“We’re going to be doing a lot of running, buddy.”
Chapter Sixteen
Danielle and Lothar took down a male mountain lion together. She thought they’d be okay. They always were, right? But the synergy was short lived. They spent the rest of the night scouting around aimlessly, both off their game. For Danielle, not being in sync with him was like missing one of her senses. Like being suddenly blind or deaf. It was unbearable. There could’ve been vampires all around them, and she wouldn’t have known.
They returned at dawn, frustrated and tired. He said nothing to her. Danielle fell into bed, waking hours later to the smell of coffee and bacon. Her stomach growled even though she’d devoured three rabbits the night before.
But what she really wanted was chocolate.
She took a moment to count back. It was hard to know when her period would come. She had to add up the time she’d spent in human form against the time she’d spent as a wolf, since her cycle, like her aging, paused.
After three attempts, she gave up counting and accepted her sporadic craving for what it was. PMS. Great, the last thing she needed right now was to be even more hormonal than usual.
Danielle slipped out of bed in her new fuzzy pants and satin cami. Her hair was a mess. She ran her hands over it but there wasn’t much she could do. Frowning at what she was wearing, she took up a sweater to put over it.
“Ne,” she said, tossing the sweater aside, finding the whole thing absurd.
She opened a drawer in the beat up dresser that had come with the cabin, pulling out the black and red teddy. She held it up to herself. There was no mirror in her room, so all she could do was look at it. Her heart thumped heavy in her chest.
She could walk out there right now in this getup, let nature take its course, and then get the hell out of Dodge. Leave everything. Including Nick, her chances of ever having children, the pack. Lothar would never see his sister again, never see his niece and nephew all grown up.
And he would never lead his race as he was born to do.
All because of her.
And what of the monsters? Yeah, they could buy their own island, but that didn’t mean vampires wouldn’t find their way on it. Every time she and Lothar went out to hunt, they would give themselves away. They depended on the pack to back them up. One battle like the one they’d had with Theron years ago would be the end of them.
She sank down on her bed.
They could never make it on their own. That’s why they had a Council and packs in the first place. Safety in numbers.
Would Lothar have suggested it if he were not so intent on keeping her? What if she couldn’t count on his calculated mind right now? That terrified her like nothing else.
Danielle hadn’t realized she was crying until the door creaked open. It was Lothar, checking up on her. It didn’t matter at all that they hadn’t spoken in over twelve hours. He was probably ready to apologize profusely about last night anyway.
She shoved the teddy under her quilt. “Privacy?”
He looked at her as if to point out the ridiculousness of that.
“I don’t care,” she said.
He leaned against the doorway. “You stay here, crying, and I not come?”
She sighed. “I was not crying.”
His look spoke volumes.
She wiped her face. Well, okay, she was crying. “It’s none of your business.”
“Is business. You are my business.”
Oh, now that wasn’t helping her hormones any. She dug around on her dresser, tossed off a pair of jeans, and then unearthed a tissue box. “Damnit, Lothar,” she said, blowing her nose.
“What is this I say?”
He sounded so clueless that she laughed. “I was wrong.” She turned to face him, saw him standing there looking baffled by her behavior. “I thought you sucked at relationships.”
He smiled. “Is because I do.”
“Ne. You don’t. Not at all.”
Breakfast was smoking.
“You should probably get that,” she said.
Groaning, he turned. She heard metal against metal as the cast iron skillet slid off the wood stove. The door was flung open and cool air trickled over her. Standing, she went into the kitchen. Lothar returned, depositing the empty skillet into the sink with enough force to break the porcelain.
He stood back, running his hands through his hair.
“Sorry,” she said. Danielle bit down on her lip. She was on the verge of tears again. Perfect. She went back into her room and shut the door, leaning against it.
He knocked a moment later.
“Go away,” she said.
Silence, then. “I like new shirt.”
She blew out a breath. “Yes?”
“I like better off of you.”
She pulled away from the door, looked at it for a time, then opened it to him with trembling fingers.
“I fix sink,” he said.
She felt like she might crack, like the porcelain under the strain. “Sure, why not. Maybe we could just burn the cabin down and build a new one while we’re at it.”
“Ne. Sell property as is and move. You are rich.”
“Yes, it would seem so.”
“Nuostabiai atrodai,” he said. The equivalent of, you look gorgeous.
She narrowed her gaze, crossing her arms over her ribcage. Then she realized he wasn’t looking at her face. She followed his gaze downward, and then uncrossed her arms. Maybe she should have put on that sweater after all.
Hell in a hand basket. That’s all she could think as she stood there watching him, his scent in her room, her head getting fuzzy from it.
“Um,” she managed intelligently as he crossed toward her.
“I will not,” he said, eyes black. “As much as I want to.” He took her by the hand and into the relative safety of the kitchen.
“It stinks now,” she said.
“You can buy me breakfast.”
“It’s lunch for them.” She laughed nervously, standing next to him, her hand in his like they were seventeen and twenty-two, starting all over again.
“You buy me lunch,” he said.
“What, at the diner?”
“Taip.”
“Us, out together as humans?”
He looked at her slant-eyed. “We have done before.”
“I know.” She must have misunderstood him. “Never mind.”
“I want to be with you, as human.”
“What, like a date?”
“Yes, Darling, like date.”
She was getting warm.
“Your bathroom is working,” he said.
“It is?” She pulled her hand free, realizing how clammy it was. “I should probably go then. Yeah. I’ll be quick.”
She went into a cupboard first and pulled out that bar of chocolate she’d wanted, hiding it behind her back as she skirted around him and into her room.
Her brain scrambled, she grabbed a pair of jeans. Danielle shook her head. This was supposed to be a lunch date. With Lothar.
Good God . . .
She pulled open a drawer in her dresser, sifted through, didn’t find what she was looking for. Getting panicked, she opened another one and tossed everything onto the bed. Finally, she found what she wanted. A black dress with red trim. The one Vesper had sent for her birthday. She’d never worn it before.
Danielle held it up. The soft, stretchy fabric was wrinkly, but it would do. She shoved the teddy back into a drawer, trying not to dwell too long on how it coincidentally matched the dress. She left everything else on the bed.
She took her phone into the bathroom with her. Werewolves had super-hearing. If he really wanted to he could spy on her. He wouldn’t though, it wasn’t his style. She dialed Kendra at the diner.
It rang twice and Steph picked up.
“Hey, it’s Danielle. Can you get Kendra for me?”
“Sure. Hold on.”
“What’s up?” Kendra said a moment later.
Her mind went blank. Pull it together. “Where’s Nick?”
“He went out of town.”
“Out of town?” She found herself panicking over that too. There was no telling what trouble he would get himself into. “He didn’t tell me.”
“Calm down. He went to Albany first thing to do some shopping.”
“Shopping? For what?”
“He didn’t say. I’m sure he’ll be back this afternoon. Why?”
She lowered her voice. “I’m going to be in town with Lothar, and I’d rather avoid any uncomfortable confrontations.”
“I understand completely. You should be fine.”
“Thanks.”
Danielle set aside her phone and kicked on the water. She’d have to settle on a quick shower this time around.
* * *
Surreal, was the only way she could describe it, as Lothar parked the van on the street in town. It was getting cold. October was in bloom, leaves scattering the sidewalk in orange, yellow, and red.
“My dress is a little wrinkly,” she said in warning before they got out and people actually saw them together. Danielle smoothed her hand over her thigh. “I guess I should have taken better care of it.”
“Dress is wrapping, Darling. Like Christmas.”
She really wished it was Christmas.
Danielle moved her hand toward him and he took it, lacing his fingers through hers. She looked out the windshield, watching leaves roll down the street, closed her eyes and listened to the wind. “Things would have been better for you without me, you know.”
“Ne,” he said, his voice rough. “You keep me.”
She’d given him a psychosis for crying out loud. But he seemed to think she was essential. That she kept him from turning into a misogynistic manwhore like his uncle. Go figure.
She opened her eyes, blinking away the sting. “There’s no hope. That’s why you heard me crying this morning.”
He gently brushed her hair off her face. On impulse she leaned in, kissing him carefully, knowing how easily she could lose herself. His scent filled the air between them, heightened either by his closeness, or in response to her need.
He pressed a kiss against her forehead. “I will find way.”
Backing off, he opened the door and got out. What way? She sat there trying to calm herself. Danielle checked her face in the mirror. It could have been worse. Still, she hadn’t brought any sunglasses, and she needed a moment before showing herself on the street.
Kissing him in public was a problem.
Her door opened, and he stood there looking like a man satisfied with his power over a woman.
“Your ego doesn’t need it,” she told him.
“But you like anyway.”
“Yeah, I do.”
They took their time walking down the street to the diner. Danielle watched their reflections in a window. He was flawless as always. She looked ruffled in damp hair and a designer dress that really should have been stored in a dry cleaner bag.
Worst of all, was that in her reflection, she saw a confused little girl from a backwoods town, who was terrified of being left all alone in a chaotic world.
Nothing had changed.
He was still too rich, too powerful. Too important.
And she was going to cost him everything.
* * *
Nick knew Danielle was there before she’d knocked on his door. He’d no idea he could hone his senses so quickly. She was right, Lothar was a good teacher.
He wasn’t ready to admit that out loud though.
Now, if he could stop his brains from checking out when he was with her, maybe he could keep from suffocating the girl.
Nick opened the door, finding Danielle with her hand lifted and ready in mid knock. Her eyes widened. “How did you know?”
“I heard you on the stairs.” He cocked his head. “Come on in.” Her hair was different. It had streaks of golden blonde. “Have a nice day with Kendra?”
“It was,” he noticed her blush, “enlightening.”
Her gaze flicked across the room. Then her eyes darkened and she brushed past.
He’d done a little shopping too, picking up a powerful compound bow and an assortment of knives. Thanks to Lothar’s timely donation yesterday, he’d already coated them with venom.
Danielle was not going to be happy.
“What is this,” she said, glaring over the island counter. She picked up a glass mason jar next to his stash of weapons. “Lothar.”
“Yes, be mad at him,” Nick said, nodding. “It’s all his fault.”
“And I felt bad he had to spend the day alone.”
“Felt bad for him? What about me?”
“You have Greg.”
“Gee, thanks.”
She held up the jar. “Care to explain?”
“Dog slobber, yeah.” Nick rubbed the back of his neck.
“What are you two up to? I leave you guys for one day and you plot ways to get yourself killed? You shouldn’t even be together without me.”
“Tough running a harem. Makes you wonder how those guys in Utah do it.”
She wasn’t impressed. Her eyes were black threaded with silver.
He took up one of the arrows. It had a deadly head used for hunting big game. “Werewolf venom. Now, assuming my aim is as good as it used to be, and this can penetrate their skin in a vulnerable area . . .”
“Assuming?” She grabbed it from his hand, snapped it in two, and threw it across the room.
“Temper,” he warned.
“I’ll show you temper.” She closed in on him. “I could break your neck.”
“Not as a woman you can’t.” He backed up a step just in case.
“How long do you think it takes me to shift?”
He hadn’t thought of that. “You won’t. You’re bound to me.”
“I could rip your heart out.”
“Nope.”
“They will kill you.”
“Not if I kill them first.”
“You cannot do this.”
Nick ducked his face close to hers. “You’re not scaring me. And neither do they.”
“You know what you are?” She lifted her brows.
“Charming?”
“You’re like an adolescent werewolf who thinks he’s bottled invulnerability. But you know what? There is no such thing. You can’t be part of the Hunt.”
Danielle turned away, breathing hard. He tried to give her some space, but when he heard her sniffling, he knew he just couldn’t leave her.
“Hey.” He came up behind her, slipping his arms around her waist. “I have to. This is who I am.”
“No. Stay safe, stay alive. Your life is too fragile as it is.”
“He’ll still be here if anything happens to me. He’s with you anyway, right? All you need from me is my sperm count.”
She pulled free, growling.
“Am I wrong?”
“Don’t waste your life.”
“A life wasted is one that risks nothing.”
“What did the two of you talk about?”
“It’s more than that. I don’t want you to be alone. It’s not good for you. Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about. What would you do without us? If he loves you this much, then let him.”
“Excuse me.” She rushed into the bathroom. He heard her throwing up a moment later.
“Danielle?”
“Stay away,” she called.
The water ran for a moment, then she returned, her face flushed. “Too much human food,” she said.
“More than food bothering you, I think.”
“I’m sorry,” she said. “About everything.”
She looked miserable and he hated that. Genetic compatibility or not, a person needed to be with the one they loved. He’d be doing all three of them a disservice otherwise.
“Do what you need to,” he said. “If you want me, then you know where to find me. Either way, I’m hunting vampires.”
/> “I . . . I can’t take this anymore.” Turning, she left him.
Chapter Seventeen
Danielle made it to the bottom of the stairway before losing her resolve. Sliding to the floor in the kitchen, she sat there with her back against the wall and her knees cradled to her chest. Nick couldn’t do this to her. He just couldn’t. How could she keep him alive when he wanted desperately to throw himself into the fray?
“Danielle?” Kendra asked, finding her there.
“Go away, please.”
“Too late for that. We got our hair done together. What happen? Did you tell him?”
“Sort of. Seems Nick and Lothar got together yesterday while we were out.”
“Wow. Any black eyes?”
“Oddly enough, no.” She scrambled to her feet. “Kendra, there are so many things I wish I could tell you.”
“You call tell me anything.”
Not anything. No. “I need to go.”
“Can I drive you home?”
She wanted to run in the forest and be one with every part of her that wasn’t human. It was easier. Being human was too hard. It hurt too much, and it was so unfair.
She made her way through the kitchen and outside. From the street she could hear Kendra climbing the stairs to Nick’s apartment. Danielle didn’t want to stick around long enough to find out what happened between them.
She ran. Past the stoplight and into the forest surrounding the sleepy little town. Tossing aside her clothes she howled, her cry echoing off trees. She ran full out until her breath came in gasps. The outline of a wolf appeared on a rise above her and she skidded to a halt.
It could have been Noah, the scout who patrolled this part of the forest, but it wasn’t. It was Lothar. He must have heard her howling and came to see what was wrong.
Ashamed of herself for trying to outrun her problems, Danielle turned and made her way to where she’d left her clothes. She dressed and walked back to town. The white van pulled up to the curb and she got in.
Lothar, naturally, was speechless.
She didn’t last very long like that. “Pull over,” she wheezed.
He eyed her.
“Pull over. Now.”
Lothar pulled the van off the road. Danielle got out, made it to a bush, and hacked until bile stung her throat. She sat back on her heels, closing her eyes.
Tangled Moon Page 17