Lily had never seen Daniel sleep. It was strange. He was always so dominant, so in control, so in charge. The act of sleeping took all of that and effectively erased it away. What was left was simply the person underneath, and its tender vulnerability.
As she lay there, on her side and watched the slumbering werewolf, the events of the last few days came rushing back to her.
Malcolm Cole, the Nazi who wasn’t. The cursed red marks on his arms. The fire.
She remembered being in the hot tub, sinking. Everything else was a blur of sights and sounds and smells and pain. Some where along the way, she’d stopped coughing, stopped throwing up, stopped shivering uncontrollably – and slept. She vaguely recalled people touching her here and there – moving her, giving her medicine, giving her water.
And now, she felt warm under the quilted covers; she felt safe in that languid way that overcame one when the pain finally passed and they no longer had to fight it so hard.
Her gold-flecked gaze traveled across Daniel’s form, drinking him in with a boldness that she never would have exercised had he been able to gaze back. She was transfixed by the angles of his face, the tall and lean muscle of his body, the darkness that he seemed to wrap around himself from his black clothing to his blue-black hair. And there was that hidden wolf in there too, somewhere beneath his impossibly beautiful exterior. She had yet to see it in her waking life. But she’d seen it in her dreams a thousand times.
He looked like a fallen angel at that moment, laid to waste, perhaps, by some archangel’s killing blow. It made her want to go him, kiss him awake, take him in her arms and make the hurt go away.
She blushed at that roving, runaway thought and tingling warmth spread across her forearm. She peeked under the covers at the thin blue line that she’d all but forgotten. She chewed on her lip and sighed. The mark. Daniel’s brand that stung like hell any time another alpha with designs on her so much as came near her.
The mark that he hadn’t asked her permission to give her but had forced upon her like shackles.
Suddenly, instead of wanting to kiss him, she wanted to punch him. Her gaze narrowed of its own accord and she turned her arm over, not wanting to view the shimmering tattoo. When she looked back up, it was to find Daniel leaning forward in his chair, his elbows on his knees, his hands clasped casually in front of him. His eyes were drinking her in.
Lily gasped and stilled in the bed, wondering how he had managed to awaken and move into that position so quickly and without her hearing him.
He studied her in silence for a while, his expression unreadable. But there was a wealth of thinking going on behind those blue eyes. “How’re you feelin’ cher?” he finally asked.
Lily took her time in answering. She was searching for some clue in his expression as to what he was thinking, what was going on in his head. But he gave nothing away.
“Do you want the honest truth, Daniel, or do you want me to say something that will satisfy your male ego?” Her voice was a tad scratchy, but it worked.
Daniel’s lip twitched and his eyes glittered as he replied, “Preferably both.”
Lily’s gaze narrowed. “I’m feeling mad as hell at you for what you did and if we were in any other city, I’d seriously consider pressing charges.” She paused, leaning back against the pillow behind her and crossing her arms over her chest. “Seeing as how you’re the law here, I know it wouldn’t do any good.”
Daniel seemed to consider this, his expression still a somewhat impassive mask. And then, in that slow drawl that drove her crazy, he said, “I meant, cher, how does you’re your body feel?” As he asked the question, his gaze skirted to her form, where it hid beneath the blankets, and then back up to her face. “You inhaled a lot of smoke. And water. Sort of went for both ends of the spectrum there.”
Any other day, any other circumstance, this charming banter of his would have won Lily over. But not today. Not now – not after all that she’d been through. She’d been attacked, branded, kidnapped, and half-drowned. He was real damn good at negotiating, smoothing things over, and flirting his way to complacency. It probably came with the job. But she wasn’t falling for it.
“How does my body feel? It feels tired, Daniel.” She paused for effect. “And so do I.”
*****
Daniel Kane continued to watch her for several quiet moments more and then he took a deep, slow breath and sat back in his chair, draping his arms over the rests. He hadn’t missed the double meaning behind her words. She was tired of being thrown around, from the arms of one domineering werewolf to another, and treated like some caveman’s conquered love slave.
He was impressed that she was able to express as much in her condition. She had to be starving. Probably thirsty. Definitely weary. He was also getting a sense now of just what kind of person Lily St.Claire really was. He’d already known she had a kind heart. He figured he could safely add that she was stubborn. And anyone willing to set fire to someone’s multi-million dollar mansion in order to escape them had to have a fair share of guts and determination as well.
He spoke slowly, choosing his words carefully. “I did what I felt I had to do, Lily,” he said. “I can see how you would feel it was a selfish act. But it saved you from Malcolm, and it saved Tabitha too.” He leaned forward again, pinning her with what he knew was a very potent gaze. “And I would do it again.”
Daniel could sense the change in her almost before she realized it herself. It was a hardening in her brown-gold gaze, a set to her beautiful jaw. She was slipping into fight mode. As if by instinct, the wolf in him readied for the same. His muscles tensed, his senses heightened. He could hear her heart rate speed up. Her breathing became more shallow. He could smell the adrenaline in her blood.
It smelled good.
She straightened in the bed, coming off of the pillows, and he did the same, placing his palms on the chair’s arm rests so that he could push himself up if he needed to.
Lily threw off her covers and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Beneath the discarded covers, she wore a pair of Tabitha’s cut-off sweat shorts and a borrowed tank top. She was unaware of the way Daniel’s gaze darkened when she revealed herself. She didn’t notice his pupils expanding in the oceans of his eyes. She had no idea that his blood was beginning to heat up at the sight of her long, tanned legs and her nipples, erect behind the thin material of her shirt.
He knew that all she was thinking was that she wanted to attack him. It was senseless and, if she’d paused long enough to consider what he was saying, she might have realized that he was sort of right. She just didn’t care any longer. He could see that now.
She stood before him, and just as he rose to meet her, she drew back her arm. Her hand balled into a fist, and she drove it forward for all she was worth.
Daniel saw it coming a mile away and, for once in his life, he let it come. It was the least he owed her, he supposed. But as her fist connected with his jaw, it was her pain and not his own that he immediately sensed. She’d snapped his head to one side with the force, and yet his own discomfort barely registered. He turned to face her again, at once overwhelmed by what he was seeing.
She was bent over, cradling her wrist in her other hand, tears streaming down her cheeks as she hurled wanna-be obscenities at him in that southern kind of way that only true ladies really had down.
He blinked. Then, as if on auto pilot, he was moving. “Lily, let me see your hand,” he told her. He reached for her, but she jerked away from him just as the door flew open and two people barged into the room.
Daniel looked up, as did Lily. Tabitha went for Lily immediately, but James took one look at Lily’s bent form and the tears on her cheeks and he was suddenly turning on Daniel, his fangs extended, his gray eyes glowing like quicksilver.
“What did you do to her, Kane?” the Guardian demanded. His tall form radiating massive amounts of power.
The wolf in Daniel roared to life in response and his fangs tore from his gums, extendin
g to their full length. His eyes flashed. “Nothing, Valentine. This doesn’t concern you.” His voice had gone gravelly, and the air in the room was growing thick with their combined supernatural tension.
“Please you two, not now!” Tabitha tried to wedge herself between them, but Lily rushed forward, grabbed her arm, and pulled her away.
“He works for Cole!” Lily exclaimed frantically and aimed them both for the door.
“No, Lily, he doesn’t! He’s your Guardian!” Tabitha tried to reason with her best friend.
Lily wasn’t listening, though, and Tabitha had to forcibly grab the other woman by her upper arms. With great effort, and only because Lily was presently weakened, Tabitha managed to jerk her to a halt and even spin her around. “Lily, please! Listen to me! He’s not here to hurt you, okay?” She gave Lily a small shake, as if to drive her point home.
Lily’s head snapped a little and she blinked, her expression bewildered. “What?” she asked, her voice hoarse and quiet.
The men had gone still. Daniel was torn between a confrontation with Valentine and the scene unfolding between the two best friends.
Lily looked from Tabitha to James. Their gazes locked and James suddenly stepped back from Daniel and turned toward Lily. Daniel blinked. James clearly knew that she was afraid and that it was his fault. Daniel was impressed, despite himself. It seemed that a Guardian’s protection could take many forms.
“It’s true, Lily,” James said. “Just take my hand and you’ll understand.”
Daniel suppressed a sudden, rising growl. He didn’t like the idea of someone else touching his mate, but he managed not to move or say anything. This was for Lily’s benefit and he was smart enough to realize that.
“Take his hand, Lily.” Tabitha gestured to Valentine’s outstretched palm. “I promise, it’ll be okay.”
*****
Lily was so tired. So, so tired. She was hungry and she was weak and suddenly, she had no more energy with which to fight. She sighed a shaky sigh and placed her trembling hand in Valentine’s strong grip.
He gently closed his fingers over hers.
Her eyes widened at the surge of warmth and protection that instantly came spread from the contact. It began in her fingertips and raced up her left arm to her shoulder and then across her chest. It quickly infused her entire body with the sensation of being safely wrapped in a fleece blanket and protected by a hundred armed soldiers. Nothing could hurt her. Her right arm didn’t sting at all with the contact, as she’d half expected it to. In fact, she felt nothing coming from the mark whatsoever.
This was so unlike how it had been in Cole’s car with James, when she’d been overwhelmed by his presence and the wine and she had been aching for something… more. No, this was different.
“What happened?” she finally had the nerve to ask.
Valentine’s smile was warm when he replied, “I’ve been made your Guardian. You will always be safe with me, Lily. Whenever you need me, I will be here.”
Lily blinked. She was confused as to this turn of events; when it had come about, how it had happened, what it meant, and why. But she did understand that James was telling the truth. She somehow just knew. The answer was there, in her blood.
He would protect her – against anyone – if he had to. That included Daniel.
She pulled away from him and he let her go. “He didn’t hurt me, James. I punched him,” she told the tall, handsome man, a blush creeping up into her pale cheeks. Her eyes were as tired as her voice when she finished with, “Only, his head is even harder than I thought it was.”
Daniel waited as this information sank in and James turned his mercury gaze onto him once more. There was a wealth of thinking going on behind the older wolf’s eyes. But to his credit, Valentine said nothing further on the subject. He nodded once at Daniel and then nodded once, more respectfully, at Lily.
The look that Valentine then gave to Daniel’s little sister was entirely different. Tabitha locked gazes with him, her hazel eyes darkening ever so slightly, her cheeks reddening just enough to give her away
Lily’s brows arched. She looked up to see that Daniel’s eyes were glowing and his fangs had yet to recede. He was watching the two of them with dark promise.
Valentine’s expression became appreciative and admiring as he looked down at Tabitha, his pupils expanding hungrily before he turned for the door and gracefully slipped out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Lily watched Daniel seemed to force his fangs back into his gums. He eyed the door with malice. “I’m going to kill him.”
Tabitha blew a raspberry and rolled her eyes. “Sure you are, big brother. Good luck with that, by the way.” She took Lily’s right hand and held it up to the light. “No real damage done, I think. For what it’s worth, sweetie, wait to throw the punches until you become a werewolf. You’ll actually be able to hurt him then.”
At that, Lily’s eyes flew to Daniel’s once more and their gazes locked. Reality came washing over her again in that moment. She was a Dormant and she was marked. She was going to have to become a werewolf.
Tabitha pulled back a little and eyed her best friend. “Oh hell,” she said. “You look scared again, girl. I think this is a conversation you need to have with the Chief over here, but I’m not so sure I can trust the two of you alone….” She turned to pin her brother with a warning. “You think you can behave like a gentleman and not like a cop long enough to get through this?”
Daniel cocked his head to one side and pointed to the door. He didn’t dignify her question with an answer; there was no room for argument in his expression. His blue eyes glittered like sapphires in his face, a stark contrast to the rather pale hue of his skin and the blue in his raven black hair.
Tabitha stood there for a moment and studied her older brother. There was sudden concern in her expression. Lily turned to regard Daniel carefully. Now that she was really looking, she could see the slight violet cast to his eyes and the way he was actually more pale than normal. He appeared starkly hungry. His tall, masculine form seemed a barely adequate cage for the animal within. He looked more inhuman than ever. Lily wondered why.
“You got a lot of fight in you, Daniel, but whatever you do – you’d best make this soon,” Tabitha said softly. “You’re strong, big brother.” She shook her head. “But you’re not that strong.” She took a deep breath, gave Lily’s good hand a gentle squeeze, and then headed once more for the door. “James is just outside, Lil’. He’ll be able to hear everything you two say.” Tabitha stopped at the door and gave her best friend a meaningful look. It was meant to reassure her. Lily wasn’t alone.
She opened the door, stepped through it, and shut it again behind her.
Chapter Fifteen: Internal Affairs
Lily was dumbfounded. She wondered what Tabitha had meant by Daniel needing to do something soon. Was she talking about Lily?
Once more, Lily found herself alone with Daniel Kane, Police Chief of Baton Rouge - the very beautiful but very supernatural-looking alpha werewolf. Lily swallowed hard.
“Have a seat, Lily. We need to talk.”
She frowned. “Would it kill you to say ‘please’, Chief?”
A muscle ticked in Daniel’s jaw, and the corners of his mouth seemed to want to turn into a smile. But his eyes were as intense and as serious as ever. “It’s Daniel to you, cher. And, please – take a seat.”
Lily went to the bed and sat down, pulling the covers over her dangling legs. She was a little cold. Plus, the covers helped serve as a barrier between her and the big bad wolf standing a few feet away.
“I couldn’t be more sorry about the way I had to mark you, Lily. That, I promise. But, like I said, I would do it again. I had to do it. You don’t know how tempting a Dormant is to our kind. Sooner or later, you’d have been found out and taken. There’s not much a human can do against a werewolf, Lily. Except, maybe, burn his house down,” he added, his tone suddenly a bit mystified.
But then he
ran a hand through his hair and continued, as he took to pacing back and forth in front of her bed. “If you had to be claimed, I’d rather it be by me than by someone else. I know how selfish that sounds, Lily. But I’ve been in love with you for more than a decade. I stayed away,” he said, as he stopped and pinned her with his blue fire gaze. “For Tabitha’s sake. But I can’t do it any more, cher.”
It was a good long while before Lily was able to swallow past the lump that had formed in her throat while he was speaking. He was in love with her. He’d been in love with her. Since high school? Dear God…. All that time…. She couldn’t believe it. He had to be lying.
Lily took in his expression, frank and stark and hungry. She noticed the way he was breathing, as if he couldn’t quite get enough air, as if his body were in pain. She realized that this was what a man looked like when he was being painfully honest and that honesty involved love.
Christ, she thought. Oh, Christ…. She was certain that Daniel could hear her heart hammering, rapid-fire, in her chest. Her blood felt like Novocain in her veins and little stars of light were dancing before her eyes.
Daniel came forward then, and Lily watched in paralyzed silence as he sat at the edge of the bed, one hand wrapped around the bed post so tight that his knuckles were white. She absently hoped he wouldn’t accidentally break it as Cole had done with his chair. Werewolves were so strong – and this bed was an antique.
Her thoughts were rambling in chaotic nervousness.
Daniel’s gaze continued to burn into her. “You have two options at this point, cher. You can join me. Mate with me – and I’ll turn you. You’ll become a Made wolf, a werewolf’s mate who becomes a werewolf herself. You’ll be stronger and faster and you’ll heal quickly. Not much in this world will be able to harm you. Not even our female born are given such a chance, by nature. And Made wolves are very rare these days, cher. They are the only kind who can give birth to more werewolves. They are our only means for continued survival. You are our only means for survival, Lily.”
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