Hidden Depths
Fortress

We pulled up to a large single story house with an eight foot wooden fence around it. I couldn’t see much about the house past the fence, but I did notice that the yard was huge. There were no houses nearby, we had left town and driven down a dirt road past a private property sign. There was nothing but trees all around us.

“Why the privacy fence?” I asked curiously.

“It’s not a privacy fence. The inside is lined with ballistic paneling.” He met my confused gaze before continuing, “It’s bulletproof, for all intents and purposes.”

I felt my eyes bug, and quickly hid my reaction. Instead I nodded slowly before climbing out of the car. He followed shortly after. Maddison held my hand as she walked between Dalton and I.

“I need you to trust me now okay, when we walk in just stand still.” He smiled awkwardly at me. “My dogs may look mean but they are very well trained.”

I nodded, uncertainly. Dalton put in a key code and the gate buzzed swinging open to reveal four dogs. One Doberman, one Rottweiler, and two German Shepherds. They all ran towards us barking defensively. Or, not all of them, the littlest German Shepherd appeared to be very young and looked more like it wanted to play.

Maddison screamed, hiding behind Dalton. I fought the urge to follow her lead. However the dogs stopped about five feet away still growling lowly, but not barking. I was afraid if I moved they would pounce.

“Fermati,” Dalton barked, the order and all four dogs froze watching him intently. “Siediti.”

The dogs sat but the smallest Shepard bounced back up and ran over licking Maddison's face. At first Maddison looked shocked and afraid, but after a minute of continued affection, she giggled.

“That tickles, puppy.” Maddison laughed, wiping at her face.

“Tia,” Dalton said, regaining the puppy’s attention. “Siediti.”

The puppy sat with a deep sigh.

“Good girl,” Dalton grinned, bending down to pet the puppy’s head. Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ Find_Nøvel.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

“You want to meet the other puppies? They want to smell you.” Dalton asked Maddison, looking concerned.

“Are they nice?” She asked nervously.

“Yes, they are.” Dalton looked back at me. “Trust me, once they know your scent, and that you are a friend, that won’t happen again.”

I nodded numbly before saying firmly. “But I’m going first.”

Dalton nodded, and scooped up Maddison. We walked over to where the dogs now sat quiet and calm. I held one somewhat shaky hand out to them.

“Diego, odorare.” Dalton said calmly.

I held still as the Doberman pinscher walked up sniffing my hand before rubbing his head against my finger. Dalton knelt still holding Maddy as the dog walked over sniffing the air around her curiously. Maddison hid her face in Dalton’s shoulder at first; but eventually slowly reached out patting the dog’s head.

“Good boy,” Dalton smiled. “Luna, odorare.”

The larger shepherd first trotted over to sniff at Tia, the puppy, before coming to sniff me.

“Is that your baby, Luna?” I asked quietly.

Luna nuzzled my hand and gazed up at me with large gentle eyes.

“Yeah, Tia is her youngest and last puppy. That’s why I decided to keep her.” Dalton confirmed as Luna moved over smelling Maddy.

Dalton repeated the command to Ares the Rottweiler and even little Tia. To my amazement when each dog was done they got right back in line. They watched Dalton awaiting further instructions.

“Now, andare.” Dalton said when Tia had finally joined the others.

All four dogs reluctantly trotted back towards the house.

“They’ll see you as part of the pack now.” Dalton smiled watching them go.

“Why?” I asked.

“Because I’m the alpha, in their minds, and I just made them claim you. They will protect both of you now. Maddison can play outside with them whenever you want and be perfectly safe.” Dalton explained heading towards the house again.

“Did you train them?” I asked, surprised. I had tried training a family dog once and I barely succeeded in the basic sit and lay down commands.

“Yeah, it’s kind of what I do.” Dalton said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I train guard dogs for… friends. I do other things as well, but the dog are my passion.”

I couldn’t help but smile at him, “That’s really impressive. Why do you teach them in Italian though?”

“How did you know it was Italian?” He asked curiously.

“Seth used to talk in it, he tried teaching me once in high school. Said I might need it someday.” I frowned, thinking back to how silly I had thought he was being. “He left shortly after that.”

“That makes sense.” Dalton nodded as he opened the door.

I thought about pointing out that it made no sense at all but then he opened the door. We walked into a large living room with soft carpet and a brown suede sectional. A huge flat screen was mounted on the light gray wall to our right.

“We can put your stuff in here.” Dalton walked past the sectional and matching recliner; into a wide hall.

He took the first left that led into another larger room, this one had a queen sized bed, large dresser, and a door leading to a bathroom. I walked across the carpet and through the pale blue room to stare out the large window. The glass seemed thicker then average and I wondered if it was bullet proof as well. I had no doubt the walls of the house were.

“What’s with all the safety precautions?” I asked hesitantly.

“Well Amber lives here too, and I wanted to be sure I could protect the people I loved. So I invested in a lot of security.” He shrugged. “I can explain more later.”

“People you love?” I asked awkwardly.

He met my gaze with a fiery determination, “Yes, people that I love.”

I felt my heart race as he stepped forward. Maddy had moved and was staring out the window watching the dogs. I reached up, running my fingers through his hair the way I had wanted to since that first day. As his crystal blue eyes met my dark brown ones and I stood on my toes closing the distance. His lips were already familiar, and comforting despite only having kissed him twice.

“What do I have to wait for now?” I asked impatiently, when he pulled away.

“I have to talk to you tonight, before anything else.” He chuckled. “Plus I doubt you really want to do anything with Maddison right there.”

I blushed, I had forgotten she was even there.

“Right.” I said pulling away.

He chuckled, “Come on, I’ll show you around.”

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