“The townhouse I lived in,” he said.
“Your home?”
Eli vehemently shook his head. “It was never my home and Steve was never my mate.”
“Steve.” Liam frowned. “That the name of the fucker who gave you that black eye?”
Eli had nearly forgotten about that.
His silence seemed answer enough, because Liam asked him again, “why would you stay with an abusive bastard like that?”
“Because I didn’t know I had a choice until today.” Eli’s admission shamed him. “I’ve been raised to believe that I was a chess piece in my family’s games. My parents pushed me towards Steve because they needed to make alliances and Steve’s family kept pressuring him to produce a pure-blooded shifter child.”
Once Eli started talking, he couldn’t stop. Liam didn’t interrupt him once. The werebear listened. Christ but it felt good to let everything out.
Steve forbade Eli from socializing with other Omegas or shifters, so Eli never had the chance to make friends. More often than not, Eli wished he had someone he could confide his secrets to.
“Your family sounds fucked-up.” Liam’s comment made him crack up with laughter.
Eli quieted when Liam reached over and touched his knee. A harmless gesture and yet all Eli could think about was Liam slanting his mouth over his. He had always been repulsed by Steve’s kisses. He bet kissing Liam would be so much different.
“This Steve,” Liam said in a low voice. “Needs to pay for what he did to you.”
Eli swallowed. Liam sounded completely serious.
“It’s okay. I got myself out. I don’t know what my next plan is yet, but it doesn’t involve Steve or my family,” he said.
Liam retracted his fingers from his knee.
“Are you,” Eli paused, choosing his words with care. “Regretting your choice to let me stay?”
Liam’s eyes burned gold under the flickering flames. “Not one bit.”
“Even after knowing I came with so much baggage?”
“Everyone does.”
Eli was suddenly tempted to ask Liam about the lodge and why the locals he met earlier acted so oddly. He had so many questions for the werebear, but Eli decided now wasn’t the right moment to pry.
Maybe over the week they could spend more time together and get to know each other better.Eli blushed at the thought. He didn’t come here to find romance. Eli booked a room at the lodge to keep his head down.
It wouldn’t hurt, he mused, to enjoy himself and Liam’s company. Did it?
Liam stood up and gathered their empty plates and bowls, a signal that their conversation was over.
“Wait,” Eli said abruptly.
He touched Liam’s left arm. The werebear tensed and Eli realized his fingers hovered right over Liam’s curious and coarse web of scars.
“You did the cooking. I could wash the dishes,” he said.
Liam snorted, relaxing his shoulders. “Making sandwiches isn’t cooking. No, you’re our guest. Relax.”
“Um. Okay.”
A strange mixture of desperation and excitement made Eli stand on tip-toe. Then he stole a kiss from Liam. He’d been thinking of kissing Liam since he arrived two hours ago. Eli didn’t know what he was doing.
When he pulled away, both of them were breathing hard. The werebear looked mad, certainly not the reaction Eli was hoping to see.
“You might regret that,” Liam said.
The grumpy werebear walked away, leaving Eli utterly confused.
5
Liam
Liam scrubbed the dishes furiously. He was pretty sure the ceramic would break sooner or later. He didn’t care.
All Liam could think about was the kiss that sassy Omega stole from him. From him. No one ever had the guts to do that. His grizzly liked how Eli seemed so delicate and breakable at first glance but he had steel in his spine.
It was a good thing Liam managed to hold onto his self-control, to walk away. All he could think about was throwing Eli on the couch and ripping off all of Eli’s clothes. Then Liam would put his mouth and hands to good use.
Liam would explore the rest of Eli’s body. After Eli was panting and needy for him, Liam would position Eli on all fours and—Liam cut that filthy line of thought away.
The wind howled as the back door opened. Feral yellow eyes stared back at him. Bones broke. Organs reformed. Brown fur receded and turned into human skin. Logan’s human form replaced the monstrous grizzly. His other brother didn’t look the least bit happy.
“You’re going to break mom’s dishes,” Logan said, sounding pissed-off.
Liam set the dishes Eli and he used on the drying rack and regarded his brother. No doubt Lucas had already told Logan about the guest staying at the lodge.
Logan slammed the door shut behind him. His brother’s dark hair was windswept. Logan’s body was covered in rainwater, dirt, leaves, and streaks of dried blood.
Liam narrowed his eyes. The paranormals living in South Pine feared all three of them for a good reason. They shared their skin with terrifying monsters. Killers.
They were bombs waiting to go off. They just needed the right trigger. Among the three of them, Logan had the most trouble reeling in his beast.
“You heard?” Liam finally asked.
He tried for diplomacy, although Logan was making things worse. Logan emitted so much aggressive energy, it only ruffled the fur of Liam’s inner bear.
Liam could take his brother. They’d brawled plenty of times when they were kids and adults but it was cold and wet outside. Liam didn’t relish getting all cut up and mauled at that moment.
If Eli caught sight of him after a fight, if that sweet Omega finally glimpsed the savage beast that shared Liam’s skin—Eli would take flight. The Omega would slip right through his fingers. Liam might never see Eli again.
“Why would you invite trouble to our doorstep after everything we’ve been through?” Logan demanded.
His brother approached him and gave him a shove. Liam gave him a warning growl because he wasn’t some weakling that Logan could intimidate or bully. If Liam wasn’t so devoted to the remnants of his broken family, he could’ve formed his clan and become
