Moon Shifter 02 - Primal Possession

volunteer at the literacy center and have story time for the younger kids once a week so I still get that interaction, but I love owning my own business and I love books, so it was a perfect choice.”
    He was silent for a moment before he slightly nodded. “It suits you.”
    “What about you? I know you’ve lived all over, but what exactly do you do?”
    He took a sip of his coffee as he shrugged. “I’m Connor’s second-in-command, so I help him with any pack business, but for the last couple decades I’ve handled most of our real estate dealings.”
    “Real estate?” That surprised her.
    He nodded. “I even have my license.”
    Her eyebrows rose at that. Somehow she couldn’t see him as a real estate agent. He must have read her expression, because he grinned, his lips pulling up in that sexy way that made her knees weak and erotic heat burn in low places.
    “I just got my license so I’d have access to better listings.”
    “So what kind of real estate do you purchase?”
    “Commercial and residential. Some properties are long-term investments, others we’ve bought just to flip for a fast profit, and others…”
    As he trailed off, she set her cup down. “Others what?”
    He looked at her for a long moment, as if debating something, but finally he spoke. “We have some places set aside as safe houses of sorts. No one knows about them except pack members.”
    Her throat tightened as she digested what he’d told her. If he was telling her this, it meant he was starting to truly trust her. And trust implied a whole mess of things she wasn’t sure she wanted to face. If he started opening himself up, things wouldn’t just be about the physical. Not that their relationship was. It was just easy to tell herself that’s all she wanted from him. An alarm bell went off inside her head, warning her not to let him too close. Glancing down, she stared at the cup she’d set on the counter.
    “Are you all right?” His voice was low and concerned as he placed a gentle hand on her forearm. When his fingers lightly stroked her skin, she had to fight off a shudder.
    Turning from him, she opened the oak cabinet above the coffeepot and found a travel mug. “Didn’t you say you had plans for us today or something?” she asked as she poured the coffee from her cup into it.
    He let his hand drop, but her hands still shook. If he noticed, at least he didn’t let on.
    “I’d like to show you around the ranch and introduce you to everyone if you feel up to it.”
    Since he didn’t seem to have any inclinations of going back to the bedroom and she didn’t want to stay cooped up in here all day, she nodded. “Sounds good.”

    Jayce put the truck in park and glanced at Erin. “You okay?” She’d been exceptionally quiet on the ride over and he hadn’t missed the way she was practically plastered against the passenger door, as far away from him as possible.
    The redhead’s gray eyes flashed warily. “Why did you want to bring me with you? Are you here to kill me?”
    The bold question made him jerk back. “Why would you ask that?”
    “Uh, you’re the enforcer and I’m nobody. I thought you wanted to talk to me after that meeting, but you never did, so…why’d you ask Connor if I could ride with you today?” She unsnapped her seat belt and kept her position close to the door.
    Everyone always assumed the worst when he was around. As if he went around killing random pack members. It annoyed the shit out of him. His fearsome reputation was justified, but it had gotten blown out of proportion if she actually thought he had a reason to kill her. “For backup.”
    She snorted loudly in a manner that reminded him of Kat. “Yeah, right.”
    He bit back a smile. “Why did the Murphy pack report you as dead? Did you run away?”
    It was so brief he might have missed it if he hadn’t been staring at her intently, but a flash of raw fear sparked in her bright eyes, then disappeared. “They probably reported me dead because they think I am.”
    He’d talked to Connor about the petite she-wolf and he knew how they’d found her. Behind a Dumpster, beaten, bloody, naked, likely raped, and obviously left for dead. Humans wouldn’t have been able to hurt her that way, so he guessed shifters had hurt her. The thought of his own kind hurting any females made him see red.Shifter violence against females or those weaker was rare. If she’d been abused, he couldn’t understand why she hadn’t reported it.