Read Online Jace (River Pack Wolves 2) (Paranormal Romance) by Alisa Woods - Free Book Online Page B

pay for this, one way or another.”
    Piper sighed. Her father probably would punish Daniel for letting her lift his credentials, even though it wasn’t his fault. It would never cross the Colonel’s mind to consider who might actually be at fault in a situation—he’d only care about how he could use it to his advantage.
    “If I were you,” Piper said. “I’d work on getting deployed again. Safer in Afghanistan.”
    Daniel snorted his agreement—they both knew the score on that much, at least, even if Daniel was more than willing to heap the blame on her all the time, for everything. But they both knew from personal experience that dodging bullets for your country was preferable to an extended stay stateside in the sphere of influence of their father.
    It was Jace’s turn to seem baffled.
    Piper turned to him. “I’m sure my father has his own reasons for letting me go, but it’s also possible one of my superiors stepped in. I need to check in with the office as soon as possible.” She didn’t mention she had no intention of telling them anything they didn’t already know. This could be entirely her father playing some game where she didn’t even know the players on the board, much less the game map or the rules. Part of why she was good at her job was having grown up in a house full of secrets and lies.
    Jace nodded and turned to the front, a puzzled look still on his face.
    They kept quiet for the rest of the hour-long drive back to the safehouse, each immersed in their own thoughts. Piper no incentive to explain anything, not until she had a better handle on why Jace was helping her. Maybe he was genuinely concerned about Noah. The River brothers’ pack had that gung-ho attitude, for sure—they did help out with rescuing Cassie after all. 
    Her bad guy radar was telling her Jace was one of the good guys. Her wolf had been desperately panting after him since the moment he showed up, and it would be nice to think he was helping out because he liked that hot kiss in the kitchen as much as she did. But coming after her at the Joint Base? That was a lot of risk to take, and Piper was sure someone as hot as Jace River didn’t have to work that hard for a bed partner. There was more to it than that, but she didn’t have a handle on it yet. And Piper didn’t like things she didn’t understand. It made her twitchy—not knowing what was happening was a good way to get strung up in a Nicaraguan warehouse in the jungle. She’d had enough of that for a lifetime.
    When they arrived at the safehouse, Piper was surprised to see how busy it was. The place was filled to the rafters with shifters, mostly male and definitely hot. She was swimming in male flesh once again, all of it shifter. Her wolf was going nuts.
    There were a few females as well, and Jace quickly introduced her to his mother, who met them at the door. She had gorgeous silver hair with streaks of white flowing in long waves to her waist. If Piper didn’t know better, she would’ve thought Mama River was a witch, with her regal beauty and slender limbs. Piper certainly hadn’t expected the warm hug and hadn’t returned it at all. Then, suddenly, she was being ushered into the kitchen. A strange sense of guilt washed over her as Jace’s mother shoved a plateful of gorgeous-looking pastries, fruits, and cheeses at her, along with the giant glass of milk. The guilt turned into a vague sense of being insulted—Mama River was treating Piper like a child—but it was obvious that this was the warm sort of childhood Jace and his brothers had. The kind she never did. She was a giant bag of emotions over this—the sense of insult and guilt was now being thrashed with a heavy dose of envy—but it was all quickly washed away by a flush of craving. The food beckoned, her stomach growled, and there was no denying she was famished. Her 3 am adventures had stretched without a break into the afternoon of the next day.
    Piper smiled at Mama River and dug