Beast (Norseton Wolves #1) Read Online Free PDF

house, but she didn’t bother to get up and look. She had too much to do to concern herself with her wolf’s temper tantrum.
    She had just finished putting the last screw back into a .50 caliber rifle—what on Earth did they need a gun of that gauge for?—when Anton threw the front door open.
    What she could see of his face that wasn’t covered by his eye patch or his hair was flushed, and his mouth was drawn into a frightening grimace.
    She set down the screwdriver and placed the gun on the coffee table.
    “What are you doing?” His voice was a restrained growl.
    “I just cleaned it. I know how.”
    He stood there staring for a minute. His accusatory gaze went from her to the gun and then back to her.
    “I used to clean my brothers’ all the time. They didn’t have guns like this, but most guns are easy enough to figure out if you’ve handled a few different types.”
    “There’s nothing easy to figure out about that particular rifle. That’s why it’s been sitting on that shelf for three weeks.”
    He didn’t believe her. Of course he didn’t believe her. No one ever did.
    She pressed her lips tight and took in a deep breath through her nose. She wasn’t going to cry. She wasn’t going to go hide in some dusty corner like an Appalachian Cinderella and let her hurt feelings escape through her teardrops. She was tired of being pathetic, and if he didn’t believe her, she’d make him.
    She stuck out her chin and crossed her arms over her chest. The posture felt foolish, but it seemed like the right thing to do. “Check it, if you’d like.”
    “Yeah?”
    After a moment, he walked over and picked it up. He sat with it and the tools at the kitchen table, moving all of the piled-up junk out of the way. And she stood there watching him disassemble it, check all the parts—scrutinizing them with his good eye—and put it back together.
    “Well?” She tapped her foot against the floor impatiently, awaiting the critique of her work.
    “You did good.”
    She stopped tapping and unclenched her fists. “Excuse me?”
    “You did good , little wolf. You’ve just got to use the right size screwdriver so you don’t strip the screw heads.”
    “Oh.” She wrung her hands, shifting her weight. “I’m so used to—to using whatever is handy.”
    “Understandable.” He pushed back from the table and carried the gun to its empty case in the living room.
    “I—I can fix other stuff, too.” Try a little harder to not sound like an idiot, why don’t you?
    “Yeah? Like what?”
    “Cars, a little. Household stuff, too. I didn’t have much of a choice growing up. I was the smallest, and I used to have to crawl into or under things and figure out why they weren’t working.”
    He stood and turned to her, pushing his hair back from his eye. He didn’t say anything, just stared. That whole, man of few words thing. She certainly understood it. She’d never known a male wolf who’d been much for talking.
    She swallowed and started for the fridge, knowing there wasn’t much in it. “Um—we need to go to the store. Can’t survive on frozen steaks.” She hadn’t had enough money to do any real shopping earlier. She would have spent every dollar to her name if she had any idea of what he liked, though. He’d claimed he wasn’t picky, so she was going to test that statement.
    “It’s all I know how to cook. I just put them under the broiler.”
    “I’ll go.”
    Another long stare, followed by more silence. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He just held it out to her without opening it.
    “Okay.”
    Clutching his wallet, she walked to the front door and stepped into her shoes.
    “I could get one of the guys to drive you.”
    “Don’t bother. I won’t be carrying more than two bags, probably. It’ll be nice to have a store in walking distance. Won’t waste half a day going and coming.”
    “Other kinds of stores are there, too, if you need anything.”
    “I’m fine.”