Page 52 of Brandon’s Mate

He cut his eyes over to her, but all he said was, “Went for a run.”

“Into a barbed wire fence? Or another panther’s claws?”

“Neither,” he said. “I asked you to let it go.”

And that was supposed to be it? He got to decide exactly what got shared, and what didn’t? He didn’t want her to want anyone else, but he wasn’t going to open up to her?

She didn’t have to have the conversation. Because he was making it clear where this relationship was going. Nowhere.

And maybe he was right. The more she saw of Brandon, the more she realized how messed up his panther was. She could feel it even now, pacing restlessly inside him, wanting wanting wanting something it knew it was never going to have.

So, clearly it wasn’t her that his cat wanted. She and her wolf couldn’t fix Brandon.

And as for her—her wolf believed she was Brandon’s mate. But that didn’t mean Monster Wolf wanted anything to do with him. So what was she supposed to do when Monster Wolf came out? Monster Wolf was unmanageable—at least, her dad’s was. Even Flynn, the strongest alpha she knew, had once admitted that he couldn’t really control Monster Wolf. It had chosen to follow him as alpha, because of Brody’s love for her mom.

Kitty really couldn’t see that happening to her. How could she ever be part of a bond, with a monster like that inside her?

By the time they got to the store, the silence was driving Brandon crazy. Kitty had dropped the questions about where he’d gone last night and was sitting there all casual and relaxed, like everything was just fine between them.

Maybe that was good?

Except, what had happened last night was not casual, and he was not relaxed. All he could think about was how Kitty touched him, the feel of her skin on his and the scent of her surrounding him.

And the way she made him feel. For one damn minute, he’d felt like the person he’d always wanted to be. Strong. Alpha. Untouchable.

Like he could do anything.

But if she walked away…

He shut that thought off.

At the grocery store, he pulled a cart out of the long line of them and started loading it with food. He knew from experience how much the McCall boys ate. Their dad, Sloan, used to complain that he was going to have to get a second job just to keep them in steaks and burgers.

It took him a few minutes to realize that Kitty had disappeared. He found her, predictably, in the junk food aisle with her own cart.

He didn’t know how somebody so badass managed to look so adorable, with her hair windswept and her arms full of chips and snack cakes. Which of course immediately made him want to give her a hard time.

He folded his arms. “You seriously expect me to shell out my hard-earned money for that crap?”

Kitty looked at him under her lashes, and then slooooowly dipped her fingers into her cleavage. “I have money.”

Brandon watched her pull out the roll of money he’d given her yesterday afternoon, wanting more than anything to reach down there and get it for her. Instead he pointed out, “That’s my money.”

“Well, I did put out, so the least you can do is buy me what I want for breakfast.”

Brandon stared. “Put out?” Is that what she thought it was? She—

He caught her wide-eyed innocent stare, and she actually batted her eyelashes at him. Dammit, she was fucking with him.

She was pissed because he hadn’t told her about the Hermit.

For somebody who looked so guileless, she could hide her feelings like a champ. And if they were going to have it out, it wasn’t going to be in the damn potato chip aisle.

He just shook his head. “Fine. Use what’s left over to buy some new jeans, when you can’t fit into those anymore.”

She just gave him the finger and continued filling her cart.

When they got to the checkout line, Kitty ostentatiously put the separator bar between their orders.