“Let’s just say, it’s best you avoid him.”
“Gladly.” Nick blew out a breath. “I’ve an idea. How about we put that cage in the back of my truck. We can take the calf to my parents. He’ll be safe in their barn, and my mom will spoil him rotten.”
“You won’t give up, will you?”
He ducked his face close to hers. “Nope.”
The calf would be safer in a barn. And she would get a hot shower out of it. It was good all around. She just had to keep Nick at arm’s length, and she was pretty sure she could do that.
Kind of sure she could do that.
“All right. You get the cage. I’ll get some dry clothes.”
His grin was embarrassingly wide. Her face burned as she turned away. She definitely wasn’t comfortable with this kind of attention.
Danielle threw some things into a bag, helped Nick get the calf into the cage, then hopped into his truck. She craned back to see the moose swaying from side to side with the motion of the truck bed, all four limbs spread in opposite directions.
“Gangly thing,” Nick said.
“Yeah. They are when they’re so young.” She looked forward, shifting on her seat. She couldn’t believe she’d just left Lothar behind in the forest.
Good one, Danielle. You need to get your focus back on your job.
“What?” Nick glanced at her as he drove into town.
“I probably should’ve waited for Lothar to get back.”
“He gets his name plastered all over your business cards, leaves you in the middle of the wilderness by yourself, and then you’re the one who has to bail him out when the beasts of the forest are too much for him?”
“It’s not like that. We often work independently, but we try to keep an eye on each other too.”
“I know cell reception is sketchy out there, but don’t you guys have two way radios.”
“Of course we do.” They did, in the van, but only because they were expected to have them.
Danielle reached out with her senses but was unable to find Lothar. He was fine, she told herself. He was a big boy. Right?
“Shower and food,” she said, checking the clock on the dash. “Lunch, then I really have to go.”
“I was hoping to keep you a little longer than that.”
“Gee, sorry.”
“I’m glad I’m driving.”
“Why?”
“Because I get to take you home, and that means I get to see the look on Lothar’s face when he sees me with you.”
“Bad idea.”
“Wishful thinking.”
“Are you enjoying that?”
“Normally, I back right off as soon as I know I’m intruding. But I have to admit, he asks for it.”
“You both ask for it.”
He lifted his brows in question but she let it go. He didn’t know that his werewolf instincts were making him challenge Lothar for supremacy.
“All morning I made excuses to see you,” he said.
Sounded right, all things considered. “How long were you waiting for me at the cabin?”
“Not long, an hour maybe.”
“An hour? Really?”
“Yeah.” He winced subtly. “I was in the forest before that.”
She’d been out there too, but she hadn’t smelled him. Must have been the rain. It hadn’t occurred to her to listen for him either, since she’d been busy tracking vampires. He couldn’t keep going out there, especially as the vampires grew more desperate for human blood.
“Something wrong?” he asked.
“Yes, there is.”
“We could work together,” he said. She heard a smile in his voice.
She crossed her arms over her ribcage. “We would step on each other’s toes.”
To say the least. She could only traipse around the woods as a human for so long. It would make her so grouchy even Lothar wouldn’t want to be around her.
“I don’t think I’d slow you down any.” Nick looked her over.
“Yes, as a matter of fact, you would slow me down.”
He balked a little at her tone. It took him a moment to regain his manly stability. “Right,” he said. He pulled into his parents’ drive.
“Let’s get your furry friend settled in,” he said. “We can argue later.” He put the truck into park and shut off the engine.
He honestly thought they could comb the woods together. Yeah, like she could battle vampires as a human with another human in tow. All she would be good for was leading Nick on a wild goose chase.
Although, she thought, that was one way to handle the situation. It would keep him safe. It would also leave Lothar all on his own.
Danielle unbuckled with a sigh and opened the door. This was why a mate of any kind was out of the question for her. Absolutely, completely out of the question.
Absolutely, completely . . . Oh, who was she trying to kid. Nick looked hot in jeans and cowboy boots, and Lothar had the kind of accent that made women swoon upon contact.
“Hey.” Nick lowered his voice as they walked up to the house. “Don’t get fed up with me just yet, okay?”
His hair was hanging over his forehead, tempting her to touch it. Danielle took a whiff of his scent and nodded helplessly.
A tall, slender woman came out the front door and onto the wraparound porch. Long blonde hair framed a face that looked too young to be Nick’s mom.
Danielle watched Nick take the steps up two at a time to her. “Got a boarder for you. If you’re willing.”
“Is that what I think it is?” she said.
“He lost his mother,” Danielle told her.
Nick came back and opened the tailgate. The moose brayed as if asking if everything was all right.
“He’s beautiful,” Nick’s mom said. “Can he really stay here?”
Danielle nodded. “If you don’t mind. I can’t watch him all the time, and it isn’t safe for him at the cabin.”
“Danielle can show you how to feed him,” Nick said, swinging onto the truck bed. He opened the door to the cage. “Oh, yeah, Mom, meet Danielle Howard. She’s the wildlife expert.”
“I gathered she was. I’m Jill.”
Danielle shook her hand, feeling a sudden kinship. Jill wasn’t a werewolf, but she’d raised two Carriers. Any mother would have noticed that her adopted children were different.
“I heard you came to Nick’s rescue when he was bitten,” Jill said.
“It was nothing, really.” Please, let’s not talk about it.
“He should’ve known better than to be out there alone right now.” Jill pinned her son with her gaze.
“I wasn’t alone,” Nick said, glancing at Danielle.
She decided it was time to remove herself from what could easily turn into a dangerous situation. “I’ll get the formula,” Danielle said. “I’ll show you how to feed the calf. I bet he wouldn’t mind a little snack.”
Nick lifted the moose easily out of the truck. Danielle watched his movements with appreciation.
“How long can he stay?” Jill reached out and tentatively scratched the calf’s neck.
“Eventually, I’ll need to take him to a sanctuary, but he’s fine here until I get the opportunity.”
“Take your time.”
“I told you she would love him,” Nick said. “Come on.” He looped a rope around the calf’s neck and gave a gentle tug. “Time to meet old Betsy.”
They led him inside the barn. A graying jersey cow eyed the moose as they shut him up in the stall across from her. The calf brayed at Betsy. Betsy turned her rear-end to him and used the back door of her stall to let herself into her pasture.
“She’ll warm up to him,” Nick said, taking Danielle by the hand.
She glanced at Jill but Nick’s mom was either purposefully ignoring them, or too interested in the calf to care. Danielle pulled her hand free and busied herself fixing a bottle.
Chapter Eight
While Danielle took advantage of hot running w
ater, Nick tried to ignore how happy it made him that he was one up on Lothar. Then he gave up trying and grinned freely. He plopped onto his bed, crossed his feet at the ankles, and flipped through TV channels.
He stopped at a Jackie Chan movie, content with having Danielle all to himself. It didn’t make sense that she should do this to him. He’d only known her for a few days.
No, he wasn’t expecting her to spend the night. She struck him as a slow mover and he’d sooner believe in the Easter Bunny. But he could survive. Besides, even chastity—temporarily mind you—was better than Genevieve.
Nick was about ninety percent sure Danielle had unrequited feelings for Lothar. And ninety percent was a lot. If the man was really interested in her, then why hadn’t he made his move?
The bathroom door opened and Danielle stepped out like a woman walking across shifting ice. She toweled her hair, looking gorgeous as always in jeans and a burgundy sweater.
“What?” She narrowed her gaze at him.
“Nothing.” Nick looked at the TV, watching Jackie attack four assailants at once, thinking about her the entire time. “If I’m going to be here awhile, then I’m going to need a real TV. This one’s as old as my refrigerator.”
“Not quite, but it’s close. Did they give you more time off work?”
“Not exactly.”
She hung the towel up in the bathroom and reemerged. Danielle sat on the edge of his bed, one foot tucked under her, smelling like his shampoo mixed with her perfect, nameless scent. Made him want to pull her into his arms and do things to her she wasn’t ready for.
“We should go shopping,” he said, shifting gears for his own sanity. “Get some furniture. A couch maybe, and a TV we don’t have to squint at.”
Her brows arched. “Big plans for a man on the outs with his employer.”
“I’ll figure something out. Genevieve’s emptied my apartment by now, so there’s nothing worth moving.”
“You guys were serious?”
Nick laced his fingers behind his head. “Or stupid. My bet is on seriously stupid.”
“Kendra told me about it.”
He lifted his brows.
“Well, not all about it, just that it was bad.”
“Kendra thinks I’m on the rebound. No offense.”
“Are you?”
Danielle asked straight questions like the best of interrogators. She had secrets, but no guile, so she was probably hiding from people for their own good. Or at least what she believed was their own good.
“Technically, yes, I am on the rebound,” he answered. He gestured for her to come closer.
Her eyes tightened.
“I still have one arm rights.”
“I could rescind those rights.”
“Come down here with me and I will tell you about my little vampire, Genevieve.”
Her eyes widened. “Vampire?”
“Yup. She sucked the soul right out of me. Fortunately, it seems to be growing back.”
She shook her head, sliding in next to him with a wry smile. Nick cradled her to his chest. He rubbed his chin against the top of her head.
“I met her at an art gallery,” he said. “I was there as a favor to a friend. He’d been getting threats from his ex-wife.”
“As in death threats?”
“She threatened to have his paintings slashed. I was there guarding his work when Genevieve walked in. She’s from an upper class family. Her father worked hard to build his fortune. Genevieve works for nothing.”
“Gotcha.”
“Guess she thought it was fun, running with the riffraff.”
“You being riffraff.”
“Red-necked, born and raised.”
She laughed. “Go on then.”
“She talked me into sharing a penthouse with her. Good thing she was paying.”
He ran his hand over Danielle’s hair. She was perfect with no makeup. Her hair did whatever it wanted, and that suited her perfectly too. Genevieve looked like something out of a horror movie first thing in the morning. She was the epitome of false advertising.
“It lasted six months,” he said. “I came home early one day and found her with my partner. She tried to kick me out. I tried to kick her out. I wound up sleeping on the couch.”
“Sorry.”
“It was better than the bed. I was never going there again. I wound up staying with a friend after that. Then I got the call about Jason.”
“I’m sorry about that too.”
“Wasn’t your fault.”
“But it was. Lothar and I tracked them down from Canada. If we’d only stopped them sooner, your brother would still be alive.”
Them? There was more than one bear now. He kept his thoughts to himself, hoping she might slip and give out more information.
“That’s why I don’t want you out there by yourself,” he said.
“I’ve done this before.”
“I don’t like it.”
“It’s not your call.”
It wasn’t, and he knew it. He didn’t like it, but he knew it. He sat up. “I just can’t believe Jason was mauled by a bear.”
She returned to her original spot on the edge of the bed. “This isn’t a normal bear.”
Back to one bear now.
“We’ve had a lot of bears around here,” he said. “They wander through our backyards. I’ve checked all over the area where Jason was found, and there’s no sign of a struggle.”
She kept a straight face, but he read the secrecy behind it. “There isn’t always evidence.”
“With Jason there would be. I didn’t find a single shell on the ground.”
“It must have surprised him.”
“We grew up here. When we were fifteen, Dad let us spend the weekend in the forest with nothing but a survival kit we’d put together ourselves. He taught us everything he knew, and we used it.”
“Nick, please don’t go into the forest without me.”
“Tell me what you’re not saying.”
“Please, just promise.”
“I can’t do that.”
Her voice dropped an octave. “Why do you have to be so difficult?”
“You know who killed my brother.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” She stood, fanning her hair over her shoulder, probably in an attempt to hide her expression from him.
“I will find out. I always do.”
“You might not be prepared for what you find. Don’t make me have to protect you from it.”
“You?” He laughed.
She whirled toward him, eyes black. He knew it should have repelled him, but he found himself reaching for her instead.
“What are you?” He curled his arms around her waist, pulling her back down with him. She didn’t resist. “And what are you doing to me?”
“I . . .” She leaned closer, over him now, their noses brushing.
He waited for her to make the next move.
Danielle broke free, stumbling and catching herself on the wall. She grabbed her bag and walked off, leaving the door open.
“Wait.” He came down the stairs after her. “Let me drive you home.”
“Forget it.” She rushed through the kitchen, missing one of the cooks by a hair. Nick tailed her onto the street. It was raining.
“There’s no way I’m letting you walk in the rain.”
“Lothar might be back. I’ll call him. He’ll come get me.”
Of course he would. Nick resisted the urge to punch a wall. “And then what?” he asked. “You wait out here until he comes? Just let me take you home.”
“It doesn’t take very long to get here from the cabin.” Water was running down her face and soaking into her sweater. She peeled her hair back and glared at him.
He held his ground against her tirade. “I’m taking you home, so deal with it.”
“Oh, fine.” She marched in the direction of his truck, scrambled into the cab, and slammed the door.
Nick slid into the driver�
�s seat. He stuck the key in the ignition and turned it over, then blasted the hot air as they pulled onto the street.
All this because she’d almost kissed him? He wondered what she was hiding from.
“I still owe you a meal,” he said.
“Not anymore you don’t. I only asked one thing of you, and you can’t do it.”
“I’d do a lot of things for you, baby. But not that.”
The wiper blades squeaked as the rain slowed down. He was glad he’d gotten her into the truck before it had stopped, otherwise she probably would have walked home. He shut the wipers off and turned down the heat.
“He was killed.” Her words hung in the air.
“Who was?” he said.
“My last boyfriend.”
That explained a few things, but certainly not everything. “Killed, as in murdered?”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry.”
“He was . . . mauled by a bear. It was a very long time ago.”
“You can’t be over twenty-five.”
“I was a senior in high school.”
She hadn’t had a boyfriend since high school? He wondered how that affected her relationship with Lothar. What if the guy wasn’t neglecting her? What if he was waiting for her to come around?
Suddenly, Nick felt like he was toying with another man’s prize. And that wasn’t his style.
He turned onto the gravel road to the cabin. “I’m going to be honest with you,” he said. “Maybe we haven’t known each other very long, but I already feel like my life wouldn’t be the same without you. And that’s not a line.”
She was connected to him somehow. And he needed to know why.
“There are a lot of things I wish you would tell me,” he continued. “But I can be patient. Sooner or later, I’m going to know everything, whether you tell me or not. That’s not a threat. It’s just who I am.”
“I had assumed as much.”
“And one more thing.”
She sighed. “Yes, Nick.”
“If you’re in love with your partner, then I suggest you tell him, before I make him miserable.” He corrected himself. “More miserable than he already is.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He was pretty sure she did. She just didn’t want to address it. He pulled up to the cabin and Danielle opened the door, slamming it behind her without a word. He hesitated, then followed her. Nick knew he’d come on a little strong and that wasn’t the sort of impression he’d wanted to make.
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