Page 51 of Shifter Situations

He choked, then coughed to clear his throat. “There is no us; there never was.”

“There could be,” Cassie simpered.

“No fuck, there can’t,” Briggs said quickly, sidestepping as she tried to touch him once more.

Sloane watched their exchange without saying a word, but the fingers on her left hand tapped wildly against the side of her thigh.

Her mind was still connected to mine, and there was so much more darkness than there was earlier.

There was only a single swirl of pink left now.

Briggs dodged Cassie’s attempts again, moving behind Novak to put some distance between them. She tried to shove the vampire out of the way, but couldn’t, so she moved to step around him.

Our mate’s head tilted slightly to the right as the last of the pink in her mind faded away. Angry and agitated, the darkness rolled like billows of black smoke.

And Sloane snapped.

Between one blink and the next, her eyes completely blacked out.

Her talons extended from the tip of her fingers, and she slammed them into the back of Cassie’s neck. She snatched several vertebrae out, severing her spinal cord with a quick jerk of her hand.

The shock and pain on Cassie’s face was frozen in time as her body crumpled to the ground in a heap at Sloane’s feet.

I leaned over to look at my mate’s hand and instantly regretted it. In her grasp were three bloodied bones, pieces of—

I gagged.

Palmer chortled, taking the bones from Sloane and tossing them over his shoulder.

She narrowed her eyes at the lifeless body, looking thoroughly offended. “I didn’t catch her name.”

I wasn’t stupid, and I definitely wasn’t going to tell her now, so I curiously asked aloud, “Why did you do that?”

“She was talking to that petite brunette bitch over there—the one who still won’t stop staring at you guys—and mentioned the wrong things in conversation. I killed her for it. I feel zero remorse.”

“You’re awfully bloodthirsty tonight,” Novak teased.

“Lack of dick,” she deadpanned, a sardonic grin tugging at her lips as her eyes faded to their normal multicolored hue.

The vampire scoffed. “You have six mates. That’s not an excuse. If you need some more dick, all you have to do is ask.”

11

Stone

Thursday, June 4th

Late Night

Over the past few weeks, something major had shifted. I had been trying my fucking best to work it out. But it hit me earlier today.

I couldn’t think of a single time I had allowed myself to really flirt with Novak, and the same could be said for Vaughn. There had been an attraction there, for sure, though there had always been small worries too.

Knowing that Sloane didn’t have an issue with our attractions made it easier for me to acknowledge them.

I wasn’t keen on ruining friendships with sex; I still had my reservations. Tension was tolerable, usually fun, but it had never been in the cards to act on those feelings. Not that I had planned on doing it…

Now, though? My thoughts were being altered.