trying to discover what secrets this town and its people held, and not quitting her job and moving for real. There had to be some mysteries, and she would find them. After all, every town had secrets. It fell upon her to find out this town’s secrets and decide whether they were dangerous to the country.
She glanced at her hand in surprise as Danny reached across the table and squeezed it in sympathy, almost as if he could read her thoughts. Dreading the look in his eyes, Amber cautiously met his gaze. She’d seen a lot of pity in people’s eyes in the past year, and didn’t know if she could stand seeing it in a virtual stranger’s. How pathetic could she get?
But Danny’s eyes didn’t carry the dark knowledge of what had happened to her. The sympathy in his eyes wasn’t pitying, but warm.
Amber took a moment, letting it pierce through her barriers and comfort her. She filled up on the glow, basking in it for just a moment, before slamming the barriers close again. Cutting off the pleasure she’d received from his gaze, was harder than she’d thought it would be, causing her to worry her lip. What was happening to her?
Shaking off her concern, she took a sip of beer to hide her discomfort, letting the tart liquid sooth some of the tightness in her throat and chest.
“So it’s just you, then?” Danny asked.
Amber cleared her throat. “Just me.” Her first lie of the evening. She had a younger sister, one of the few bright spots in her life. But she refused to talk about her sister during a job. Someone had to protect her from the things that went bump in the night. Doing her job and hiding Tara’s existence from the bad guys was the best way Amber knew how.
Danny laced their fingers together. “Well, you moved to the right place. Alpine Woods is kind of like one giant extended family. Everyone helps each other out here.”
“Sounds too good to be true.”
He laughed. “I guess it would seem that way to an outsider. I’ll have to introduce you around. You’ll love my siblings.”
“How many siblings do you have?” Another question she knew the answer to, but she had to keep up appearances.
“Two brothers, two sisters, two sister-in-laws, and one almost brother-in-law.” The smile on his face when he talked about them brought a sharp pain to her chest. There was love. A lot of it. And Amber was jealous. She took a hasty sip of her beer, covering up the awkward moment. What would it be like to be surrounded by that much love? She hadn’t spoken to her sister more than a few sentences in the past year. Before that… Well, it had been best all-around to keep her existence a secret, even if that meant cutting her out.
Lucky for her, their food arrived at that moment, and while the waitress moved things around on the table to make room for the plates, Amber reestablished control of her emotions. Danny had an uncanny knack for piercing her protective shell.
* * * *
Danny stared at Amber’s eyes as she laughed when he teased her. Her rich amusement surrounded him and made him a little light-headed. Nothing like a woman who could laugh at herself. Her eyes sparkled, matching the smile on her lips. They had lost that sparkle when she’d talked about her parents, and he’d wanted nothing more than to erase whatever pain she’d been feeling. This woman called to him, as no other had before. In more ways than one.
His gaze dropped to her mouth. Before the night was over, he would taste those lips. And when he did, he’d watch her eyes until they clouded with pleasure.
But more than just attraction buzzed between them. He was surprised to find he actually liked her. That morning, he’d been dreading trying to get close to her, but in one day his outlook had changed. What could be bad about spending time with a beautiful woman?
A hand slammed down on his shoulder with enough force to cause him to cringe.
“Hey Danny boy,” his sister, Laurie, said behind him. Damn it. He should have been watching the door. But he hadn’t expected anyone to be out on a Thursday night.
“Laurie, what are you doing here?” He turned and found all his brothers and sisters behind her. Shit. What the hell were they doing here?
But Laurie wasn’t looking at him. She was glaring across the table, at Amber. Danny glanced between them, noting the confusion in Amber’s eyes as she caught the hostile look on his sister’s face.
“Uh, hi guys. This is Amber, she just moved into the cabin off of Route 70,” Danny explained, hoping they’d realize he was at work and leave him to it.
“So that’s why I hadn’t seen you here before. Danny, a word.” Her hand tightened painfully on his shoulder before she spun around and exited.
Danny coughed to cover his embarrassment at his sister’s rudeness. A word, indeed. He had a few of his own for her. Laurie could be brash, but had never been outright rude before.
“Amber, I’ll be right back.” He turned around and grabbed Ethan’s arm as he passed. “Be nice,” he murmured to him. Ethan never failed to put women at ease.
Last year, Danny never would have trusted Ethan alone with an attractive woman, afraid the woman would have lost her heart to his charming brother. But since Ethan was completely devoted to his mate, Gwen, Danny had nothing to fear.
He waited until the door had firmly closed behind him before turning to his sister angrily, but the emotion died when he saw the fury radiating off her, putting his own to shame. Wolf eyes stared out at him, letting him know just how close Laurie was to losing control. He couldn’t allow himself to get into a fight with her, because his wolf would rise to the challenge. And nothing was important enough to risk hurting her…or anyone else.
“Why did you bring her here?”
Confused, Danny shook his head. “We’re on a date. I thought the whole point was to get close to her.”
“Yeah, so you can lead her away from us. Not bring her into the heart of our territory.” Laurie closed her eyes and took a deep breath, struggling for control. When she opened them again, the human was back in charge, and Danny almost breathed a sigh of relief. For a moment, he’d been afraid things were about to get ugly. “I don’t think you understand the seriousness of the situation. The shifter council charged us with making sure she doesn’t get too close. What do you think they’re going to do if we fail?”
Danny frowned. He’d never thought about it like that before. He knew this was a serious task and that the council didn’t joke around. There was a reason shifters everywhere feared them and revered them in equal parts. But the worst he’d envisioned happening was the world learning about the existence of shifters. It wouldn’t be a perfect situation, but shifters could take care of themselves.
He hadn’t considered the council’s part in all this. He’d seen some of the devastation they’d wreaked on shifters who stepped over the line and almost revealed themselves to the untrustworthy humans. Sure, those who lived around shifters tended to know their secrets–pretty much everyone in Alpine Woods knew, humans included–but only once they’d proven they could keep secrets. And Danny wasn’t quite clear on how much the council knew about the town’s general knowledge.
Everyone was counting on him. In more ways than he knew. He rubbed a hand over his face. Things had just gotten a whole lot more complicated.
“Next time, take her somewhere else. And not fox territory, either.”
“I’m not stupid.”
She just stared at him.
“I’ll admit taking her here was a mistake, but I’m smart enough to make the connections between not bringing her here and not dragging Cody and Misty in the middle of this.”
“They’re already in the middle of this, but I’m glad you’ve made the connection. There are lots of places in human territory you can wine and dine her.”
Resentment welled in Danny’s chest, but for what? Maybe because this task had somehow become his