Okay, Piper could see her wolf’s point about that.
It was a good thing she had put on a show of trying to seduce him because her real arousal scent would have given her away. While all the talk of hot sex was just that—talk—a part of her couldn’t help wishing this Jace River hunk had been a little less… controlled.
She kept her sigh of regret for lost chances inside as Jace led her down the hallway, ostensibly to her brother’s room. She had to prepare herself for this, now that the distraction of being caught by a ridiculously hot shifter had scrambled her focus.
Finding Noah. That was all she needed in life. Make sure her kid brother—the good one, the only Wilding to ever give a damn about her—had not actually wandered off and gotten himself killed somewhere in Afghanistan. Once she knew he was safely running normal missions—as if being deployed was ever safe, but still—then she could go back to her life of traveling to exotic locales to track down the bad guys and bed down the good ones. And ignoring the world of shifters as much as possible. Then her wolf could go back to sleep and stop dreaming of mates she would never have.
Jace tapped lightly at the door to Daniel’s room. Piper scented her brother’s woodsy-yet-charcoal-undertone natural smell through the rough-carved wood. The Army must have taught him to sleep light because it only took a moment before a shuffle inside the room preceded the door cracking open.
Daniel’s hair was bed-tousled, but his eyes were sharp. They landed on Jace first. “Hey, man, what’s up?” But the last of his words faded as his gaze found Piper. He rolled his eyes, then briefly squeezed them shut, like the mere sight of her was causing him gastrointestinal pain.
Nice to see you too, bro. She bit down on her lips to keep the retort inside. Be cool, get in, get what you need, get out. This had been her mantra all the way up the mountain. She just needed to execute on it now.
Jace seemed on top of the interaction, but he just whispered, “We need to talk.”
The house had already slept through her scuffle with Jace downstairs, but it would still be better to get behind closed doors before they started this conversation. In case it got a little heated.
Daniel shook his head but stepped back, gesturing them both into his room. He didn’t bother with a light—the moon put a silvery glow on everything enough to see—he just closed the door behind them. The River pack had a pretty nice setup here. High-end rustic furniture. Real paintings on the wall. Thick tapestries as throw rugs. Someone had money, but they used it in understated ways.
Daniel folded his arms and looked to Jace. “What’s she done now?”
Jace’s eyes narrowed. “Couldn’t honestly tell you. But she’s got a message I think you might want to hear.”
Piper lifted an eyebrow in Jace’s direction. So… the River brother wasn’t going to spill anything about their slap-slap-kiss downstairs. Interesting choice. She snuck a glance at Jace’s sleep pants—they were no longer sporting the erection that made her mouth water. He was probably trying to forget the whole thing as quickly as possible.
Daniel turned to her. “Why are you here, Piper?”
She opted to cut straight to it. “Noah is missing.”
Daniel’s arms unlocked. “What do you mean, missing?”
“Missing, as in not found. As in not where he’s supposed to be. Come on, Daniel, I know you went to college. They must have taught you something there.”
He growled at her, and she had to keep her smile in check. And remember her purpose.
“I just skyped with him a couple weeks ago, when I arrived stateside,” Daniel said, his tone solidly in the Piper is freaking for no reason position. “They probably just shut down the comms at the MWR. He said they had some kind of security breach and might not be able to communicate for a while.”
Piper frowned. And Jace was giving her the side-eye like he thought she broke into his house and then lied about Noah going missing. But Noah hadn’t said anything about the MWR—Morale, Welfare, and Recreation Center—being closed when they last texted, five days ago.
“I don’t contact him through the Rec Center, Daniel,” she said, trying to match his patronizing tone. “And I’m telling you, he’s gone radio silent.”
Daniel folded his arms. “Oh, that’s right. You’re the spy girl now.”
“Counterintelligence.” She glared at him, fully aware of how little he thought of her work, even though it was key to keeping grunts like him and Noah alive. It was like he thought she was CIA or NSA or something. A rival agency, not support. “But hey, thanks for playing and keeping up with the pieces on the board.”