22. Miles

TWENTY-TWO

MILES

My ear ached from being on the phone for so long. Hours had gone by, and I'd talked to at least a dozen different alphas from surrounding areas. The guys and I had decided to spread the word to everyone, and I was glad we did. Everyone we talked to had the same reaction—fear, shock, and outrage. Once we told them everything we'd found, they all understood that Antonio was a force to be reckoned with.

In the past, hunters had merely been heartbroken people desperate for revenge, those who'd lost loved ones to random feral or psychotic shifters. They came together in a loose group and did what they could to kill us. Sometimes they were successful, but more often than not, they'd piss their pants and run the first time they went head to head with a shifter. It had been that way for centuries.

This was different.

A leader with unlimited funds, resources, and power, was not someone to take lightly. The guy was crazy and all-in on trying to exterminate us. We knew it, and I was happy the other alphas understood it.

I'd saved my old pack for last. I dialed, and Donovan answered almost immediately. "Miles? Is that you?"

I sighed. "Yeah. Were you waiting for my call?"

"Got word from a bear clan about an hour ago. Word is spreading. By this time next week, every pack in North America is going to know about this Antonio guy."

"Well, I'm glad I don't have to go over the same information with you. I've made so many calls it feels like it's getting redundant."

"Yeah," Donovan said. "I have to be honest. Since the attack, I've been pretty useless. I'd hoped this hunter thing would be an easy fix."

I couldn't blame him. The attack on them had been devastating. Donovan had lost his only child and heir to his pack. The guy had been retired when it went down. I imagined he hadn't planned on any of this for his golden years.

"Son." The alpha's voice sounded hollow and worn out. "I keep coming back to the same thought. It has to do with you."

"Me?" I asked, confused about where this was going.

"I wake up in the morning, and I keep waiting to see my boy. To hear his voice or hug him, and then I realize he's never coming back. I keep wondering if this was what it felt like for your parents when you got banished."

My back stiffened. I looked across the office and saw Blayne had noticed my reaction. He mouthed, "You good?"

I nodded and waited for the alpha to go on.

"Looking back now, I may have overreacted. I know you broke pack law. But my boy was at fault, too. He knew Liz was with you. Knew how much you loved her. Then for him to…Christ, I should have raised him better. He did mature as he got older. He and Liz even told me a few years ago they regretted how things went down."

These were the words I'd wanted to hear my entire life. All those years ago, I'd gone to sleep each night praying that I would hear this exact thing come out of his mouth. Regret, shame, forgiveness—all the things that I wanted. Now? I had my own life, and my own pack. A family that I needed to protect at all costs. This wasn't the time to listen to an old man's regrets.

"The past is the past," I said, cutting him off before he could go any further. "What you guys need to do now is prepare. We have no idea how many hunters are part of this new organization. Arm yourselves if you can. Try to make sure someone is on watch all the time. Patrol the town. It's what we've done. Look for anyone out of the ordinary or who asks weird questions."

"Right," he said, audibly pulling himself together. "Good plan. We can get to work on that today."

"Good. We can't confirm anything, but we've got a feeling Antonio is going to make a big move soon. Whether that's on us or on another pack somewhere else, I don't know. His daughter is directly involved here in Lilly Valley. There's no way he'd put her in the field for something simple."

"Got it. I'll have my wolves ready. If there's anything we can do, don't hesitate to call me. I know I'm pretty far away, but if I can do something to make up for the past, I will."

"Stay alive and keep my parents alive. That's what you do. You hear me?"

"Yes. Yes, I do. Speaking of them, I did get your message to them. They were really happy to hear it. They told me to tell you they love you, and they're proud you've made a name for yourself. Son…you woulda made one fucking hell of an alpha."

The words hit me like a punch in the gut. My parents were proud of me? I could barely mutter a thanks before I hung up. My phone tumbled from my hands and clattered to the table, my eyes glazing over as I stared into nothingness. Tate patted me on the shoulder, and I blinked back to consciousness.

"That looked tough. Are you okay?" he asked.

I nodded and swallowed hard. "Tough call to make."

"I know it's hard. Had to be done, though. What did he say?"

I gave Tate a wry grin. "My parents got my message, and I got one back."

"Good?"

"Yeah. Yeah, it was."

"Okay, what's the move?" Tate asked.

I looked at him, then over to Steff and Blayne. "Well, we can be ninety percent sure that we are Antonio's main target. He's targeted bigger clans and done major damage. We're four guys, but we've been giving him hell for almost two years now. We keep coming out on top, and he has to be pissed and ready to deal a final blow."

Blayne patted the top of his laptop. "We don't know where he's been staying, but he can only hide so much. I was able to find the two jets he owns. He did everything he could to make it look like he only had one plane. The other was tied to an offshore hedge fund, but some major digging turned up the bill of sale. That's the plane he's been using to get around.

"He's still slippery as shit, but it looks like most of his trips are for business and not hunter stuff. We know he's funding the hunters, but it's not coming from him directly. One of these dozens of corporations and businesses has to be the funnel. Money goes in and disappears to the hunters. If I can find that one company, I can try to hack their accounts and freeze the cash." He shrugged and grimaced. "Dude's a billionaire, so it won't be a permanent fix. He'll switch to another, but it could throw a kink in their plans for a few days. That could be our opening. While they're low on money and panicking, we go in. Assuming we've figured out their main point of operation by then."

We were closer than we'd ever been to actually going after the hunters. It was still like throwing darts in the dark, but we were slowly pulling the veil away. Soon, maybe, we could go on the offensive. I checked my phone for messages from Celina's bodyguard. I had one of our most experienced guys on her. All he'd sent were hourly updates on her doing pretty boring stuff. It was music to my ears.

The hunters were lurking in the town. I knew it, and that had me on edge. There was no way I would give them a chance to go for Celina. The fact that there hadn't been any sign of Felicity since she'd left that package for Celina made me nervous. The devil you could see was less dangerous than the one you couldn't. As far as we could tell, she had no clue that we were on to her, which meant it was only a matter of time before she returned.

Being away from Celina for most of the day made me miss her like crazy. I picked up my phone and texted her to see if she wanted to go out for dinner tonight. Almost instantly, my phone pinged with a text from her that said she'd love to.

Grinning, I turned to tell the guys I'd be heading out soon, but my phone slipped from my hand as a piercing pain shot through me. I gasped, clutching at my chest as my lungs constricted. I slid out of the chair and onto my knees. Tate crouched next to me, and Steff and Blayne leaped to their feet and came to stand by me.

"What the fuck?" I croaked.

"Pain in the chest?" Tate asked.

"Sharp? Like someone's digging a knife into your ribs?" Steff asked.

I nodded, still wincing in pain. "What the hell is going on?"

"The curse," Tate and Steff said in unison.

"It'll come and go," Steff said. "Sometimes it's a sharp pain in the chest, other times it'll be like every bone in your body is aching. It'll slowly get worse until you claim Celina."

"Fuck," Blayne said. "I really hope whatever chick the curse has planned for me is easy. I want to meet her, knock boots, claim, and live happily ever after. All three of you have had issues with your ladies."

Tate ignored Blayne and put an arm around my shoulder. "I think it's time you start talking to Celina about the claiming."

"Yup," Steff said. "Remember how me and Tate got? We were almost feral by the end."

I did remember. They'd both been short-tempered, exhausted, pissy, and all around pains in the ass. I didn't want that for myself or for them to deal with. I also didn't want to snap at Celina if it started getting bad. Something like that might hurt her more than it would others. She was stronger than she gave herself credit for, but in some ways, she was still fragile, and I didn't want to hurt her.

"I'll talk to her tonight," I said as I struggled to my feet.

An hour later, I got to our place and waved to the bodyguard in the parking lot, signaling that he could go off duty. I climbed the stairs, then knocked on Celina's door. After a few seconds, she opened the door, and my wolf was ready to pounce at the sight of her. A carnal need enveloped me, and an almost audible growl rumbled at the back of my throat. My body was crying out to sink my flesh into hers, to bite and claim her while she writhed beneath me, screaming in ecstasy.

"Miles? Are you okay?"

My head jerked back as I snapped out of my mini-fantasy. "Huh? Yeah, I'm good. Sorry," I said, pushing my wolf back down and plastering a smile on my face.

"Okay, you were…I guess you looked a little out of it."

"A little tired, I guess. And hungry." I stepped forward and kissed her. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah. I'm famished."

I took her to the town's steakhouse. On the way, she told me about some new ideas she had for books. They were crazy cool ideas. Everything from time traveling, to dream worlds and queens who moonlit as bounty hunters. I didn't have half the imagination she had.

As we walked into the restaurant, I asked, "Have you always had such a vivid imagination?"

"Pretty much. I think I always wanted to create a world that was more interesting than the one I lived in. Once, I'd fully convinced myself that one of my foster dads was a vampire because he slept all day and was up all night. In reality, he was just a drunk." Celina's eyes went wide, and her mouth dropped open. He clutched my sleeve and tugged. "Wait. Are vampires real? Like, seriously, are they?"

The host led us to our table, before handing us the menus. Once they were gone, I touched Celina's hand. "I'm sorry you had to deal with that. As a kid, I mean. I hate that's how you had to grow up. And, as far as I know, no, vampires aren't real." It was all I could do to say it without smiling. "Shifters? Witches? Yeah. Vampires, Bigfoot, or aliens? Your guess is as good as mine."

"Well, that's one thing I don't need to worry about." She shrugged. "As for my childhood? I honestly don't regret it. Without all that, I wouldn't be the person I am now. People think I'm odd, but I'm a good person, and that's what matters, not what other people think. Being kind is more important than being seen as what society thinks is normal."

I laced my fingers through hers and looked at her like the amazing, unbelievable person she was. The look on my face must have said a lot, because I saw that familiar blush start to creep across her cheeks as I studied her.

"I'm glad you're who you are. You are perfect for me. You are exactly the person you were meant to be, and that person is beautiful and amazing."

"Thanks," she mumbled with a smile.

I meant everything I said. Every minute I spent with her made me feel more humble about my own life. I'd thought I'd had a rough life, but it was nothing compared to what she'd experienced. I wanted to give her everything she'd never had. I wanted to give her the world.

We ordered our food and a thought occurred to me. I'd been so sure I'd never fall in love again after Liz that I'd tried to shut out any woman who tried to get close to me. After these last few weeks, I knew I'd been wrong. I was falling in love again. My heart was right there, ready for Celina to grab and hold on to forever.