Desert Moon (The Wolves of Twin Moon Ranch Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

mere scraps on his plate and tried to recall what he’d just shoveled down for dinner. He could barely remember going through the motions of eating. Well, rogue or no rogue, he wouldn’t let dessert get by him that easily. Not with key lime pie on the menu. He shoved back from the table and stalked across the room, barely acknowledging the packmates scurrying out of his way.
    Cody was already at the dessert table, helping himself to a double serving as he joked to the person next to him. “Aren’t you worried about getting fat?”
    Ty stiffened when he saw who it was: Lana, waiting her turn. She crinkled her nose at the comment. “You’re the one with two pieces.”
    Sassy thing. She’d probably burn through a thousand calories just fidgeting at the table.
    Sensing his presence, Cody froze, then grabbed the nearest woman and made a quick exit. “Beth, honey! Going to the movie tonight?”
    Lana watched them go with an amused expression that faltered the moment she spotted Ty. “Hi,” she mumbled, her eyes meeting his. The blue hues of her irises were so varied and vivid, he could swear they were swirling and changing as he looked on.
    “Hi,” he said. Well, he tried to. His lips moved but the sound didn’t quite make it out. He struggled to remember where he was and why.
    Right, dessert. He reached for a piece of pie exactly when Lana did. Their hands froze halfway to the platter, both wavering over the key lime pie. The last slice.
    “Cody!” He cursed under his breath.
    Lana pulled back. “You take it.”
    “No, you.”
    Her eyes narrowed at him. Crap. He hadn’t meant for it to come out as an order, but she was already gritting her teeth.
    “No, you,” she ground out.
    “I’m good.” He tried taking the edge off his voice, but he was badly out of practice.
    Lana studied him so closely he would swear she could see into his childhood memories. Her nostrils flared, and he saw her catch a breath and hold it. Then she slowly exhaled and turned to the platter, scooping the last piece onto the last plate. She forked it roughly in half and held it between them with icy determination.
    “We’ll share,” she growled.
    The alpha in him both bristled and admired her pluck. The wolf licked his lips—and not for the pie.
    Her eyes flickered, focusing on something in his. He noticed an outer edge of green in her eyes that he’d missed before, like the foam that slid off the crests of waves.
    “Trouble today?” she asked, keeping her voice down.
    Trouble? So she’d noticed the meeting. “No trouble,” he insisted.
    She snorted. “I do that, too.”
    “Do what?”
    “Pretend.”
    Ty blinked. “I don’t pretend.”
    “Then what’s the trouble?” She took a bite of pie and licked a smudge of cream off her lips.
    A breath caught in his throat, and a word slipped past his lips before he could catch it. “Rogues.”
    Her face hardened as some dark memory rocketed through her eyes. “Confirmed report?”
    “Not yet, but…”
    She nodded, letting him trail off. In an absent movement, her right arm rubbed briefly over her left, where a wicked scar trailed out of her sleeve.
    “Trouble?” he murmured, eyes on the scar. For a shifter to scar, it must have been bad.
    She yanked the sleeve down. “No trouble.”
    I do that, too , he wanted to say. Pretend . His gut warmed with something strangely close to pride. This East Coast wolf wasn’t just sassy; she was tough.
    Lana shrugged and brought her fork up to her mouth. “You should see the rogue who gave me that scar. Except he’s dead, along with his pals.” She took a vengeful bite.
    He wondered just how many rogues there’d been against how many on Lana’s side. He was about to ask when a voice shoved between them, wielding a sledgehammer.
    “Ty! Ty!” He felt a soft arm slink around his and fought the instinct to flinch. “Ty, I’ve missed you,” Audrey murmured, her tongue all but making contact with his ear. He eased out an elbow, trying