Hidden Moon (Hot Moon Rising #4) by Afton Locke Read Free Book Online Page A

river of black grease into the grease trough, the answer became clear.
    Moonlight Diner needed to be sold.
    How long would it take? Moonlight was a pretty rural town, but it received a healthy
    flow of tourists. Time on the market would probably depend on the price. Hopefully, a
    pack member would grab it up. He closed his eyes and grimaced as he anticipated laying
    his decision on Dad. The man would curse him from one end of Florida to another.
    When the kitchen door swung open, he caught his breath at the sight of Curtis. The
    guy had lousy timing for settling scores. Alan felt tired enough to collapse into the grease
    bucket.
    “Rough day?” Curtis asked.
    The man’s casual tone didn’t fool him. He reeked of aggression, and his arm muscles
    looked tenser than iron as he rocked on his heels. The prom fight loomed between them
    like a third person in the room. Alan’s beast couldn’t forget the coppery tang of the
    man’s blood scent or the shape of his bones.
    Maybe if he played nice, his old rival would go away and leave him alone.
    “Yeah.” Alan emptied the grease container into a bucket and grabbed the grill’s
    cleaning brick. “Running a diner isn’t easy. I don’t know how Dad did it for so many
    years.”
    “Ready to throw in the towel already, eh?” Curtis shot him one of his killer smiles.
    Not a single snaggly tooth in his whole mouth. “Have you made plans for the place?”
    Alan hesitated, but his decision would be common knowledge soon enough. Maybe
    Curtis himself would buy it. Why did an image of him and Shelley working here side by
    side twist his gut so hard?
    “If Dad agrees, I want to sell it now.” Alan scoured the grill with the brick, channeling
    his tension into the sweeping motions of his hands. “Spread the word to the rest of the
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    pack.”
    He’d start there out of courtesy, but he’d make it public, if necessary.
    Curtis’s blue eyes lit up. “Will do. I gather you’ll be leaving again?”
    Alan nodded. “Once everything is settled here. I’ll be back for the….” Salty heat flared
    behind his eyes because he couldn’t say the word. Funeral. As irritating as Dad had
    acted today, Alan couldn’t deny the rightness of being close to kin. And his mate.
    “Of course,” Curtis replied. So, why didn’t he leave?
    “Anything else on your mind?” Alan rinsed the brick. “I’m kind of busy here and tired
    as hell.”
    “Yeah, one more thing.” Aggression poured off his rival in waves as he stalked closer
    to the grill. “While you’re here, stay away from Shelley.”
    The beast in Alan stirred, wanting to punch the insolent expression off his face. It
    didn’t much like being ordered around. Instead, he squeezed the cleaning brick,
    pretending the man’s neck lay in its place. Although tempted to fling the rejected
    marriage proposal at him, too, he wasn’t looking for a fight tonight.
    “I intend to.”
    If Curtis felt so determined to mark his territory, why didn’t he urinate in a circle
    around her? The image made Alan grin and forget his anger.
    “Have a good night,” the guy told him before he left the kitchen.
    Have a good night? Maybe they’d both grown up. Being on the same side this time
    helped. If Alan decided to stay here and claim his mate, though, he’d definitely have a
    fight on his hands.

    ***

    Shelley pulled into Moonlight Diner’s parking lot the next morning. Dread and
    excitement filled her belly when she noticed Alan’s rental car was the only other one
    here. At least Curtis didn’t attack him after she’d rejected his proposal. Everyone had
    matured.
    Butterflies fluttered in her stomach when she walked inside and discovered Alan
    really was alone. The ripe aroma of peppers filled the air as he cut them. When she set
    down a crate of oranges on the counter, he dropped the knife.
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    The clothes he wore must have been his own because they fit perfectly. The light-blue
    tank top hugged his chest the way she longed to.