Moon Shifter 02 - Primal Possession

great.”
    A slight smile touched her full, pink lips. “I have three more trays of finger foods in the kitchen.”
    “We’ll help you get them.” He nodded at Joseph, who immediately disappeared into the other room.
    Before he could move, Brianna patted the side of his face. The hideously scarred side of his face. He tensed, as he always did, but she didn’t pull back. The disfigurement never seemed to bother her. “You’re better than all of these men combined. You just have to act like the leader you are. Cursing is for ignorant thugs and you’re not one. Remember that,” she whispered.
    In response, he nodded. It was difficult to talk around her. He wanted to hate her, but he didn’t. He just wanted her approval so much.
    “I’m going to shower before the meeting, but you’ll make sure everything is laid out properly?” she asked in that genteel voice.
    Again, he nodded.
    She disappeared up the stairs and only when she was out of eyesight did he breathe again.
    “Man, I don’t know why that bitch thinks she can tell you what to do,” Joseph said as he walked back in carrying a tray of sandwiches.
    If he hadn’t been carrying food
Brianna
had prepared, Edward would have struck him. “Don’t you
ever
talk about her like that. She does a lot for the APL and deserves our respect.”
    Joseph faltered, likely because of the deadly edge in Edward’s voice. “I’m sorry, man. I just don’t like to see her treat you that way.”
    She did so much more than that, but Edward wasn’t going to bother explaining that to this nobody. After joining their organization, Brianna had gotten so much intel for them by simply using her innocent appearance. Not her body, though. She had a way of talking to people and getting them to open up. When she’d been evictedfrom her apartment, he’d offered her a place to live over a month ago. At first he thought he’d made a mistake, but she’d given his life order in a way he hadn’t thought possible.
    She was like the mother he’d never had. No, she was better. His own mother had abandoned him and his father. Brianna wasn’t a whore either. She didn’t spread her legs for anyone. She was perfect.
    He’d gotten hard once when he accidentally saw her coming out of the shower. It was the only time in his life he’d ever felt shame. But it wasn’t her fault. She hadn’t been deliberately trying to taunt him. Besides, she
looked
at him. Really, truly looked at him. She never turned away from his scarred face. Which was more than he could say for anyone.
    As he felt his body get hot, he inwardly cursed his own thoughts. When he realized Joseph was staring at him with a curious expression, he backhanded him. The kid had to learn not to question him. Brianna was right. If he was going to be a leader, he had to start acting like one.

Chapter 4
    K at smiled at the man who held the door open for her at Gwen’s Bakery. Since moving to Fontana, she’d tried to immerse herself like a local. There were only two decent bakeries and while Dee’s Doughnuts had good doughnuts, Gwen’s had the biggest and best assortment of petits fours she’d ever had. She’d lived in Paris for a few months one summer during college, so that was saying something.
    The small mountain town was a far cry from warm and sunny Miami, her last home, but she’d grown up all over the world thanks to her father’s business. She could adapt to almost any situation. But she truly liked Fontana. The friendly people, the fresh air, and the tolerant attitude of most of the town.
    A pack of shifters lived on the outskirts of town and from what she could tell, most of Fontana had accepted them. There were always exceptions, but moving here had been one of the best decisions she’d ever made. It had allowed her to make a clean break from her father’s shady dealings and it was far away from Jayce Kazan.That man technically didn’t have a home. Well, not a permanent one. He was the enforcer for the North American Council of lupine shifters and his job took him everywhere, so he lived out of hotels. Some days she wished she’d never met him, but others…she couldn’t imagine not having known him. And she hated him for that.
    She placed the small white bag of pastries in the passenger seat of her Jeep and steered out of the parking lot. If she didn’t hurry, she’d be late to teach her first class. Today she was teaching skiing for beginners. It was mainly kids under ten and she was looking