Danea (15 page)

Wade stood up and held his hand out, waiting patiently until the smaller one was inside and wrapped securely by his fingers.

****

Danea felt more than a little childish. Here were these two really good looking men trying to be
thoughtful and supportive and she was far less than honest. But a big part of her was afraid for too many reasons. She pulled her fingers free and stepped in the direction she’d left her car parked. Then she stopped and turned to face them.

“I have to…” she took in a deep breath and looked them in the eyes. Eyes filled with nothing but concern. “I’m sorry. I can’t say that I’ll never throw another fit like that, but…no matter what I might have said, it wasn’t because of you. Either of you. I’m used to dealing with him and his…I’m just used to it. But…in the past
, when he became too insistent, I’d move and I don’t want to move this time.”

“Dani…”

“No, please. While my guts are still going in the right direction,” she offered a weak grin. “I’ve never had anyone stand up for me before…well, except my mother. And believe me, you do not ever want to be on her wrong side. But you guys…I’m not used to it…and the other part of me says I have to keep you away from him.”

“Why does he want you with him, Danea?” Wade asked carefully.

“Because he believes I have the ability to…to act as a cohesive center for the others,” she racked her brain for the right words to explain it. “If…if I could, it would give him a kind of…” she frowned and winced and pursed her lips in thought. “A kind of bubble of control…does he need it for something? No. At least, I don’t believe he does. But…with men, it’s all about bigger and more and better and…oops…I didn’t mean…”

Noah laughed and shook his head. “We get it, Danea. Let’s head somewhere warm with food and you can tell us more about
your opinions of men.”

She offered a wrinkled nose at him and strode off to her car.

“Let’s go,” Noah turned the key and waited until Wade was in the passenger’s seat.
“Her explanations make me nervous.”

“I’m sure that’s putting it mildly,” Wade agreed. “I don’t sense magic at all, though. It’s as she says…all I sense is girl. Not even an inkling of a shield or some kind of glamour to hide who she is. Nothing.
So I’m not sure what this power is she’s alluding to…it’s obviously something to do with her mind.”

“Yet we both know she’s not quite telling us everything.”

“There are two ways to look at it,” Wade commented after a few minutes. They were pulling into the long driveway to his home. “She isn’t telling us because something about it frightens her that she thinks we wouldn’t understand or accept.”

“And if she really believed that, and wanted us gone, we’d know what it was,” Noah completed the logic with a nod. “Nice house.”

“I’ve lived a lot longer than you, shifter,” Wade said with a chuckle, looking at the heavy and large log style house he’d built years ago. The house faced the drive and betrayed only the angled point and cedar deck. Spread behind it, and backed by the edge of the Olympic mountains, was the rest of the large, sprawling home. “I always wondered why I’d been almost…driven…to create such a large space to live in. We’re taught to accept an intuition that too many time defies logic.”

“It’s well done, Wade,” Noah said as he stepped from the SUV. He did a slow turn. “And you have ocean right across the road. How far back does it stretch?”

“Five acres of forest trails and paths,” Wade answered, watching the smaller car come along the driveway. “More than enough for a long exhausting run when you have the urge. It’s crossed with paths and streams leading out of the mountains.”

“It takes some adjusting to,” Noah walked toward the large double doors.
“I always wondered why I had no urge to get out of an apartment. I don’t think I believed in the…hell, you’re raised to accept it, but…” his words drifted off as he watched Danea leave the car and walk toward them, her head swiveling to take it all in. He had to smile when she ended up walking backwards, her gaze locked on the ocean the short distance away. What was it about her that sent his body into instant overload? Then she turned to them, that bright sweetly innocent smile that seemed to light up the night around them and he didn’t really care about the answer any longer.

“You have the ocean across the street,” Danea bumped into the bottom post of the stairs and turned red.

“Have you noticed the house?” Noah asked with a laugh.

“I…of course I have…” She looked at him sheepishly. “But it’s a really big ocean.”

Both of them laughed with her.

“Sorry. I…yo
u have a beautiful house, Wade,” she said sheepishly.

“Thank you,” Wade
let her slip easily between them as they climbed the gently sloping stones to the house. “I’ve lived here a long time.”

“Alone?”

He wasn’t sure why he felt embarrassed but a hint of unseen fire struck his face as he stepped onto the porch and tapped the code into the small unit. Perhaps it was the sad, stunned sound of her voice. He wasn’t sure.

“I’ve never had a woman live with me. I’ve had relationships through the years, but they rarely lasted and I know a big part of that was my not being engaged to the extent I needed to be,” Wade drew in a slow breath, striding into the house ahead of
them and tapping light switches. He wanted the line of focus off him; off his choices and decisions.

Light flew off in all directions, illuminating the high vaulted ceiling and sparkl
ing off the thick glass windows above them. Wood beams shone above them and the hardwood floors peeked out from beneath colorful throw rugs.

“Can I ask why you weren’t engaged?” Danea wandered around the room, her fingers gliding over the railing to the right that led to the master suite. She continued forward into the
very large open space that held a dining area, living area and a very large, open kitchen beneath the second level. “You’re so kind and open and honest,” she turned and perched on the edge of a cushioned high chair, one of four around the counter that separated the dining area from the kitchen.

Wade shrugged out of the light jacket he’d worn, dropping it over the back of a chair before continuing on into the kitchen and opening one side of the large stainless steel refrigerator. He began laying things on the counter for sandwiches.

“Why…” he repeated slowly. “At the time, I think I knew something wasn’t working. Little things. Things I found excuses for…”

“I’ve been known to make people nuts,” she responded softly, reaching for the bread and opening it to take out two slices.
“I suppose I just don’t understand the whole thing,” she said, lifting a knife and reaching for the mayo. “You…us…”

“Tell us about your father,” Noah suggested, following the gesture from Wade to help himself.
“Us…will work fine.”

“I have ales
,” Wade suggested with a glance at Noah who returned a nod, and then Danea.

“Water, please,” Danea answered almost without thinking. “I explained everything there is to know about him.”

“Danea, there has to be something we’re missing if he keeps coming at you,” Noah said flatly. “Something you’re not telling us. You’re not just a girl. You talk to a seagull, for pity sake. You swim in sub normal temperature ocean.”

“Galileo was…I’m not sure what,” she began layering some turkey on her bread. “I was out swimming one day
. Outside Vancouver, I think…I’m sure it wasn’t in Anchorage,” she said thoughtfully, adding a slice of cheese to her sandwich before putting the bread on and lifting it to take a bite. She chewed before continuing, watching Wade hand an ale over the counter to Noah. “And he fell into the water from a nest on the rocks and landed in a mess of…stuff…pieces of plastic like from six packs of soda and some bits of plastic fishing net. He was tiny. Just a little tiny thing just out of the egg…I think I was twenty-two…and…I don’t know how…but I could listen to the little clicking sounds he makes and understand him. I was really freaked out at first. But…” she shrugged. “I managed to get him back to his nest and left. But a couple weeks later, he appeared on the balcony of the little apartment I had. And he’s been around ever since.”

“And you don’t think that’s a little odd?” Noah said carefully, taking a big bite out of his sandwich.

“You turn into a wolf,” she said bluntly. “And he’s…a fairy…now…you seriously want to talk odd?”

Chapter Fourteen

She stared from one to the other, wondering if she needed to slap them on the backs or so
mething to stop all the choking but decided to just eat her sandwich and wait it out.

“I…” Noah finally cleared his throat, caught between laughing and choking. “I honestly don’t have a response to that one.”

“So now that we’ve worked out what’s odd and at the top of the list,” Danea laughed at them both. A happy sound that faded when she continued. “I know his…territory…isn’t very large. I know there seems to be a constant battle over things, just like packs fight, I suppose. No matter the species…” she sighed. “He believes having that control would help his case. I keep telling him to be happy with what he has and let it go. My sisters don’t seem to mind being used for fighting, most of them enjoy the limelight. But I’ve refused and it makes him angry,” she shrugged and ate her sandwich.

“So you move so he can’t find you,” Wade filled in the blank.

“Sometimes. Not always,” but she refused to look up at either of them. “Maybe,” she finally said with a growl that tipped the corner of her mouth. “Okay, so I’m just not as good at avoiding him and the people he sends are usually pretty big.”

Wade cast a glance over at Noah.

“And I think mentioning more about the strong arm tactics would be a good idea, Danea,” Noah said very slowly.

Danea stuffed the rest of her sandwich into her mouth and pushed off the stool to wander into the kitchen, chewing and cleaning up.

“I have a feeling we’re being ignored,” Wade leaned back on his stool and watched.

“I’m trying to figure you both out, I am not ignoring you,” she answered loftily, wiping down the counter and putting bottles and packages in the fridge.
It was definitely time to shift topics.

“Ignoring and distracting us,” Noah countered dryly.

She’d watched him bring them out, so she knew where he stored things. “Do you always eat sandwiches?” She asked, her nose wrinkling a little at the almost empty fridge.

“I have a tendency to stay on campus and do reviews and things in my office. Sometimes I bring work home,” Wade answered
honestly.

“And you work long hours as a sheriff,” Danea walked into the dining area, her fingers drifting along the gleaming wood table. She looked up at the rafters, ceiling fans and lighting that glistened. “Who does the cleaning?” She almost giggled. Just like a girl, she thought. “It’s very…sparkling…” she offered and knew it was a weak explanation.

Wade met the cute, quizzical stare and sighed. “I have a housekeeper who comes in once a week.”

“A…oh…well…
” Danea closed her mouth and wandered to the living area and the large shelves stretching around the desk in the corner. Stacks of papers were on one corner, held in place by a large book of mythologies. Several pens dotted the surface and a computer monitor was cornered to the far left, the keyboard sitting in front of it. Two large, bright lamps shone over-head. The desk was old and had a large surface and heavy drawers.

“I thought about moving my school things into one of the empty rooms as an office…” Wade winced and downed the rest of his ale.

“Why?” Danea leaned against the edge and tilted her head to read titles on the shelves. He liked mysteries. Complex and murders and a lot, she thought with a smile. Somehow she hadn’t thought of him as a thriller type. “I think it’s very good right here. I love a living area that’s lived in…my father has this special room just for guests. I used to sneak in there when I was little and pretend I was a guest but somehow they always caught me. I’m not a very good sneak.”

Danea turned to see them both laughing and just smiled.

“Where is your father’s territory, Danea?” Noah moved toward the living area and stretched out on one of the well-cushioned recliners.

“South of here…it’s way, way too warm for me,” she said with a half shrug. “He doesn’t get that, either. The first couple years I visited, I really wanted to be comfortable. But even the water is warmer than it is here and in Alaska.”

Noah looked over at Wade, frowning. “South? How far south, Danea?”

“Los Angeles?” Wade suggested.

“Further.”

“You’re mumbling and I’m nervous,” Noah arched one brow when she just continued to stare at the book collection.

Wade moved behind Danea, his hands on her shoulders and physically turning her to face him and Noah.

“How much further, Danea?”

“My mother is from the north and my father, the south,” she answered, only a little bit of an edge to her voice. “I grew up in the Alaska area. And…well, actually most of the Canadian and Alaskan coastline. And glaring at me won’t help me explain anything faster. It just isn’t that simple a thing to talk about. That’s why I keep trying to understand what in the world could possibly make your…your…other sides…believe that I’m important enough or even strong enough to be…involved…”