Chapter 24

Danny’s POV
“Are you going to introduce me to your mate?” James asks me as we head to the border; I glare at him; refusing to utter a word to the asshole. “She is carrying my grandpup; after all,” he adds as I continue to glare. Claudia did say when he found out about Amanda being a white wolf, his opinion will change.
Changed, it most certainly did; he has been nothing but accommodating and it’s scaring the hell out of me about what his true intentions are. I am not getting anything other than he wants to meet her and that scares me even more. I look at Dad and he shrugs at me. He must be feeling the same.
“We can introduce you to Claudia, but it is up to her if she wants to stay or go regarding the introduction” Dad responds and I refuse to soften my glare at him. I don’t want or need James in my life. He is no father of mine and he will never be a grandfather to Sophia.
Dad puts his hand on my shoulder; *“It’s ok, Danny. James in not trustworthy by any means. We are better off having our enemies close, then afar”* he tells me through mind link. I nod in his direction, remaining silent.
We reach the borders edge; Claudia, Mum and Tracey are waiting for us. I run to Claudia, wrapping her in my arms; lifting her up off the ground and giving her a kiss; “Snow Blossom” I whisper as I receive a tiny kick in my torso. “Someone’s happy, Daddy is home” she laughs as I place her feet back on the ground again.
“James wants us to introduce you” Dad tells her. “You don’t have to, if you don’t want to” I add, still glaring at him. “It will be rude, not to introduce me” she smiles; giving Dad a wink. He must have mind linked her also. “James; this is Claudia” I sneer the words at him. “Dad” he says smiling at her. I growl in his direction.
“I’d rather stick with James for the moment” she smiles back at him, extending her hand. He grabs it and pulls her in for a hug. “Back off!” I scream at him. “It’s ok, Danny” she smiles at me, giving James a quick hug and moving to be by my side. “I’ll get Todd, bought up to the border” she beams.
“He is going to cop it; when he gets home” James responds to her. “Go easy on him; he just got rejected by his mate” she smirks, while Dad, Jason and I raise our eyebrows at her. “Here he comes now” Jason chuckles, as Cynthia brings up a screaming Todd from the dungeon. I snarl at him as he is pushed over the border, “Todd, you are not welcome on this territory. James; you may visit if the opportunity arises” Dad announces looking at Claudia and myself.
The two turn and head back into the River Moon Pack territory. I can hear James and Todd shouting at one another; “What the fuck were you thinking. She’s not a piece of property, you fucking moron. And what’s this about your mate has rejected you? Why would she do that?” “Dad, Joanna wasn’t for me” “Joanna? You fucking wanker. You go back and tell her you won’t accept her rejection” “I can’t; I rejected her years ago.” “You what? Oh, my Goddess; I raised and imbecile.” “What about my car?” “Fuck your car; you won’t need it for the next 20 years when I am through with you.”
We all start laughing as we head back to the packhouse. “I told you my plan will work” Claudia beams as we get to Dad’s office. “Yes, we still need to keep a watchful eye on them” Dad exclaims. “I don’t want anything to do with either of them” I yell. “Danny; have you heard the saying, keep your friends close and your enemies closer?” Dad asks me. I shake my head and give him a curious look.
“It means, if we keep James close to us; there is less chance of him doing anything” Mum explains. “I still don’t want anything to do with him” I huff; “and rightly so. We will keep our guard up, regarding James and deal with him, if and when the time comes” Claudia explains.
“Tell me what happened with Joanna?” Dad asks the ladies. “She heard Todd screaming; as he was being placed in the dungeon and mind linked me. She said she needed to do something she should have done years ago. So, I invited Mum, Cynthia and Tracey to watch” Claudia smirks.
“She then punched him in the face and walked out of the cell, back to her cell” Tracey adds. “Is that the shiner he had?” Jason asks “Yes” Mum answers. “My sister seizes to amaze me” Jason chuckles; shaking his head.
“Dad, I know she played a part in us getting taken; I was hoping we can give her another chance. She did everything because of the hope Todd’s been promising her for years, a great life together. She’s only realising; recently by the looks of it; he’s a selfish asshole” I tell him. “I’m not sure, that is wise” Dad says to me. “It may not be; but she is a lover scorned. I think she learnt her lesson” Claudia grins.
“I will take your words into consideration; when passing down her punishment” Dad advises.
“I thought you said Simon, Tim and Rick were coming with you?” Mum pipes in. “They are. They’re tidying up some loose ends and will be heading over in the next day or so. I gave Simon my number and told him to call me when they are ready” Dad replies to her.
“We’re going to get going; I have a lot of catching up to do. Claudia; thank Amanda for us, but the sanctuary wasn’t as private as I would have liked” Jason snickers, taking Tracey by the hand. “That sounds like a great idea?” I grin at Claudia, “it isn’t all that bad; tell baby wolf we appreciate her letting us use her sanctuary” Dad says, following suit.
“Eww, Dad. Wait until we leave first” Claudia screams; taking me by the hand and ushering me out of Dad’s office as quickly as she could. By the way Dad was looking at Mum; they were going to lock the door behind us. “What have you been doing for the last two weeks?” I ask her; “Trying to get my mate home” she giggles opening the door to our room.
“I really need a bath” I tell Claudia, heading into the bathroom. “With Bubbles” she calls out. She read my mind; a bubble bath with my beautiful mate.
“I have to ask you, why did you decide to tell James about Amanda? We had them scared and it was a matter of time before they both conceded and let us go. Grandma Nelly was right, James is a coward” I ask, coming out of the bathroom. “Fucking Alphas and their abilities to sense things” she groans.
“I knew it” I shout, gleefully. “What about Dad?” she asks. “Yeah, we mind linked about it in the cell. That’s why Dad agreed to let you do it. Why did you decide to tell him?” “It wasn’t my idea. Goddess Selene said, if we ever needed her, to just ask. I asked and she allowed me to speak with Luna Rachael again. She was the one who suggested what to do. She said Todd is very much like James and you are like her father Leo” she tells me.
“I never met Grandpa Leo. He died before I was born. Grandma Nelly used to speak of him all the time” I inform her. “Mum said to get Todd off our backs, we need to tell James. James is selfish and greedy and would like to have Amanda. As you and I are mated, the only way he will be able to come anywhere near Amanda is he has to play nice with a person he loathes. It’s probably killing him and Todd, they have to treat you with the respect you deserve. Mum pissed herself laughing at that fact.”
“You came up with the plan together, to get us out of the cell?” I enquire. “Yeah; we all know we can’t trust either of them. I still have reservations of Simon, Timothy and Rick coming here…” “Oh shit” I scream; running into the bathroom and reaching the bathtub before the water ran over the edge. I pull out the plug and let the water drain slightly and come back to the door of the bathroom. “We can continue our conversation in the tub” I smile at her.
We take our clothes off and she sits in front of me in the bathtub. “Where were we?” I say to her. “I trust Dad’s and your judgement” she finishes her statement.
“Simon told me, Tim and Rick are regretful for the things they did to me. Although they are genuine and do regret what they did; I don’t know if I can trust them enough to forgive them. Simon also told me about why he wasn’t feeding me, like he did when I was first chained to the packhouse wall. James ordered him not to and if you don’t follow an Alpha’s orders, it is punishable by death. Even something so menial. James would have followed through with it too. Simon thought, if he was killed for feeding me; I surely would have died also” I tell her.
“Why didn’t he just leave back then and taken you with him?” she asks. “Same reason; we couldn’t leave the cell. Only the Alpha could release me. The reason I was able to leave the night of Todd’s ceremony; Todd didn’t lock the chains. I don’t know if it was deliberate or not” I inform her.
“Simon told me, he tried to convince James over the years to let me go. Become a rouge; but he refused. Why? We will never know. I remember when I was 10; when Grandma Nelly first died and James ordered him to chain me to the packhouse wall; he said to him he could always take me back to Nelly’s house and I could fend for myself and James said no. He told me he wished James said yes; he would have taken me there and looked after me; away from James and Todd.” I elaborate further.
“I see why you and Dad are willing to bring them here” she tells me. “Only time will tell, whether we can trust them enough” I conclude.
“Enough of this sombre talk” she announces turning to face me; eyes gleaming with desire. I growl with anticipation, kissing her passionately. “We have some catching up to do also” she giggles.