Page 61 of Brandon’s Mate

Kitty wiped off the blood with the towel and put some pressure on the wound. The bleeding slowed, and she made a pad out of gauze and pressed down again. Then she began to fasten it in place by wrapping more gauze around his huge chest.

“He needs to fight,” Sasquatch said finally in that warm, mesmerizing voice. “So do I.”

Kitty could understand that. Male shifters in particular were like that—especially dominant ones. “But you decided not to kill him?” she asked.

“Probably not,” Sasquatch said.

Well, that was something.

Kitty thought of a question she hadn’t asked. “Why do you want to kill the other panthers?”

Silence. Then, “They killed my family.”

Her hands stilled. She thought of losing her family, or her crew, and then she didn’t want to think about that anymore. “I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I can’t imagine what that must be like.”

“I’ll kill them. Now that you’re here, the voices say I will.”

“Why? What do I have to do with it?”

He went on as if she hadn’t spoken. “I’ll kill them, and I’ll kill their leader. Then maybe—”

He broke off.

“Maybe what?” She couldn’t think how he’d ever be okay, after that. But maybe he could find some peace?

He didn’t say anything more. She finished bandaging him, and he got up and went to the door. Just before he got inside, he turned and said, “Do you have any of those cupcakes? I like those.”

“Not on me,” Kitty said. “But there’s more at the house. Stop by sometime.”

He went back into the cabin without answering.

Chapter 24

After his fight with the Hermit, Brandon’s panther wouldn’t let go. He raced through the woods, silent as a shadow, trying to outrun the ghosts that he felt just behind him.

The fighting wasn’t helping him anymore.

That put him on the brink of panic. If dominating the scariest shifter around didn’t help, if making love to Kitty didn’t help, then nothing would. He really was broken, and he would never be fixed.

He couldn’t forget the look in the Hermit’s eyes. Like he’d been hoping Brandon would beat him. Like he was making sure Brandon could still dominate him, as if he wanted to know there was someone there who could keep him in check.

Brandon really didn’t want to think about what a crazy fucker like that would do if he wasn’t kept in check. Or what would happen if they both lost it at the same time.

His panther kept him running until the bleeding stopped and the wounds started to close. Until he couldn’t stay away from Kitty any longer.

He wanted her with a desperation that rose in him like a dark wave. Every time they made love, he hoped he’d been wrong and she could still fix him.

A part of him still held on to that hope.

But when he got back, she wasn’t there.

The bed was empty, and there was nothing but the lingering scent of her.

That empty bed tore a hole in his gut that terrified him. How had he gotten so dependent on her in only a few days?

And how could fulfilling a need this desperate still not make his panther okay?

He looked through the house, fireworks of panic shooting through him, and then he pulled on the first pair of jeans he could lay his hands on and went out into the yard. The Catalina was still there, top up, silent and cold in the moonlight.