Series: Shifter Ops Series by Renee Rose
Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 65371 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65371 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
Trey and Jared have shifted back to human form. Their bodies are stained red. They’re not limping, so I assume most of the blood isn’t theirs.
“Hannibal?” I ask. “Big guy with horns?”
Trey shakes his head. “He took off.”
“What the hell is he,” Jared mutters. “A fucking minotaur?”
“I don’t know. But this isn’t over.”
A shout makes me turn. Geo comes running. “That was so cool. When you turned into a wolf and leaped on that car–”
“You liked that?” It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell him wait until you see me fight another wolf but a sound across the way makes my hair stand up.
An old Charger putters into sight, rolling around the smoking piles of debris. Jared’s head snaps around.
“They’re friendlies,” I shout to forestall any defensive violence.
Why is Buddy here?
Someone shrieks, and the passenger door opens. Julia races out, her face pale.
Aww, crap.
“Geoffrey,” she cries. Tears make her voice wobble.
“Mom!” Geo sounds like he’s enjoyed a day riding roller coasters at an amusement park. Julia chokes back a sob and throws her arms around him. “It’s okay, mom. I’m all right.”
Buddy gets out of the driver’s seat and shuffles to my side. “Sorry. She has a tracker on Geo’s phone. I couldn’t stop her, so I figured it was better to come with.”
I wave off the apology. It wasn’t like I was going to hide the truth from Julia. But to have her see the aftermath of my dangerous life this way isn’t great.
“I’m okay,” Geo keeps telling her. “We’re okay.”
But I see the parking lot through Julia’s eyes. Bonfires burning against the backdrop of a collapsed warehouse. Bodies of shifters–friendlies and enemies alike–littering the scorched pavement. A pack of werehyenas joyriding past in the stolen SUV, waving weapons and whooping. And her precious son in the middle of the chaos. I did all this to keep him safe, but it looks bad.
Time to face the music.
Geo’s had enough of Julia’s fussing. He pulls away and hollers to me. “Hey, Uncle Channing, did you get shot?”
“Shot?” Julia gasps.
“Yeah, Mom, they had silver bullets. They were after Uncle Channing.”
She glances at me but doesn’t meet my eyes. Her face is a mask of fear and fury. “What happened?”
“These cars started following us.” Geo points to the bombed out SUVs, and Julia’s eye bug out. “A bunch of them. Uncle Channing had me on the bike and started doing evasive maneuvers.”
“I had the truck,” Buddy offers. “That’s why Channing took the bike.” It’s kind of him to defend me, but it’s not going to be enough to convince Julia that I’m not completely irresponsible.
“And then we came here and boom! They blew the warehouse…” Geo continues a graphic play-by-play of the battle, complete with sound effects. Digging my grave deeper and deeper.
Not that I don’t deserve it.
Julia’s gaze travels from the collapsed building to her son’s face to the scorch marks on the pavement. Geo runs out of steam, and she looks in my direction.
“Is this true?” she asks me.
“Yeah,” I say. “That about sums it up.” No use defending myself. In some ways, it’s a relief to let the blame rest on me.
“Get in the car,” she tells Geo, her voice shaking.
“But–” Geo protests.
Two werecheetahs rush by, carrying a can of gasoline. They toss it onto the nearest bonfire and howl with the flames shoot into the sky.
“Listen to your mother,” I order, and Geo drags his feet but disappears into the backseat of the Charger.
I wait until Julia’s settled next to him before approaching. “Julia.”
“No,” she holds a hand up to forestall my explanation. She’s not meeting my eyes.
“Geo’s okay. I would never let anything happen to him.”
“They were following us, Mom,” Geo puts in from the other side of the car. “We had to get away!”
“They tailed us from Justin’s house. I don’t know how. I radioed for help, but the only place I could bring him was here. At least here, I had backup.” I nod towards Trey and Jared, who are standing and chatting with Grizz and Caleb, all four of them buck naked.
She averts her eyes. “Was this you?” she asks in a low voice. “This is your” –she waves a hand in the air– “business?”
I know what she means. I kept Geo alive, but the reason he was in danger was me.
It’s my fault. I’ll own it. “Yes.”
She nods, still not looking at me.
“Take them home,” I tell Buddy. “I’ll be right along.”
From the look on Julia’s face, I’m no longer welcome there. But I’ll stand guard on the porch tonight. My wolf won’t allow anything less.
Come morning, though, I’ll be gone. I’ll leave Buddy and the cameras watching over Geo and Julia. It’ll be better for them if I leave, go far away. I brought danger to their doorstep, and I’ll never forgive myself for that.