He hurried out the back door, ignoring the pain in his shoulder. “What’s wrong?” He opened her car door and studied her expression.
She shook her head, her face strained and pale. “Is Beau still here? Never mind. I need to get these groceries inside.”
He gathered up the groceries in both hands, leaving only a couple of bags for Kate to carry inside. “Beau left a couple hours ago.” As much as he didn’t like the vet, he was grateful for the clothes Beau had dropped off for him.
“We need to talk.” Kate went about her work of putting the groceries away, worry straining across her face, her mouth pulled into a thin line.
“About what Beau said…” Braxton forked his fingers into his hair and swallowed. He was going to have to be honest with Kate.
Kate balled up an empty plastic bag in a white-knuckle grip and turned to face him. “I was stopped in town today by some guy. He was big, like you. From the looks of him, I think he was one of you.”
“You think he was a werewolf?” His gut clenched and his fingers curled into fists as white-hot anger flooded through him “Did he hurt you?” he growled.
“No.” Her mouth fell open and she took a step back.
Crap. He’d scared her.
He kept his voice calm and forced his hands to unclench. “What did he say?”
“He said he was looking for a friend. I knew he was looking for you before he even showed me your picture.”
“Shit. He had a picture?” He went to the living room, pulled back the lace curtain with his finger and peered out. Nothing. He went to the back and scanned the back yard. Maybe she hadn’t been followed home.
“I need to know exactly what happened,” Kate pleaded.
Braxton turned to face her. The knot in his throat matched the one in his stomach. He knew she deserved the truth. After all she’d done, he at least owed her that much.
He reached out and took her hand, awed by the crackle of electricity that washed over him every time they touched. He walked over to the couch and sat, pulling her down beside him.
Leaning forward, he rested his elbows on his knees and took a deep breath. “I guess I need to start from the beginning.”
***
Kate knew that whatever he was about to say may just change her opinion of him, forever.
She saw the anguish in his gray eyes. “My father was an alcoholic. When he got drunk, he liked to hit things.”
Her heart stopped. She reached for his hand. “Did he hit you?”
“Yes.”
She squeezed his hand as she swallowed back the revulsion of such an act.
“But when I went through puberty at thirteen, things changed. It was the first time I shifted into a wolf. My father came home drunk one night and was angry that I didn’t put my bike in the garage. He hit me. It was the last time he made that mistake.”
“What did you do?”
“I shifted and beat the shit out of him.” He gave a joyless chuckle. “Surprised the hell out of both of us. I would have killed him if my mother hadn’t begged me to stop.”
Kate squeezed his hand. “I’m glad.”
He looked at her. “That I stopped?”
“No, that you beat the shit out of him.”
He stared at her for a few beats and then glanced away. “After that, he never laid another hand on me. But the beatings didn’t stop for my mother.”
“He hit your mom?” Anger stirred in the pit of her stomach. She’d never experienced domestic violence, and she couldn’t begin to fathom living in that kind of situation.
Braxton’s gaze hardened. “Yeah. After a while she stopped telling me about the beatings because she knew I’d kill him. He made sure to hit her where no one could see the bruises. I just thought he’d stopped. When I found out he was still abusing her, my mom said that she had forgiven him because she loved him. I tried to get her to leave. I told her we could leave Louisiana and go anywhere in the world she wanted. I told her she could be safe and that he’d never hurt her again.”
“But she wouldn’t leave.” Kate already knew the answer.
“No, she wouldn’t.”
“So you stayed and tried to protect her.”
“Yeah, well, that didn’t work out so well for me.”
“What happened?”
He shifted in his seat. “I told you I work in a bar.”
“Yes.”
“Well, the bar happens to be located in a strip club.”
Kate flinched, uncomfortable with the image of hot, naked strippers walking around in front of Braxton. “I see.”
“It was just a job, Kate. I didn’t go to college and a lot of places won’t hire a guy looking like me.” He held out his tattooed arms and gave her a self-effacing smile.
“People should judge others by their heart, not what’s on the outside.” Although to her, the outside looked pretty damn hot.
He brought her hand to his lips and brushed his lips against her knuckles. Her heart sped up at the touch of his warm mouth.