19. Celina

NINETEEN

CELINA

I was still basking in the high of Thanksgiving a couple of days later. It had been the best holiday I'd ever had in my life. I couldn't remember any from before my mom gave me up, so perhaps they had been good. Had she gotten me any Christmas presents? Had there been a big turkey on the table and Easter egg hunts? I had no memories of any of those things. All I knew was that I loved Miles's friends. Harley and April were the sweetest women I'd ever met. Jordyn and Mariah had made me feel right at home. I'd never had a big ego, but hearing how much they both loved some of my books boosted my self-esteem. I'd always been too timid and afraid to go on book tours and attend signings, so I never got to hear people tell me how much they liked my stuff. And the baby? He was just adorable.

The Saturday after the holiday, I sat at my little kitchen island eating a bowl of cereal and mulling over how much I enjoyed myself here. I'd made the right decision in telling Tiffany I was going to stay for a while longer. I'd come here to get over writer's block, and I'd done better than that. I'd finished one book and was nearly halfway through a brand new one. Maybe I should buy a house here and stay. It might be the best thing for my career. I chewed at my lip as I thought it over. Maybe it was the best thing for not just my career, but my life.

I washed the bowl in the sink, and it struck me that I hadn't heard anything from Felicity since our little fight earlier in the week. I still wasn't sure exactly what was going on, but I didn't want another friendship to end up on the trash heap. I'd had dozens of those over the years. Someone who seemed like they enjoyed being around me, but then, slowly, realized I wasn't their type. They vanished or slowly slid out of my life. The thought of that happening again made me a little queasy. Miles had said she was probably jealous of the time I was spending with him. I didn't want to think she was being jealous, but nothing else made any sense. Her behavior made no sense at all. I could try calling her to see if she'd calmed down over the holiday weekend.

I hadn't checked my mail since a few days before Thanksgiving, and I decided to go down to empty it before the box overflowed. I looked at Miles's door. He'd told me yesterday that he would be working today, but I couldn't help thinking of him when I looked at his apartment. I smiled to myself as I went down the stairs and into the alcove where all the mailboxes were. Each apartment had a mail slot and a parcel cabinet. I hadn't ordered anything lately, but checked the parcel box anyway. I was surprised to see a little package the size of a shoe box. Frowning, I got my mail, then picked up the box before heading back up the stairs.

I tried as best I could to figure out what the heck the box was, but for the life of me, I couldn't remember ordering anything. Once I was back in my apartment, I found a card that had been taped to the bottom of the box. All it said was: From Miles.

I smiled to myself. He'd sent me a gift? I didn't even wait to thank him. I grabbed my phone and shot him a text, thanking him for my gift, then I pulled a pair of scissors out of my kitchen drawer and walked to the box to open it. My hand was poised over the tape, ready to slice through, when my phone rang. It was Miles. That was fast. I put the scissors down and grabbed the phone.

"Celina? Are you okay?" His voice sounded harried, panicked, and out of breath.

"Uh, yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Have you touched that package yet?"

"No I was about to open it?—"

"Don't! I'll be there in a second. Blayne and I are already getting into a car."

"Miles, what's wrong? You sound like you're about to freak out."

"I am freaking out, Celina. I didn't send you a package. Please don't touch it until we get there."

My blood ran cold. If he hadn't sent it, who had? And why would they try to pretend Miles had sent it. I backed away from the box. Memories of past news stories flooded my mind. Anthrax, The Unabomber, the movie Se7en? There were so many things that could be in a box. Before the phone call, I'd been excited to see what was inside it, but now it looked like the most ominous thing I'd ever seen in my life.

Taking Miles's advice one step further, I grabbed my coat and went outside to wait for him. I didn't want to be anywhere near that box. Five minutes later, just as my fingers were starting to go numb, a black SUV came screeching into the parking lot, jumping the curb and spinning a full one-eighty as the back end drifted around when the car came to a stop. My eyes widened in surprise. I'd never seen anyone drive like that in real life. You only saw things like that in movies starring Vin Diesel and Steve McQueen. I was even more surprised to see Blayne hop out of the driver's side. I'd assumed Miles would be driving, but he clambered out of the passenger seat.

"Celina," he screamed, hitting the steps two at a time. His voice sounded on the verge of panic.

"I'm here. I'm outside," I called down. Miles glanced up, and my heart nearly stopped. The look in his eyes terrified me. Not because he looked scared, but because he himself looked terrified. He always seemed so calm and collected that seeing him like this was a shock to the system.

He put his hands on his knees and took two deep breaths before continuing up the steps, though he moved slower now.

"What the hell is going on? Why did you freak when you found out I got a package?" I asked when they reached the top of the stairs.

Miles took me in his arms and hugged me. "We'll talk about it in a minute. Blayne? You wanna go grab it?"

"Already on it," Blayne said, stepping into my place. He came out a few seconds later with the box under his arm. "It's really light. Probably safe on explosives, but I want to check it out before we open it."

"Explosives? Is he being serious?" I asked Miles.

Ignoring the question, Miles took me by the hand and led me back down the stairs. "Let's go to the office."

I pulled my hand from his. "Now, Miles. I need to know now," I said, surprised at the demand in my voice.

Miles growled low in his chest like a dog would. It was a strange way to react. "Celina, please, trust me a little while longer. Can you do that? Until we find out what's in the box."

The tortured and anxious look in his eyes was enough to get me to acquiesce. "Okay, fine. Let's go."

"Where was the box?" Blayne asked.

"Um…in the parcel box. Below my mailbox."

Downstairs, Blayne walked over to the mail boxes and leaned over, looking at mine. He checked the front and cursed. He stood back up and looked at Miles. "Lock's been jimmied. The post office has keys to open these. Specialty keys so your shit can't get stolen. This one was broken into and the box left."

Another cold spike of fear sliced through me. That sounded like a lot of work. Someone would have had to think really far ahead to do that. The more I found out about the circumstances surrounding this box, the scarier it seemed. Why was this happening to me? Some deranged fan? But no one but Tiffany knew I was in Lilly Valley. I got into the back seat of the SUV and stayed quiet all the way to the office. Miles sat in the backseat with me, an arm wrapped around my shoulders.

Once we were at the office, Tate led us to a back room where Steff was booting up some type of machine. It reminded me of something; then when the screen came to life, I realized what it was.

"Is that a baggage scanner? Like they have at airports?" I asked incredulously.

Steff looked up and made a face. "Yeah, actually."

I glanced at Miles. "Why do you guys have one of these?"

The four men shared a look. Finally, Tate nodded toward the box in Blayne's hands. "We've…uh…had some issues with mysterious packages. Thought it might be a good investment if something similar happened."

Without another word, Blayne set the box on the small conveyor belt and let it slowly slide in. Steff stood by the display and watched as the machine shot the box full of X-rays or whatever it was. He looked at us and gave a thumbs up.

"Does that mean it's clear?" Miles asked.

"We're good. No explosives, no booby traps, can't see anything that looks dangerous. We can probably open it," Steff said.

Blayne closed the doors of the room and locked them. Tate grabbed the box and looked at me. "You want to see what's in here?"

I nodded. After all this cloak and dagger, there was no way I wasn't going to see what had been sent to me. Tate nodded and handed it to Miles, who put it on a small workspace on the opposite side of the room. He pulled a knife from his pocket and flicked it open with a flip of his wrist, and slid the blade across the tape. I stood back as Miles pulled the flaps aside and glanced inside carefully. His face went from taught worry to irritation and anger.

"Shit, that bitch is sneaky," he murmured and looked at the guys. "Look at this damned thing."

They all walked forward and rifled through the box. The other three men all had the same look of incredulous irritation on their faces. Finally, I decided to speak up. "What is it? Can I see?"

Miles nodded and waved me forward. I stepped forward and looked at the contents of the box and was immediately confused. There was no severed head, or grenade, or bag of meth. No, it was a stuffed wolf. A plush toy a kid would buy at a gift shop near the park. Beside it was a note, face-up that read:

I thought you'd enjoy this since you like to lie with dogs. Don't catch any fleas.

I picked up the wolf and saw a photo below it. It showed a real wolf that looked magnificent. I could tell from the picture that it was near the waterfall where Miles had taken me.

"Who sent this?" I asked.

Miles didn't hesitate in his answer. "I think it was Felicity."

"What?" I looked at the things in the box again. The letter had a menacing tone, not playful at all. It didn't sound like something she'd write. "A plushy wolf? A photo of a wolf? Why? It doesn't make sense."

I reached into the box and pulled the photo out. I flipped it over and saw Miles's name was written on the back, along with a date from about nine months ago. I turned it around and showed him, becoming more confused by the second. "Why is your name on this picture? Did you take this photo or something?"

Miles looked more worried than I'd ever seen him. His friends had moved to the opposite side of the room and were watching us with equally worried expressions. Miles put his face in his hands and took a few deep breaths before he looked at me again. My heart shuddered. He looked terrified, which I hadn't known him to be since before he got to the apartment earlier.

I stepped forward and raised my hands to cup his face, locking my eyes on his. "Miles, just tell me what's going on. Whatever it is, I can handle it."

He was nearly on the verge of tears when he pulled one of my hands away and kissed my knuckles. "I sure as hell hope so."

He led me out to his truck, and we drove away in silence. I had no idea what was going on or what he was going to tell me. Miles was extremely tense and obviously uncomfortable. There were a thousand things he might tell me, but none of them seemed like they'd cause him to act this way. All I could think was that he was afraid of how I would react to the news—whatever it was. I didn't want him to feel ashamed or shunned, but until I found out what he was hiding, I had no idea how I would react.

After fifteen minutes, Miles pulled the truck onto a small dirt road and continued for about two hundred yards. We pulled out of the overgrowth of trees into a big open meadow. It was another beautiful spot, and part of me wondered how many of these places there were around here. It was like I found another fairytale scene whenever I left my apartment.

We still didn't speak as Miles helped me get out of the car. He locked the doors, took my hand, and led me toward the meadow. We stopped a hundred feet from the truck, and Miles released my hand before running his hand through his hair.

"What do you believe about the paranormal?" he asked.

That was not what I thought he was going to ask. It was an odd question for sure, but there must have been a reason for it. I shrugged. "I guess I've always believed the universe was too vast to think humans are the only living beings out there. I totally believe in aliens. As a kid, I read a lot of books about mythology—so many of those crazy stories have similarities. I find it hard to believe two societies on different continents came up with the same or similar myths by accident. So, there has to be some type of truth to things like that. I believe there're other things in the world we just can't or won't see." I was rambling. Shaking my head, I asked, "What does that have to do with this, Miles? Why are you asking?"

His shoulders released a little bit of their tension, and he chuckled to himself. "Well, at least you aren't a true skeptic or this would have been really difficult."

"Miles, what the hell is going on? You're being way too cryptic for my liking here."

"Okay, sorry. I only wanted to know that you had an open mind. What I'm about to tell you is probably going to be the most far-fetched thing you've ever heard. Truly and completely unbelievable, but I have proof. Can you trust me when I say you aren't in any danger? That when you are with me, no matter what you see, you're safe?"

My heart beat heavy and fast. This conversation made me feel like I was standing on the edge of a cliff. Part of me wanted him to shut up, to stop talking, because whatever he was going to say would change things forever. Something this important would change things. The talk of the paranormal sent a chill down my spine. Was this real? Was…was he about to tell me my apartment was haunted or something? Fuck! Was he a ghost? I blinked my eyes, trying to clear that thought away. No, he was real. So what the hell was he about to say to me? I clenched my hands into fists to keep them from shaking.

Miles took a deep, shuddering breath. "The reason Felicity sent you that wolf is because her real name isn't Felicity Cruz. It's Mariana Lowry. Her father is a billionaire named Antonio Lowry. He's using his fortune to finance a secret society of humans who hunt paranormal creatures."

"What? What are you saying?" My voice was barely a whisper. What the hell was happening?

"Let me finish, please. It's easier if I get it all out at once. Anyway, Mariana's mother fell in love with a creature called a shifter. He was a dragon shifter. Her mother took her with her, but she found out what he was and ran back to her father. He sent a team in to bring her back and kill the shifters. They, instead, killed everyone, including her mother. That sent Antonio down this path of revenge.

"The hunters have been in and around Lilly Valley for a year and a half now. They roped a witch into casting a spell on me, Blayne, Tate, and Steff. She cursed us, forcing us to mate. The curse brings us and the person we are supposed to be with together. It was supposed to help lead them to us and kill us, but it backfired. Tate and Harley came together. Steff and April, same thing. Once they mated, April and Harley became shifters, too. God, it's really difficult to explain like this. I could go on for days. All you need to know is that all four of us are shifters. Now April and Harley are as well. The curse is focused on me now. I'm a wolf shifter, and you're my fated mate."