Page 40

Chapter

Thirty-Nine

D ANNY

My stomach growled and I glanced at the clock on the bakery wall. Time for lunch.

“Are you all good here?” I asked Skye.

Angela, one of the shifters from the Search and Rescue team, had dropped by to watch over us after completing whatever job she’d been on. It was obvious she had a crush on Skye so I was comfortable leaving them together. Angela would never let Skye get hurt.

Skye grinned shyly and snuck a peek at Angela. “Yeah. Do you have someone to walk you home?”

“Milo?”

Milo nodded. He’d turned up not long before Angela had. Melinda and Aaron had been on their way to the Children’s Home, and they’d dropped him off to keep an eye on me.

I helped Milo up, and he grimaced, pressing his hand to the small of his back.

“This is going to be a big baby,” he complained.

“You’re going to be a great Dad,” I assured him, twining my arm with his and pushing the bakery door open for him .

After Rex, I’d feared that I’d never trust an alpha enough to have children with them, but I could see that happening with Knox. In fact, it was possible I was already carrying his baby. After all, we’d had unprotected sex.

“Thanks.” He flashed me an adorable smile. “I hope so.”

We wandered home together, taking it slow because he couldn’t do much more than waddle. Our houses were only a short walk down from each other, so I stopped at his doorstep, waited for him to enter and for the lock to click, then I continued the last couple of hundred yards to my own place.

I unlocked the door, took off my shoes, and went inside. As soon as the lock engaged behind me, I relaxed. I padded through the house on bare feet, washed my hands, and made myself a sandwich.

I sat on the sofa to eat and sent Knox a message to ask how it was going. That done, I finished my sandwich and called Momma.

“Hey, honey.” Her warm voice wrapped around me like a hug.

“Hi, Momma. How are George and the kids?”

“They’re good. Everyone here is safe and staying inside. We’ve locked all the doors and are prepared to spend the night if needed, although your dad wants to call a clan meeting. I’ve convinced him to give your brothers a few hours to investigate before he takes over.”

“I’m sure they appreciate that.” Dad was a great Clan Alpha, but Grizzly Ridge was a mostly peaceful place to live and rescue operations were certainly not his forte, while my brothers had been trained for it.

“You’re still at the bakery?” she asked.

Holding the phone to my ear with one hand, I used the other to carry my empty plate to the kitchen and slot it into the dishwasher .

“I’m at home. Milo and I walked back together.”

“You’re alone?” The question was sharp.

“Yes, while locked inside my house.”

She made a sound of distress. “Danny, I really don’t think that’s the best idea. Perhaps you should join Milo at his place.”

I pursed my lips, trying to ignore a flicker of discomfort. She was probably right. I’d thought that walking Milo safely home would be enough, but he was pregnant and not a shifter. I shouldn’t have left him on his own.

“I’ll go there now. Talk soon.”

“Love you.”

I hung up and tried Milo’s number.

“Hello?” he asked sleepily. I must have woken him from a nap.

“Hey, Milo. I’m coming over. Is that all right?”

“Sure.” He yawned. “Knock five times and I’ll let you in.”

“Be there in a minute.”

I ended the call and pocketed my phone, then looked around to make sure I hadn’t forgotten anything. I switched the light off and hurried to the door, bending to pick up my shoes.

A faint bump of wood against something solid came from outside.

I froze.

For a long moment, all was silent, and I began to think I was hearing things, but then one of the floorboards on the porch creaked beneath a person’s weight and my breath caught.

Someone was out there.

I was tempted to call out. Surely it was just one of my family members, or perhaps another neighbor, but as I remained perfectly still for several seconds and there was no knock on the door, I realized that it couldn’t be .

Slowly, the door handle turned.

I backtracked, almost stumbling over myself in my haste to get away. I put the shoe down and, as quietly as possible, made my way through the house, keeping low so that no one would see me through the windows.

I’d almost reached the back door when a stone skittered across the ground outside. If I wasn’t so attuned to everything around me, I might not have heard it.

But I did.

Not only was someone trying to get into the front of the house, but a second person was sneaking around the back.

My head spun and black spots appeared in my vision.

I was hyperventilating.

How was I supposed to get out of here? I was trapped between two people. There were no other doors. If whoever was here meant me harm, I was a sitting duck.