Page 26 of Her Shifter Pack

I put my body squarely between the two women, my protective instinct toward Lexie rising. “No problem,” I said, gently pushing Lexie toward the registers. “Here, honey.” I gave her my credit card in front of Nancy, much to Lexie’s obvious surprise.

But to her credit, she looked at Nancy and said, “Nice to meet you.” Then she went through the register to collect our candy and tap my card.

I nodded at the female wolf shifter, my narrowed eyes daring her to step forward and interact with my mate in any way that wasn’t respectful. If she did, there’d be consequences.

Nancy must have sensed it, because her body relaxed into a slightly more submissive posture and she dropped her voice to a whisper. “She’s human.”

I shrugged. “So?”

“And she’s... what about Markus?”

I shrugged again. “My brother will make up his own mind.”

Her eyes lit up at the prospect of still claiming Markus as her own. What she didn’t realize was that my brother had never thought of Nancy as more than a friend with benefits.

She’d never be his mate, and that should be obvious to her now.

I waved at her and walked through the registers to Lexie, whose eyes were flashing with anger. “Who. Was. That?”

“A family friend,” I said, taking the plastic bags from her. “And to answer the question I can see burning in your eyes—have I slept with her? Absolutely not.”

Her shoulders relaxed slightly at my words, and she walked with me to the truck before suddenly asking, “What about Markus?”

I opened the door and put the bags inside. “You’ll have to speak to my brother about that. His past is... how should I say it? More colorful than mine, but it’s his right to speak about that, not mine.”

“You’ve never been married?” she asked as we slid into the seats.

I laughed. “Not even close.”

“No serious girlfriends?”

I smiled. “Nope. I was waiting for the one.”

She didn’t ask any more questions, but I could almost hear all the thoughts burning in her brain the whole way home.

Chapter 8

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