Beast (Norseton Wolves #1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

She pressed her lips together, knowing it was a lie, and knowing that he knew it was a lie. She just didn’t want him to think that she couldn’t make do. Or that she was weak.
    Beyond working his jaw side to side for a few beats, he didn’t respond.
    “I’ll be right back, then.”
    He just watched her leave. Knowing her luck, he’d change the locks while she was gone. Too bad for him, if he did. She knew how to pick them.

CHAPTER FIVE
    Adam had put his foot down, adamant that Christina wouldn’t be sent away, and he’d given Anton two choices: deal with it, or get the fuck out.
    A male wolf without a pack was a dead wolf. He could always try to integrate into some other group that was short on muscle, but he appreciated the balance of his current one. They were his family, and—like them or not—on most days, they watched his fucking back. They may have teased and taunted after he’d gotten mauled, but when they were all in the thick, they fought, even killed, for Anton. He didn’t want to give up his pack for a woman, but he also didn’t want to take the woman, either.
    All he could do was hope that she’d get tired of him soon and leave on her own. He’d said as much before leaving Adam’s house, and Auntie had laughed and laughed.
    He harrumphed and yanked up the overflowing bag from the trashcan.
    Christina pushed in the screen door at that moment and carried two canvas grocery totes into the house. “I love that place. They’ve got everything!” she said, eyes bright and wearing a beaming smile that could have lit up the night sky. “I’ve never seen anyplace like it, with all of the gourmet stuff and whatnot. Kind of expensive, though.” She set the bags on the counter.
    “Community owned and operated,” he said. “Gotta pay a premium to get commodities way out here. Everyone who lives in Norseton is in on the secret, so they’ve got to have their own stuff. Most folks are okay with paying a little extra instead of driving an hour to someplace else to shop.”
    “Well, I did my best not to spend you into the poorhouse.”
    “Don’t worry about that.” He wasn’t exactly swimming in cash, but he could certainly afford groceries. Mostly, he ate on the run on the way back from jobs or before his security shifts over in Norseton. Sometimes, if he and Auntie were working at the same time, she’d walk some food out to him.
    “Okay. Well—oh!” She reached into one of the bags and drew out his wallet. “There you go. Don’t worry, I didn’t memorize your Social Security number or anything.”
    “I didn’t think you would.”
    “Why not? Testing me?”
    “No. Honestly, it just didn’t cross my mind. Am I wrong to assume you’re trustworthy?”
    “No. I’m just—used to being called a liar.”
    He tucked the wallet into his pants, and she went to work putting things away. Ingredient-type things he wouldn’t even know what to do with. Flour and shortening— what was that even for? —various seasonings, oatmeal, eggs, and so on. He did okay with steaks, but beyond that, his expertise in the kitchen ended at pouring boiling water into instant noodle cups. Best he could tell, there were no noodle cups in those bags.
    He left her be and headed into the living room, grabbing another dirty gun off the shelf as he went.
    “Gonna make something fast tonight. Full moon. I figured you’d want to get out and run.”
    He sat on the couch and pulled his cleaning tools closer. “It’s not necessary. We don’t always feel the drive to shift for the moon.”
    “You don’t?”
    He could just barely see her furrowed brow from his position. She was so damned short that when he was sitting, the kitchen counter covered up three quarters of her.
    “What kind of wolves are y’all?” she asked.
    “Eurasian. We shift as necessary.”
    “Pure?”
    “More or less.”
    “They didn’t ask for that—in the mate call, I mean.”
    “No, Adam wouldn’t have asked for that. It doesn’t matter