To Right a Wrong (13 page)

Mrs. Danielson nodded and headed off to question the adults. She jogged over to the cars parked along the street.

Please let this be the answer.
“Excuse me.” Dani smiled at a young woman bouncing a toddler on her hip. “I was wondering if you’ve seen a small boy, two years old. He might have dark hair and look a little like me.” The woman shook her head, frowning. “I’m sorry. I’m pretty new to this town. We’ve only lived here about five months.”

Dani sighed and stepped back. “That’s okay.

Welcome to Drover.”

“Wait! Are you missing a child?”

“My brother.” Dani gazed at the next car pulling away from the curb. “I don’t mean to run off, but I must talk to the other people here before they leave.”

The woman nodded. “Well, good luck.” Dani ran down the street. Every person she asked said the same thing: they hadn’t seen a lost little boy. She stepped off the curb, sat down, drew her knees up and cradled her head in her hands. She’d been so sure she was going to get a lead today.
Dammit.

“No luck?” Mrs. Danielson squatted beside her. She shook her head. “No. It’s like he vanished. I just don’t get it. Drover’s a small town. Someone had to see him.”

“Come on.” Mrs. Danielson stuck out her hand. “I’ll drive you back to the house. Maybe Ethan’s found something out that will help you.” The ride back took five minutes, with Dani staring blankly at the houses as they went by.

She’d sworn never to give up hope, but last night she’d snuck Ethan’s pack book out of his duffle bag and found out more about what the werewolves had done years ago. She clenched her teeth together. In all likelihood, she’d lost her brother, just as she’d lost her parents.

Mrs. Danielson pulled into the driveway.

“Good. Ethan’s home. I’m not going in, but I’ll call you in the morning. Get some rest, you’re exhausted.” She gave Dani a little hug.

“I will.” Dani opened the car door. “Thanks, Mrs. Danielson.”

Shoving her hands into the back pockets of her jeans, Dani walked to the house until a loud clatter from inside had her running through the door. “Ethan?”

“Here.”

She kicked off her shoes and trotted down the hall. “Where are you?”

Ethan left her parents’ room, rubbing the side of his head.

She frowned. “What are you doing in there?”

“Cleaning the room out.” He turned and went back inside.

“What? Where’s all of my parents’ stuff?” She stood in the doorway and put her hand on her chest. Heaviness constricted her lungs. “Why?

Why would you do such a thing?”

“It’s time.” He swung the hammer, popping the bed frame apart. “We’ll move our things into this room and…”

The rest of his words faded away. She backed up, shaking her head. This wasn’t right.

She couldn’t change Jordan’s home. It was important to keep everything the same. It was too soon.

She spun around and stomped to the living room, where she glanced at the picture of her parents on her dad’s birthday. His cheeks were puffed up in mid-blow while her mom held a cake up in front of him with candles covering the top. Stripping her memories of her parents away…was wrong.

“Dani?”

Ignoring him, she ripped off her clothes and left them lying on the floor. She opened the screen door and shifted. She wanted to run, to escape all her troubles. She poured all her anguish, frustrations, and heartbreak into dashing toward the woods.

“Dani, come back. Let’s talk about this.”
She blocked him out of her mind and gave her wolf free reign. Jumping over a fallen log, she headed in no specific direction. The urge to flee set her course. If she could continue running, she could ignore the pain.

Ethan had returned to Drover. After he’d won the alpha position, the pack was more than happy to welcome him back. Almost every night they sought him out for one problem or another.

Even Brad, Shelley’s life mate, had shared a beer with him in the backyard a few days ago.

Dani sprinted toward the river. The burn and pain from overstretching her muscles was medicine for her soul. She wanted to hurt, to cry, to wallow in her grief. If she no longer suffered, it meant that her mourning for her parents was over. That she’d given up on Jordan
.

I’ve failed.

She came to a skidding stop.
No.
She stalked the bank of the river. Had her excitement over finding Ethan and falling in love with him pushed her need to get Jordy to the back of her mind? She sat on her haunches and whined.
Oh,
God, am I giving up too? Does Ethan expect me to
forget about my brother and start making our
own family?

She’d failed and had no idea where to turn to find Jordan. Ethan had exhausted all searches, and still there wasn’t a clue to explore or a straw to grasp in hope. Her body ached. No one could ever make her stop searching, hunting, praying that Jordan would come back home. She pointed her snout up in the air, arched her neck and howled.
I’ll never give up. Never.

* * *

Ethan lay a couple hundred yards from the river bank, his front paws crossed and his head lying on his legs. He hadn’t understood why Dani had run away and refused to answer him, but her cry of loneliness about undid him. A primal need to kill whatever had upset her and to protect his life mate came over him.

But…

Someone else hadn’t hurt her.

He had.

He lifted his head. He’d thought it would give her something to look forward to if she could work on a new play room for Jordan.

I’m such an idiot.

Three times her age, and somehow, he’d missed the point of the relationship lessons his grandfather taught him many years ago.

If a woman walks away in anger, she’s really
telling you to bring her back. If a woman stops
talking to you, it’s because she wants you to do
the talking. Whatever you do, you do it all for
your mate. You make her a home, and she’ll
worship you till the end of time.

Panting, Ethan stood and walked toward Dani. Upset and lost in her own thoughts, she didn’t seem to hear him approach. He wanted to howl because he’d made her cry. He stopped beside her and sat down. He had a hunch if he’d come up on her in his human form, she would have run off.

“Little one?”
He lay on the ground.
“I’m
sorry.”

Dani turned her gorgeous dark head toward him. Her typically dark eyes were lighter than usual, and rust-colored tear stains marred their inside corners. He closed his mouth. His ears flattened.

“It was callous of me to clean out your
parents’ room without asking your permission
first. It’s okay if you want to keep it the same. I
can put everything back the way it was.”
The silence radiating from Dani wounded him, but at least she wasn’t running away. That encouraged him, so he crawled closer. He should have remembered his grandfather’s advice back at the house and spared her this pain. Dani did seem to want him to talk, and dammit, he’d speak all day if it kept her beside him.

“This morning while you were out searching, I
sent four of the wolves over to Heisson County to
the east.”
He stepped closer, brushing her fur with his side.
“I thought it would be best if we
expand our search to include the surrounding
areas. I trust these men to do a thorough job.”
Her ears perked up. The fur along her neck lifted in a wave. His heartbeat accelerated. He had to keep her attention.

“With that bit of business done, I rushed
home because I wanted to surprise you.”
He lowered his head and licked his leg.
“I thought I’d
turn your bedroom, our bedroom, into a play
room. Toddlers need an area where they can
play, jump, and put their imagination to the test
without worry about breaking the grownups’

things. I figured we could purchase a few toys
now, and that way when Jordan came home,
he’d have everything he needs.”
She whined. He leaned over and rested his head on the back of her neck forcing her to lower herself.
“Don’t cry, little one. This is all new
to me too. I made a mistake. I’ll learn—”

“No.”
She rolled over on her back and licked the side of his face.
“Y-you did everything right.

It’s me. I-I’m so scared. You make me happier
than I’ve ever been, but a part of me feels like I’m
failing. It all seems so useless. Nothing we’ve
done has helped us find him. How much longer
can we go wishing that Jordan is still alive? What
if—”

“What?”
He rolled on top of her and pinned her to the ground.
“You’ve done more than
anyone, even me. You were a trooper during our
training before coming to Drover, you helped me
win the alpha position back, and you search
every day for your brother.”
He nipped at her neck and growled.
“I don’t ever want to hear you
say you’ve failed. You are the strongest person I
know. Jordan is out there. You know it. Don’t give
up now.”

Chapter Seventeen

“Where are we going?” Dani peered in the mirror behind the visor and finger-combed her hair. She pinched her cheeks to bring some color into her face. “Don’t you want to go home and rest? You were gone all day on top of taking me out to dinner.”

“Nope.” He glanced over at her, winked and turned his attention back to the road. “You deserve a night out. We’re both going to regroup, gather our energy, and reconnect for awhile.” She popped the visor up and laughed. “Oh, I get it.”

Ethan glanced back and forth from her to the road. “Get what?”

Despite his attempt to appear innocent, the laugh lines at the corner of his eyes deepened and the corner of his mouth twitched. Her heart warmed. First he’d surprised her by taking her out on a dinner date, now he was trying to woo her. He turned off the street onto a gravel road.

She turned to study the area. The whole county was familiar territory, but she couldn’t remember if she’d ever gone down this particular path before.

He rolled down his window halfway. “I received some interesting news today.” Dani sat up straighter and held her breath.

“Jordy?”

“I’m sorry, but no.” Ethan reached across the seat, squeezed her leg, and shook his head.

“Years ago I knew an old woman. At least she seemed ancient to me. Edith Hachette was a dear friend of my mother, so she probably wasn’t up there in age like I’m remembering. When I was banned from Drover after being framed by Greggoire, I mean Loren, I asked Edith to keep a few boxes of things for me. Little things, but they held a lot of memories…good ones.” He stopped in front of a light green house, put the car into park, and shut off the engine.

Dani followed him out of the car. “What does that have to do with us coming here?”

“Bill down at the Dryer Realty told me that Edith was still alive and kicking this afternoon when I stopped by his office on my rounds. This woman is almost my last link with my childhood. My relatives are gone, the childhood friends I grew up with have taken their life mates and joined other packs. There are only about a dozen werewolves left in Drover that are old enough to remember me, and how I was back then.”

“You’re still the same Ethan.”

“Yeah, but most of the pack knows me through stories, and how you like to say, legends.” He stepped up to the door, knocked, and exhaled. “I hope she remembers me.” The door swung open slowly. A petite, aged woman with a cane squinted at them. “Hello?” Ethan grinned and his cheeks flushed. “Well, if it isn’t the most beautiful woman in the world.”

Edith frowned, then clumsily dug through her apron pocket to find a pair of glasses. She perched the spectacles on the end of her nose, leaned back, and peered up at Ethan. “Oh, Lord’s sake, child. I thought you were dead.” Her voice trembled as she reached out.

The loud surprised laughter coming from Ethan shocked Dani, though not in a bad way.

Neither one of them had much to joke around about since meeting. Smiling, she rubbed Ethan’s arm.
Yes, I definitely want to have Ethan
laugh more.

Edith regaled them with stories from the past for almost two hours. If it wasn’t for the older woman’s eyes growing tired, Dani could have listened all day. She’d suspected Ethan was a mischievous child and hearing the truth first-hand filled her with happiness.

“We better get going, but if you don’t mind, I’d love to bring Dani back with me and visit you again.” Ethan stood up.

Edith waved a hand, as if shooing away the question. “You know better than to ask. You both are welcome here any time.” She struggled to rise out of her chair, gave up, and scoffed.

“Getting old is a bitch.”

Ethan bent down and kissed her cheek.

“Stay right there. We’ll see ourselves out.” She waggled her finger at him. “Don’t forget your stuff.”

He cocked his head to the side. “Excuse me?”

“Your boxes, boy.” She cackled. “And they say
my
memory is going.”

“You’ve kept them all these years?” Ethan smooched her cheek again. “Thank you. I never expected you to hold them this long. I don’t—”

“Nonsense.” She patted his cheek. “Your things are out in the garage on the shelf. You’ll see them.”

Ethan gathered Dani to his side and led her toward the door. He paused. “Hey, Edith? Do you mind if I drive Dani to the back of your property?”

The tender smile that came over Edith’s face hinted at a pleasant memory. “Of course you can,” she softly answered.

After Ethan had put the boxes in the car and Dani wiggled into the tiny space left for her, she stifled a yawn. Dusk was falling, and she’d had a long day. She figured Ethan was exhausted.

“Hang on. It could be a bumpy ride.” He pulled the car around the house and set off through the woods. “Doesn’t look like anyone has come back here for awhile.”

“What’s back here? It looks like part of the forest on the other side of town near our house.”