Billionaire Bear Shifters A Paranormal Romance Complete Series Boxset - Brittany White Page 0,162

pursed. Brooke sounded almost angry, and he frowned, agitated and a little baffled.

What had he ever done to her?

Connor opened his mouth, about to offer help or, more likely, about to offer to fix whatever was wrong. Because that’s what he did. That’s what all alphas did. They took charge of problems and fixed them. People didn’t want to fall in line or see what was right, what was best for them, and alphas made them. But he saw the flash in Brooke’s eyes when she looked at him. She wouldn’t like that.

She was like him, and he couldn’t explain how he knew that.

“You want to talk about it?” he offered instead. If she was like him, he could understand her in a way nobody else could.

“We don’t talk, Connor.” She knocked back half of her drink. “We fight.”

He frowned and reached across the table, reflexively about to cover her hand in his. But he stopped short. “Maybe I don’t want to fight anymore,” Connor said. His mouth was a tight line. He felt a surge of desire for Brooke when she looked into his eyes. He’d never wanted to fight with her. He’d never even thought of what they did as fighting. He didn’t like the thought that she did.

She drained the rest of her drink and got to her feet and the way the light struck her tawny hair and softened the hard glint in her eyes took his breath away. “Give it some time,” she said, sounding a little sad. “We won’t have a choice.”

Then she left, and Connor finished his drink alone, wondering what on earth had just happened.

60

Brooke

Talking to Connor had riled Brooke up. If she were honest with herself, it had made her horny as hell. She was pissed at him and at Carlo and at the world in general; leaving the lounge, she was buzzed on top of it. She wanted to shift. She wanted to go out to the woods behind the lodge and have a run all by herself. But she was solidly in bear territory near the lodge, and that was the entire problem to begin with.

“Stupid, goddamn...” she muttered to herself as she made her way back to the shop, now locked up for the night, where she’d left her things. She unlocked the shutters and let herself into the dark and eerie boutique. She passed rack after rack displaying designer threads that she couldn’t afford. Even with her commission, she couldn’t afford such nice things because she gave so much of her money away to others in the pack who needed it for their kids, or for their rent, or for anything else. “But Connor Strauss wouldn’t know anything about that,” she said out loud. “Rich asshole…”

She found her parka behind the counter and put it on, grabbing her bag and coffee thermos before crossing the store and locking up the shutters behind her again.

Except he wasn’t an asshole, she thought, as she made her way through the lodge and out the front lobby and into the snowy night. It would have been so much easier if he was an asshole.

Even if Connor Strauss had never known hunger or struggle, he was a good man.

She didn’t want to have to fight a good man.

Especially a good man she wanted in her bed. She hated how much stronger that desire got every day.

She sat in her car for a long time, staring blindly out through the windshield, not thinking about turf wars, or unwanted feelings, and definitely not thinking about Connor fucking Strauss.

When she finally started the engine and sped off she was much more sober but no less pissed.

I specifically tell them not to hunt on bear territory and what do they do? A growl of frustration reared at the back of her throat. She’d known the risks when she’d moved the pack so near to Black Bear Lake - the Strauss brothers were well known, even back in Nebraska, for being one of the oldest and most powerful sleuths in the area. But Brooke had been desperate; her pack was finally growing again, and she needed - now, more than ever - to step up in her role as their alpha.

Carlo was standing outside the apartment when Brooke pulled up, arms folded defensively over his chest. He was pouting.

Always did have a guilty conscience, she thought wryly. She stopped in front of him, raising an eyebrow when he didn’t move to let her in.

“Brooke, I-”

“Save it,” she