The Vow: Dangerous Suggestions Book 1 (10 page)

“
I think you have the
ability to kill,” he said quietly. He suddenly had a slight look of
mistrust. I didn’t understand it. It was only a little while ago he
was asking me to help him; now he didn’t trust me?

“
Why? Why the sudden
mistrust?” I asked, confused.

“
You are cold and callous.
I can see that, and I know it is just your nature, but it is
dangerous. I just want to be clear when I say there will be no
killing in the name of my pack,” he said firmly.

I scowled slightly. I was a little
emotionless, but cold and callous was a little harsh. I would do
what had to be done to keep others safe. It was a simple
observation, and he was acting like I’d declared my intent to
murder someone. “You asked me to help you. If you think you can do
better without me, then I will wait in the truck,” I said softly,
then turned to walk back toward the truck.

He caught my arm, startling me a
little. I looked up at him, waiting for him to say something. The
noise radiating from the bar seemed incredibly loud in our silence.
He wasn’t saying anything, and I wasn’t about to let him push me
around.

“
You are right. I did ask
for your help, but I did not ask for your advice,” he said curtly,
finally breaking the silence.

Before I could reply someone spoke,
startling us both. We had been so focused on one another we didn’t
hear him approach.

“
Dawson, I don’t have all
day,” an annoyed male voice growled. He was standing in the shadows
near the bar. He looked like a snitch, and I could immediately tell
he was human.

“
You will wait until we
are ready to speak with you,” I snapped, glaring at the man. I
wasn’t mad at the man; I was annoyed with how Dawson was suddenly
acting. The man’s expression went blank like it was supposed to,
and he stood there waiting for a command. I turned my attention
back to Dawson. “I am not a tool you can use to suit your cause. I
may not be here very long so it is imperative you find another way
to protect yourself. I wasn’t offering advice, it was simply a
suggestion. One that I think you should follow, in case I cannot
persuade your friends not to rat you and your pack out.”

He stiffened a little at my bluntness,
but he was still holding my arm. He wanted my help; he just wanted
it on his terms. “I do not want to turn to murder as an
alternative,” he said, softening his tone.

“
It is not about want,
Dawson. It is about what is needed to do your job. If you don’t
have to kill, great, but you should be prepared to,” I said,
softening my tone as well.

Dawson didn’t reply. His eyes shifted
to the man I’d told to wait; then shifted back to me. “I don’t want
to kill. You have to help me,” he said softly, almost like he was
pleading.

His expression made something stir
inside me. I wanted to keep him safe. I wanted to be the savior he
seemed to be looking for, but I wasn’t sure how long I could make
it work. I didn’t understand the feeling, and to be honest, it
scared me a little. “I will do what I can, but my powers obviously
have limits, and I don’t know what they are.”

He relaxed his grip on my arm, and
turned his attention to the man. “What are you going to tell Carl?”
he asked, as he watched Carl standing there obediently.

“
Whatever you want me to
tell him,” I said simply as I turned my attention to
Carl.

Dawson watched him for a minute, like
he was trying to decide what to say. “Tell him to forget what he
saw, and erase the video. Tell him never to come back here,” he
said darkly. Then he walked toward the bar and disappeared
inside.

I sighed, then repeated everything
Dawson asked. Carl seemed to be receptive. When I told him he could
leave, he hurried away from me. He climbed in a beat up old car and
sped out of the parking lot. I knew he wouldn’t be back.

The sound of someone behind me lightly
clapping startled me a little. I spun around, trying to hide the
fact that I was startled. I hated the fact that werewolves had the
ability to move around without being heard. I didn’t recognize the
man standing only a few feet from me, but I was pretty sure he was
a werewolf. He had the build of a werewolf, and the unusual good
looks. Unlike the other werewolves I had met, he was well dressed.
He was wearing black slacks, and a red, open collar, button up
shirt. His clothes were not just nice looking; I could tell they
were expensive. His blond hair was short and neat, like he’d had it
professionally styled. He had the presence of someone with money.
Either that or he had an incredible ego, maybe a little of
both.

“
Who are you?” I asked,
more curious than anything. I wasn’t threatened by him. His
presence had caught me by surprise. I never heard him approach, and
I didn’t realize he was even watching me. I could tell he was more
than likely an alpha male by how he was holding himself. His
posture reminded me of Dawson, but unlike Dawson, this guy didn’t
look like he belonged in a place like this. I would have noticed
him because he would have stood out among the others.

“
My name is Deek. You met
my cousin, Jason, and some of his friends. I heard about you, so I
thought I would come see for myself what all the fuss was about,”
he said, smiling. He had a smile that suggested he always got what
he wanted.

I was a little surprised he was being
so brazen. Deek and Dawson were not friends; at least, it did not
seem like it. I was sure if Dawson knew Deek was in his territory,
he wouldn’t be happy. “I don’t know what you heard, but I doubt it
is true,” I said, refusing to just admit what he obviously wanted
to know.

He laughed, like I was being silly. “I
know it is true. I saw you do it.”

“
What is it you think I
can do?” I asked, playing dumb. I didn’t know what he wanted with
me. I knew Jason threatened me, but this was my first time meeting
Deek. I was a little worried he came himself because Jason didn’t
bring me to him. There was a possibility he was planning on causing
problems for me tonight.

His expression darkened a little. It
was obvious he didn’t like me playing dumb. “Don’t play with me. I
know what you can do. I just watched you do it, so let’s not
pretend we don’t know what we both know.”

I smiled slightly. “Say you are right,
and I can do something. What do you want from me?”

“
I suppose I want the same
thing from you that Dawson does,” he said, watching me
intently.

I didn’t believe him. There was a hint
of arrogance and selfishness about him. He actually reminded me a
little bit of myself. “I don’t know you that well. However, I can
tell by how your men operate that you are nothing like Dawson, so I
doubt you want the same things he does,” I said quietly.

He smiled wryly, like a little boy
caught in a lie. “Well, maybe not the exact same thing. He wants to
get the humans to ignore the packs presence. I want to get more out
of the humans. If I have control over the humans, then I will have
more power among the packs.”

“
I am not a tool to gain
power,” I said softly. I knew there was a reason Jason was
determined to get me to Deek. I was sure they all saw a chance to
use my power to their advantage. It was a little offensive now that
I thought about it. Maybe my power was the only reason Dawson asked
me to stay. In a way, he’d admitted it was one of the
reasons.

“
That is all you are, and
if Dawson had any backbone he would see how useful you could be,”
he said angrily. He was getting angry because I wasn’t going along
with his plans. I didn’t see why he thought I would.

“
It has nothing to do with
Dawson having backbone. No one controls me,” I said firmly. There
was no way I was going to do his bidding. He knew nothing about me,
and he expected me to just fall in line.

“
I didn’t expect you to
cooperate. I will find a way to convince you to come to my side; I
am sure of it,” he said, smiling, like he knew something I didn’t.
He sounded a little bit like he was threatening me; then again, it
could have just been his personality. The way he held himself
suggested he got exactly what he wanted whenever he wanted
it.

“
I doubt it. You should go
before Dawson finds you here,” I said, brushing him off.

“
I figured you would yell
for him once you learned who I was. Why didn’t you?” he asked,
sounding both curious and amused.

“
Despite what you think, I
am not afraid of you. I am not afraid of any of you. I do not
understand why you think you can threaten me,” I said
softly.

He didn’t say anything. He kept the
same smile on his face as he watched me. The sound of the door
opening behind me caught my attention. Someone was coming out of
the bar. I turned as Mason stumbled out the door. He grinned at me.
“Dawson said you were out here,” he said, slurring
slightly.

I turned to look back at Deek, but he
was gone. “I am,” I said absently. Deek was really good at
disappearing and appearing without a sound.

“
What are you looking at?”
Mason asked, as he threw his arm around my shoulders and looked in
the direction I was looking. He reeked of alcohol.

“
Nothing,” I said softly.
I fought the urge to push him away. His presence was irritating the
hell out of me at that very moment.

“
You should come inside
and have a drink. You look like you need one,” he said happily, as
he steered me toward the bar.

I rolled my eyes. I wasn’t in the mood
to deal with Mason at the moment. I was actually in a little bit of
a bad mood. It was obvious Deek had plans, just like Dawson did. It
was irritating because they acted like I had no choice in the
matter.

The inside of the bar was loud. The
place was packed with people, and they all turned their attention
to me and Mason when we walked in. I suppose it was to be expected,
since I was the new girl in town. The bar looked much smaller on
the outside than it was on the inside.

I didn’t really want to be here, but
Mason was being really persistent. He waved the bartender over to
us. “Get me another beer. What do you want?” he asked me over the
loud music and voices.

“
I don’t know, anything,”
I said, trying not to get annoyed. I didn’t know what kind of
drinks the bar served. I didn’t really want a drink, but he was
going to make me have one anyway. I scanned the bar. I could feel
eyes on me, and it was an unpleasant feeling. Several people who
were watching me looked away once I noticed them looking. The only
one who didn’t was Lena. She continued to watch me even after my
eyes locked with hers. She was acting like I was a
threat.

“
Here,” Mason shouted as
he shoved a drink in my hands.

I scowled at him as I accepted the
drink. It seemed like he was going to dump the drink on me before I
got to drink it. He was standing obnoxiously close to me. Everyone
was standing close to one another; the place was
crowded.

“
I meant to tell you, you
look hot in that dress,” Mason shouted over the noise.

I looked at him, trying to decide what
to say. I didn’t want to be rude, considering he was drunk, but I
wasn’t in the mood to be hit on either. Deek had put me in a bad
mood. He made me question Dawson’s true motives for accepting me
into the pack. Maybe I was just a means to an end for him. I didn’t
know why it mattered so much to me.

Mason nudged me when I didn’t respond
to him. He pressed his body against mine, annoying me even more. I
glared at him. “Back off,” I ordered. I wasn’t in the mood to play
games with him.

His expression went blank, like a
human’s face would when I gave an order. I was a little caught off
guard. I thought my ability couldn’t work on him, but I could tell
by his expression it was working on him. The only difference
between now, and the first time I tried it on him was that now he
was drunk; when I did it the first time, he wasn’t. I wasn’t sure
what to say to him now. I didn’t plan to be in this
position.

“
Larel,” Dawson said from
behind me, distracting me.

“
What?” I asked, a little
flustered. I was trying to decide what to do with Mason. I didn’t
need Dawson involved.

“
I was headed home; are
you ready?” he asked, looking a little concerned by my
tone.

I nodded, then I looked back at Mason.
“Mason, you should come with us,” I said, trying not to sound like
I was giving him and order, even though I was.

“
Ok,” Mason said, sounding
a little out of it.

I looked back at Dawson and forced a
smile. “You lead, and we will follow.”

He glanced at Mason, then nodded.
“Let’s get out of here,” he said, sounding as annoyed as I felt. He
waded through the crowd toward the door. I followed him, and Mason
followed me.

The silence in the truck was a little
overwhelming. Mason passed out not long after getting in the truck,
and Dawson was staring straight ahead, focusing on the road. I was
lost in my own thoughts at the beginning of the ride, but the
silence in the truck drew me out of them.

“
Deek spoke to me outside
the bar tonight,” I said softly. I figured I should tell him before
he found out on his own. I didn’t want to give him a reason not to
trust me.