by Anya Nowlan
Dakota laughed, wiping the back of her hand across her forehead.
“You sure know how to bribe a girl,” she smiled. “And I’m hardly on Indiana Jones’ level. I don’t even have a whip or anything.”
The glimmer in her eye as she said that made Wes gulp, his wolf already whining beneath the surface. He had never felt such an instant attraction to someone, and he didn’t want to think about what that might mean. Even less so, he wanted to think about what would happen when she actually needed to leave.
Problem for tomorrow, he decided.
“Good, because I’m unarmed,” he replied, starting toward his cabin and gesturing for Dakota to join him. “Except for superhuman strength, fangs and claws. But you get my point.”
She fell into step beside him as they walked over to his home, a log house with a small porch out front. He pushed the door open and waved her inside. She only hesitated for a moment before stepping into the living room, her gaze darting all around the place.
Wes didn’t have a lot of furniture, just the essentials. Most of it was made by Tate, or the guys he had hired for the small handmade furniture business the man had set up in town.
“Have a seat,” Wes said, pointing to the couch pushed up against one of the walls. “I’ll get the beers.”
“Nice place,” Dakota commented as she went and plopped down, stretching her long legs out in front of her. “Cozy.”
Wes shot her a grin before walking to the small kitchen area in the back and pulling two beers out of the fridge. He popped the caps off before heading back into the living room, handing one bottle to Dakota before sitting down in a chair opposite her.
What he really wanted was to sit next to her on the couch and to inhale that maddeningly alluring scent of hers until his lungs were filled up with it. But, he knew that would be seriously creepy, even if his wolf didn’t agree. The werewolves lived in isolation most of the time but they were civil enough to know that not everything that was commonplace for shifters was the same for humans. He’d have to… temper himself a little.
So he forced himself to stay at a respectable distance, mesmerized as he watched her take a sip from the bottle, her eyes closed as she let the liquid flow down her throat.
“I needed that,” she sighed, letting her head fall back. “Thanks.”
“No problem,” Wes replied.
“I guess you’ll be wanting to hear my stories, now,” she tilted her head at him.
“I certainly wouldn’t mind it,” he grinned, taking a swig of his beer.
Dakota would be leaving in the morning, going off on whatever adventures that lay ahead of her. In all probability, he would never see her again. Yet, he couldn’t resist wanting to know whatever he could about her before she was gone for good.
You don’t run into a woman like her every day. I better make the best of it.
Seven
Dakota
Kicking off her hiking boots, Dakota pulled one leg up on the couch and set her empty bottle on the small coffee table in front of her. Wes’ cabin smelled like firewood and pines, and she breathed it in. For a moment, she was reminded of her dad’s house back in Whitefish, the one Helen had sold.
That place had been a lot more lavish than Wes’ cottage, but the sense of hominess and comfort was the same. Even Wes felt familiar to her somehow, with their conversation lacking the awkwardness that usually came with chatting with someone you barely knew.
“I couldn’t exactly have my guide come along with me as I broke into a sacred temple and stole a figurine of Akna, the goddess of fertility,” she said, continuing her story of her last mission before returning to the States.
“So you ditched him in the middle of an unfamiliar jungle?” Wes arched a brow at her. “I’m not sure if that’s stupid or bold.”
“Probably a bit of both,” Dakota chuckled. “I get a little… eager when I’m close to my goals. I’m impatient that way. Besides, I didn’t want to go to jail if my guide happened to turn me in.”
“I’m assuming you got what you went there for?” Wes asked, lounging in his chair.
Maybe it was the beer talking, but the longer they talked, the harder it was for Dakota to not stare at him. Wes had a carefree vibe to him, despite the burning intensity he could switch on when he wanted like it was the most natural thing, that made talking to him very easy. With his rugged and sexy looks, he was as easy on the eyes as he was on the ears.
The t-shirt he was wearing clung to his chiseled chest and fell loosely at his narrow waist, accentuating that impressive body of his perfectly. Dakota wasn’t usually one to ogle at a man, which made her doubly surprised at the effect Wes was having on her.
Usually, she was too busy running around the globe and focusing on her missions to even notice men, but Wes wasn’t someone you could easily ignore. Being all but trapped in his small cabin with him didn’t exactly help her in that regard, either.
Maybe I’ve stayed in the jungles for too long.
“Yes,” she nodded, watching him run a hand over his brown hair, unruly on top and shorter on the sides. “It took me a while to get back to civilization, and I only checked my messages after I crossed the border to Mexico to swing by a new dig site of Olmec artifacts. That’s when I found out my father had passed away.”
Fidgeting with her hands, she recalled how she had almost dropped the phone when she had heard the news, her gut filling with ice despite the heat of the Mexican desert all around her. That moment would be forever burned into her mind, along with the guilt that had swept over her.
She had almost been relieved to hear her dad died of natural causes. If something supernatural had gotten to him while she wasn’t there to help him, to protect him… Well, that would have been unbearable.
“I’m sorry,” Wes said quietly, pulling her out of her thoughts.
“Enough about me,” Dakota shook her head, conjuring up a smile. “I think it’s time you tell me something about yourself.”
“Not much to tell, really,” Wes shrugged.
“Oh, come on,” she scoffed. “Didn’t you say you fought a demon? How many times in your life can you tell that story without people thinking you’re batshit crazy? This is a rare opportunity. Revel, regale!”
He laughed at that, the sound of his deep voice filling the cabin and drawing a smile from her. It wasn’t like she could talk about demons with anyone either, now that her father was no longer around. In fact, this was probably the first time in a long while she had just stopped and took a breath, talking with someone over a beer.
But she knew she shouldn’t get used to the company. Her path was a lonely one, and Pinedale would be in her rearview mirror come morning if she had a say in it.
“Tate and Tessa were the ones Loch tormented,” Wes said. “A couple of the other wolves and I only saw the demon when he showed up here in Pinedale. Thanks to both him and Tessa touching the amulet, he was able to show up in her dreams. That night, he had convinced Tessa that he would kill every wolf here if she didn’t give him the amulet.”
Dakota leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. The smile had disappeared from Wes’ face as his eyes became distant. She could hardly imagine what it must have been like to go up against a powerful demon like Loch. Her father had always tried to keep her away from that kind of action, sending her abroad to procure items instead.
There were other dangers to that, of course, but her travels didn’t usually involve fighting monsters, at least.
“Since the amulet is destroyed, I’m guessing she didn’t go through with it?” Dakota asked.
“Oh no, she went through with it. Snuck out in the middle of the night,” he replied, making Dakota’s eyes widen. “She and Tate were head over heels by then. She’s his mate, as you might have guessed by now. So she would have done anything to protect Tate. Luckily, we got there in time and stopped Loch from actually getting his hands on the amulet. Ripped him to shreds,” Wes finished, his gaze still fixed somewhere behind
her.
“Whoa,” was all Dakota could say to that.
Even if Tessa didn’t end up going through with it, even thinking about giving a demon what he wants was a seriously bad idea. Then again, what did she know? Dakota had never been in love, not the ‘sacrifice my life for you’ love, anyway. And with shifters, those feelings were even more intense.
Unlike humans, shifters actually had soul mates out there in the world, people that ‘completed’ them, as cheesy romantic comedies might put it. And once fate put you together with that one person who was truly meant for you, did that really leave any room for logic?
Dakota opened her mouth to ask more about how the mating process works, having only read about it before, when a knock on the door stopped her.
“Yes?” Wes called out, and the door swung open, with Tate standing in the doorway.
“The council wants to speak with you,” Tate said, his expression totally neutral.
Wes threw Dakota a glance before getting to his feet.
“I’ll be right there,” he said, earning a nod from Tate.
The Alpha turned and left, leaving the door open after him. Dakota listened to his heavy steps thud away, a warm breeze coming in from outside and washing over her. She didn’t know much about pack dynamics, but she was pretty sure that the Alpha coming to extend a personal invitation was no small matter.
“You’ll still be here when I get back?” Wes asked, cocking a brow at her.
“I’m not going to sneak off now,” Dakota couldn’t help but grin at him. “Not when things have gotten so interesting. Besides, I wouldn’t be able to get out of here without being noticed by at least one wolf. I’m good, but I’m not that good.”
“Feel free to raid my fridge then,” Wes replied.
“Oh, I will,” Dakota leaned back in her chair, glancing at the empty bottle in front of her.
As Wes turned to leave, Dakota found herself feeling disappointed that her conversation with the wolf had been cut short.
That’s ridiculous. There’s no point in getting to know Wes. With where my life is heading, friends are just a liability.
She did consider the option to make a run for it while the wolves weren’t looking, though. In the end, the fridge won out.
Eight
Wes
In Tate’s living room, the entire council had reconvened, with Sean, Caleb, Collins and Reeve all sitting in the chairs laid out, while Tate himself sat on the couch with Tessa by his side. Tessa didn’t usually attend council meetings, but given what they were discussing, Wes wasn’t surprised to see her there.
He was somewhat taken aback by the fact that he was there, though.
“So what’s going on?” Wes asked. “Were you able to confirm she is who she says she is?”
“We did some quick digging,” Tate replied. “And we did stumble upon a family reunion photo online. Dakota was there, right beside who Tessa identified as Mr. Thompson.”
Tessa nodded at his side, looking deep in thought.
“So assuming she really is who she says she is,” Reeve chimed in, rubbing his beard. “What does that mean? We still can’t be sure why her father was in possession of that amulet, and all that other stuff Tessa and Tate saw at his house when they broke in. Maybe it was to keep those things away from demons, maybe it wasn’t,” he shrugged, earning a nod from Collins.
The two elder council members were usually in agreement, and usually more cautious than Tate, Sean or Caleb, so their hesitance to trust Dakota on her word alone didn’t come as a surprise to Wes.
And the men were right – there was still too much they didn’t know about the Thompsons to really come to any conclusions. But Wes’ gut was still telling him Dakota was one of the good guys.
“You talked to her,” Caleb nodded in Wes’ direction, crossing his thick arms in front of him and frowning to himself. “What do you think? Any holes in her story, anything she let slip?”
“I felt she was being genuine,” Wes shrugged, feeling the weight of everyone’s eyes on him. “Her stories definitely fell in the category of too crazy not to be true,” he added. “She knows a lot about all this demon stuff, that’s for sure.”
He didn’t divulge that he also thought that she was positively fantastic, finding it a little too gushy for the somber gathering they were engaged in.
“Remember what Roman said?” Tessa looked from Tate to Caleb. “That there were these demon-hunting families who were responsible for keeping demons from crossing over to our realm?”
“And to think I thought he just had a couple of screws loose,” Caleb scoffed. “Look at us now, discussing demons like it’s no big deal.”
Wes had never met Roman himself, as Caleb’s uncle-in-law preferred to keep to himself, living deep in the woods an hour’s drive away from Pinedale. When Tessa and Tate had first returned to Pinedale with a demon on their trail, they had gone to see the old man off a hunch he might know something.
Turned out Roman had had his own run-in with the supernatural. But this was the first Wes had heard anyone mention demon-hunting families.
“Then Dakota’s story makes sense,” Wes commented. “She’s picking up where her father left off.”
“We don’t know that for certain,” Reeve reminded him. “Even if her father was part of this demon-chasing family, we don’t know if she wants to follow in those footsteps. These items she wants to get her hands on are probably very powerful. What if she decides to use them for her own gain?”
Wes didn’t have an answer for that. Really, what did he know about Dakota? That his wolf inexplicably liked her? That wasn’t the strongest argument. And with the high stakes of a possible demonic apocalypse, it was better to be safe than sorry.
“Sean, you’re being unusually quiet,” Tate remarked, looking over at the blond wolf sitting between Caleb and Reeve.
“You know I like to think the best of people,” Sean started, earning a smile from Tessa.
“We are aware,” Tate chuckled.
“But after what happened with Loch, I’m a lot more cautious than I used to be,” Sean continued. “I’m not saying we should interrogate the woman or anything, since there’s a good chance she really is trying to keep the world safe from these dangerous magical items,” Sean sighed, unusually somber. “But maybe we could… keep an eye on her, just in case?”
“What exactly are you saying?” Collins asked, leaning forward in his seat, his long hair falling down his back. “That we stalk her?”
“Well, if you put it like that, it just sounds downright creepy,” Sean replied, pursing his lips. “I was thinking more like… monitor. Just until we’re sure of her motivations.”
Wes fell silent as he observed the reactions in the room. Caleb was still frowning, but that was no surprise. His penchant for seeing the worst case scenarios of any given situation was what made him so useful on the council. It never hurt to plan for the shittiest outcome. Someone had to do it, even if all the wolves were a little more naturally inclined to doubt rather than trust to begin with.
Tessa seemed surprised Sean would be the one to come out with such a suggestion, while Reeve and Collins exchanged a glance Wes couldn’t really read. Tate was the first one to speak, his face serious and his tone even.
“As much as I would have liked to think Loch was a fluke as far as demons showing up in our realm goes, it’s becoming clearer that’s not the case. And now that we’re aware of the threat, we can’t just squeeze our eyes closed and pretend it doesn’t exist,” he said, capturing everyone’s attention.
“If it happens that Ms. Thompson does have some ulterior motives in getting back her father’s collection, the consequences could affect a lot of people. I don’t think we have any other choice but to make sure she is on the up and up,” he finished, earning nods from around the room.
Wes had to agree. Shifters usually kept to themselves, preferring to be among their own kind, but that didn’t mean they saw humans as lesser than them. There wer
e fanatics both among shifters and humans who spewed rhetoric about keeping the races apart and all that, but those nutjobs were in the minority.
As far as Wes was concerned, they were all, humans and shifters alike, a part of mankind, and needed to look out for one another. Especially now, when goddamn demons were running around. At least he had his wolf to give him strength. Humans didn’t have that advantage.
Add to that the fact he wanted to know more about Dakota and her whirlwind life, Wes had already opened his mouth before his brain had fully caught up to it.
“I’ll do it,” he blurted out. “I’ll go and keep an eye on Dakota. Discreetly,” he said, as everyone turned to stare at him.
Well. Maybe I could have made that sound a little less eager…
Nine
Dakota
Dakota watched as Wes made up the couch in his living room, smoothing out the sheet and throwing some pillows and a blanket on top. He had been a little more quiet after getting back from the council meeting, which worried Dakota some, even though he had assured her the wolves now believed she was who she said she was. She liked having him back though, which was all kinds of worrisome.
“You have to let me take the couch,” she said, and not for the first time.
“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re my guest,” he argued, turning his gaze from the couch to her.
“I thought I was a trespasser,” Dakota arched a brow at him, making him smile.
“And now you’re an ally,” he shrugged. “We’re all on team ‘demons suck’ around here, and since you’re part of that club…” he trailed off.
“I have to say, this is not exactly what I was expecting to find when I started tracking down an antique store owner,” Dakota admitted.
“What, you didn’t think you’d run into a pack of demon-killing wolves?” Wes laughed. “Trust me, we were as surprised as you are right now when Tate showed up, talking about spells and amulets and whatnot… Life can really knock you on your ass sometimes, can’t it?” he said, shaking his head.
