Dancer's Heart (9 page)

Kammie looked up at Row with a big smile.
“Did you know about this?”

“No, but I’m glad. I hate packing.”

“Me too,” Kammie said.

“Me three,” their mom said.

Kammie moved to Dani and hugged her. “You’re
the best sister I could have ever hoped for.”

“I always wanted a sister,” Dani said.

Kammie stepped away as Dani introduced their
mom to Adam. Kammie and Row headed into the kitchen while Dani
said, “This is Adam Cruz. Adam, this is my mom, Alice Grayson.”

Her mom smiled at Adam and hugged him.
“Welcome to the family.”

Adam felt a little overwhelmed by her
immediate acceptance. “Thank you,” he said, emotion rising within
him. His own mother had died when he was ten. He remembered a lot
of things about her, but he especially remembered her warm hugs.
Dani’s mom hugged like his mom.

Dani squeezed his shoulder. Tears pooled in
her beautiful blue eyes, and he let go of her mom with one arm and
wrapped it around Dani, drawing her into a three-way embrace.

Both women sniffled, and Adam kissed his mate
on her forehead and said to Alice, “Thank you for trusting me with
your daughter.”

Alice stepped away from him, but kept hold of
one of Dani’s hands. “I’m so glad that you found each other. This
kind of truemating doesn’t happen very often. Hold tight to each
other.”

Dani brushed a tear from her cheek and leaned
against Adam as her mother turned to the stack of DVDs and began
loading them into the box.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go to
Oakville to live?” he whispered in her ear. He wanted her complete
happiness. He didn’t think there was anything he wouldn’t do to see
her smile.

“Are you ever going to stop asking me? My
home is here in Wilde Creek with you.”

“I just want you to be sure.”

“I’m sure.” She looked up at him, her eyes
glittering with unshed tears.

“You can visit in the spring,” her mom said.
“And hopefully you’ll have some news about a grandbaby for me.”

Dani blushed and smiled. “I like that
idea.”

Adam growled softly. “Me too.”

Kammie and Row came out of the kitchen, and
Kammie said, “We’re going to stop at the alphas’ house on the way
to dinner so I can leave the pack officially.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Alice said. “Let’s get
to work.”

“I didn’t do your bathroom,” Dani told
her.

Kammie nodded. “Let’s start there.” She
tugged Row with her down the hallway. When they were out of sight,
Dani whispered, “The alphas are having a going-away party for
Kammie tonight. When they stop by in order for Kammie to leave the
pack, we need to go into the house with them.”

“How nice,” her mom whispered back. “I’ll
just tell them that I want to meet the alphas because of you.”

“You’ll like them. Brynn is very
down-to-earth and Acksel’s not too bad, either. We’d like you to
stay with us tonight, Mom.”

She hummed. “So I can make you my famous
chocolate chip waffles tomorrow morning?”

“That’s what I’m hoping for,” Dani said.

Her mom kissed her cheek and smiled fondly.
“Whatever my baby girl wants.”

Dani cast her blue eyes to Adam and
winked.

They spent the rest of the day packing. By
the time they were ready to leave for dinner, everything was in
boxes, except the sheets on the bed, two coffee cups, and the
coffee maker.

“You can take whatever’s left in the fridge
and pantry,” Kammie said as she buckled up in Row’s SUV. Dani was
sitting between Adam and her mom, and he put his arm around his
mate and squeezed lightly.

“Thanks, Kam,” Adam said.

Row parked in front of the alphas’ house,
which was dark. “I’ll leave the SUV on so you guys don’t freeze out
here.”

“I’d like to meet the alphas,” Dani’s mom
said.

Row turned in his seat. “Why?”

“I’ve never met alphas before. Plus, I’d like
to meet the people who run the pack that Dani’s a part of now.”

“I’m not really in the pack,” Dani pointed
out, “since I’m not a wolf.”

“But you’re going to be working with Adam as
a steward, and…oh really, do I have to explain myself? I’m your
mother and I said I’m going,” she said, her voice huffing at the
end.

Kammie chuckled. “It’s fine with me. Brynn’s
really sweet.”

“I’m sure she is,” Alice said.

Row helped Kammie and his mom out of the SUV.
Adam made sure that Dani didn’t slip getting out, and kept a firm
grip on her elbow as they walked up the sidewalk. Kammie rang the
bell. After a long moment, Acksel opened the front door and said,
“Come on in,” then disappeared into the darkness.

As soon as Kammie crossed the threshold, an
overhead light clicked on and a cheer rose up from the crowd that
had gathered to say goodbye to her.

“So that’s why you didn’t need to explain
yourself?” Row asked his mom.

She winked. “Sue me for liking
surprises.”

Brynn and Acksel stood in the center of the
front room, with a group of other wolves gathered around them.
Brynn said, “We’re sorry to see you go, Kammie, and we wanted you
to know that you’ll be missed greatly.”

Brynn and Kammie hugged, and Brynn pulled
Kammie away from Row and into the crowd of pack members.

When Brynn had contacted Adam and Dani about
the going-away party, she had told him that some of the protectors
were going to be cooking and serving at the party. Her reasoning
was that they should understand a little of what the omegas went
through to put on a party and take care of others. Adam wasn’t sure
that spending a couple hours making a cake or cutting up carrots
for a veggie tray would make a difference to the males, but he was
all for anything that helped even out the workload a little.

Adam took a moment to introduce Dani’s mom to
Brynn and Acksel as the crowd mingled. When Jeremiah and Honey
appeared a little while later, he and Adam chatted while Honey and
Dani talked like the best friends they were becoming.

“Without Dani, I wouldn’t have become a
steward,” he said to Jeremiah.

“I was actually planning to ask Acksel if you
could join us anyway. I wasn’t sure you’d like the idea, but I
thought you would be a good fit. Turned out I was right on both
counts.”

“I like working with the retirees, and I
especially like working with Dani. She’s so happy here.”

“Honey’s thrilled to have her, too. We’d like
you guys to come over for dinner on Friday night, if you’re
available.”

“Sure.”

As Jeremiah talked about needing Adam’s help
setting up a new sound system for their flat-screen television, an
idea on how to ask Dani to marry him popped into his mind. “If I
never told you before, thank you for being such a good friend to
me.”

“You’ve been a good friend to me, too. I was
worried about you for a while. I think you’ve found what you were
looking for, though.”

“Right here in Wilde Creek.”

* * * * *

The following morning, Adam woke early and
found Dani’s mom in the kitchen, adding chocolate chips to waffle
batter. “Is she still asleep?”

“No, she’s in the shower. I wanted to ask you
something.” Adam’s palms were sweaty, and his heart was
pounding.

She put down the bag of chocolate chips and
turned to face him. “Okay, I’m listening.”

“Dani means the world to me. I was
floundering and she saved me. I’d like your permission to ask her
to marry me.”

“Of course!” She hugged him and said, “I’m so
happy for you two. Even though she never said as much to me, I know
that Dani’s been wanting a home of her own for a long time. Being
left alone like she was – that’s not something a person can just
get over.”

“She’s lucky she found your sleuth.”

“I’m lucky to have found her. I never wanted
to take another mate, and Row wanted a brother or sister to play
with. When Dani came into Oakville, I knew that our family would be
complete with her in it.”

“She’s my only family now.”

“I hope you’ll come to think of me as family,
too.”

“I already do.”

She smiled brightly. “Now I have two sons and
two daughters. I can’t wait to have some grandbabies.” She winked
and turned back to the batter. Adam couldn’t wait to have children
with Dani, either, but first he needed to ask her to marry him. He
wanted them to belong to each other in every way possible. On the
full moon, Acksel would join them in front of the pack, and she’d
be accepted as his mate, but he also wanted that legal piece of
paper that said she was his and he was hers.

Because that was the truth.

Chapter 8

The following afternoon, Dani stood in the
backyard and looked at the privacy fence. It was eight feet tall
and made of reinforced metal which, from a distance, looked like
real wood.

“What do you think?” Adam asked.

“It’s good.”

He joined her, taking her hand and giving it
a squeeze. “You don’t feel safer with it?”

She glanced at him and back at the fence.
“You had a pretty view of the woods. It’s blocked now.”

“If you want to see the woods, you can go out
on the front porch.”

“True.” She turned to him, leaning against
his broad chest and sighing. “Thank you for messing up the view for
me.”

He chuckled, the sound rumbling in his chest.
“As your mate, I’m supposed to make sure that you’re safe at all
times.”

“I feel very safe with you.”

“I’m glad, sweetheart.”

They stood embracing in the center of the
backyard for several minutes. She’d never had a man care for her
the way that Adam did. Yes, her brother loved her and wanted her
safe, but Adam’s concern went beyond anything she’d ever
experienced. He craved her happiness, as if he couldn’t even begin
to think about himself until she was content. Just that morning,
he’d cooked breakfast for them both and then, even though she’d
told him not to bother, he’d started their laundry while she was
taking a shower. And in addition to all those sweet gestures she
could see and feel deep in her own heart how much he cared.

She loved the way his eyes darkened when he
was turned on; the way the corner of his mouth quirked up when he
thought she was being silly.

She rose up on her tiptoes and brushed her
lips against his. “I love you.”

She’d been feeling those words for a while,
and her heart began to beat rapidly as they tumbled from her lips.
Adam nipped her lip and lifted her in the air until she could wrap
her legs around his waist. “I love you, too, Dani.”

She slipped her fingers through his short
hair, tugging on the strands as she lowered her lips to his. She
felt like everything was complete between them now. He’d marked her
as his mate and now they’d shared their true feelings. Nothing
could top how good she felt.

“Take me to bed,” she whispered against his
lips.

He growled and turned toward the house. He
stopped kissing her long enough to navigate the steps into the
house, and carried her straight into the bedroom.

* * * * *

Dani dressed for dinner at Honey and
Jeremiah’s home. She was reluctant to do anything but crawl back
into bed with Adam, but she kept reminding herself that they needed
to sometimes leave the bedroom, although at the moment she couldn’t
think why.

“What are you thinking about so seriously?”
Adam asked as he buttoned his dress shirt.

“Sex.”

He went very still and stared at her.
“What?”

She laughed. “I’m trying to convince myself
that it’s a good idea for us to leave the house sometimes and
socialize, when what I’d really rather do is climb back into bed
and climb on top of you.”

He growled. “I can call Jer and tell him
we’ll be late.”

She shook her head and pushed the dresser
drawer shut after taking out a pair of dress socks. “Oh please. If
we go back to bed, we won’t get out of it until tomorrow.”

“At the earliest.”

“Tease.”

“Truth.”

“We should go out,” she said, giving him a
stern look.

He knew he could turn her on in two seconds
with a few well-placed kisses and some of that sexy growling she
loved. “Fine, fine. Dangle your beautiful self in front of me, talk
about sex, and then say no.”

“I’m not saying no, I’m saying later.”

He arched a brow at her and smiled. “Whatever
my sweetheart wants.”

She finished dressing and met Adam at the
front door. He helped her on with her coat before they stepped
outside. The bracing chill in the air took her breath away, and she
pulled her coat tighter around her. It was colder in Wilde Creek
than it was in Oakville. Her winter clothing wasn’t as warm as she
needed it to be.

“Remind me to get a better coat for next
winter,” she said.

“You can wear mine,” he offered as he opened
the door of his truck.

“Then you’ll be cold.”

“I don’t mind.”

“I know you don’t. That’s why I love you so
much.”

A man appeared suddenly behind Adam, and she
screamed in surprise. Her boots slipped on a patch of ice, and she
banged her elbow on the open door as Adam caught her before she hit
the ground. Her mate set her in the passenger seat and turned with
a warning growl to face the man behind them.

“What are you doing here?” Adam demanded.

The man looked familiar, but Dani couldn’t
recall where she’d seen him before. He had dark hair and a few
days’ worth of stubble on his cheeks. He reeked of whiskey and body
odor, making her nose wrinkle in disgust.

The man leaned to the side and smiled at
Dani. Suddenly she realized who he was – Adam’s dad!

“Hello, pretty girl. I’m Richard, Adam’s
dad.”

Adam snarled loudly and shoved Richard away.
“Don’t talk to her. Get the fuck off my property.”