That’s one thing shifters keep a secret with the Black Shifter Market and cage fighting being at an all-time high. The Black Shifter Market is an underground market selling captive shifters for twisted, sick people, and some of those same twisted, sick people also run the cage fighting bids. The employees of these markets are called collectors who collect shifters off the street for the highest bidder’s pleasure. Stronger animals such as predators are often hunted for the cage fighting bids, often forced through drugs and guns to fight for their lives for the entertainment of others.
To keep ourselves safe and away from collectors, shifters have become secretive about their animals. Collectors study all the ways to best any animal and, unfortunately, are good at what they do. When we thought these guys were after Flora a few months ago, we had to trust each other and join forces with the Enchanted Pack, Flora’s mate’s Pack, to help protect her. As it turns out, it wasn’t the collectors after her, but someone much closer.
We used to be secretive with each other until recently—when Flora was kidnapped, I shifted during the rescue mission, and my bear killed one of her kidnappers.
I shouldn’t have shifted. But I did, and I realized then that these girls meant more to me than I had thought. My bear is pretty possessive, and family, true family, is hard to come by. She must have deemed these girls as true family sometime over the last five years and wasn’t too happy to see Flora in danger. That was the first time, and hopefully last time, we kill anyone ever. We’re not killers. I’m not a killer.
I’m not a killer.
I couldn’t hurt a fly.
Until now?
The mental torment I’ve been putting myself through ends now, and I will handle the break-in, whatever is going on with Layla, and whatever else comes. I’m capable. What choice do I have?
“Any hot stuff I should be aware of while I’m here? What’s been selling fast?” Flora asks, glancing over the clothing racks that surround the room.
“Nope, my manager has been getting last season’s designs for a discount,” Luxe shrugs, smiling down at her phone. “Maybe there’s something you’ll like, Willow.”
“Whatever,” I mutter shyly, walking to the closest clothing rack. I’m not a fashionista like Flora or an it-girl like Luxe. I dress comfortably. It doesn’t help that my body temperature runs ten degrees hotter as a bear shifter, either. I live in thin fabrics and layers.
“How’s mated life?” Luxe asks, wiggling her eyebrows at Flora. Flora was recently mated to Dylan Enchanted, making her a member of the Enchanted Pack. That Pack is the most diverse Pack I’ve ever come across, filled with a couple of different types of shifters and now a vampire. They are Pack of six men, and with one of them finding their mate and a stray vamp named Remi on their rescue mission, there are two women.
“Wish I would’ve given him my mark the first night I met him.” The smile on Flora’s face almost sells this little statement of hers, but we know what really went down between the two.
“You could hardly stand him when you first met,” I say. Flora’s happiness in having her mate should’ve made my heart heavy. I should’ve been jealous, or miserable at the mere mention of mates and others being happy about finding and living with theirs. But the pain that I once felt isn’t as crushing anymore. The pain isn’t really there, to be honest. I neverthought I’d be at a moment in my life where I pretend to be sad. But it is the right thing to do, and that—now that hurts.
Milo plays like a distant memory in my head, and the guilt from that weighs me down more than my love for him.
Will I ever get over this guilt and move on? Flora and Luxe go on rambling about who knows what, and I’m staring at my sandwich with a fake smile. Maybe... I don’t have to be alone anymore? I may never have another lover, but I don’t have to be alone in all aspects of my life.
We have always been good about not prying or digging into each other’s secrets, but these are my friends. The best friends I’ve ever made. I’ve killed for these girls, and they still know little about me; maybe that should change? Should they know I’ve already found my mate? That he died? That he was murdered the night before our mating ceremony, and now I am destined to be alone forever?
I take a deep breath and move my gaze to the two. They are waving their hands, in exaggeration, smiling, laughing, and having a great time. Did I want to ruin this with my doom and gloom? No, I don’t. Maybe I shouldn’t. There’s a time and place for everything, and maybe this isn’t it.
No, I’m gonna do it.
“I haven’t shared something—something I would need to share,” I say, trying to push my negative thoughts aside. My hair covers my face, and my skin is getting clammy. I shouldn’t be nervous. These are my friends. My best friends. Best friends are supposed to be there for you, and make you smile; it’s about time I treat the people I call friends like genuine friends.
The wordsmy mate is deadare close to slipping from my lips. I wish they finally would. It’s getting harder to breathe, and I’m not sure what I’m scared of. Is it admitting the fact that he’s dead, or is it finally sharing something monumental in my life?
“I—” I try again, yet it won’t come out. My face is flushed. The rush of air in my chest finally makes its way up my throat, and I am going to get the words out this time. I can do it.
“My mate is dead.”
It didn’t even sound right coming from my lips. It didn’t have the same heart-shattering impact it had before. He was supposed to be my world, my reason for breathing, and yet, after five years, I can talk about him as if I am talking about a distant relative. What is holding me back? The silence in the room edges me to continue. To fill the crushing impatient silence closing my vocal cords. I have to move fast, or I will lose my momentum.
“We were planning our mating ceremony. He was my match made by the Moon Goddess, and we were to be mated.” Not all shifters do the whole mating ceremony and celebrations with friends, but bear shifters do. I’ve dreamed of my mating ceremony since I was little. The beautiful dress in the forest and family and friends surrounding us, partying. Then at the end of the celebration, when it’s just my mate and I giving each other our biting marks, it was always my dream. It’s the signal to the start of my life. But now I’m twenty-five, and my mate is dead. “The night before our ceremony, he went missing. Later assumed dead.”
Luxe and Flora share a look, and I instantly become insecure.
Maybe he got cold feet. Maybe it wasn’t meant to be. Maybe he’s in hiding, is what everyone would say.
We had all the signs of being mates: we were in love, we clicked, our scents were more than appealing, we were destined for each other. We were soul mates. I knew it. It was as clear as day.
I take another deep breath, forcing my words to continue revealing truths I thought I’d never speak out loud again. “I think he was murdered. We were in love and spent everyday together. I loved him. There’s no way he would’ve left withoutan explanation, at the least,” I try to explain, running my sweaty hands over my thighs over and over again. Gosh, when did it get hot in here? “And there’s this situation with Layla.”
“Who’s Layla?” Flora softly asks. She puts a comforting hand on my arm, and while I appreciate the thought, I’m more worried I’ll get Flora’s hand all sweaty from all the heat radiating from my body.
