Chapter Eleven

"What are you sniffing at, Alpha?" Donna had asked sharply through the phone. "It sounds like that nose is going to get you in trouble."

Daniel wasn't aware he had his nose in the air, like a dog, or wolf, that came across something interesting, until Donna mentioned it. The wily bastard had locked on to a scent that was sweet and lightly citric.

What the hell? He frowned as he traced it back to the woman with the sunglasses. He could feel his wolf's contented purr as the smell became stronger when she lifted her face up to the sun and shook her hair, letting the dark, loose waves fall behind her. His wolf was drunk on her pleasant fragrance, rolling around as it wrapped around them. Daniel leaned into his notepad on the table, exasperated at its antics.

The woman looked radiant basking in the sun with her head tilted slightly back. He enjoyed the way a smile hinted at the corners of her mouth and wondered briefly what her lips tasted like as his eyes traced their curves. He admitted his wolf wasn't the only one that wanted to bury their face into her soft neck and run his hands through her thick hair. He wanted to feel her cheeks flush against his palms and more than anything, he wanted to erase the suffering etched in and around her eyes.

Donna was right. His nose was getting him in trouble. Her scent was the only thing he could focus on now and he took his time dissecting it, peeling back the layers until he identified the warm glow of the tiniest thread of delight and a thicker one of longing. He wondered what she was wishing for.

"Do I need to send Lucas or Thomas to come get you?" Donna teased on the other end of the call. "I'm guessing by your unusual inattentiveness, your trouble is of the female variety."

"I'm just distracted, that's all," Daniel tried to play it down, but he swore the old woman was a mind reader.

"Have you spoken to her yet?"

"No, and I'm not going to, either," he declared. "There are circumstances that make it less than ideal and it's not a good time with the acquisition."

His wolf balked at his assertion.

They watched as she pulled herself out of the moment of stolen peace and contentment and caught her emotions beginning to suddenly flicker through agitation and anger, anguish and anxiety. His wolf was immediately on alert and he scanned the area to identify what could have caused the sudden change but couldn't find anything.

Her active distress with no obvious threat was too much for his wolf. It was past snarky comments and he could feel its torment between the savage need to eliminate her enemies and the desire to curl itself around her, pressing its warm fur into her, letting her know she wasn't alone.

Alone, the wolf howled sadly inside of him. Let her know she's not alone. It hurts.

That was the flavor to her aroma he hadn't been able to identify and he felt the echo of that prodigious ache in his wolf. It was bleak and desolate and something he'd never felt coming from it before.

There was no sense of solitude in the pack, the very definition was a contradiction. Even when by themselves, the presence of the others would still be felt. It was why lone wolves were so rare, because the solitary feeling often drove their wolf mad.

The bleakness of it was like a punch in the gut.

Unable to help himself, or maybe his wolf, pushed his power towards her, his dominating aura meant to calm and soothe. Humans could feel it, though they didn't know exactly what it was. She glanced at him briefly, unaware he was observing her, and he watched as his power enveloped her and the tension left her shoulders.

Her bit of ease helped calm his wolf as well.

Look, we can still help without doing something rash, Daniel pointed out.

She is still sad, his wolf contended.

We can't help with that right now, Daniel stated. You know I don't like it, either. Reminding it that they were on the same side allowed his wolf to retreat. It was an ugly thing when a man and his inner beast were at war with each other.

Once the woman was composed, she left and he watched her posture tighten again when she walked away from the restaurant and away from him. He noticed her hesitation on deciding which way to go and then quickly chose down to the next traffic light.

She crossed and came back up the street on the other side and stopped at a small shop almost directly across from him. He witnessed her defeated moment of not walking into the shop and as the poise she carried sloughed off of her.

Daniel didn't need the wolf's urge to follow her. He stayed on this side of the street, opposite of her. She gripped the strap of her purse and held her head just high enough to see where she was going. Her side of the street was covered in shadow, enhancing the cold and empty feeling his wolf sensed in her.

She crossed back over to his side of the street and walked straight for a small parking deck. Daniel could hear her footsteps so stayed outside and the beep as she unlocked her car carried outside to where he was standing. He could feel his wolf pacing in circles as he listened closely, making sure he heard her car door close and vehicle start up. It agitated him to have her out of his sight, but a BMW left shortly after and he caught her profile through the window.

He turned back the way he came. His server from Abbaticchio waved as Daniel walked by the patio area and Daniel raised his hand in acknowledgement, then made his way to the hotel, lost in thought about what Donna had said just before he ended their call.

"Be careful, Daniel," she had advised. "But keep in mind that sometimes, the most complicated situations often reveal the greatest treasures."