Billionaire Bear Shifters A Paranormal Romance Complete Series Boxset - Brittany White Page 0,168

and Brooke found herself unable to control her rage.

“As if you care if I’m okay!” Her voice was shrill and she could feel people turning in their seats to look at the two of them, but she found she didn’t care. It felt so good to lash out. Last night she hadn’t dared to shift, to say all the things she’d wanted to, too blinded by the need to protect her pack, but now she could say whatever she wanted. “You come in to my work every day with your stupid smiles and your cocky retorts, but you have no idea what it is to be a man or a leader.” She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes and cursed herself for it. She hated how weak she felt and it drove her words, poison flying from her lips. “As if you care about anything but yourself and your stupid lodge. You really have no idea what it takes to survive, to look after people!” The entire dining hall was silent now as they watched a shop girl scream at her boss like a crappy soap opera, tears pouring down her face.

Connor hadn’t said a word, hadn’t even stood up. He just looked up at her, mouth hanging open slightly, shock and hurt filling his eyes at her words. Good, she thought venomously, stupid fucking perfect man. She tried to yank her arm out of his grasp and cried out again as the pain in her shoulder flared dangerously. Warm blood trickled down her sleeve and Connor’s eyes widened as it hit his fingertips still wrapped around Brooke’s wrist.

“What happened?”

“It’s fine. I can deal with it.”

He stood up, eyes fixed on the blood seeping through her clothes.

“You need help. Come with me.” He pulled her gently towards the dining hall exit. He was always so gentle, except for last night. But he hadn’t known that was her. Brooke fought him weakly, but the pain and the tears were quickly sapping her energy. She had no choice but to follow him up the stairs to his suite.

63

Connor

Connor’s suite was up several flights of stairs, as far away from the rest of the lodge as he could get. It wasn’t often he even slept up there - being the owner meant there weren’t many nights he could get away long enough - so when he did, Connor did his best to ensure that he wasn’t going to be disturbed.

Which made him all the more nervous as he led Brooke gently up the stairs. It had been a long time since he’d had anyone in his room, and he’d wanted Brooke there longer than he wanted to admit, but the arousal he felt was dwarfed by his frustration. It was obvious Brooke wanted nothing to do with him; her outburst in the dining hall had made that perfectly clear. Connor just couldn’t, for the life of him, figure out why.

Brooke was deathly silent beside him, allowing him to lead her gently by the wrist of her uninjured arm. He sniffed gently and grunted in relief; she wasn’t bleeding as heavily now.

He unlocked the door with one hand, still convinced she would bolt the second he let go of her, and pushed her gently into the room before closing it again behind him.

Brooke went immediately to the low leather couch by the window, but Connor stayed standing by the door. Silence once again echoed between them, and he found himself awkwardly fiddling with his tie. Bold colors and prints, he thought faintly. See, I do listen.

He hated this. He and Brooke fought, it was what they did, but there was never any actual anger behind it, at least on his side. Apparently, she had a lot of anger, and he felt ashamed for not noticing before. He liked her wit, and the way her eyes would shine when she gave a particularly droll come back.

Connor wasn’t vain, not really, but he knew the rumors that went around about him and his brothers. He also knew that on some level, the rumors were true. He took pride in his sleuth - they were hard working and easy on the eye and, yeah, they had cash to burn, but part of the reason Connor liked Brooke was that she didn’t care about any of that. He’d thought she didn’t, anyway.

A pained hiss brought him back to the present, and he watched as Brooke tested her bad shoulder, pretty face contorting as a fresh