Shifter’s Surrender Read Online Free PDF Page B

fantasy.”
    Now Dean’s expression hardened in reflection. “The reality is not always pleasant.”
    “Which is why it’s better to keep a fantasy just that. A fantasy.”
    Or a nightmare. Dean had lived both, and both the fantasy and nightmare had done serious damage, both to his body and soul. Not to mention the serious ramifications for his wolf. Dean didn’t know of any other shifter who’d had his animal whither to near death, only to have him come back to life with a vengeance that at times nearly overwhelmed Dean. From pain and nightmares to shallow pleasure and fantasies, Dean had lived on both edges. What he’d never had was love. Not the parental unconditional kind that Caleb had grown up with, and certainly not the passionate love the sheriff shared with his mate. As much as Dean liked Caleb, he envied him his life. Not in a mean spirited way, just quietly wishful. And that pissed him off. Dean would never have what his second did, and he needed to get used to it. He’d never touch Kaylie. Despite her temper and spirited nature, she was too damn good and too damn human for the likes of his mangy ass.
    Which made him wonder. “You knew about me, and yet you came here and agreed to follow my leadership?”
    Caleb shrugged. “I liked what I saw. Whatever you did in your past made you the man you are today. If I didn’t like it, I would have challenged you for Alpha a long time ago.”
    Dean grunted in thought. “And you’re not warning me away from Kaylie?”
    “Same reason.”
    Feeling a sense of anger at Caleb’s nonchalant attitude, because if the situation were reversed, Dean would have taken Caleb out a long time ago. “There are things I did, lived through, that you don’t know about. No one does and no one ever will. Things that make my job at Eros look like sainthood.”
    Another shrug that made Dean want to shake some sense into the other shifter. “There’s no record of you before the age of eighteen. I know the man you are now, and therefore I know that whatever happened, whatever you did, you did to survive.
    “I’m not good enough for her,” Dean growled out in desperation.
    “And I’m not good enough for Tess. But that didn’t stop me.” With that, Caleb turned away, heading toward the front of the building. Suddenly he stopped, swung back and leveled a steely-eyed glare on Dean. “But then again. I’m not a coward.”
    Dean growled again. Yeah, Caleb had heard it all.

Chapter Five
    Three hours later Kaylie was still irritated by her earlier confrontation with Dean. Normally not one to second guess herself, she wondered if maybe, just maybe, she’d reacted too strongly to his rejection. Yes, it hurt, but that wasn’t any reason to lose her temper and call him a coward, was it?
    You bet it was , she thought with a deep scowl.
    Misinterpreting her expression, Pete, who was sitting next to her on the bench in the dugout as they watched one of their teammates swing at a fastball, commented on it. “You know we’re gonna lose.”
    Kaylie reluctantly flicked her gaze from the bleachers to Pete’s handsome face. Even though she knew Dean wouldn’t show, she couldn’t stop looking for him. An inane distraction that had almost cost her a ground ball in the third inning. Almost.
    She raised one shoulder in a half shrug. “The Togans are good. They’ve been together for a couple of years and it shows in their teamwork.”
    Pete made a noncommittal sound and shifted slightly on the hard bench. “Thought for sure your shin guards would be of more help.”
    Confused, Kaylie glanced down at her legs, stretching them out to peruse her protective gear. “Why? Because they’re neon orange?”
    Pete chuckled. “Yeah. They’re a definite distraction. Have to admit it took a few times at bat before I could get past them.”
    “Well, I didn’t get them to distract anyone. They’re left over from when I played in high school, same as my batting cap. They’re special.”
    Pete