Finding Our Way (Werewolf Wars) (12 page)

“No. We can go there,” Daniel offered.

“I feel like some beef lo mein,” Nora commented as they veered toward the restaurant. Her shoulder grazed against his and Daniel caught a whiff of her intoxicating strawberry scent. She grinned, staying close enough that their arms continued to brush together. “Me and April used to have Chinese Friday’s. We’d order five or six different things and then eat as much as we could while having a movie marathon. Then of course, we’d have to hit the gym first thing Saturday morning. It was so worth it, though.”

“I could probably eat three of their dinner sized meals myself some days,” Daniel said, opening the door to the restaurant.

The restaurant was dimly lit. A black half-wall lined the restaurant cutting it in two. Tables sat on both sides of the wall, each with a single white candle in the middle.

“I would love to have your metabolism.”

Daniel shrugged. “The only bad thing about it is I’m hungry all the time.”

“I’d eat all the wrong things then. I have a bit of a sweet tooth. I try to eat healthy most of the time. Got to stay heart healthy,” she said, jokingly, but there was a hint of something else in her voice.

“I’m sure all the junk I eat will catch up to me someday. But with the way things are now, and as active as I am, it won’t be anytime soon,” Daniel replied. They stopped in front of a sign and waited for the hostess to return. Daniel held up two fingers as she approached. The woman quickly grabbed the menus and led them to a small booth in the far corner of the restaurant. The setting was private—intimate.

“Do you have watch again tonight?” Nora asked opening the menu.

“Yeah. Every night this week. Gene keeps us on a rotation so no one is kept on the same shift indefinitely. It makes it fair.”

“That’s considerate of him.”

“He’s a good alpha. A fair alpha. I’m glad to be a part of his pack.” Daniel stared down at the black calligraphy, trying to decide what he should order.

“Can I ask why you aren’t a part of your brothers? I’m just curious is all,” Nora asked, peering up at him.

“Dev and I don’t get along.”

“What about the rest of your siblings?” Nora asked her voice just above a whisper.

“Vincent and I, we uh, talk and stuff, but we’re not close. And Em, she’s always been closer to Dev. They’re still my family, and I know they’d do anything for me, but I’m not close to them. Not like they are with each other anyway. My dad spent a lot of time with me, preparing me to be a leader. While they got to go out and do things together I was stuck in alpha training,” he explained, running a hand through his hair.

“But you’re not an alpha?” Nora questioned.

“It’s Devon’s right by birth. My dad wasn’t an alpha, he just happened to take over after Devon’s father passed away. It’s in Devon’s blood not mine. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure I ever wanted to be an alpha. It’s a lot of responsibility and I wouldn’t want to...” he trailed off and tapped his knuckles against the white tablecloth. “I wouldn’t want to end up like my father. He was a tyrant. You couldn’t reason with him. It was his way or no way—and if you still refused then you suffered the consequences.”

Nora was quiet and Daniel couldn’t help but wonder if he’d said too much. He hoped not. It was nice to talk to someone. His siblings thought he’d had it easy, that he was the favorite. If anything, they were the ones who got away easy.

The waiter came to their table, a wide smile on her too red lips. Daniel motioned for Nora to order first. He then ordered a large portion of the beef broccoli.

Nora licked her lips and looked up at Daniel. Her eyes met his and he swallowed seeing a raw intensity in them.

“You know,” she started, clearing her throat. “When I was a kid my parents were always in and out. I thought it was my fault that there was something wrong with me. It took me a really long time to realize the problem was with them—not me. I guess I’m trying to say that we don’t have to follow in our parents footsteps. We can make our own way—we just have to want to do better.”

Nora gave him a small smile and Daniel relaxed back into the booth. She understood where he was coming from. For the first time since he could remember, he had found someone who was reaching out to him—someone who understood him.
I can’t screw this up.

***

N
ora shifted in the leather seat as they sped down the road toward the ranch. The sun hung on the horizon, painting a beautiful purplish-pink across the sky.

“Thank you for taking me out today. It was nice to get out and relax,” Nora said, turning to him. She picked up her milk shake from the cup holder and took a sip. She closed her eyes savoring the cool chocolate drink. They’d picked the treat up on the way home and it had been the perfect way to end their little date. It might not be a date, she reminded herself.

“It was fun,” he agreed.

“Maybe we can do something else again soon,” Nora asked, biting her lip. Her stomach fluttered and she held her breath as she waited for his reply.
Please say yes,
she thought.

“As long as Juarez’s men stay out of sight it shouldn’t be a problem. If things intensify again we’ll need to stay on the ranch,” Daniel explained.

Nora laughed and Daniel turned to her with a frown. “I’m sorry,” she apologized, holding up her hand. “It’s just, this is all so new to me. Until last night, it was kind of like being on a vacation. I guess it’s hard to remember that there is a threat out there when you don’t see it.”

“It’s there, and Juarez is coming,” Daniel warned.

“What’s being done to stop it?”

“We have installed an electric fence around it. I believe they were finishing it up today and turning it on. Anyone who touches it will be electrocuted. It should take out several of Juarez’s men before they figure a way around it. Other than that, I’m not sure. Devon and Gene only tell me what they need to. I’m just a regular member of the pack.”

“You might be just a member of the pack, but I’ve seen you fight. You’re pretty good. I meant to ask,” Nora started fidgeting with her fingers. “Your tattoo, does it mean something?”

Daniel’s hand went to his shoulder. “It’s the symbol for forgiveness. I’ve done a lot of things, seen a lot of things that I could have—should have stopped.”

Nora trailed a hand up to her hair, winding it around her finger. She didn’t know what to say to him. What could she say without sounding rude or condescending?

“You have any tattoos?” Daniel inquired.

“No. I’ve been poked with too many needles already. I would never subject myself to that willingly.” Nora’s mouth popped open.
Why did I just say that?

“I thought you weren’t sick?” Daniel asked his eyes roaming over her.

Nora wrapped her arms around herself and turned to the window. “I’m not.”

“I just wondered.“

“I’m fine,” she snapped. If he finds out your history, there is no way he is going to keep training with you. Not to mention, whatever was happening between the two of them would immediately cease. He’ll treat you different—they all will. She reminded herself.

“It doesn’t matter,” he said.

Nora laughed and gritted her teeth. Sure, it didn’t matter until he saw the scar, or learned how close to death she’d nearly come. Then it would change.

Daniel was quiet for a long moment and Nora sighed. His fingers gripped the steering wheel tightly. His hand flexed beneath the circle, and his steely gaze stared out the window. He turned down the drive and drove around back, returning the car to its parking spot.

The wolf frowned, hitting his hand against the wheel before grabbing his shake and climbing out. Nora hurriedly opened her door. She’d upset him. The last thing she wanted was for them to part on bad terms.

“I had fun today,” she gushed in one breath.

“Okay,” he said, drawing the word out.

“I didn’t mean to snap at you.”

“Didn’t seem that way,” Daniel stated. He lifted his vanilla milk shake to his lips and took a long swig of it.

“I’m sorry. I like spending time with you and I had a lot of fun today.” She looked down, trailing her foot through the dirt. “I’d like to hangout again. If you want to?”

“I’m not used to girls like you. To nice women. Hell, I’m not used to people wanting to spend time with me,” Daniel growled, scratching the back of his head.

Nora met his eyes. “There’s like a million people here,” she hesitated.

“Yeah, but I’m not really friends with any of them. I don’t fit in here,” he said, motioning with his arms. “I don’t really know what it is that you want here, Nora.”

Nora crossed her arms over her chest, watching him. She thought back and realized she’d never seen him talking to anyone. Sure, he’d been fighting in the barn the other night, but that wasn’t the same as hanging with a friend. April’s words rang in her head and she realized that maybe he just didn’t know what he was doing. Maybe this whole friends and more thing was something new to him.

“We could do something tomorrow. More training?” he offered, coming to stand in front of her.

“Could we go someplace else besides the barn?” Nora wondered.

“Sure. I know it gets kind of stuffy in there. It’d just be me and you,” Daniel explained.

Nora smiled, looking up into his warm emerald eyes. Her breath hitched, and her feet moved forward, closing the small gap between them. “I’m sure we’ll figure something out.” She reached up and trailed her fingers down his cheek. His stubble burned against the pads, and she shuddered imagining how it would feel against her lips.

“Sounds good,” Daniel murmured. His hand lifted up, and his rough, calloused hand cupped her chin.

Nora’s tongue darted out, wetting her dry lips. Her eyes stared at Daniel’s mouth. Instinctively, she leaned forward, until the wolf’s breath mingled with hers. Nora’s eyes fluttered closed, and she could taste vanilla on Daniel’s lips as their mouths met.

His hand slipped over her cheek, tangling in her hair. Nora leaned into him, wrapping her arms around him. His chest pressed against hers and he grunted as his tongue slipped between her lips and danced along hers.

Nora pulled back her lips swollen from the kiss. She traced her fingers over her mouth, the kiss still lingering. Grinning, she met Daniel’s eyes.

“So I’ll see you tomorrow, right?” she took a step back.

“Yeah,” Daniel grinned.

N
ora placed the butt of the rifle against her shoulder and closed one eye. With her open eye, she zeroed in on her target. The silver can set atop a fence post. Aside from the brown wooden fence, tall grass surrounded them. The target shouldn’t be hard to hit—she hoped. At least there weren’t any distractions. The day was quiet except for a few animals rustling through the brush in the distance.

The soft breeze blew loose strands of hair into her mouth. Ignoring the locks, she focused on her mission—hit the can. Curling her pointer finger around the trigger, she sucked in a long breath and pulled.

The gun banged loudly in her ear and she gritted her teeth. In the blink of an eye, the metal can sitting on the fence post flung backwards, flying into the tall yellowish-green grass.

“Good job,” Lark encouraged, clapping her hands together. “You’re a quick learner.”

“I can’t believe I hit that,” Nora grinned, setting the safety and lowering the gun.

“Once you get the hang of aiming the rest is easy. You’ll pick up speed as you go. Next, we’ll work on moving targets. The nice thing about semi-automatic rifles is they reload for you and hold a fair amount of bullets, so you can shoot quickly.”

Nora shuddered at the thought. If an attack did happen again, she would be shooting at wolves—people. “How do you do it? Shoot someone I mean?” Nora hesitated turning to look at the blonde. The question had been bothering her for a while, and she had her doubts on whether or not she could actually do it or not.

Lark sighed and shook her head. “Sarah and I used to go hunting with my dad before he passed. My dad thought it was important that both his girls were familiar with guns. I’ve been around guns my whole life so I’m comfortable with them. I just...” she paused and bit her lip. “These guys kidnapped Sarah, they kidnapped me. Gene’s dad, Rick, and his brother, Preston are dead because of these men. If we don’t stop them, they will capture us and they’ll make us...sex slaves—breeders. I won’t live like that. I won’t let Sarah live that life. It’s the same as a soldier going out and taking out the enemy. When it comes down to it, it’s you or them.”

Nora ran her fingers along the smooth finish of the gun. “I’m afraid I’ll freeze up.”

“You won’t. Instinct kicks in. When someone’s attacking you, or someone you love, rage—a need to protect overtakes you,” Lark explained. “To be honest, I didn’t think I could either. A few months ago, I was attacked in my shop. They were going to take me and do God knows what. I reacted out of sheer force of will and I stabbed a man. I didn’t even think about what I was doing. It just happened.” Lark shook her head and sighed.

“Human or wolf it’s our natural instinct to survive,” a familiar male voice piped up from behind them.

Nora spun around to meet Daniel’s familiar gaze. He was shirtless and the dark wash jeans he wore clung to his hips, showing off his rugged muscles. “Hey,” Nora grinned, her face flushing as she met Daniel’s gaze. Butterflies fluttered in her belly, and she licked her lips, recalling their kiss last night.

“I came by your room to see you, and April said you were out here with Lark,” Daniel replied, tucking his hands into the back pockets of his jeans.

“We were just finishing up. She’s a good shot. Between the guns and your training, she’s going to be a force to be reckoned with,” Lark said, disarming her gun and putting it into a large blue bag.

“I hope everyone here can fend for themselves,” Daniel said.

Nora handed her rifle to Lark.

“What are you two getting up to today? Are you leaving again?” Lark asked, looking to Nora, then Daniel.

“Probably not,” Daniel grumbled. He ran a hand through his dark hair, mussing the short strands.