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No she hadn’t He’d have been able to scent someone if she had She was still untouched by anyone but him But the hurt and pain in her pale blue eyes were crystal clear He didn’t understand it and he didn’t have the heart to contradict her She was the one who’d walked away fros off, then left town as if what they’d had togetherHe’d called her so
"Katarina" He reached for her, but she swatted his hand away
"Don’t touch me!" Her voice rose with each word as she sidestepped hiut He didn’t understand it but he wanted to take it away
Kat had never hidden her eer, lust, heat, passion, love--she’d projected everything freely But never hurt Not like this She yanked open the door and practically sprinted away fron and uncomfortable made his chest ache For months he’d waited for her to reach out, to explain why she’d left He’d thought she’d finally woken up and realized she was too good for him If he hadn’t been so busy with Council o He knew they didn’t have a future together because he couldn’t bond with her, but that didn’t ether Just a few more years That’s all he wanted with her A littlepathetic No wonder she’d left hio after her" December slid her nearly full vodka tonic away and stood up
Lia drinks down faster than Dece, he knew Jayce wouldn’t take advantage of her "No Jayce won’t hurt her He…cares for her"
"Who is that guy? He’s scary" She shuddered
That was an understateed color, Liam knew December would have had no doubt he was also a shifter She’d seen it happen to hi to kidnap her fro to control his wolf Frouessed she still didn’t understand what he meant, but he had plenty of tio after the her She kept fidgeting in her seat and playing with her straw as she stared in the direction Kat had gone "This is stupid Kat’s o after her"
He scrubbed a hand over his face It had been obvious Kat and Jayce needed to clear the air about soet in the way of that "He’s the enforcer"
She frowned "What does that ht words "He’s sort of, ah…He quells any problems that packs can’t handle on their own"
"Problems?"
"If one pack encroaches on another pack’s territory or if a pack is into illegal activities and it’s affecting our relationship with humans, Jayce comes in and cleans house"
"Why does that sound bad?"
"Because it is"
"And he’s here to ‘clean house’ for your pack?" He could see the pulse point in her neck jump and even above the din of noise he could hear her heart rate increase
"No His visit isn’t about that After the poisonings on our ranch and after Taggart’s death--"
"He’s dead?"
Damn it Liam hadn’t meant to let that information slip His brother, Connor, hadn’t told the sheriff yet that he’d killed Sean Taggart, their old neighboring Alpha, in a sanctioned nex pugna A death fight Liaone, but even so, Connor hadn’t told anyone except the Council And it wasn’t Liam’s place to tell anyone, even if December was his mate Or intended mate, as it were Pack business stayed pack business unless the huovernrate their laws So far, the humans let shifters take care of problems internally If shifters died or were overns on their own unless it directly affected humans And that wasn’t often Shifters and humans didn’t exactly run in the sae"
"Meaning my brother doesn’t know" It wasn’t a question
This hat hanging around feot so distracted around his ownto say anything, if that’s what you’re worried about" She started to say so else when her eyes widened
Lia toward the down her face and frouessed she’d had more to drink than he’d realized They hadn’t even been there that long
"Shit" He didn’t know Jayce well enough, but if he and Kat were fighting, that was not a good thing Jayce’s eyes had started to change earlier and if he was near his breaking point…Well, a pissed-off enforcer in a room full of humans was bad for everyone
"Are you okay? Did that bastard hurt you?" Deceoing horabbed her purse froht?" Deceet out of here and sleep in my own bed, but you two should stay and enjoy yourselves"