Chapter 78

Claudia’s POV
“Jesse, has Danny unbarricaded himself yet?” I ask him. Danny withdrew himself the moment we got back from the impromptu meeting we had with Selene, Hecate, Apollo, Artio and Bastet. He said he needed time to process some things.
“No, Honey Cakes. I am getting worried about him” he tells me. “Mandy says he is fine; she won’t let me see him or talk to him. She says it’s not an emergency. He’s missing out on Sophia’s first crawl” I tell him. “If you can call it a crawl; she’s more like a turtle moving around on the floor” he laughs, looking at Sophia.
“Jesse, any sign of Danny?” Todd asks, opening up the door and poking his head around it. “Not yet and how many times do I have to tell you; knock! I could have been having sex with Claudia” he shouts at him. “Sorry” he says and knocks on the door, before coming in.
“Sophia’s crawling?” Todd asks excitedly. He is trying to be an active uncle since we got back also. “Yes, she started this morning” I tell him.
“Is there something more you wanted?” I ask Todd, who has picked up Jerry. “No; I was hoping to see Danny. I’ll come back later” he moans, walking towards the door. “Todd; don’t be down on yourself. He is dealing with conflicted emotions; it’s a good thing” Jesse says and Todd turns to look at him. “Conflicted emotions, I caused” he says, frowning at him.
“As soon as he comes back, we will call you” I tell him and he shuffles out of the room, with his head down.
“How about we go for a walk, Honey Cakes? Get some fresh air” Jesse tells me. “Is this because the snow has disappeared?” I ask him, letting off a small giggle. “The sun is shining and the snow has finally gone; bring on Spring” he smirks at me. “You get the stroller and I will get Sophia ready” I tell him as a knock comes on the door.
“Come in, if you’re ugly” Jesse calls out and Mum and Dad walk through the door. “How many times do I have to tell you; don’t say that, Jesse” Mum fumes at him and I hide my giggles behind Sophia. “And stop laughing Claudia; I can see your shoulders moving” she adds.
“Still no sign of Danny; it’s been three days” Dad says, looking worried. “I told you what happened, Dad. I can understand why he needs some space; having someone who hurt you for many years, say they love you. I would do the same if it were me” I tell him.
“Has Mandy seen him?” he asks; looking into my eyes, trying to see her. “Yes; a few times. She said he was fine; she won’t tell me anything else” I tell him, sounding more annoyed than I wanted to. “We need to be patient; he will come back when he is ready” Mum says, taking Sophia out of my arms.
“We were just going for a walk; did you want to join us?” Jesse asks them. “A walk would be good” Mum says, putting Sophia in her stroller and we all head out the door.
“No Danny?” Jason calls out. “No; will everyone stop asking me. I will tell you all when he gets back” Jesse says, raising his voice. “Sorry; I was just asking” Jason grunts and Jesse drops his head slightly, for raising his voice. It must be frustrating all we ask him lately if Danny has returned. “I’m just as worried as the rest of you” Jesse answers, lowering his voice to a normal level.
**“Danny says he misses you and wants me to give you a kiss; since I can’t, I can only tell you he wanted me to do”** Mandy says, coming forward in my mind. **“I miss him too. Do you know when he will be coming back?”** I ask her. **“No clue, I am just checking up on him. He is fine”** she tells me again.
I let out a sigh as we walk out of the packhouse. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?” Dad asks me, looking at my frustrated frown. “Mandy just said Danny misses me and is fine; yet again” I tell him, sighing again. “We can only wait; it won’t be long and he will be back.” “Of course, it won’t be long” Danny exclaims to Dad’s comment, grinning.
“Danny” I scream, jumping into his outstretched arms. “I’ve missed you too; Snow Blossom” he says giving me a kiss. “Todd has been coming over to our room, at least 6 times a day” I tell him. “Mandy was saying. I needed time to figure out how I feel about him. I think I am ok with what he said” “And I mean it, little brother” Todd says, coming up behind us.
“I still haven’t forgiven you; that will still take time. I am happy we can start afresh and become brothers. We never got a chance to” Danny tells him. “I am happy we can too” Todd answers, smiling at him.
“Oh; Bella is dying to talk to you Claudia. She was thrilled she finally got a chance to see the sanctuary; although she wasn’t happy it happened at 10pm. I had to wake her up when she got there” Danny laughs.
“You’ve been talking to Isabella?” Dad asks him. “I had to; it was the first time she didn’t have a notepad to write on. She said she felt lost. But we talked about how I was feeling and helped me put it into perspective. I have had conflicted feelings about Todd for a while now. I needed someone neutral to help me” he informs us.
“You are sounding more relaxed and I am happy you are back. If you need me to take Sophia, so the pair of you can have alone time; I am happy to” Mum tells us. “Yes; that…” “Hang on; before you do; Sophia has something to show you” I say, interrupting Danny. “What is it?” Danny asks me as I get her out of her stroller and hand her to Danny.
“You are going to love this; Danny” Todd says, smiling as I pull the baby blanket out of her bag and put it on the ground. I put Sophia on top of the blanket. “She isn’t…” “Wait; she will” I say to him and she moves her arms and legs across the ground. “She’s crawling?” Dad asks me. “Oh, my, Goddess; she’s on the move. We need to baby proof the cupboards and corners of the tables. We can’t have her falling into everything” Danny exclaims.
“Slow down; she’s only started the combat crawl. It won’t be long before she’s walking; but you still have a while to go yet. I will help you with the baby proofing in a few days. You and Claudia go spend some time together” Dad injects, letting off a small chuckle and picking Sophia up off the ground and places her back into her stroller as mum grabs the blanket.
“Shall we?” Danny asks, putting his elbow out for me to grab it. “We shall” I say; looping my arm through his and we head back to the packhouse.
“Alpha Todd” Connor calls out, running over to where we were. “You were at Danny’s ceremony. You are, who?” Todd asks him. “Connor; Tracey’s adoptive brother. Jason and Tracey asked me to come and get you” he answers, looking flustered. “Why?” Todd questions again.
“It’s Luna Joanna…” “What’s wrong with Joanna? Is she hurt?” “Relax for a second and I will tell you. She’s locked in your room; she’s just gone into heat. Tracey is with her and Jason had to pick her up and carry her there running his nitro run; apparently some unmated wolves caught her scent and tried to; um…” “I will kill whoever they were; in 3 days” Todd screams, running back to the packhouse as Danny and I look at one another; losing our composure and double over with laughter.
“I came back in the nick of time; I don’t think I would have liked to hear that, second hand” Danny says, through bouts of laughter.
“Who is Todd going to kill in 3 days?” Mum asks coming over to us, pushing Sophia as Danny and I look at one another and start laughing again. “Whoever tried to mate with Joanna; she’s just gone into heat” I tell her, between giggles. “Oh” Mum says and starts to giggle as well.
“I am going to take this one back to our room. Spend as much time as you need to” Mum says continuing on her way. “Let’s go, Snow Blossom” Danny says to me.
I stop and put my arms around him “I’ve missed you” I tell him, giving him a kiss. “I’ve missed you too” he says, kissing me back. He grabs my hand and we head up to our room and I lock the door.