It took her a moment. “You and Lothar, working together?”
“Not necessarily Lothar and I working together. That could be dangerous.”
“I agree.”
“I saw this wolf today.”
“I have dealt with wolves before.”
“I’ve never seen anything like it. This thing was huge. I know it sounds insane.”
“There’s a strain of arctic wolves that has interbred with the local wolves. I’ve seen them before.”
Her answer came quickly, as if she’d rehearsed it ahead of time.
“It was friendly,” he probed. “Probably hand reared.”
“You didn’t try to feed it, did you?”
Yes, I did. “I know better than that.”
“Good. Once a wild animal finds out it can get food from the locals . . .”
“I know all that.”
“Good.”
It seemed they were already off to a bad start. Dinner date? Not likely.
“Hey.” He lowered his voice. “I don’t want to fight about this.”
“I didn’t come here to fight.”
Kendra dropped off their food. She smiled affectionately at Danielle, glared at him, then flitted away. Nick watched his sister-in-law cross the room.
“She likes you,” he told her.
Danielle stabbed her bloody meat and shoved a section in her mouth, chewing like she wished it was his head. “What?” she questioned around it.
“Kendra. She likes you.”
Her brow furrowed and she swallowed. “She does?”
“Yeah.” He stared at her some more. Her anger made her sexy. Everything made her sexy. “How about we forget about the wolves, bears, or whatever else might be out there for a little while?”
“I don’t know. Will it keep you alive?”
“I think so.” He smiled. “I really just wanted to spend some time with you.”
She took up her glass, watching it instead of him. “All right.” Danielle took a sip and set her iced tea aside. “Just one thing.”
“No thing.”
Her upper lip twitched. He wondered if she would start growling at him. With her, it was a possibility.
“Don’t hurt the wolves.” Her throat sounded tight. “Promise me, you won’t hurt them.”
He leaned closer. Her scent intensified, intoxicating him. “I promise I won’t hurt the wolves.” He backed away, shaking his head to clear it. “Unless they hurt someone first, then all bets are off. Does Lothar know those things are out there?” Nick wondered if Lothar had been protecting the wolves all along. It looked like Danielle would protect them too.
“I’ll tell him,” she said.
*
Danielle stabbed a chunk of steak. She should have known better than to show herself to Nick as a wolf.
She struggled to control her temper. “Let it go,” she told him. Her throat felt swollen. What, was she going to cry now? Unbelievable. Her eyes stung. Get control of yourself.
Nick sat back, poking at his meatloaf.
“You’re destroying a perfectly good meal,” she said.
“We need to get away from here. Take tomorrow off and get out of town with me.”
She straightened in surprise. Nick seemed sincere, and she appreciated that, but she didn’t want to abandon Lothar again.
“I can’t,” she said. “I really can’t leave my partner. It’s not fair.”
Nick’s jaw flexed. “I keep telling myself you’re not in this with him, that you’re innocent, but how can I believe it?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Never mind.” He got up and walked away. Danielle took a moment to go over what had just happened.
Secrets.
That’s what had happened. She stood and went after Nick.
He was walking down the street, hands shoved in his pockets. He seemed vulnerable like that. And that made her protective of him. The sun was setting and the sidewalk looked pink. She really should leave, she thought, but she didn’t want to.
“Nick,” she called, catching up. She forced a smile while she decided what to say. “I’ll take tomorrow off.”
“You don’t have to.”
“Yes, I think I do.”
He lifted his brows as if waiting for her to elaborate. Holy smokes, but she was getting herself in deep.
“I . . . probably work too much and need a break.” She knew that was as lame as it sounded.
He slipped his hand into hers. “Then let’s start by finishing dinner without fighting over it.”
She was pretty sure he didn’t mean that literally, but it made her laugh. “Don’t touch my food, and there won’t be any trouble.”
“I wouldn’t touch the stuff you eat with a ten foot pole.”
“Good. That’s about how much space I like between my food and any potential dinner thieves.”
* * *
“Are you asleep?” Nick whispered. Danielle didn’t seem interested in a Bruce Lee movie, but she’d stayed with him after dinner, and that was a step in the right direction.
“No,” she said. “I’m awake.”
“You haven’t moved in,” he checked the alarm clock on the dresser, “twenty minutes.”
“I wasn’t aware I had to move at regular intervals.”
“Would it be wrong of me not to buy a couch?”
“Don’t spend money you don’t have.” She stretched. It took a lot of effort to pretend he didn’t feel every square inch of her pressing against him. “They give you more time off work?” she asked.
“Not exactly.”
“Don’t you want to go back?”
“No.”
“You helped people,” she said.
“And that’s great, but I keep thinking there has to be more. Somewhere.” Bruce Lee was making Bruce-Lee sounds from the TV. “Am I wrong to think you have something to do with it?”
“You might not be wrong.” Danielle propped one elbow on his chest, then pushed her hair out of her face to look at him. “It isn’t the kind of thing one just comes out with.”
“Where are you from?” he asked. “Or is that top secret.”
“No. I’m from New York. Upstate, that is. I graduated from Cornell.” Her brow creased.
“Was that your Miss America answer? Because I’m getting that feeling.”
Danielle sat up. “Don’t tell anyone. I don’t consider myself a dishonest person, but some things can’t be helped.”
Nick crossed his heart. Finally, some answers. Maybe not the exact ones he was looking for, but it was a start.
She took a breath. “Okay, here’s the thing. I never went to college. I never even finished high school.”
He nodded, keeping a straight face so he wouldn’t discourage her.
“I’m not sure where I was born. The records at the orphanage were burned in a fire. I was adopted by a family upstate. My adoptive father worked at a factory. We didn’t have much, but we had the perfect family.” She flashed him a fake smile.
“You don’t talk to them anymore, do you?”
“Not in a long time. I guess you could say we had a falling out.”
“What happened?”
“Nick . . .”
“You can’t tell me, can you?”
Nick put together what he knew. She was no longer in touch with her family, her only boyfriend had been murdered, she had Miss America answers for everything, and Lothar acted like he was guarding her…
Witness protection?
Danielle shook her head. “I wish I could tell you. Let’s just say I’m glad Lothar was there for me.”
“Of course you are,” Nick droned.
“He’s been my only . . . family.”
“Does he know you think of him as . . . family?”
“I told you, he and I are friends.”
“Yes. I know. You’re friends.”
She eyed him.
“Go on,” Nick said. “I’ll be good now.”
“He’s just protective is all.” She looked lonely and vulnerable, and that made it hard for Nick not to come to her rescue.
“Permission to break the rules?” he asked.
“Rules?”
“Two hands?” He held up one. “Boy Scout honor I won’t take advantage.”
“You are so strange.”
“Was that a yes?”
“I’ll give you a try.”
He sat up, then took a little advantage, sliding her onto his lap. She wiggled a bit like she wasn’t sure how to arrange her limbs. He caught her hand and looped her arm around his shoulders.
“Better?” he asked.
It took her a moment. “Yes.”
“I’ve decided I’m leaving my job,” he said. He nuzzled her face. “I’m hoping we can chase the wind in the same direction.”
She slid right off his lap. “I can’t do this. I’m sorry, really.” She walked across the room.
“Wait.” He followed, cutting her off. Nick ducked his head to hers. “If you’re in some kind of trouble, hiding from someone, I can keep you safe.”
“You don’t even know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t do this to me.” He was careful to keep his voice down so he didn’t either rile her, or make her cry. It was impossible to know what she might do.
“I’m not trying to do anything.” She flattened her palm against his shoulder, over the bite she’d given him. He wanted so much to put together this puzzle, but there were too many missing pieces. How could he connect her odd behavior with her estranged parents? And then there was Lothar.
Danielle breathed in, smelling him. Breathed out. He knew he might regret it later, but a more dominant part of him took over, and he kissed her.
She stiffened in his arms. He was prepared for her to push away, but she didn’t. Her body became suddenly fluid instead. Her fingers dug into his arms and she kissed him back like she couldn’t get enough.
How had he lived this long without her?
She pulled her face back. “I didn’t want this.”
“Whatever you’re running from, you don’t have to do it alone.”
“I’m different than other women. You don’t want to be with me.”
“You’re like me. You never belong anywhere.” On impulse he tipped her face to one side and kissed her throat.
“What are you doing?” she said, her breath short. “You really . . . shouldn’t do that.”
She was soft and yielding, and tasted just like she smelled.
“This isn’t real,” she breathed. “What you’re feeling.”
He straightened. “We just met, so I get what you’re saying, and I didn’t mean to kiss you and I’m sorry.” He shook his head. “No, forget that, I’m not sorry, and I did mean to kiss you. I want to protect you. I’ve faced bigger monsters than the one after you.”
She tucked her face against his shoulder and laughed, or cried. Maybe both. “Stubborn man.”
A wolf howled and she jerked out of his arms. “I have to go.”
“Wait.”
“Just stay out of the woods.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“I don’t know.”
“Tell me I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Another howl echoed in the forest.
“Yes, tomorrow.” She turned and left, taking the stairs away from him like he carried a deadly contagion.
He ignored that part. She was confused was all.
Nick thought about where to go from here. Maybe once he got her away from town she would open up, tell him who she was hiding from. Lothar was probably her bodyguard. Nick wondered what it would take to change that, to set Lothar free from his obligations. Whatever the situation, he was sure he could pull some strings and have himself assigned to her.
He laughed and ran his hands through his hair. He didn’t even know what he was doing. All he knew was that he would do anything to be with her. It was crazy, but unavoidable.
A wolf howled, followed by a second call. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.
* * *
Danielle’s paws dug the earth as she ran. Lothar’s howl had been a warning. He’d found something. She was so stupid, so careless. How easily she’d abandoned the Hunt and her partner, and for what? A man?
Nick wanted to protect her.
He would end up dead. Like his brother. Like Henry. She growled and leaped over a fallen log, leaves crunching under her paws as she landed. She pushed through underbrush, brambles making no difference to her tough hide. Danielle came to a halt over the ravine, gravel giving way and rolling into the water below. Lothar howled and she answered.
No, she wouldn’t give up this power and freedom for a man. Not Nick, not any male.
Despite their similarities, Nick would never really understand her. He would never love her or want to protect her because of who she was inside. Lothar . . . Lothar wouldn’t meet her needs as a woman. Damn him.
The air changed, stinking of old blood.
Vampire.
A shadow moved to her right. Growling deep in her throat, she turned to face it. Branches rustled and a pheasant flew out of hiding, shrieking. Crouched, ears pricked, tail tucked low against her body, she waited, knowing what was out there.
Danielle’s eyes easily scanned the dark forest. She watched her prey move black and silent up a pine tree, scaling like a primate. She sniffed the air and barked, willing it to come down where she could kill it. A whir of movement caught her attention—the shadow leaped from the tree, landing directly in front of her.
It was male, about twenty in human years, with short brown hair. He was crouched like an animal. His clothes were filthy and tattered. His eyes assessed her in the gloom, then he peeled back his lips to reveal long fangs. Danielle sank low, readying to strike.
She leaped at him. Using his unnatural strength, he pushed her away. She landed on her side with a whine, rolled, and came back to her feet. She limped, once, twice, then leaped again, tackling him to the ground.
His fangs snapped at her head as she stood with one paw holding him down. All she had to do was sink her teeth into him. The poison in her fangs would work through his body. One bite would rot his flesh, transforming him into the lifeless corpse he really was beneath his vampire-diseased tissue.
Murderer, she wanted to scream. Maybe Henry had betrayed her all those years ago, but he’d been innocent in the ways of monsters and hadn’t deserved to die under the fangs of one. No one did.
She pressed closer to the vampire, his shaking arms giving way slowly, bringing her toward his throat. Danielle sank her teeth into his neck. He struggled, hissing, thrashing. She pictured the countless dead human bodies she’d encountered over the years as her teeth sank further in.
Pulling him off the ground, she shook him until he stopped fighting then tossed him aside, disgusted by the rotten taste in her mouth.
A shadow loomed up beside her and she turned, crouched and ready to strike again. A familiar scent stopped her. She saw Lothar, black against the blue dark of night, only his teeth clearly visible. She ducked her head to him and he came forward, rubbing his face against hers. Together, they padded over to the vampire. When there was no response from it, he began to dig a hole. They hid the body so the mortals wouldn’t find it.
Chapter Eleven
Danielle paced aimlessly around the cabin. Lothar had taken the news of her stupidity; showing herself in wolf form to Nick well. Very well. As if he’d seen it coming. As long as she continued to lead Nick off this notion of killer wolves in the forest, there’d be nothing to fear on that end.
One crisis down. Only a dozen to go.
Her hip was sore from her encounter with the vampire last night, but not enough to make her limp. By this afternoon, she would be as good as new. Danielle finished her circuit around the cabin. Lothar had replaced cupboard doors and fixed broken windows. She’d scraped peeling paint and applied a fresh coat. The floor still needed to be
refinished and the cabin lacked warm running water, but once complete, it would be perfect for families. Some smart person would buy it up and rent it out to vacationers.
The cabin was a job half done. Like the Hunt.
She stopped pacing to pour out hot water for tea.
“You will see him today?” Lothar asked, reaching around her for the sugar. It was easily done, since she only came to his shoulder.
“I haven’t decided.” She dipped her tea bag.
He went to the mini-fridge and took out the cream, passing it to her. She liked cream in her Earl Grey. He knew her little habits.
“I go to hardware store,” he said in his Baltic drawl. “I drop you off.”
Could any man be more confusing? One moment he was ready to stand and defy his uncle to keep her with him, the next, practically giving her to Nick. She glared at Lothar but he ignored her. “You’re sending mixed messages again.”
He walked over to the table and powered down his laptop. “I do best to keep on toes, Darling.”
He really shouldn’t even try to use idioms. She sighed. “Nick asked me to spend the day with him. He wants to take me away from here.”
He closed his laptop. “And?”
“I might stand him up.”
“How long will that last?” Lothar leaned back against the counter and took a sip of coffee.
Look at me, you idiot.
Nope, still drinking coffee.
Sometimes she really wanted to hurt him.
Danielle opened the door and tossed her tea onto the ground. Lothar was so stupid. All these years and he still had no idea what he did to her insides. Autumn leaves were just starting to sprinkle the lawn and there was a chill in the air. Normally, she liked fall. Not so much now.
Freedom, she reminded herself. Not men. She needed to make the right choices for herself. Those choices couldn’t involve Lothar.
Danielle walked back inside and banged her cup on the table. She took up the sweater she’d left draped over the back of a chair and pulled it over her head.
“Danielle . . .” He sounded sorry but she was beyond caring.
“Don’t call me Danielle.”
“It is your name.”
“I hate it when you call me that.”
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