The Vow: Dangerous Suggestions Book 1 (9 page)

I sighed, and looked back up at the
sky. “This is why I am better off on my own.”

He took my hand in his. I was a little
startled by his gesture. I looked at him. His hand was a lot bigger
than mine, and it was warm. His blue eyes sparkled with playfulness
and amusement. “You don’t have to like me for me to like you, and
just because I like you, that does not mean you have to
reciprocate. Attraction and rejection is a natural part of
life.”

“
You like me?” I asked, a
little breathlessly. I felt my pulse quicken, and my cheeks flush.
I didn’t understand what this new feeling was. I wasn’t sure if I
liked this feeling or not. It was the first time I’d ever had this
reaction to a man. Then again, I’d never really had any real
interactions with men until Mason and Dawson. Mason I never took
seriously, because I knew how he was. Dawson was a little
different. I wasn’t sure what to make of Dawson yet.

He smiled slightly, as if he knew the
effect he had on me. “I do like you. I think you are a good person.
I also think you are beautiful and intelligent.” The tone of his
voice made it even more difficult for me to focus. The way he
changed the tone of his voice seemed to be specifically for his
interactions with females. I’d never noticed this in men, until
now.

I watched him, trying to figure out
what to say. I felt like my tongue was tied. I felt like a complete
imbecile. “Thank you,” I said, in barely a whisper.

His smile widened, but before he could
speak someone called out to him. He immediately released my hand as
a man stepped out of the trees. It was obvious he didn’t want
anyone seeing the way he was interacting with me. I wasn’t sure if
it was because we didn’t know each other, or possibly because he
was still involved with Lena.

Dawson muttered something as the man
continued to approach. I was still trying to recover from his
words, so I didn’t catch what he said. I didn’t understand why what
he’d said had such an effect on me.

“
What do you want, Garth?”
Dawson asked as he watched the man approach. He was keeping his
tone as neutral as possible, but I could tell he didn’t really like
the man.

“
I want to talk to you in
private about Lena,” the man said, apparently upset. He made a
point to look at me when he spoke, like I was intruding in some
way.

I suddenly had the feeling this guy
was Lena’s father. He had the same blond hair, but he looked older
than her; too old to be a brother. It would also explain why he was
looking at me as if I were a problem.

Dawson sighed. “I do not want to
discuss her. We are over; there is nothing else to say,” Dawson
said firmly. He sounded like he was tired of going around and
around about the subject.

Romance seemed to be like that. There
was no such thing as just cutting ties and walking away. There
seemed to always be complications that kept pulling the individuals
back into the tangled web they created. I didn’t spend too much
time thinking about it. I was more interested in what the man had
to say, even if Dawson was not.

“
Lena is a good girl, who
made a terrible mistake. She realizes that now, and she wants you
back. She will dedicate herself to you, Dawson; I know she will. I
have never seen my little girl this hurt,” Garth said, obviously
trying to plead with Dawson.

“
Garth…” Dawson started,
but Garth cut him off.

“
Please, just think about
it a little longer. I know she will do you better from now on.
Please don’t let any distractions get in the way of what you and my
little girl had,” Garth said, making it a point to look at me
again. I was obviously the distraction he was speaking of. He was
actually making it a point to implicate me as someone that was a
threat to Lena’s chances with Dawson.

“
Lena made her choice when
she went with Mason. I honestly don’t know what I want anymore. I
don’t know if Lena and I have anything left. I asked for time, and
she needs to give it to me,” Dawson said firmly. He wasn’t going to
back down. Lena must have thought her father would be able to get
through to Dawson when she couldn’t.

Garth looked like he wanted to argue,
but he didn’t. He ran his fingers through his hair. “I suppose that
makes sense,” he said, giving in. There wasn’t much he could argue
in favor of his daughter. She was the one who made the mistake.
“Please, just really think about it before you make any final
decisions,” Garth pleaded, looking back at Dawson.

“
I will,” Dawson said
softly, as if he was trying to reassure him. I was a little
surprised by how nice Dawson was being. I wasn’t sure what I would
do if I were in his situation, but I did know how humans reacted,
and it wasn’t like Dawson. Dawson was being calmer and more
objective than any human ever could be. Mason claimed Dawson was a
good leader. Maybe this ability to see things objectively and keep
emotions out of it is what made him so good.

Garth glanced at me one last time;
then he turned and walked back the way he came. I could tell by his
posture that he was defeated. He was hoping to accomplish something
by speaking to Dawson, and whatever it was, he didn’t accomplish
it.

“
He just wants the honor
of marrying his daughter to the pack leader. He could care less
about the relationship,” Dawson said darkly after a few minutes. He
actually sounded more annoyed now that Garth was gone.

I looked at him, trying to decide what
to say. Situations like this were hard for me. It was almost like
he was looking for support or advice, and I had no clue how to give
him that. Mason was easy to deal with because he was easy to brush
off. Mason was so forward and superficial that I could easily
interact with him. Dawson was harder to deal with because he
actually used his brain.

“
Why is marrying the pack
leader a big deal?” I asked, deciding to ask him more about the
packs. It was the reason I was here. I wanted to know more about
him and his pack. This would be a perfect opportunity for me to
learn about werewolves.

He nodded. “I guess you could say it
is like marrying a prince or king in the old days. Packs work like
a monarchy. If you are married to the pack leader, then you are the
head female, and the families are also given a higher rank in the
pack.”

“
Huh; sounds interesting.
It seems like a lot of responsibility,” I said, shifting to lean
against the railing. In fact, I was sure he had a lot of women with
motivations other than love. If they wanted power, then he would be
the man to marry, and I was sure many of them would do anything to
do that.

He looked at me for a minute. “I guess
it is. You don’t have family or anything?” he asked, sounding a
little confused.

I shook my head and looked away. I
wasn’t sure if I liked how he suddenly turned the conversation to
me. “No. Sometimes I think I wasn’t meant to have one. I do not
think I would handle a brother or sister as well as you handle
Mason.”

He sighed heavily. “It is a lot of
work.”

Before I could reply, his cell phone
rang. He answered it, and I did my best not to listen in on his
conversation. It seemed like it was serious, whatever it was about.
The man he was talking to was raising his voice, but Dawson was
remaining calm.

He hung his phone up and looked at me.
“Are you feeling up to talking to some of those humans I was
telling you about?”

I smiled and straightened. “I suppose
I could.” I liked that the conversation had turned to business.
Business was a subject I could handle. I wasn’t good with all the
emotions and feelings. “Are they coming here?” I asked, curious. I
didn’t see why Dawson would invite his enemies to his house, but I
figured I would ask anyway.

He shook his head. “We have to go to
the bar,” he said, as he put his phone back in its case. “We can
take my truck, unless you would rather ride on the motorcycle,” he
said playfully.

I smiled. “I think I will go in the
truck, with my attire. I don’t think this dress was meant for
riding motorcycles.”

“
I figured that,” he said,
then walked back toward the door. He opened the door and held it
for me. I walked past him, into the house.

“
Should I bring back up?”
he asked cautiously.

I was suddenly wondering what he was
getting me into. The guy on the phone sounded a little upset, but I
didn’t think he would be hostile. I didn’t think anything I was
doing involved hostile humans. I thought they were all just
blackmailers. “Are we going to be in any danger?” I asked, watching
him cautiously. I was trying to see if I could tell if he was
lying.

He shook his head. “I don’t think so.
I just want you to feel comfortable,” he said causally, like he
wasn’t worried. Either he was a really good liar, or we had nothing
to worry about. I guessed I would find out which it was
eventually.

“
I think it will look less
suspicious if it is just us. The more we bring, the more chance
there is that we will make him suspicious,” I said, hoping I wasn’t
making a mistake helping him.

He nodded and headed for the front
door. I followed him, trying to gather my confidence. I was
normally pretty confident when it came to my gift. Finding out
there were people like Mason and Dawson that my gift didn’t work on
bothered me. It definitely shook some of my confidence.

He held the front door for me, and I
walked out. He walked over to his truck, and held the passenger
door open for me. I climbed in, and he shut my door and walked
around to the other side. He climbed in the truck and started the
engine. He backed out of the driveway, and set off going back in
the direction of the bar.

“
You seem quiet,” he said
after a few minutes.

The truth was, I was lost in my own
thoughts. The sound of his voice pulled me out of them. Sometimes I
did that. I normally didn’t have anyone around that noticed, or
could interrupt my thoughts. I was still getting used to being
acknowledged. “I was just thinking about everything. Why do the
humans blackmail you, again?” I asked as I looked at
him.

He shrugged. “They always have. I
suppose one found out our secret and has passed it down. My father
used to deal with it just as I do, but I am hoping to change
things. Now that you are with us, maybe we will have some
peace.”

“
What do you think would
happen if a large majority of humans found out? You do not think it
would go over well?” I asked, curious as to why they were trying so
hard to hide what they were. It seemed like the general human
population liked the idea of vampires and werewolves. They at least
made enough movies about them.

“
There would be a blood
bath. Humans do not like things they cannot understand. They really
do not like things that are stronger than them. Imagine what they
would do to you if they found out you could make them do whatever
you liked.” He sounded like he was not looking forward to a
scenario like this one.

I knew he was right, even though it
was a nice thought to believe we would be accepted. I couldn’t see
it, just like he couldn’t. Humans could not even accept the small
differences in one another. There was no way they would accept such
great differences like werewolves, or even me.

“
Tell me about the man we
are meeting tonight,” I said softly, as I considered everything
that could go wrong. I wanted to know a little bit about the guy.
If I did, I might feel a little more confident in my
task.

Dawson shrugged. “There isn’t much to
say. He is a low-life named Carl. He stumbled on the bar one night.
One of the others shifted without realizing he was there. He, of
course, recorded it, and has used it against us ever
since.”

“
Why not just kill him?” I
asked casually. It seemed like it would be more effective to just
take the guy out. If he was dead he certainly couldn’t share their
secret.

He shot me a dark look. “I am not
Deek. I have a code I live by, and that code does not include just
murdering someone because of what they know.”

“
You have to admit, it
would be so much easier. I mean, it is survival you are talking
about,” I said, not really understanding why he was so
offended.

He raised his eyebrows, like he didn’t
know what to say. I was sure he thought I would agree with him. It
wasn’t that I didn’t. It just seemed like killing people who
threatened the pack would be simpler than paying them and hoping
they held up their end of the bargain. “I don’t kill for no
reason.”

“
It wouldn’t be for no
reason,” I countered.

He pulled into the bar parking lot and
braked a little harder than I expected. “It would be for no reason,
because there are other ways to handle the problem,” he snapped,
glaring at me.

I hesitated a little, caught off guard
by his sudden anger. “Calm down. I am not saying you should kill
him now,” I said, trying to remain neutral. I climbed out of the
truck without waiting for his reply.

“
You can’t kill him
either,” Dawson called after me, as he followed me toward the
bar.

I stopped abruptly. He stopped in
front of me and looked down at me. I smiled up at him. “You think I
would kill him?”