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20. Steff

TWENTY

STEFF

I'd only slept for three hours, but I couldn't remember the last time I'd felt this rested. It was like years of struggle and pain had been swept away in one night. Thinking of the night before brought a smile to my face and had heat pooling between my legs.

April was still asleep, so I snuck downstairs to put coffee on.

My shifter senses let me hear April's deep breathing in the bedroom. Having her in my bed put my heart at ease. My body and soul were content for the first time in over fifteen years. With all the years that had passed since I left April, I'd truly thought I was over her. How many lies had I told myself? Telling my own mind that I was fine with how things had ended up, or that April was better off without me. All of that had shattered the moment I kissed April in the forest last night.

My phone buzzed, and I glanced at the screen. It was a text from Miles:

What the hell happened last night? You guys never came back.

Instead of trying to explain everything in a text, I called him.

"Okay, spill it," he said when he answered on the first ring.

I chuckled. "Things… went well."

"Could you be more vague?"

"Sorry. It was crazy. I don't even know where to begin." I poured myself a cup of coffee and stood at my back door, looking out into the forest. "I told her everything. All of it. She'd sort of realized something was going on after Ryland showed up at the park. I told her about the shifters, the curse, all of it."

"And she was cool with it?"

"As cool as anyone could be, I guess. There was more, but yeah, she knows and she's fine with it."

"And?"

"And what?" I frowned.

"Bro, seriously?"

"Oh, God. Miles, I'm not going to give you a play-by-play. All you need to know is that April and I have now shared everything . That should be enough explanation."

"Fair enough. I'm glad things worked out for you, brother. I trust your judgment on telling Kellan, too. That's not the only reason I called, though. This Ryland guy is a problem."

I growled at the sound of his name. "Yeah, he's a solid piece of shit, isn't he?"

"He's dangerous. It was one thing when he was being subversive and trying to stay hidden. Last night was different. He threatened you and April, in public. There were dozens of witnesses. I think he's going to be more aggressive. He may call in the other hunters or something."

"I'll be damned if I let that scrawny little punk hurt April."

Miles sighed. "It's okay. I've already got a team on him; he won't be able to take a shit without me knowing what brand of toilet paper he wiped with. We're going to have someone sit on April's house too. We'll run it like we did last year with Tate and Harley."

"Thank you, Miles. It means a lot that you've got my back."

"No need to thank me. This is about all of us. Future mates included. I guess it'll be me or Blayne next. Honestly, it's terrifying, but a little exciting too. Seeing how you and Tate are with your ladies, maybe things won't be so bad for us."

"Well, you need to get ready. It's intense. I can't even explain how intense it is," I laughed.

"That's just great," Miles muttered.

The sound of creaking bed springs told me April was getting up. "Hey, I'll touch base later, okay?"

"Talk to you soon."

I hung up just as April came down the stairs, smiling shyly at me. She'd put on one of my T-shirts, and even though she was almost six feet tall, my shirt engulfed her like a nightgown.

Yawning, she wiped at her eyes. "Good morning."

I set my cup down and pulled her to me, kissing her deeply. "I made coffee. How do you like it?"

"A ton of sugar and two tons of cream."

"Ah, dessert for breakfast. I like it. Hang on." I put three teaspoons of sugar into a cup and poured the coffee on top, then poured a heavy amount of cream on top and stirred it.

April took the cup and sipped at what I'd created. "Oh, Lord. This is perfect, though sometimes I go for four sugars. You really know everything I like."

The look she gave me told me she wasn't just talking about the coffee. My cock stiffened, and I tried my damnedest to get my mind off that—at least for a while. I took a sip and willed my mind not to fixate on everything I wanted to do to her.

"I'm going to take you out for breakfast. I was going to make you breakfast in bed, but my fridge is a wasteland."

"I'll need to go home and change."

The idea of letting her out of my sight made me ache. I didn't want to come on too strong, though. Not when we were just starting to rekindle our relationship. I nodded and reached behind her to squeeze her ass. "Go get ready. I'll be over at nine."

While she was gone, I took a quick shower and got dressed. Being away from her for even this short amount of time was awful. I couldn't get her out of my head. All I thought about was April. In the shower, while I brushed my teeth, while I tied my shoes. Her smile, her scent, the sound of her laugh. By the time I was ready, I had to force myself not to sprint next door.

There was a classic pancake house on the outskirts of town—a real hidden gem. Didn't look like much from outside, but the food was amazing.

We walked in and waited a few minutes for a table. The restaurant was full of locals. Most of them had known me and April since we were kids, so we got a lot of looks and smiles. Happy smiles. But once we got to our table, things got a little strange.

An older lady who I remembered as the lunchroom attendant back in high school came up to our table. "So good to see you two together. You always were such a cute couple."

After she left, April frowned. "I didn't realize so many people were invested in a high-school romance."

"It seems we were pretty famous. But honestly, we are both pretty hot. They're probably rooting for us to see how beautiful our kids are gonna be."

April blushed and laughed. I reached across the table and laced my fingers into hers. "Wanna know what I really think?" I asked. "Even though we may not have really known it, everyone else did. They could see we were soulmates."

April's eyes softened, and she slid a thumb across the back of my hand. "That word means a lot more now."

I kissed her hand. "It sure does."

The moment was broken by April's phone ringing. "Ugh, it's Larry. I need to take this."

I nodded. "That's fine." With my enhanced hearing, I could make out both sides of the conversation.

"Hey, Larry."

"April. I wanted to check in. That slimy son of a bitch had his lawyers call me. Said you verbally harassed him on the phone."

April rolled her eyes. "Tell his management team that he violated the no-contact order. He deserved to get cussed out after everything he's done. Instead of bitching about his feelings being hurt, he needs to work on paying me my money back."

"I'm on it. I wanted to let you know what was going on, but we're on it. If that asshole calls you again, just ignore it and block the number."

"Will do, Larry. Thanks for the heads-up." April hung up and smiled apologetically. "Sorry about that. This is part of the chaos I don't like."

"I get it. I dealt with some of the same stuff. My manager would call with all kinds of crazy things. Then I had multiple women who tried to con me into giving them money by saying I got them pregnant and that they needed child support." I shook my head and rolled my eyes. "Shifters and humans can't procreate, and none of those women were my mate. The odds of those kids being mine are somewhere between negative-one and zero."

April chuckled. "I'm glad we can bond over our shared agony of the celebrity lifestyle. Do you miss it at all?"

"I don't, no. I love baseball. Playing games in Yankee stadium and standing at the plate while a hall-of-famer throws a curveball at you? Nothing beats that. But I didn't enjoy the celebrity aspect. Now I prefer teaching the game to children. Kids like Aiden. I loved the sport, and the money I made helped set me up. I saved most of it and that money went a long way in building the security firm. Without that time in the majors, I don't know where I'd be now. Probably selling insurance or something."

April sipped at her orange juice. "I'm glad you were able to find happiness outside the sport. After your injury, it must have…" She frowned deeply and looked at me. "Wait. Aren't you like a magical beast? How did a knee injury cause you to retire? Aren't you, like, superhuman?"

I sighed. "Yeah. I was fully healed in a few weeks. It was a devastating injury, even for a shifter. That's why it took me so long to get better, relatively speaking. In the first couple of days after the accident, my team and my manager sent me to every specialist in the country. Every doctor and physical therapist said I'd walk with a limp the rest of my life. It would have been too difficult to explain my miraculous recovery. There'd be questions, and the doctors would have wanted to do extra tests. It was too big a risk of exposure, and I couldn't take that chance. So, I took my money and slumped off into the shadows. Now, I'm a forgotten baseball player, a has-been, a cool little bit of baseball trivia. Honestly, my biggest claim to fame was being the answer to a Jeopardy question a couple of years ago."

"That must have been a tough decision, leaving behind the game you loved?"

"Not as tough as leaving you." I clasped both her hands between mine. "I want to make up for lost time. Speaking of which, have you decided when you're going back to LA?"

April took a breath and shrugged. "I don't know. It's kind of nice being here. It's quiet, peaceful. I do miss the excitement of my career, but… shit, I don't know. I don't want to leave you. We've only started rebuilding whatever this is."

"Okay, I get that. But I don't want you to give up something you love. Here or there… it doesn't matter. How about this? If you do decide to move back to LA, I promise I'll come out there every chance I get. It won't be ideal, but it's better than nothing."

A wistful smile spread on her face, and I saw her shoulders relaxing, like I'd eased some burden. "Sounds like a plan."

We spent the day together, getting to know each other all over again. It was refreshing to learn about all the things she'd experienced. She was the same April, but different. She'd matured and grown as a woman. As much as I'd hated to let go of her all those years ago, I was happy she'd gotten to experience a life most people dreamed about.

We went to an ice cream parlor downtown after lunch. I looked at her questioningly as we stood at the counter to order. "Chocolate is still your favorite, right?"

"It used to be. My tastes have changed a little. What's the most exciting thing they have?"

I glanced at the menu. "Um, they have a caramel cinnamon bun flavor?"

"Perfect."

We took a seat on the bench outside to eat our ice cream. The sun was warm, and April was beautiful. It was truly a glorious day.

"You've branched out. I remember a time when you wouldn't even get sprinkles. Plain chocolate, nothing else. Why did that change?"

April shrugged. "Life. Sometimes you learn things about yourself as you get older."

"Like, plain chocolate is boring?"

"That, and other things. Sometimes you have to spice up your life. You learn what you like and what makes things exciting."

"Like? Sounds deeper than ice cream."

April chewed at her lip, like she was trying to figure out how to say something. When she finally looked up at me, her cheeks were faintly pink. "I'll show you. Soon."

That was cryptic, but I didn't push it. Instead, I nodded. "Deal. Seems like a surprise I can look forward to."

April gave a funny little laugh. "Well, I hope so. Otherwise I'm gonna be really embarrassed."

I chuckled at that, even more intrigued. I wasn't entirely sure what she meant, but I decided to let it go. The rest of the day went by like a dream. There hadn't been a single day in my life more enjoyable than that one. Being with April, experiencing a gorgeous day with the woman I loved, was the best gift I could have ever asked for.

I should have known it wouldn't last.

We were sitting in my truck discussing where to go for dinner when my Blayne called. I ignored the call at first, not wanting to interrupt my conversation, but he called back again immediately.

Sighing, I answered. "What's up?"

"You need to get to the office." Blayne sounded like he was talking through gritted teeth, like he was struggling to control himself.

"What's wrong? What's going on?"

"Hunters." The call went dead.

A sinking sensation swelled within me. Panic and fear warred in my mind. What could the hunters have done to have Blayne that spooked? Whatever it was, there was no way I was leaving April alone. Not if something bad had happened.

"Are you okay coming with me to the office real quick?"

"What's wrong? You look worried."

"I'm not sure. Blayne said something about hunters and that I needed to get to the office. Let's go."

I started the truck and rocketed toward the office. The whole way there, my mind went through a dozen different scenarios. None of them could have prepared me for what we found. Before we even got there, I could see the flashing red-and-blue lights of police cruisers and an ambulance.

Shit .

I pulled up to the curb and jumped out. When April gasped, I looked over in the direction she was staring at. A puddle of blood oozed from beneath a body covered in a sheet. I slid to a stop, my eyes bulging as I took in the scene.

"Oh, God, Steff, who is that?" April asked, covering her mouth with her hand.

"I don't… I don't…"

"Hey, what are you folks doing here? This is a crime scene. You need to move on," A burly cop called over to us.

"They're with me," Blayne called from the front door of the office.

"Well, then get the hell inside. Now. Wait for us to come question you," the cop barked.

Blayne waved us over and hustled April and me inside. I glanced over my shoulder one last time before the door closed. "Blayne, who was that? Is it?—"

"It's not Miles or Tate, no. They're in the back."

I almost sagged to the floor in relief. "Then who the hell is it?"

Blayne ran a hand through his hair. He seemed to be on the verge of a panic attack. "We were in the back, having a meeting. Suddenly, we hear this horn blaring outside. Over and over again. Like somebody was trying to get our attention. When we finally opened the front door, a van sped off. Tires squealing, smoke pouring off the skid marks, speeding away as fast as they could. We couldn't see the driver, just the body lying in the parking lot by our door.

"We didn't recognize the corpse, but we could tell by his scent that he was a wolf shifter. He'd been tortured. Fingers cut off, eyes gouged out. It's fucking awful, man. And he was riddled with bullet holes. Silver bullets. He reeked of silver. Even from ten feet away, we could tell his blood was full of it. The hunters are sending us a message.

"They're still watching, and they're still hunting."

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