28. Riley

Chapter 28

Riley

A s Danny let us through the third round of security fencing, typing in yet another impossibly long code, I didn't need to ask whose house this was. "I'm amazed Sebastian's letting us stay here."

"It's only because it's you," Danny said, pulling up outside a bungalow. "Matty insisted he give you the very best in his portfolio."

I studied the house more closely, deciding Sebastian must've done just that. It looked more like a bunker than a home. Knowing Sebastian, that's exactly what it was. Thick steel grates covered every window while countless cameras monitored our movements.

All of the properties we'd stayed at over the past ten days had had some degree of protection, but Sebastian's place took it to a whole new level. In addition to all the human technology we'd passed, Danny had also told me it had been warded by Sebastian, Ferry, and Harlow. Once he'd added his round of wards, as he did at every place we stayed, it should have been near impenetrable.

It settled some of the anxiety we were both carrying. With less than thirty miles between us and Danny's clan, this was the riskiest stop. We should've been there already, but Finlay had faced a delay. There'd been another fight between the two alphas that had required his diplomacy skills. His plane was due in tonight though.

All we needed to do was survive the night, then we'd be heading that way too.

And hoping our welcome was warmer than the one Danny was expecting.

Things between us were…odd. We'd continued hooking up since that first morning, exchanging hand jobs and blow jobs. Danny had even rimmed me over the kitchen counter in Mori's safe house on one memorable evening.

I hadn't let him inside me though. I didn't know why, but my brain had decided that if we didn't do that, we weren't having full sex.

Yeah, it was ridiculous. Penetration didn't equal sex, I knew that. But if this loophole meant I could continue having orgasms with Danny without beating myself up about it, then I was going to take it.

Considering we were effectively on the run, it had been a peaceful trip. We'd travelled between houses, listening to dance track playlists and reminiscing about all our night's out at The Closet over the years. Then, after settling in at each new place, we'd whiled away the hours gaming or bingeing shitty action films.

In a way, we were closer than we'd ever been before. We'd always spent an inordinate amount of time together, but usually we had other commitments dragging us away from each other. Now, there was nothing stopping us spending every second together.

And I couldn't lie, I fucking loved it. Why wouldn't I? Danny had been my favourite person in the world since I'd first met him. Getting his undivided attention was what I imagined Heaven to feel like.

Tomorrow though, this would all come to an end. Danny would have a clan to run, and I'd eventually have to give him a clear answer about our future.

I mean, it was a bit of a moot point. There was only one way for us to go, I just had to summon some fucking courage and allow myself to do it. To trust that Danny would always love me. That he wouldn't abandon me and leave my heart in tatters. That he didn't believe there was someone else out there better for him than me.

I was almost there. At least, I hoped I was. Danny tried to hide it from me, but there was no denying that this whole thing was hurting him. He was being respectful of my feelings, never pushing me to declare myself, but I could feel how much he wanted it. How he yearned for me to say the words.

With that, and the knowledge of what tomorrow would bring, Danny's mood was dark as we settled into the bungalow. It was sparsely furnished, with nothing more than a bed, a small kitchenette, and a table with two chairs. It wasn't even carpeted, hard concrete beneath our feet. Thankfully there was a TV and, if you were being generous, I guess you could call the rickety looking love seat a sofa.

I let out a low whistle as I surveyed the space. "Guess Sebastian's never brought Matty here."

"Think this is his end of the world place. If he brings Matty here, we all better be hunkering down somewhere."

Danny's face was tight, and I knew it had nothing to do with the house, and everything to do with tomorrow. "Why don't you go set the wards while I put the pizzas in?"

He nodded, kissing my forehead distractedly. "Okay. Might shift for a bit too."

"That's a great idea. Run off some of this tension."

Danny cringed, rubbing his chin. "Guess I can't really hide it from you now we're bonded."

I gave him a pointed look, lifting the bag that had the food in. "Hun, I hate to break this to you, but I don't need the bond to know when you're stressed. It's written all over your face."

He shifted on his feet. "No one else can tell."

"Well I'm not them, I'm me." I turned the oven on to preheat before facing him again. "Above everything else, I'm your best friend. And as your bestie, I know you're worried. So go set the wards, shift, run, then come back and eat. Then, if you've been a good boy, I'll give you a blowjob."

Some of the tension leeched out of him as he barked out a laugh. "That, princess, is a fucking marvellous plan."

S everal hours and one blowjob later, Danny was finally relaxed. We'd gamed for a while before laughing our way through The Core . Danny's head was in my lap while I played with his hair. He was laughing about the climax of the movie. "I mean, seriously, whales?"

"They are very intelligent."

Danny's shoulders shook. "Fucking brilliant, honestly. What do you want to do now? Another film? Or should we hit the sack?"

I braced myself to ask the question I couldn't put off any longer. Danny was as relaxed as he could possibly be, but I knew it wasn't going to make this any easier. "Actually, I think we should talk about September."

Danny sighed, his mood souring instantly. "You're right. Guess we can't put this off any longer."

"I'm sorry." I stroked his hair comfortingly. "I don't want to push, but…"

"No, you're right." He lifted the hand not in his hair and kissed my palm. "You need to know before we get there. To be honest, maybe it'll be a relief for you to know."

"Hopefully. Either way, it won't change anything between us."

"I know." He smiled briefly. "I'm not worried about that. I just…it's been so long since I've spoken about them that I'm not sure where to start."

I think I knew where. "Them?"

Danny inhaled sharply, sitting up. He got to his feet, extending a hand to me. "Come on, let's do this outside. I might need the space to shift or go for a run once we're done."

"Of course. Whatever makes this easier."

He led the way outside. You couldn't call it a garden, it was just a fenced-off section of woodland. Danny went to the fence line, unlocked the gate and propped it open, presumably so he could make a speedy exit if needed.

My sense of foreboding increased. I already knew that what he was going to tell me would be devastating, but seeing the precautions he was taking made it worse. He was worried he might lose control. That talking about it would be so damaging that he wouldn't be able to cope. That his wolf might take over whether he wanted it or not.

His wolf wouldn't hurt me, we both knew that. But it was important that he had the space to run. To work it out of his system before he came back to me.

Danny went over to a tree stump and sat down. He patted his lap. "Think you could straddle me, Ry? Might make it easier if I'm holding you."

I was there before he even finished his sentence, sliding into place. His arms wrapped around me, his hand encouraging my head to lean on his shoulder. My heart cracked when I realised Danny needed me close, but also wouldn't be able to get through this if I was looking at him.

"It's okay, Danny," I whispered, stroking his back. I tightened my thighs around his waist, literally clinging to him. "I'm here. Take all the time you need."

Minutes ticked by as we held each other. Eventually Danny spoke.

"Her name was Sarah."

My breath caught, not from jealousy, but from the pain that lanced through the bond with those words.

"Before we met, love and relationships weren't at the forefront of my mind. I was completely focused on my role as leader. I'd been in charge of the clan for almost two centuries, but I was still considered young. The old alpha had been killed suddenly by a clan of jaguar shifters, meaning I took up the mantle way before any of us were expecting me to."

"Were you related to him? The old alpha?"

"No," Danny said. "It doesn't work like that. There's no way of knowing who the next alpha will be until they're born. We can tell when a shifter is just a pup what their designation is. It helps succession, you see. If an alpha can't produce an heir for any reason, it won't matter. The clan will be safe as there will always be an alpha born to someone . Fuck knows how it works. Fate or some bollocks, I guess.

"Anyway, life was just ticking along when we were contacted by the Tully Clan. Their leadership was being challenged by the same group of jaguar shifters we'd driven from our borders two centuries before. The Tullys asked for our protection."

"And you gave it to them?"

Danny sighed. "If it had been down to me, I would've, but the council of elders refused to allow it without something in exchange. Something that would guarantee their loyalty to us in future."

He'd mentioned the council before, but I wasn't clear on who they were. "Why did you have a council if you were the leader?"

"All clans do. Generally made up of older members of the clan, they're there to advise the alpha and offer support," Danny said. "Mine, however, were…controlling. I didn't quite realise it at the time, but looking back, I allowed them too many freedoms. I listened to their advice believing they had the good of the clan at heart. Reflecting on it, I can see how self-serving they were being. Our clan was, and still is, the most powerful in all of Europe, and the council members enjoyed reaping the benefits of that."

"They sound like a bunch of cunts."

Danny huffed. "That's an understatement."

"What did they want in exchange?"

"They wanted to ensure the Tullys wouldn't betray us, that they'd pledge fealty to our clan and come to our aid if we called. More than anything, they wanted a guarantee that they wouldn't use our protection to gain strength themselves, then use that to take our land for their own."

"How on earth could they guarantee that?"

I heard Danny's throat click as he swallowed. "By having the only beloved daughter of the Tullys' alpha marry into our clan."

My hands froze on Danny's back. "Into your clan…by marrying you, I take it?"

"Yes. I protested it at first. How could I marry someone I didn't love? They persuaded me eventually though, arguing that it was for the good of the clan."

"Couldn't they have married anyone? Why'd it have to be you?"

"Because I was the leader. I mean, it made sense, political alliances have been forged this way for thousands of years." Danny sighed heavily. "I should've known there was a more nefarious reason though. Even then, there were members of the council plotting my demise."

"Why?"

"You know, I've had a long time to ponder that question," Danny mused. "I think it's because my parents weren't born into the clan."

"They weren't?"

Danny shook his head. "No, they were born into warring factions. They met in the forest and fell in love without even realising they were supposed to be enemies. When they learned the truth, it was too late. They were in too deep. Their love was too great to risk."

"What did they do?"

"They ran. They went from clan to clan, until eventually, the McCarthy Clan begrudgingly offered them a home. My mother was a skilled healer, and their former physician had died not long before. Her knowledge and willingness to help secured them a place. Still, they were treated as outsiders, always living on the outskirts of clan life. Maybe one day they would've been fully accepted, but then the unthinkable happened."

I couldn't believe I'd never heard any of this before. I knew Danny's parents had been killed centuries ago, by jaguar shifters no less, but he'd never told me about their background. "What happened?"

"They had me," he said simply. "The first alpha born within the McCarthy Clan in two centuries. Given the only alpha there was the leader, it was monumental. They'd gone from just being tolerated by the others to being the parents of the next heir of the clan."

"Wasn't that a good thing?"

"You'd hope so, but no. Many thought that, as neither of them could claim any McCarthy lineage, I shouldn't be considered as the next successor. But as years passed with no more alphas born to the clan, they had little choice in the matter."

"So, basically, you were leader of the clan, but the council thought you didn't have the right to the job?"

"Yup. That's it in a nutshell."

"Why not just oust you from power?"

"Because a clan without an alpha as leader is seen as weak. Easy prey for neighbouring clans."

My brow furrowed. "Why'd they let you leave then? They've not had an alpha all this time."

"That'll become clear later," Danny said, squeezing my thighs. "But to cut a long story short, they didn't have a choice. It was either let me go, or I'd erase the clan from the face of the earth."

A shudder went through me. Whatever had happened to make him go from the leader of the clan to wanting to end them all must've been catastrophic.

"Because of the deal I made with the council elders, they've been able to hold that over the head of the other clans. Their argument has been that they aren't weak, because I'll return to them once I'd taken a mate."

"That can't have been enough," I said in disbelief. "You weren't ever planning on taking a mate. What if you'd never gone back? Surely someone would've attacked regardless."

"Oh, for sure," Danny agreed. "But they have Finlay. He might not be an alpha, but he's almost as powerful as one. Unlike me, he can trace his lineage back through the McCarthy Clan for thousands of years. No one would dare test them, not with him at the helm. His brother, Calan, is just as lethal. The two of them and Logan, another beta, are a force to be reckoned with. It was part of the reason why I was able to walk away so easily—I knew those I cared about would be safe in their hands."

"They sound really special."

"They are. Finlay especially. We grew up together, the two of us. Came of age at the same time and, when I became leader of the clan, it was with Finlay at my side."

"How did he feel when the marriage was proposed?"

"He was furious, much like I was. But it didn't last long, not for either of us."

"What changed?"

"We met Sarah," he said simply. "From those first moments, we both knew how special she was. She swept in on a wave of light that blew everyone away. It didn't matter what role they held in the clan, Sarah greeted them all with the same care and consideration. She was one of those rare people in the world who are good. Just genuinely good. I fell for her almost immediately. I went from protesting against the match to trying to move the date closer.

"I was lucky. We were lucky. An arranged match rarely ends in happiness, let alone love, but that was the case for us. We loved each other desperately. She became my everything, and I was the same for her."

The bittersweet warmth that surged through the bond had me holding Danny tighter. I knew this story didn't end happily.

"We were married within the week, and, within the month, Sarah was with child. Our daughter, Maria, was born before the year was out."

Horror prickled at my skin. A daughter. Danny had had a daughter . It was her name inked across his chest. All this time, we'd assumed it was a past relationship that had ended painfully.

Oh, god.

I clung to Danny, forcing my voice to be steady even as tears started to fall. "Maria is a beautiful name."

"Yes." Danny's voice was similarly choked. "A beautiful name for a beautiful soul. You would've loved her, Ry. She was like Matty—full of sunshine. Everyone in the clan fell in love with her. Well, most people."

Danny's bones started to creak beneath me. I clung tighter to him, like it might be enough to hold him together through the rest of the story.

"Just before Maria's first birthday, we got news that the jaguar clan had attacked the Tully lands. Having granted them our protection, we hurried there immediately. Finlay was abroad, but Calan and Logan went with me. "

Hot tears hit my neck. "We knew there was a chance we could be walking into a trap. My betas had been concerned for a while that the council were planning something. I wasn't worried though—I knew my powers and skills far outstripped even the most dangerous council member.

"If we'd known the trap wasn't there—" Danny's voice cracked. "—we never would've left, Ry. You have to know that."

"I know that," I said fiercely, anger rising to mix with my grief. "You would've stayed to protect them . You would've died for them, Danny. I know that, and I bet Sarah did too."

"She shouldn't have died. It wasn't supposed to be her and Maria. It was meant to be me."

He disintegrated against me as sobs wracked him. He wept as he did every September, in the home I now knew he'd shared with Sarah, his wife.

With Maria. His daughter.

I'd always known that whatever Danny had gone through must have been traumatic. I'd been in that cabin with him. I'd seen the abandoned home and the dusty rag doll. But my brain hadn't prepared me for this.

How could it have? It was a horror that was unimaginable.

"You don't have to tell me the rest," I murmured, stroking his back soothingly. "I can figure it out."

Danny shook his head against my neck. "No, I need to. I need to tell you everything, and then it's done."

I closed my eyes, desperately wishing I could do something to take the pain away from him. I wasn't jealous of the love he'd had with Sarah, or the life he'd shared with her.

No, I wasn't jealous. I was furious. Furious that it had been taken from him. That he'd found such happiness only to have it snatched away. That he'd spent decades alone since, because he hadn't wanted to go back to that place. To live amongst the memories he'd tried so hard to forget.

"When we got to the Tully lands, it was obvious it was a setup. There'd been no attack. Most of the clan seemed confused to see us."

My brow furrowed. "Most of them?"

"A few council members were behaving oddly. Smug, almost. But it wasn't until we were leaving that we realised the full nature of what we were facing. The clan invited us to stay a few hours, to have food before making the return journey. Calan and I were suspicious though, our instincts warning us that something was wrong.

"And we were right." Danny's voice turned as dark as the night wrapping around us. "Before the meal was served, a wolf burst from a hut, blood dripping from her maw. I'd never seen her in that form before, but I knew it was Sarah's mother. It was Lydia.

"Several of the clan shifted, trying to stop her getting to us. Lydia fought desperately, not letting any of them slow her down. When I realised what was happening, I commanded them to stop and let her through."

"And they listened?"

Danny gave a dark chuckle, no humour in it. "They had no choice. When an alpha speaks using his powers, everyone must follow his command. They are forced to submit.

"Lydia shifted back into human form as she reached us. She was hysterical, begging us to return to the clan. To save Sarah."

Danny was trembling again, like his whole being was coming apart at the seams. I grabbed onto my forearms, holding him together with everything I had. "The Tully Clan had been conspiring with my council since the start. They wanted protection, and my clan wanted rid of me. The marriage had been a ruse, something to throw me off the scent while the true plan played out."

"And Sarah didn't know?" I knew the answer before Danny gave it. He wouldn't speak of her the way he did if she'd betrayed him.

"No. Sarah wouldn't have wanted to be a part of it. Both she and her mother believed and trusted our elders…just as I had. When Lydia discovered the plan, she tried to put a stop to it. When she couldn't, she tried to get word to me, to leave the clan before I could and warn me of what was coming.

"Lydia's husband was a ruthless man. He resented her for her power, and wanted it for his own. Conspiring with the council was his way of trying to take control from her."

"Wait, Sarah's mother was the alpha?"

"Yes. She still is, as a matter of fact."

"Why couldn't she command them to stop whatever had been planned?"

"She tried, but it was too late. It was already in motion. Before she could escape, she was overpowered by the council. They knocked her unconscious before she could command them to let her pass. They locked her in the basement like a mutt, keeping her trapped so she couldn't warn us."

"But she escaped."

"She did. When she came around, she bided her time carefully. She waited until she heard our arrival before fighting her way out. It cost her almost every ounce of power and strength, but she did it. And once I caught her in my arms, she told me everything."

"The Tullys had sent word of an attack to lure me there. Meanwhile, my council had told the jaguar clan of my absence. They instructed the jaguars to hold my wife and child hostage. The plan was supposed to be that with those I was bound to protect held hostage, I'd have no choice but to hand my powers over."

I worked through that sentence in my mind, grim horror deepening as I reached the answer. "By letting them execute you."

"Yes." There was no emotion in Danny's voice now, like he was distancing himself from the memories. "Even before I fell in love with her, they knew it'd work. I'm nothing if not loyal, Ry. You know that. The moment I took her as my wife, I accepted that I'd hand over my immortality to protect her."

"I know. I know, baby."

"Lydia didn't trust the jaguars," he continued. "She knew they'd do anything to weaken either tribe. She saw what the two councils combined could not."

"What was that?"

"That removing me from power would give our clans a level of power and control hitherto unseen. Why would the jaguars allow that to happen?"

"They wouldn't. They'd want to weaken the clans, not strengthen them."

"Exactly," Danny said, choking on his next words. "And that's what they did by murdering both Sarah and Maria before we could return."