Free Pack Security (Were Chronicles) by Crissy Smith Page A

and she stiffened. “You don’t think it’s a stranger either.”
    No one said anything. She glared at her older brother.
    Alex sighed. “No, we don’t. We think that whoever is involved with the break-in has a connection to the church. ”
    “Who?”
    “Your assistant,” Max informed her.
    “James? There is no way! I already told you that!”
    “Think about it, Cass,” Alex responded. “He has access to the house and studio. He knows if you’re out. No one would think it was strange for him to be around, and since his scent is already familiar to us, we wouldn’t notice it.”
    She shook her head as she stood. It wasn’t possible that the sweet kid who she had spent so much time with would do something as horrible as destroy her work. No way.
    “You’re wrong. I’ll prove that you’re wrong,” she told them and stalked away.
    She heard someone start to follow her but didn’t look back to see who it was. Her heart ached and she wasn’t exactly sure why. It didn’t seem right that her family, who knew James, would accuse him.
    Cassie also wanted to silence the small part of her that wondered if they were right. Everything they said was true and she really needed time alone to think about it.

Chapter Eight
     
     
     
    It had been three days since the barbeque, and Max was finding Cassie both intriguing and aggravating.
    She refused to talk to him about James or the break-in. Alex had warned him that she would act this way, but Max just didn’t get it. Cassie had no problem discussing what they were investigating and had met the two wolf shifters the Council had sent. However, she wouldn’t hear of James being involved.
    Since she spent most of her time in her studio, Max was glad to see she was back doing what she loved. They’d also made it a habit of sitting together on the porch late each night talking and sharing a few kisses. They were growing closer each day. He felt himself start to heal too. During the day, with Cassie working, he hung out with his Alpha, Alex and Chase. He was beginning to feel like the man he used to be. Even though he knew the camaraderie with the other three men was helping him, it was really Cassie to whom he attributed the change in him. He wanted to be the man she deserved.
    He hated to leave her every time he ushered her inside and into her bedroom. He just wasn’t sure they were ready to move their relationship to the next step. Oh, it wouldn’t be long. He ached to have her against him. However she was busy, and he wanted to insure her safety above everything else.
    Getting to know Cassie better by keeping their relationship at a slow pace had the added benefit of making Max feel like he really knew Cassie. Max found that Cassie was a talented, smart and warm woman. While she didn’t like to be in a group of people in strange surroundings, she loved to be with family and enjoyed gatherings with them.
    She spoke to her brothers and sister-in-law at least once a day. He liked that they were so important to her.
    The more Max learned about her the more he liked her. He’d started to connect to her right away, and over the last couple of days, he knew that he’d started to fall for her. Their connection was more than just sex, especially since they hadn’t had sex yet.
    The nightmares that he’d been plagued with since he’d returned home had eased. In the last two nights, Max had dreamed of some good times with his team.
    Cassie asked lots of questions about what he’d done in the Navy and his friends. Out of all the stories he’d shared, he hadn’t been able to talk about losing Evan just yet. But he shared stories of his best friend, glad that she seemed to want to listen.
    It was nice just relaxing on the patio with her.
    His wolf did not fully agree. Every time Max was close enough to smell Cassie, his animal wanted to claim her. The human part of him understood that Cassie needed time to get to know him better, but the wolf wanted to mate.
    As he locked