much for a man who wants to be stealthy.”

“Or he’s cocky as fuck and doesn’t think he will get caught.”

“Or that.” He keeps his eyes on the sunset. “He's done the same things for years. He brings humans into his world, grooms them, gives them promises of becoming a shifter, and then abuses them in numerous ways. He isn’t afraid to tell them all about shifters.”

The unspoken rule of being a shifter is to shut up about being a shifter. You are allowed to reveal your true self to your mate if they are human. There are some humans who know about us but they are trusted beyond doubt.

“He promises to change them?” Changing a human who isn’t your mate is dangerous and rarely works. The only time you change a human is if they are your mate. Vampires are different. They can change anyone.

“He does. He makes it glamorous and of course, he doesn’t go into the dangers. He has changed several, or tried to. They died a horrible death.” He scowls. “He is the worst kind of shifter.”

“How did you find this out?”

“It’s not hard to connect the dots. He left a string of dead bodies everywhere he has been. The bodies were disfigured. The human police are ignoring the animal parts on humans. They don’t want to accept the truth of it. I talked with a shifter today who confirmed many things. He was going to join their pack. He was a drifting cheetah. He came across them. He spent a few days with them. What he saw changed his mind. He left during the night and never went back.”

“Shit. It’s worse than Saylor ever imagined.”

“She may know more than you know but she has spent her life trying to get away.” He looks at me intensely. “This guy is the most dangerous kind. He doesn’t care. He has no moral code. Even some criminals have a rule against hurting children and women. That is who he preys on.”

“I don’t want Saylor anywhere near him,” I growl. “Whatever I have to do to make that happen.”

“He reminds me of Serenity’s dad.”

Serenity is Ryker’s mate. He turned her, and in turn, brought out her witch side. She became pregnant shortly after. Anytime now, she is due. The first vampire born to two vampires in many years. Her dad was kidnapping humans and shifters, trying to turn the humans outside the mating bond.

“Have you spoken with Ryker about it?”

“Yes. I have talked to everyone,” he admits.

“Laken,” I warn. I wanted to keep this quiet. I will take care of my mate.

“Elijah, they want to help. You know you may not be with a pack, but we are all part of one. It’s unofficial, but there. River is beside himself with glee. He’s ready to shed some blood.”

I snort. River is a wolf shifter. We were very uneasy with each other at first, but the shit has grown on me. “I bet.” He can be a tad crazy. I have to admit, he’s one of the reasons I thought I would fit in here.

“Tell me why you have been acting different,” Laken asks.

“I’m not, really.” He gives me a look. “I have a mate. She changes things.”

“That’s not the reason. You haven’t been the same.”

“I don’t want to scare her with my crazy,” I confess.

“Are you insane?”

“That's the worry. She may not like my type of insanity.”

He throws his head back and laughs. “Holy shit.”