Chapter 71

Danny’s POV
“Welcome Alpha Daniel, Alpha Todd. Please come in” Isabella says, opening the door of her new office. “Hi Bella, have you settled in, ok?” I ask her taking a seat in front of her desk.
“Yes, the castle grounds are really pretty this time of year. I never really get a chance to go near the snow and my son, Jacob loves playing in it; building snowmen and doing snow angels on the ground” she replies and Todd’s eyes go wide. “You have a son called Jacob too?” he asks her. “Yes; Chelsea almost lost her cool when I told her I had to get Jacob from the nursery. We didn’t know we both had a son by the same name until she started to see me, regarding her situation. My Jacob is 9” Isabella answers him.
“What brings both of you, here in my office” she adds, looking at me. “Dad and Claudia thought it would be a good idea for us to see you. Considering our past and now Todd wants to make up for it” I tell her, as she narrows her eyes at him.
“What changed your mind about Danny, Todd?” Isabella asks him. “Mum and the way she looked at me” he answers and she raises an eyebrow at him. “Your dead mother looked at you, how exactly?” she questions, looking back in my direction for more insight. “Bella; I know I can trust you and I don’t want to give away too much information; Alpha business. But yes; myself and Todd did see our dead mother. You remember the sanctuary we were taken to when Todd took Dad, Jason and myself?” I ask her.
“Yes” “We were taken there. After we caught Todd and Craig, regarding the packhouse fire. We were told we had been summoned and Mum appeared. She said I needed Todd’s help and she told Todd what she thought of him and how he treated myself and Joanna” I explain to her.
“And you said she looked at you a certain way. What way was that, Todd?” Isabella asks him. “A disappointed look of disgust. Even Grandma Nelly hit me, for what I did to him. I told Danny why I did what I did; Joanna said you always say, we should explain why we do and feel the things we do. That way, we give understanding where we are coming from” Todd answers her, as she raises her eyebrows again.
“I do say that, don’t I? Sounds like I have more impact on this pack than I realise” Isabella giggles. “I am assuming you saw Grandma Nelly at the same time you saw your mother. It must have been nice to see them both. Danny; how do you feel about Todd changing his thought process?” she adds, asking me.
“Nervous, if I am to be honest. He is sincere about wanting to change and wanting a relationship with me. But I can’t forget about the past; all the times he would pretend to be nice to me and then would hit or kick me. Remember Todd? I have a surprise for you?” I answer, looking at Todd.
“And I was wrong to do those things. I’m not blaming Dad for what I did; I am blaming him for telling me the wrong information all my life. Making me believe you were solely responsible for mum’s death. I didn’t know any better and was never taught any differently. Even through schooling; I told you Dad home schooled me. He would always say it was because I wasn’t learning in a classroom. I reckon he knew I would learn the truth on my own and decided to teach me what he wanted me to know” he answers, raising his voice slightly.
“Todd, we are here to talk through any issues you both have, calmly. And give one another understanding for you both to move forward. Can you understand Danny’s apprehension towards you?” Isabella asks him, writing in her notepad. “Yes” he whispers, looking down at his feet. “Danny, can you understand how Todd could have been feeling, being told all his life the misguided information and not have it being corrected?” she asks me. “Yes. Although I do understand it; I can’t find it in me to forgive him. Not yet, anyway” I tell her.
“I’m not asking for your forgiveness. If it were me, I wouldn’t forgive me either. I want to be able to walk into a room with you and not have you want to kill me” Todd injects, looking back at Isabella for help.
“Todd, I can’t tell someone to miraculously change the way they feel. I can however, try and help find a healthy medium between the two of you, to help you both move forward” Isabella informs him.
“I don’t want to kill you anymore, Todd. There’s a positive step forward for you” I snort, sitting up in my chair. “You still don’t want to be in the same room with me” he responds, looking at me. “No; I don’t. I am taking baby steps” I inform him,
“Danny, I know you don’t see James as your father. You have told everyone he has never warranted that title and we all respect your decision. I want to know; do you see Todd as your brother?” Isabella asks me. I look at her; I never really thought about whether I thought Todd was my brother or not. I always called him big brother with distaste and venom. **“He is your brother, Danny. Whether you like it or not”** Jesse says, coming forward. **“I know; I still think of him as my brother. I don’t like him; but he is my brother”** I sigh.
“Danny?” Isabella calls me, bringing me out of my discussion with Jesse. “Yes; I still think of him as my brother. The old saying, you can choose your friends, but can’t choose your family. That is me. I may not like him, but he is my brother” I answer her.
“Todd; Danny is not going to love you overnight. It is going to take time. He still sees you as family; something he never wanted to do with James. There is hope for a relationship with him. I will reiterate; it’s going to take time. Don’t push the issue. Let him reach out to you; if and when he wants to” Isabella tells him.
“Danny, you can see Todd wants a relationship with you. He wants to make up for what was lost between the two of you. I am not asking you to forget or forgive him. I would however ask you to give Todd a chance to make it up to you” she includes looking at me.
“I don’t think there was anything lost. We didn’t have anything to lose in the first place” I snap at her. “You did, Danny. You both lost the brotherly relationship; you should have had to begin with. You may not know it now; because of James, the pair of you have lost the chance of being a normal loving family” she tells me, writing on her notepad again.
I look over at Todd, he has tears in his eyes. “Are you crying?” I ask him. “Y-yes; I…” he stammers as he closes his eyes and Vincent comes forward.
“Isabella, I’m Vincent, Todd’s wolf. Todd needs time alone. He is upset with what has happened. He can be very forceful when he wants something and he wants to show Danny he has changed and isn’t the person he was. Unfortunately, he is more like James then he wants to be and he is struggling with this daily. He is trying to change; seeing his mother and grandmother, he has finally realised his whole life was a lie and he doesn’t know any other way to react. He wants to fix what has happen in the past” Vincent told us.
Isabella’s eyes glaze over for a moment; “did you warn him about the things he was doing?” she asks Vincent, looking at him. “Yes, constantly. He would always ignore me or block me. He asked James what to do and he always told him; he should have conviction to do what is necessary and if I were to tell him otherwise; the only course of action was to barricade me. I know Todd means well with what he does; he was taught otherwise” he answers; “I see” Isabella says, writing in her notepad again.
“You see; what?” Vincent asks, looking at Bella and I start to chuckle to myself. “Vince, that is Isabella’s way of understanding what you are telling her. She writes notes, for us to reflect back on” I explain to him. “I see” he responds, smirking.
“Danny; you may not like what I am about to say. Control your growls and frustration. You and Todd are two sides of the same coin. You both do care for one another and with circumstances out of your control; you both have come to hate one another. With time, you will be able to respond to him without hatred” she tells me and I reel in my frustration.
“He had the control to not hurt me” I tell her, taking in a breath and started my count to 10. “He did; he did not have the control to stop the hatred towards you; for killing your mother and don’t look at me like that. I am not saying you killed her. I am merely telling you what he was told and made to believe. We all know this information was untrue” she says and I narrow my eyes at her.
“I can see Todd behind your eyes, Vincent. Todd, please allow Danny the time to heal” she says to Vincent and Todd comes forward again. “I want to; I don’t know if I can. I was always told to go after the things I want” he explains with a sigh. “There is nothing wrong with going after the things you want. Sometimes, the thing you want most; you will lose by not taking it slowly” Isabella responds and Todd nods his head, back to her.
“I think we can call it a day” Isabella announces as I get out of my chair. “Danny, I will let you reschedule if you both need it” she adds. “I will see how we go. Todd; it’s time for us to leave” I say as Todd gets out of his chair.