Chapter 2 #2
“Sam tells them they’re booked solid for months, and they can’t make a reservation for too many months into the future. That card is for humans only.”
She laughed.
“We have to have some place that’s just for us,” he said.
“I don’t blame you. It’s nice to be able to talk about shifter issues without worrying about humans overhearing us.”
“Exactly.”
Then their food was served, and she swore she’d never had prime rib this good. It was medium rare and delightfully tender.
The Silvers all stopped by their table and introduced Jake’s mate, Alicia, and Tom’s mate, Elizabeth, to her and welcomed Selena to the pack.
She hadn't ever belonged to a pack and hadn’t considered that. Even though Daniel had told her other shifters would have to obey the pack leaders, which would mean she would belong to the pack, too. But she loved how welcoming everyone was.
A few bachelor males on the way out of the tavern also stopped by their table and introduced themselves. Did they believe she might be interested in one of them if she decided she didn’t care for Daniel’s company any longer?
She was afraid Daniel would be offended, but he just smiled at the guys as if they were too late in the game. She appreciated that he was good-natured about it. Her last boyfriend wouldn’t have been.
When her boyfriend was coming back from the men’s room at a club last year, and a random guy had asked her to dance, her boyfriend had been furious with the guy and with her for being hit on like it had been her fault! That had been the living end of it for her, and she’d broken up with the wolf.
After Daniel approved her application for the shop, helped Frank set up the shelves, and said he would help with the rest of the work tomorrow, she really thought the world of him. But he also took her out to dinner and would show her a cemetery afterward, so the other men had missed out.
Though things could change if Selena and Daniel decided after a few dates that they genuinely weren’t suited to each other.
When they were done eating, Daniel drove her back to the hotel so she could change into something she could wear to walk through the cemetery.
She didn’t imagine that any of his previous dates had wanted to see a cemetery to finish off the night.
As soon as she returned to the lobby where he was waiting for her, they left.
They finally reached the graveyard near one of the closed silver mines. He explained, “This is the oldest one we have so I thought you might like to see it first.”
“Oh, yes, perfect.” She started to explore the graveyard where the silver miners of the 1700s now rested beneath weathered stones, while he used his flashlight to illuminate them. Though as wolves, they could still see well at night.
Never in his wildest dreams had Daniel envisioned taking a date after a delightful dinner to a cemetery to explore it.
Though he’d never imagined meeting a new she-wolf in town, or that he would hit it off with her right away.
He thought she felt the same way. The other guys had amused him by trying to make her acquaintance at the tavern.
He just had to make sure he didn’t let down his guard, and he continued to date her.
He watched her as she crouched down to touch a graveyard stone with reverence.
She intrigued him like no other wolf he’d ever met.
Some of it was that she had worked with law enforcement before.
When she’d met the other bachelor males, she’d appeared amused but not interested. He appreciated that.
He continued to follow her as she wound her way around the dilapidated headstones. Some were so worn that no one could read the inscriptions. Others were only partially readable.
“Here’s one!” she said, enthusiasm evident, and took a picture.
He thought she’d found an exposed skeleton and hurried to join her. But it was only a headstone, with the full name intact.
“I can research him. Let’s go home now. Sometimes I find lots of names I can investigate,” she said, as they headed back to his vehicle. “Sometimes I don’t find any. Even finding only one in this old cemetery is a real boon. Though I would love to look further and find more, it’s getting late.”
At least he didn’t have to work his regular job tomorrow, but knowing Frank, he would be up early to work all day and finish the last projects for her shop.
Back at the hotel, she leaned in, her lips grazing his cheek, and she wrapped her arms around him.
Daniel returned the embrace, a smile warming his face.
The cemetery discovery had meant more to her than he'd anticipated—he could feel it in the way she held on just a bit longer.
Showing her the graveyard tonight had been exactly the right move.
"Until morning," she murmured, already turning toward the staircase.
Hell, he felt like a million bucks. Then he left the hotel and headed home, thinking of the possibilities with her, though he shouldn’t get ahead of himself. He knew the locations of two more old cemeteries, but he would canvass the residents to see if they were aware of any others.
Who would ever have thought he would be interested in cemeteries? Well, he wasn’t as much as he was intrigued with the goddess of the moon.