Moon Shifter 02 - Primal Possession

Her body temperature had risen in the short time since he’d been touching her. While he might not be able to see them, he would bet her nipples were hard and aroused against her bra cups. The thought of what color they’d be made his cock strain against his pants and he had to bite back a groan.
    Leaning closer, he started to tell her what he’d like to do to her, but the waitress returned. Sighing, he waited while she ran through the specials. Even after they’d given their order, she lingered for a moment to stare at him. He wanted to growl at her to leave them alone but knew it wouldn’t do him any good to alienate citizens of the town. So he pushed down his impatience and gritted his teeth while she stood there staring at him hungrily.
    “We don’t need anything else, Betsy.” December’s annoyed voice sliced through the air and jerked the woman out of her trance.
    The blonde mumbled something under her breath and hurried away.
    “Seems like you have an admirer.” December inched away from him, closer to the window by their booth.
    Instead of giving her space, he moved with her and kept his leg lined up with hers. He just wanted to touch her, maintain that simple connection. “Do you care?”
    She shrugged instead of answering. But at least she didn’t deny it.
    “So, horseback riding this week?”
    “Um…”
    “Tomorrow when you get off work.”
    “Is that a question?” There was a slight trace of amusement in her voice. That was a good sign.
    “Tomorrow?”
    December shook her head slightly and sighed. “I can’t tomorrow, but how about Tuesday? And I’m only agreeing because it’s been months since I’ve been riding, so don’t get any ideas.”
    “Why can’t you go tomorrow?” It came out harsher than he intended.
    Her eyebrows rose at his abrupt question. “I have plans.”
    “With who?” he demanded.
    “Not that it’s any of your business but I volunteer at the local high school on Monday nights as a literacy tutor.”
    He instantly relaxed at her words. “Oh.”
    Her pretty mouth pulled into a thin line. “See? This is another reason we’d never work out. You can’t grill me about where I go and what I do.” When he started to respond, she cut him off. “And don’t give me some bullshit line about how you’re worried about my safety. You’re ridiculously territorial, Liam. The only reason I’ve let it slide so far is because of everything that’s been happening.”
    His first instinct was to deny her accusation, but he
was
territorial. He was an alpha
and
a warrior, so it was ingrained into the very fiber of his being. Unlike the betas of his pack, who depended on alphas and warriors alike to protect them, he protected what was his, including her. It was the pack way. The animal way. Unfortunately for his inner wolf, she might be beta in the physical sense but she sure as hell wasn’t submissive. If she had been a shifter, she’d be alpha to the bone. Always butting heads with him. She didn’t care about his protective instinctsor understand them and he had no response for her. Anything he said was guaranteed to annoy her, but he couldn’t change who he was. As she stared at him, waiting for a response, her brother walked through the front door of the diner.
    Potent relief surged through him at the interruption. Something Liam had never thought would happen at the sheriff’s presence.
    Without waiting for an invitation, Parker took off his hat and slid into the seat across from them. “I’m glad you’re together.”
    That’s a first.
Liam lifted an eyebrow.
    “What’s wrong?” December asked.
    The sheriff glanced behind him, presumably to make sure they weren’t being overheard, then looked back at them. “This is all off the record, Liam. I want you to pass this information on to your brother.”
    He nodded, all his muscles tensing. “Okay.”
    “Found a body early this morning. Male, Caucasian, early thirties. He’d been ripped to shreds by a couple dogs, but that’s not what killed him. A blow to the head did.”
    Liam glanced at December, who looked as confused as he felt. “And?”
    “The body was moved and dumped at Abel’s Gas Station. There aren’t a lot of reasons to dump a body in plain sight. It’s only a theory, but it’s possible whoever did it wanted this death blamed on shifters.”
    “That seems like a stretch.” But it didn’t. Liam just didn’t want December to worry about anything else right now.
    Parker shrugged.