A Mate's Wish (Ouachita Mountain Shifters 0.5) Read Online Free PDF

out the next words. “He actually hated me when we were kids.”
    Layna shook her head sadly. “Oh, honey. It isn’t what you think.”
    Beth frowned. “What do you mean?”
    “I just mean…” Layna stared out the window at the overcast sky, tapping a finger along her bottom lip. “It’s been a lot of years since Renner was in foster care. What you think you know, and what actually is… might not be the same.”
    Beth’s frown deepened. “Okay.”
    Layna turned her gaze back on Beth. “Look, you should stay. We need you here, and I like having you around. Renner will leave you alone. I’ll make sure of it.”
    “Did Magic send you in to tell me that?”
    Layna pursed her lips. “Yes. But it’s still true. And I mean it, you don’t have to worry about Ren. I’ll tell him to back off. He’ll listen.”
    What to do? The prospect of job hunting before Christmas was daunting. But staying? Staying could be catastrophic for her heart. Could she handle being around him again? It was different when he didn’t know who she was, when she could do her job and hide in her room avoiding him. Now everything had changed.
    “I’ll think about it, okay?”
    Layna sighed. “Yeah, okay. Think about it. I’ll see you at dinner?”
    “Sure.”
    Layna smiled. “Okay. Later then.”
    As Beth watched her walk away, she tried to make sense of her friend’s words. But what she knew of her and Renner’s history clashed with the way he’d talked about her to Layna. And with what he said last night.
    Beth had replayed his words over and over.
    I missed you so much, Bethy .
    The expression on his face when he’d uttered those words was one she recognized. She’d seen it on the sad nights when he couldn’t sleep. When he was vulnerable. When he let her in for just a little bit, and let her be his friend.
    She shook her head, but it didn’t clear a bit. Nothing about Renner made any sense right now.
    ***
    There were faucets to fix, a door frame to repair on the honeymoon cabin, the fireplace in the main lobby needed shoveling, and one of the lodge’s five generators needed work before ice storm season came. A handyman’s work was never done. Not to mention, the entire place needed to be prepped for the Christmas celebration the lodge held every year for the neighboring town of Weston. That meant hanging lights and programming the music show that would accompany them, setting up the space for the bonfire, decorating twelve million Christmas trees, and building the stable for the live nativity.
    But even with a to-do list the size of Santa’s, his thoughts were on a ghost of Christmas past.
    Layna told him to leave Bethany alone. They needed her to stay and the only hope of that happening was if he stayed away.
    He didn’t think he could.
    He needed to explain himself. She was hurt and confused, and it wasn’t like they were on good terms when he’d moved away in the first place. His last words had been cruel. Most of his words to her had been cruel. It was no surprise she wanted nothing to do with him.
    It was the path he’d set in motion as a young cat, and it was successful. For once, his scheming worked. Except, this time he wished it hadn’t.
    He tossed the wrench in the sink. “Damn faucet.”
    Oh, who was he kidding? This was for the best. Let her think he was an asshole who’d forgotten her. It would hurt her less in the end because even though she was his mate, Magic was right, Renner couldn’t have her.
    It would break their code.
    Big cats didn’t live in packs like the wolves. It went against their animal nature. But as shifters, they needed the strength of community. A clan was the answer. You follow the code, you could be a member. And the setting of the lodge was perfect because it allowed the illusion of being alone. At the end of the day, Renner and the other cats could go to their own cabins and give their animals needed downtime. You answered to only yourself, but your brothers and sisters had