Free Howl My Name (BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance) (Grayslake Book 5) by Celia Kyle

didn’t say a word, so she kept going. “And if that’s not what you want, you need to explain it. Snarling won’t solve the problem. It instills fear. When you need him next, he won’t know if he should come forward or hang back and that could end up with you dead.” Reid snorted so she upped the stakes. “Or me.”
    That had him reacting with a rumbling growl, the sound deep and threatening as if danger and death stood before them. “Never.”
    “Then tell him why he should have stayed back. You say you have to lead the clan as if they were children. Well, act like a damned parent, then.”
    “I don’t like your tone.”
    She rolled her eyes. “And I don’t like that you’re being a dick, so we’re even.”
    Carter, god love the male, snorted.
    So not a good idea, Carter.
    “Reid?”
    “What?” he snapped, glare still on the kneeling bear.
    “Tell Carter to get the hell out of here because I’m hungry. You can explain things to the guards later.”
    He huffed and finally spoke. “Fine,” he grumbled. “Carter, you can go. If I’m with Evie and you scent pain, fear, or violence, you interrupt. Otherwise, I will gut you where you stand and send a letter of apology along with your body when I return it to your family. We clear?”
    Carter’s swallow was audible. “Yes, Itan.”
    Reid grunted and Evelyn felt the need to translate. “Thank you, Carter. We’ll see you later.” The male immediately rolled to his feet and disappeared from sight, leaving them alone once more. And… that was about the time her stomach growled. “Feed me, Reid. Then explain why the love of your life is itching to come to the den and could show up at any second.”
    He curled his lip, disgust replacing the anger in his scent. “Love her? I hate her. Would have killed her a long time ago if I didn’t need her.”
    “Who is she?” Evelyn raised her eyebrows, hoping he’d answer.
    Another grunt. Then a sigh. “My therapist.”
     

Chapter Ten
     
    Evelyn didn’t look at him like he was crazy. That was always a plus.
    She also kept him from gutting Carter for interrupting, which meant Clary wouldn’t come down hard on him for killing someone. Again. He already had three strikes against him, and then when he found Ezekiel…
    Unfortunately, telling Evie about Clary meant he had to explain other shit. The thought of that, of revealing himself to her, made his skin itch and the wolf pressed forward. It wanted to talk even less than him.
    Evie wiggled, reminding him he had his mate wrapped around him all warm and sexy and he really wanted to get to know her… intimately.
    And he wasn’t talking about talking.
    Her stomach grumbled, reminding him she was hungry. He might be an asshole but he wasn’t negligent. Wolf wanted to feed her more than he wanted to hide.
    “C’mon,” he grumbled. “Lemme get some food in you.”
    Hating every second of it, Reid lowered her to the ground, carefully easing her legs from his waist and holding her tightly until she took her own weight. She was still pressed intimately against him, those curves snug to his body, and he absorbed her heat, basking in their closeness. And her scent. So sweet and musky, it consumed him, aroused him, and gave him a satisfaction he’d never known.
    He had plenty of women in his past but Evie was everything they weren’t—his.
    Forcing himself into motion, he stepped away and put some space between their bodies. Otherwise he’d pin her to the wall once more and take everything she offered. Hell, if she was game, he’d claim her then and there. Take her in front of every male in town so they’d know she belonged to him .
    He didn’t do that sharing shit.
    Grabbing her hand, he led them back to the street and resumed his path, pulling her toward the only diner in town. All reports said the food was decent, if simple, but a shifter just needed meat to be happy, so he figured Come and Get It was good enough for now. Later he’d wine and dine her,