The Beast Within Read Online Free Page B

more than a little awkward standing here bare-assed in the woods with you? I hope we don’t run into any campers…that’s how rumors get started. And that could seriously affect my ability to pick up women.”
    The way Nick was looking around them uneasily made Sebastian laugh, no easy feat these days. “I probably shouldn’t hang around too long anyway.”
    “Scar’s out of town.”
    “I know.” Sebastian felt his face fix into a hard frown, the way it always did when he thought about his brother now. “Why’d he do it? He could have talked to me about taking over the pack, he didn’t have to kill me.” He had turned that one around and around and while he thought he understood that Scar was motivated by power and control, it still seemed excessive to Sebastian.
    But then again, he wasn’t entirely lacking in human emotion.
    “Because if you believe the legends, even if you had given the pack leadership over to Scar, you still had Liv.”
    “The sole survivor of the French clan of werewolves.” Sebastian ran his hand through his hair.
    “Mated to her, it doubles his power.”
    Which was why Sebastian had never married Liv. He wanted no part of anything that smacked of ulterior motives when it came to her. He had loved her for her, not for what she could bring him.
    “Liv has no idea who and what she is.”
    Nick nodded. “Just so you know, she’s started shifting at the full moon. But Scar says she doesn’t have any memory of it.”
    Sebastian’s eyebrows shot up. “Liv is shifting? But she never did before.”
    “Extreme emotion triggers the first shift, you know that. It started almost immediately after you disappeared.”
    Yeah, he did know emotion could initiate the change. At sixteen, Sebastian and Scarborough had both shifted for the first time after their parents died in a car accident. Scar had internalized enough of his anger that he had learned to shift at will almost immediately, a dark talent Sebastian now possessed himself.
    Sorrow for the pain Liv had suffered enveloped him. “What does Liv think happened to me?”
    Nick cleared his throat like he was uncomfortable, but he didn’t evade the question or Sebastian’s stare. “He told Liv that you disappeared without a trace, no sign of foul play. She thinks you walked out on her and emptied her bank account right before you did.”
    “ What? ” Sebastian felt the anger rising inside of him, from his gut, feathering out to all his limbs in a hot rush. His hands twitched. “You’re telling me she thinks I stole her money and skipped out?”
    Nick shot him a look of sympathy. “She had no reason to think otherwise, especially since you would never marry her. I thought about telling her the truth, but why would she believe my crazy-ass story over Scar’s? His was a hell of a lot more believable, and the money being gone just cemented what he told her. And then he would have just killed me too and he’d still be with Liv, so there was no point. But it was rough on her, Sebastian…. I’ve never seen her look like that. For weeks she was just…” He cleared his throat. “Anyway. I’m glad you’re back, man. Your brother is a little out of control.”
    Sebastian couldn’t believe it. No wonder Liv was living with Scarborough. The guy had attempted to kill Sebastian in cold blood, then had lied to Liv about it, claiming he had walked out on her without a backward glance, with all her cash. Then clearly Scarborough had been there as a shoulder to cry on.
    The fucking bastard. It was so devious and cold and calculating.
    It made Sebastian want to throw back his head and howl in disgust and frustration.
    It made him want to go back and make love to Liv again, with more tenderness, with the truth between them.
    And it made him want to rip his brother apart, piece by miserable piece.
    “Oh, don’t worry,” he told Nick. “I have plans for Scarborough.”
     
    The alarm shattered Liv’s sleep and had her reaching over to smack the