A Christmas Home by April Zyon Page A

why Layla’s contact was getting nowhere. He was likely only speaking
with humans who might know about the shifters, but wouldn’t know shifter
business. And if said shifters were killing others in the town, then the humans
would be running scared and keeping quiet.
    Pressing
a kiss to her temple, he wiggled around to dig out his cell phone. He put in a
call to Garth. “It’s me,” he said quietly, rocking Ophelia slowly while holding
her tight. “I have new information that may help us figure this shit out.
They’re sabertooths. Yeah, I know, but we’ve been hearing rumors a pack
survived for years now. They kill off other packs after they move into a town.
And if they don’t they kill off the packs anyway.”
    When
Garth asked how he knew that info, and so quickly, Jagger stilled. Putting the
phone to his chest, he looked down at his mate. “Are you okay with me telling
Garth about your abilities, sweetheart?” He wouldn’t if she wasn’t okay with
it. He’d figure out some way to explain it all to his second.
    She
nodded and he took that as her assent. “Anything you have to do in order to
keep the pack safe do it, Jagger. It doesn’t matter. They will all know one day
anyway that I’m not exactly normal, so it’s okay.”
    He
brushed a light kiss to her lips. “I love you.” When she smiled for him he
tucked her head back under his chin and put his phone to his ear. “Ophelia had
a vision. She can see the future on occasion,” he told his second.
    “Shit,
damn that’s rather handy. What all did she see?” Garth asked.
    “The
sabertooths attacking on Christmas night, blood in the snow, puddles of blood,
to be exact. She saw herself being held down while the sabertooth alpha shifted
and went in for the kill on me. According to my sweet mate, this pack has been
killing other packs all along the coast.”
    “Damn.”
Garth drew the word out. “I’ll get the others updated, and I’m damn well
calling in the other packs. I won’t share where the info came from until you
give me the okay, but we need everyone on the same page here. If they truly are
sabertooths, and I’m not doubting your missus in any way, we can’t take
chances. My grandda told me a story about his uncle’s pack running afoul of a
sabertooth pack, like the same group I’m betting, and they were practically
slaughtered. But the one thing grandda said is that the sabertooths don’t view
things the same way the rest of us do. Their moral compass is fucked the hell
up, and they’re deadly. Biggest warning he ever gave me about them is to never,
ever face one alone. Two against one odds is the only way to take one of the
long-toothed cats down. Cause if they get hold of you, you are going to be dead
fucking meat.”
    Not
what Jagger needed to hear, but it was good information. “Warn the others. Let
the other alphas know I’ll be in touch tomorrow to explain everything in
person. I will not be calling on the phone. Best to do this off the radar. If
you can get them to agree, see if they’ll meet me at the shop tomorrow. It’s
safe, secure, and soundproofed in the back room so no one will know what we
talk about.”
    “You
got it. I’ll touch base later. You take care of your little mate for now.”
    Jagger
slipped his phone back into his pocket and hugged Ophelia closer to him. “We’re
going to be okay, sweetheart. You have to believe that.”
    “I
do believe you.” She had her fingers fisted in his shirt, though. “This is
going to take everyone. They have thirty that I saw. They took out the cubs and
women first.” He felt her tears again and that tore his heart apart that she
saw something as vividly as she had. “They killed the men, well the ones that
weren’t sentries on duty. Humans and shifter alike. They will kill them all.
Anyone at the resort and town, they don’t care. They’re crazy, Jagger. They
should have died with the last ice age but somehow lived. I don’t know how but
they did. Silver—it