Dani's Return

by Ariel Marie

  Her body had definitely filled out over the years, and it screamed that she was all woman. Her curves were outlined in her tight jeans, looking as if she were poured into them. Her snug tank top highlighted her ample breasts, and made his mouth water. The way she smiled as she ordered her food to go at the counter had his dick standing at attention. It was his mate.

  Dani had returned.

  Chapter Three

  Dani

  Dani had been home for about a day, and so far so good. She hadn’t run into anyone from the pack yet. She was staying with Hope and her parents since she arrived yesterday, and to help out, she volunteered to run out to grab some food for dinner. Tiny’s Diner was the best place to go, and it had been so long since she had eaten there that she practically craved the food.

  Upon entering the diner, her wolf instantly growled low at the wonderful smells that assaulted her nose. She breathed deep and smiled as she stepped up to the take-out counter. Oh, how she had missed this place.

  “Well look what the breeze brought in,” a voice exclaimed from behind the counter.

  “Hey, Miss Martha,” she said, laughing as the older woman ran from behind the counter and swept her up in a hug.

  “Well I’ll be. Daniella Harper, what are you doing here?” Martha asked, setting her back down to assess her. “How have you been?”

  “I’m good, Miss Martha,” she laughed. This was one of the things she missed most from her hometown; everyone knew everyone. Their small town was one large family. “I’m here visiting Hope and her parents.”

  “Oh, isn’t it so sad about what them doctors found? I’ll be praying for Barbara. She’s a fighter though, and that breast cancer don’t realize that it picked the wrong person. Barb will kick its ass good, and make it regret ever settling up in her boobie!” Martha exclaimed, wagging her finger in the air.

  “She sure will,” Dani agreed, thinking of her second mother. Barbara Foster was a fighter, and she would beat this. She just had to.

  “What can I get for you? Anything you want is on the house,” Martha said, grinning wide.

  “That’s sweet of you, but I’m here ordering for more than me,” Dani said, jumping up to sit on a stool.

  “Don’t matter, honey. I’d be honored to send Barb some food,” Martha said, grabbing a pen and her pad.

  Dani pulled out her list that the family gave her and started rattling off everyone’s order. Martha stepped away to work on the order while Dani stared out the diner window. It had been a long time since she was home, and it felt good.

  Her smile faltered a little as the hair on the back of her neck stood at attention. This wasn’t the same creepy feeling she had grown accustomed to when she was in Tennessee. This sensation had her nipples hardening painfully, pushing up at her bra as a chill slowly rumbled down her spine. Someone had their eyes on her.

  The sensation had her wolf standing at attention, whining inside of Dani. Her wolf almost seemed…turned on?

  What the hell?

  Her heart pounded in her chest as she slowly looked around the diner, recognizing a few of the patrons enjoying their meals.

  “Dani, is that you?” a voice called out at the same time the bell over the door rang.

  “Erica, how are you?” Dani greeted her longtime friend with what she hoped passed for a smile. Erica too was a shifter and belonged to the same pack. They had known each other their entire lives.

  Erica and her family lived a few doors down from where Dani and her parents had lived on the pack’s land. She smiled on the outside, not wanting to offend Erica, but on the inside, dread filled her belly that Erica would mention to Junior that she was back. She knew sooner or later, he would seek her out since she was back.

  “I’m doing great. Wow, you look amazing.” Erica’s eyes held genuine pleasure as she sat next to Dani. “Are you back for good?”

  “No, I’m not,” Dani said, shaking her head. “I came to see Hope and Barbara.”

  “Yeah, I heard Hope’s mother had cancer,” Erica nodded, concern lining her face. Something flashed in her eyes, but was gone just as quickly as it came. “You do know that things have changed in the pack, right?” she said, lowering her voice and scooting closer to Dani. Dani bit her lip, nervousness setting in.

  Things in the pack had changed? What was she talking about? Shit! She had heard that Junior had challenged his father for alpha five years ago and won. This couldn’t be good. Dani looked around for Martha to see if her food order was near complete.

  “Um, no. I haven’t really heard much about the pack,” she nervously looked at Erica. That was the truth. It had been a little over a year since she last spoke to her cousin, who used to update her on the pack. “What’s going on?”

  Her curiosity was getting the better of her. She knew she should have had Martha put a rush on her order, or just waited in the car while they prepared the food. She looked towards the door, as if expecting Junior to walk through it any moment. She was trying to keep a low profile while she was in Wakefield. That was the one drawback to her town; everyone knew everyone. Word was probably spreading like wildfire that she was here.

  “We have a new alpha,” Erica said, grabbing Dani’s attention.

  “What?” she asked in total shock, almost falling off the stool she sat perched on. She felt her mouth flop open and had a hard time closing it. Thoughts began to race through her mind as her frozen brain processed the news. “What happened to Junior?”

  “He was challenged. You know the way of our people. He couldn’t back down from the fight either. He was just too cocky,” Erica’s voice dropped again. Dani leaned closer so that she could hear her. “The new alpha killed him within minutes. He was so much stronger than Junior.”

  “And how have things been since the new alpha took over?” Dani could barely form her words to ask the question. She was in complete and utter disbelief.

  Junior and his father were dead?

  She knew she shouldn’t be happy that any person was killed, but she couldn’t help it. She bit back the smile that was trying to form. Oh. My. God. Tears gathered in her eyes and she willed them not to fall.

  Not being able to be with her pack, or her human friends that she had grew up with, had been torture, but mating with Junior would have been a living hell. She had lived life as a lone wolf since leaving. Wolves were not meant to live alone. They were naturally drawn to be with other wolves, take care of each other, and provide for each other.

  “It’s been wonderful. He truly cares about the pack and wants to see us flourish,” Erica gushed. “And he’s hotter than the seven hells combined,” she said as a dreamy look appeared in her eyes.

  “When did this happen?”

  “A year ago, the new alpha came back to the pack. Apparently, he was from our pack, but older than us. He had left, but now he’s back,” Erica said, waving to a new patron that entered the restaurant. “You can come home now. We all know why you ran, and I have to say, none of us blamed you.”

  It was like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. One year ago, the constant feeling that she was being followed and watched had disappeared. Now she knew why. Junior was dead.

  She was free.

  “Here you go, Dani,” Martha said, placing two large bags filled with her order down in front of her. The smells caused Dani’s stomach to rumble. “Don’t worry about paying either. Your money is no good here,” she said before blowing a kiss and leaving to go take an order from a customer at the other end of the counter.

  “Here, I gotta go,” she said, turning to Erica. She had to get out of there before the floodgates burst and the tears flowed. She didn’t even know what she should do. She couldn’t wait to get back to the Foster’s home so that she could tell Hope. She officially had a new future to plan out for herself. “It was nice seeing you again—”

  “Oh, he’s right there!” Erica exclaimed, motioning towards someone.

  Dani turned to see who Erica was frantically waving at,
and just about fell out of her seat. A mountain of a man was heading in their direction. He had to be over six and a half feet tall, with hair so black she would have sworn the tips were blue. She couldn’t look away from his stormy gray eyes as he got closer.

  Her wolf was practically panting, and so was she. Damn. This was the alpha? No wonder Erica had a dreamy look in her eyes when speaking of him. She had to get a grip. Her wolf was acting like she was in heat. She just hoped that he wouldn’t smell how he affected her.

  “Erica,” his voice was deep, and immediately sent a shiver down her spine.

  “Hey, Alpha,” Erica greeted him, smiling. “I wanted to introduce you to Dani. You remember her, don’t you?”

  “I’m Ace,” he said, offering her his hand. His steady gaze held hers as she took it. The electric current that raced up her arm just about took her breath away.

  “I’m Dani,” she said softly, unable to look away from his eyes. The magnetic pull to him left her confused. She had never had this reaction to any man before.

  “I know. I remember you,” he said, much to her chagrin. Erica said that he was older than them and from their pack, but she couldn’t remember him. She racked her brain but came up with a blank. This specimen of a male in front of her was not someone she would likely forget.

  “I’m sorry,” she said honestly, shaking her head. “I don’t seem to remember you.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” he laughed, letting her hand go. “I was about a hundred pounds lighter…scrawny, pimples, and big feet.”

  Her eyes automatically dropped to his feet and made a slow journey up his muscular body. Her fingers itched to run along his abdomen. She could see the outline of a six, maybe eight pack, beneath his black T-shirt. The urge to pull up his shirt so she could count all of his ridges overwhelmed her. She gulped. Holy mother of God.

  “Well, it looks like you filled out quite nicely,” she said, finally making her way back up to his eyes, which were twinkling with merriment. She groaned internally, realizing the double meaning behind her words.

  “Thanks.” He let loose a short laugh. “Here, let me help you with those bags.”

  Chapter Four

  Ace

  He couldn’t believe that she was in town. His wolf was practically salivating at being so close to her. It was demanding that they take their mate now.

  “Not yet,” he said out loud to his wolf. There were still so many things he had to do in order to be ready to bring his mate home. He still needed to fix the alpha’s house because it wasn’t quite ready for his mate. He wanted everything to be perfect for the day he officially brought her home.

  Before leaving the diner, he had helped her carry the two large bags that were packed with food to her car. He even invited her to come and visit the pack. There would be a picnic this weekend to celebrate the teenagers who had their first shift this year. He had wanted to get the pack back to their old traditions that had been lost. She told him that she would try, that she was busy with some family issues, which was the reason she had come back to town.

  He couldn’t keep his eyes off of her as they spoke by her car. She was a tiny little thing to be a shifter, and she still looked the same since the last time he saw her. Only this older version of her nearly brought him to his knees.

  The few minutes they chatted outside her car, he couldn’t tear his eyes off of her amber colored eyes. Some shifter’s eyes remained amber, even when they were in their human form, and hers were breathtaking.

  She had filled out nicely over the years. Up close, her curves had his hands wanting to grab her ass to see if it was as plush as it looked in those jeans. Her creamy caramel skin looked so soft that he wanted to lick and nibble along her neck, just to taste. He wanted to see if she was as sweet as she looked. His cock stiffened at those thoughts.

  He shifted gears in his truck as he turned down the main road that led to the pack’s land at the edge of town. It wasn’t that shifters couldn’t live where they wanted to, they just preferred to live on the land that their ancestors had secured centuries before. Plus, the land had plenty of room where wolves could run freely.

  A few minutes later, he drove his truck up the driveway to the large house that came with being the alpha of the pack. He parked outside the attached garage, knowing that he was going to have to leave soon.

  It was a large Tudor style home with an old world flare to it. He loved the color of the dark stones, and couldn’t wait to finish the renovations. Soon, he thought to himself. Soon, he would have his mate here, and they would fill the now empty house with plenty of pups and make this a true home.

  He had tried to get his parents to move into the home with him, but they refused to leave the home that they had lived in since their mating.

  The ringing of his cell phone filled the air as he unlocked the front door.

  “Yeah,” he answered, walking into the house.

  “Hey, Ace. It’s Leo.” Ace’s lead enforcer, Leo Mohr, greeted him on the phone.

  Once Ace had defeated Junior, the first thing he did was clear out anyone that had anything to do with Junior and his father’s crew. Junior’s beta, and every other enforcer, were banned from the pack. He had to start with a skeleton crew. Brett was automatically named the beta, and he instantly went to work to help rebuild the pack.

  In order to get the pack to submit to a new alpha, the alpha needed to show his strength and protect his pack. He had to make the pack feel safe and put their needs before his. His uncle was a strong alpha that was very much respected in the shifter world. He couldn’t have learned from a better man.

  He had to piece together a new enforcer team. Enforcers were wolves charged with the protection of the pack, and to ensure that pack members followed all laws. Leo had also been a member of the pack before Junior, and Evan had banned Leo from the pack. They didn’t appreciate a wolf that would speak up and defend another member of the pack. Leo was no alpha, but his character did not allow him to stand by and watch someone be bullied or abused.

  The Torres’ felt he was too headstrong. It had come down to an ultimatum; challenge for alpha or leave. To save face, and his life, Leo chose the life of a lone wolf. His wolf would not have been a match for an alpha wolf in battle.

  It only took one phone call from Ace to Leo to get him to come back to the pack once he had heard that Ace was the new alpha.

  “Yeah,” he answered.

  “Alpha, I’m not sure if this is anything, but when we were out doing a perimeter check of the property, we found something,” Leo informed him.

  Ace paused in kicking his shoes off. It looked like he was leaving sooner than he thought.

  “What did you find?”

  “A few deer carcasses with their throats slit. They were left on the edge of the north quadrant.”

  “Shit. I’ll meet you there,” Ace said. He turned around and headed back out the door.

  ~Dani~

  “You girls are a mess,” Barb said, laughing through her tears as they reminisced over their younger years. They were scattered along the couches in the Foster’s family room, laughing and talking about old times.

  “I mean, seriously, Mom. I knew she was a shifter and all, but she scared the living daylights out of me,” Hope laughed, bringing up the time when they were thirteen and Dani had finally been able to shift.

  Dani had known that with Hope and her family being human, they wouldn’t understand the pride that came along with being able to finally access the animal that was impatiently waiting to be let loose. She had wanted to share her excitement with her best friend, that she could officially shift.

  About a week after her first shift, Dani had spent the night at the Foster household, as she did countless times before. She wanted to surprise Hope and show off her animal.

  Hope had been asleep when Dani shifted. It took her a few minutes to do so as she struggled at first, coaxing her wolf to come to the forefront. After a few attempts, her wolf finally emerged.

>   Even though the wolf was in charge, Dani was still there and in control. Once in her wolf form, Dani walked over to Hope’s bed and sat there, waiting for her to wake up. After a few minutes, Hope wasn’t waking up, so Dani nipped her shoulder just a little, trying to get her attention.

  Hope just batted her away, mumbling in her sleep. The next time, Dani yanked a few times on Hope’s shirt with her teeth, finally getting her to open her eyes. One look at Dani’s wolf and Hope began shrieking at the top of her lungs.

  “I didn’t know you would freak out so much.” Dani chuckled at the memory.

  “Who expects to wake up with a wolf in their face,” Hope laughed. “A smiling one at that!”

  “Oh, you girls sure know how to keep me entertained,” Barbara said, laughing even more while wiping the tears from her eyes. “It sure is good to have you home, Dani.”

  “Thanks, Barb,” Dani whispered, her voice cracking a little. “Well, come on. We’ve got to get you to the hospital so you can get that catheter thing placed in your arm,” she said, holding her hand out to help Barb up from the couch.

  “Thanks again for everything,” Barbara said, grabbing Dani in a tight hug. “Your parents would be so proud of you.”

  “Rogue wolves wouldn’t be able to keep me away from you,” she sighed, hugging her back. She meant it too. The Fosters were her second parents, and there was nothing that would have kept her from being at Barbara’s side, except for a direct act of God. “Now, let’s go get this catheter thingy so we can kick cancer’s ass.”

  “That’s right,” Hope said as they walked out of the house. “Fuck cancer.”

  Chapter Five

  Dani

  “Hello?” Dani said, answering the phone located in the Foster’s kitchen.

  “Dani, it’s Jessa,” a female voice announced on the other end of the line. Dani closed her eyes at the sound of her cousin’s voice.