Before he could search her out, December appeared at the end of the aisle. And today she wasn’t wearing those bulky clothes. She had on a sweater dress that hugged her curves in all the right places and leather knee-high boots that wrapped around her calves like a second skin. His entire body heated as he drank in the sight of her. What he wouldn’t give to peel off those boots and start kissing her feet. He’d work his way up her ankles and legs to her inner thighs—

“What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to see you.”

Her eyebrows lifted in surprise. “Oh.”

“Is that okay?” He covered the few feet between them so they stood inches apart. He desperately wanted to touch her but refrained.

“Yes … I … What exactly is it you want from me?” She twisted her hands nervously in front of her.

He frowned at her question. “I don’t understand.”

She flushed. “What are your intentions toward me?”

“I want to date you.” He said the only thing that would make sense to her. If he admitted he wanted to make love to her until neither of them could walk or think straight and eventually claim her so that she’d be his and no one else would ever touch her again, she was likely to kick him out on his ass. Or run screaming in the other direction. Neither option was appealing.

“Listen. I think you’re really sweet, Liam, and—”

“Are you breaking things off with me before they’ve even started?” Suddenly the little store was suffocating.

“I just don’t want to give you the wrong impression or lead you on.”

“You want me.” The statement was bold and took her off guard.

Her cheeks tinged bright red. “Excuse me?”

“I can smell your desire, and even if I couldn’t, I can see it in your eyes every time you turn that hot gaze on me. You. Want. Me.” He reached out and trailed a finger down her soft cheek. Something in his chest loosened when she didn’t pull away.

“That doesn’t matter.” Her voice was tight. At least she didn’t deny it.

“What’s the problem, then?”

Her shoulders lifted slightly. “I don’t like wasting my time.”

“Neither do I. I’m not looking for something casual.” Man, those were words he’d never thought he’d utter.

“That’s not what I meant. I just … This thing with us can’t go anywhere, and something tells me that if I get involved with you it’ll hurt like hell when we end things.” The raw truth of her words cut him and he still didn’t understand what her problem was.

“What makes you think things would end?” Then it hit him with the intensity of a silver dagger slicing through his chest. “You don’t want to get involved with me because of what I am.”

Her cheeks darkened again and he knew he was right. She cleared her throat. “It’s just too complicated. My brother—”

“I don’t want to date your brother,” he growled. “I want you.”

Before she could respond, the bell to the store jingled and in walked her brother. Perfect fucking timing. It was like that guy had a GPS tracker on Liam or something.

“You should probably leave,” she murmured low enough for only him to hear.

Like hell.

“Weren’t you just in here?” the sheriff asked as he strode toward them.

“Is it a crime for shifters to shop now?” Liam didn’t bother to hide the anger in his voice.

“If you’re not buying anything, then get the hell out of here and stay away from my sister.” The sheriff’s voice was low and threatening.

“Parker! What’s the matter with you?” December took a step toward her brother and put a placating hand on his arm, but he shrugged it off.

If it had been anyone else Liam would have stayed and stood his ground, but it was obvious how upset December was so he forced himself to leave. “I’ll see you later.” And he would. No doubt about it. He didn’t care what the sexy redhead said. They had a lot more to talk about.

At the door he paused and turned back to face the sheriff. “Did you ever stop by Sean Taggart’s ranch?”

“None of your business.”

Liam bit back a sharp retort. “I don’t care what your beef is with me, but you better stay with your sister tonight. If Taggart has it out for her, he won’t stop until someone is hurt. Or worse.” Before either of them could respond, he shoved the glass door open and strode out into the cold.

His heart pounded erratically against his chest and he could feel his canines start to extend. The animal inside him wanted free in a bad way. He practiced his breathing exercises—something he hadn’t done in about a hundred years—until the urge to shift subsided.

As he steered out of the parking lot, he projected to his brother. How do you control yourself around Ana? Being in the same room as December is enough to make me crazy.

Are you in town? Connor asked.

Yeah. The feral wolf is burned.

I know—Ryan told me. Why did you leave without telling me where you’d gone?

Because I knew you’d give me grief about seeing December, and I can’t stay away. Her brother showed up and—

Damn it, Liam! I’m in the middle of a meeting and the entire pack is staring at me as if I’ve lost my mind. Get out of my head.”

Liam chuckled to himself. Everyone’s there?

Silence.

What’s Ana wearing? And what would you like her to be wearing?

You’re lucky you’re my brother. The growl of Connor’s voice echoed loudly in his head.

Liam knew when to leave well enough alone but it didn’t stop the short-lived grin on his face. Anything to take his mind off the redhead who’d suddenly consumed his every waking thought.

Ana shut the door to the house and resisted the urge to collapse onto the floor. She hung her coat on the rack and trudged up the stairs. After Connor’s meeting they’d methodically checked everyone’s home for signs of silver poisoning. As Alpha he had a duty to personally see to the well-being of the entire pack. And as his mate, she had to share in his duties. Not that she minded. This was her family. But her feet ached and, worse, the fear that the poisoning was starting up again had settled deep inside her.

They’d split up to cover more ground, and from the quiet of the house it looked like she’d beaten him back. She intended to take advantage of the downtime. After starting a hot bath, she stripped out of her clothes and pulled her hair up into a clip so it wouldn’t get wet.

Steam drifted up from the oversized tub, but when her feet hit the water she sighed in relief. It was hot but not scalding. Tingles raced down her arms and up her back as she descended into the tub. As she sank deeper under the rising water, she heard the front door open and close.

Barely a few seconds passed before Connor stood in the doorway of the bathroom. His eyes darkened as he zeroed in on her exposed breasts. Her already hard nipples peaked under his heated stare. The water was rising but not fast enough. She gripped the side of the tub to stop from covering herself. Whether she was ready or not, tonight was the night. She knew it. He knew it. Physically she wanted him and she wasn’t going to deny it. Spending another night in the same bed as him and feeling sexually frustrated wasn’t something she planned to do. Maybe if they finally slept together she could get him out of her system. Get a grip on her emotions. Anything was better than living with all this pent-up craziness.

She spoke to break the growing silence. “I just got back a few minutes ago. I couldn’t find anything in any of the houses I checked. Even though the scanner tested negative for silver, I checked for tampering of any unopened food and didn’t find any of that either.”

“I found something,” he said grimly.

Her heart raced at his tone and matching dark expression. “What?”

“One of the storage sheds has been broken into. It looks like a lot of the flavored water has been contaminated with some sort of liquid silver. I found a bottle in Teresa’s recycling bin. She must have recently grabbed a case from the shed.”

Ana started to push up, but Connor shook his head. “I’ve removed the rest of the water from her house, and thankfully only one bottle was missing from the new case.”

Frowning, Ana settled back against the tub. “Someone broke into one of our storage sheds?” That was a bold move.

Connor’s jaw clenched. “Somehow they got past our security. I’m having new locks installed, and in addition to increasing security, we’re throwing away everything inside the shed. Tomorrow I’ll buy more bottled water.”

“I’ll do it,” she said. Her cousin had been poisoned, and while she trusted Connor, it would make her feel better to actually be the one to purchase the water. To see with her own eyes that it was safe. “What about the rest of the houses?”

“I didn’t find any other signs of tampering.”

They were both silent for a long moment and she guessed he was thinking the same thing she was. Someone had managed to get onto their land undetected. Definitely not impossible, but it was a scary thought.

Finally Connor spoke again. “I stopped by the house to check on Teresa, and whatever the doctor is doing seems to be working. She has a little color, even if she’s not awake.”

She shifted against the tub in a strategic effort to cover herself with some of the rising bubbles. “I know. I stopped there too. As long as she doesn’t take in more silver she should heal normally. Quickly, even … Did you see Vivian while you were there?”

“Yeah, why?” he asked as he leaned against the counter.

Ana shrugged. “I don’t know. I think I might have hurt her feelings when I told her I wasn’t staying over there tonight. I read her a story and Carmen said she could sleep in her room, but she seemed unhappy.”

“She’s had a lot to deal with over the past year. Getting into a routine will be good for her.”