Read Marked Northern Shifters 1 for Free Online Page B

slammed it without a word. He simply couldn’t see Liam again. He’d been thrown down before and while he’d been, unwillingly, sky-high and they’d taken a piece of flesh, not a piece of ass, the similarities freaked Alec out.
Or at least freaked him out after the sex. What was wrong with him? How could he have softened to Liam’s touch anyway? Alec didn’t know and it didn’t matter.
Alec raced up the stairs. Once he shut the door to his apartment, the trembling subsided. The wolves—if they even existed—didn’t know he was here. Only Liam knew he was here and while Liam was, shall we say, a little maladroit at seduction—though not, evidently, entirely without talent—he didn’t go around drugging and biting people. He’d overpowered Alec in order to kiss and nuzzle his neck.
Letting out a shaky sigh, Alec dropped into a chair. Maybe it was time to move. Leave last year behind. Without the scar, he might have thought he’d had a psychotic break or something.
He’d lost his job after the bite—because he’d missed two shifts without warning. When Sharon befriended him and got him work at the library, Alec had been so grateful he’d practically abased himself with thanks.
Outside of his nightmares, in which the man with cold blue eyes informed Alec he was marked as theirs, to do with what they pleased, there were no signs of werewolves in Alec’s life. No sign but the scar.
Of course, Bill had been marked, too, and now he was gone, officially presumed dead. Not that Alec had ever believed Bill’s bizarre story about wolves and drugs last year when he thought Bill was full of shit, slightly unhinged, but still cute. The guilt hit hard even if Alec didn’t know what he could have done differently.
Lightning flashed, Alec jumped. But it was better than the full moon and the terror that came with it.
    The next day Veronica dropped by and Liam had a pretty clear idea why. She bided her time, waiting a couple of hours into the visit to have a private chat with Liam. Eventually Ira got settled with a book downstairs and Veronica directed her golden gaze at Liam. He looked back rather grumpily.
    “So, how did yesterday go?” she asked.
“Ira and Alec had a nice visit.”
“Good.” Her gaze sharpened at his tone. “But?”
    Liam pushed out of his chair and began stalking the room. He didn’t want to talk, not really. But sometimes Veronica had advice worth listening to, and Liam, despite the rather disastrous sex last night, did not want to give up Alec.
    “Liam,” she said in a low voice. “Did you make a move on Alec?”
He had to laugh. “I guess you could call it that.”
She squinted, as if bracing herself. “What happened?”
“Well, I threw him on his back and he thought I was going to rape him.” She waited for the punch line.
“No joke.”
“Oh, Christ.” She let her head fall into her hands.
“I know. I know. ”
Dragging hands down her face, she looked up at him. “For God’s sakes, Liam, you
    have to go slow with normals or it unnerves them. I told you that.”
He just gazed back at her, morose.
“I hope you convinced Alec you weren’t a rapist.”
“I think so.”
“You think so?” Alarmed, she stood. “ Liam! Did you have sex?”
He winced, wishing she wouldn’t say his name in horror. “He wanted it. I could
    smell desire on him. And he wasn’t scared anymore.”
She stared at him, not convinced. “I hope Alec knows he wanted it.” “He said ‘okay’. I drove him home. That’s good, isn’t it?” A pathetic grasp at
    salvaging something from the encounter, but still.
“Possibly,” she allowed, looking a little less appalled. “Did you throw him into the
car?”
Liam glared. “Very funny.” He paced again, stopped and raked a hand through his
hair. “Not that he had much choice. About the drive home,” Liam added hastily. “It was
absolutely pouring and would have been terrible to take the bus. He huddled in the corner
of the passenger seat, far away from