Page 18 of Rhett

“Don’t make me tear you a new asshole, Sheriff,” Bonnie threatened. “Back away from my granddaughter.”

Easing away, I said, “Simmer down, Bonnie.” The last thing I needed was Bonnie shifting into her jaguar form.

Bonnie sheathed her claws, placing her hands on her leather-encased hips. “Well, don’t threaten my kin.”

“Let’s all take a deep breath,” Imani said. “Quinn and Rhett, stand down.”

“I’m the Protector,” I said. “That means I’m responsible for protecting the townsfolk from threats to their safety. And Nova’s a Hunter.”

“She’s not a Hunter,” Bonnie countered. “She has a Hunter bloodline.”

“What’s the difference?” Nova said.

“Humans are Hunters. And everyone on your mother’s side are Hunters,” Bonnie explained.

“Everyone?” My eyes widened. “This shit keeps getting better and better. Her whole family is our mortal enemy.”

Nova frowned. “So Hunters and Others are enemies?”

Bonnie nodded. “Yes. Hunters are members of a century-old organization of humans whose sole mission is to hunt and kill Others.”

“Time-out. None of this makes sense,” Quinn bellowed. “It’s impossible for a male shifter to get a human female pregnant unless she’s his fated mate. Are you saying Nova’s mother was her father’s mate?”

“Bingo!” Bonnie declared. “Don’t ask me how or why, but Jackie was not only a hybrid but a Hunter.”

“Who’s Jackie?” I asked.

Bonnie arched a brow. “Nova’s mother.”

“Did you know my mother?” Nova asked.

“Personally, no.” Bonnie’s eyes tightened. “I only know what my son Nathan told me about her.” She looked over at Nova. “You see, he and Jackie were freshmen in college when they met. After they fell in love, Nathan knew that she was his fated mate, so he revealed what he was—a jaguar-shifter—to her, and she admitted what she was, a Hunter. They knew their relationship would never be accepted by shifters or Hunters, so they made a pact to keep their true nature a secret from everyone.”

“That makes no sense,” Quinn stated. “They had to know their relationship would never work and that their secret would eventually get out. Why didn’t they just walk away from each other?”

“She was his fated mate, Quinn!” Bonnie exploded. “When you found out Imani was your mate, could you walk away from her?”

“No.” Quinn stared at Imani. “Never. Even when I tried to deny my true feelings for her, it was like my soul was being ripped from my body. She was mine even before I claimed and marked her.”

“Exactly,” Bonnie said. “Nathan was my only son, and I wanted to protect him. To beg him to run away from Jackie as fast as he could. To demand that he come back to the Ridge. But I knew he wouldn’t listen to any of my demands, warnings, or advice because she was his fated mate.”

She swallowed hard. “I felt helpless knowing that when Marcy eventually found out about what Nathan was, she would have him killed.” Her eyes hardened. “Which she did.”

“Who is Marcy?” I asked.

“Jackie’s mother and the leader of all the Hunters in the United States,” Bonnie explained.

“Oh God,” Imani murmured. “This is bad.”

“Fuck my life!” Quinn shouted. “It’s bad enough to be a Hunter, but her other grandmother is the alpha of all the Hunters?”

I shook my head. “This shit is a horror movie.”

“Wait,” Nova interjected. “Are you telling me Marcy killed my father?”

“Yes,” Bonnie answered. “When Marcy found out Jackie was pregnant, she lost her shit because she was grooming Jackie to take her place as the next leader of the Hunters. Marcy demanded that Jackie get rid of the baby. Jackie refused, which pissed her off more, then Marcy started digging into Nathan’s life, and what she found out, she apparently didn’t like.”

“She found out that he was a shifter,” Nova whispered.