Moon Shifter 02 - Primal Possession

“Maybe. Maybe not. There’s more to it than that, but that’s all I’m willing to tell you.”
    “Why
are
you telling me all this?”
    Parker’s eyes darkened. “With all the bullshit happeningaround here and rumors of the APL, I can’t afford not to. This is a peaceful town and if some assholes think they can start anything here, they’re dead wrong.”
    Liam nodded slowly as Parker’s words sank in. If the APL members couldn’t exterminate them all, going after their reputation was a good way to get the rest of the town to hate them. It didn’t take much to get people riled up, and he’d seen firsthand how quickly humans could turn on shifters if they had enough fear in their hearts. Not to him personally, but he watched the news enough and he had friends who’d been driven from towns because of simple human fear. “I’ll tell Connor.”
    “Good. And make sure everyone in your pack stays out of trouble.”
    Liam bit back a sharp retort, mainly because Parker was December’s brother. It’s not as if his pack had gotten into any trouble since they’d moved to Fontana. Connor was a good Alpha and he looked out for all of them. Anything that was pack business stayed that way. They didn’t involve the humans in anything they didn’t have to. He cleared his throat. “Of course.”
    “Listen, I’ve got to work late tonight—”
    Liam knew where he was headed, so he cut him off. “I’m staying at her place.”
    December cleared her throat. “Excuse me. ‘Her’ is sitting right here.”
    “December, not now,” Parker said absently as he grabbed his hat. He kept his attention on Liam and nodded once.
    Liam knew Parker hated depending on him for anything. Mild distrust rolled off him in both his scent and his expression. But the man obviously knew Liam would never hurt December and would do anything to keep her safe.
    As the sheriff left the diner, December elbowed him in the side. “I hate when you do that. I’m sitting
right
here. I think he’s just as bad as you.”
    Under normal circumstances it wouldn’t have hurt, but she hit him directly where he’d been stabbed. He gritted his teeth. For such a small woman she had some serious strength behind her. Or maybe he’d just been stabbed deeper than he realized.
    Her gaze narrowed on his face. “Tell me that didn’t hurt.”
    “It didn’t.”
    “Then why’d you flinch?”
    “I didn’t.”
    “Don’t lie to me.”
    “I didn’t flinch, but…I might have gotten stabbed earlier.”
    Immediately her eyes widened and she reached for him. “
Stabbed?
Are you okay? What happened? Why didn’t you go to a hospital?”
    As she took his hand in her smaller one, his entire body warmed. Shit, he wasn’t above playing the sympathy card. Not if it made her want to touch him. “There’s nothing anyone at a hospital can do and I’m fine. I’ll be healed completely by tonight.”
    Her expression was still worried. “Who stabbed you?”
    If he told her, she’d tell her brother there were fae warriors in town, and that was the last thing they needed. More involvement from law enforcement. “It’s not important.”
    “Was it one of those APL members?”
    “No.”
    “Are you going to tell me who it was?”
    “No.”
    Her ivory cheeks flushed an angry red. Even if hecouldn’t scent the changes in her, he was coming to learn the small nuances of her body and expressions. Plus she wore her emotions right out in the open. Those blue eyes of hers gave away everything. “You just expect me to accept everything you say without asking any questions.” Her voice was heated but at least she hadn’t pulled away.
    Slowly, he rubbed his thumb over her open palm. He needed to change the subject. Fast. “Did you wear that sweater to drive me crazy?”
    The abrupt switch in topic made her blink. “What?”
    He let his gaze travel down over her breasts. She wore a green sweater that wrapped around her waist with some sort of tie thing. All he’d have to do was pull the bow free and it would fall open. Just a hint of cleavage peeked through the V-neck cut. “You know how fast I could take that thing off you?” he whispered.
    Her breathing became shallower as he continued rubbing small circles against her skin. “You can’t use sex to distract me.” Her voice came out raspy and sinfully low.
    “I’m not doing anything.” He was touching her in a completely nonsexual spot, but it was obviously affecting her.
    Her mouth slightly parted