CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO || LEE
Afew minutes later, Daniel’s mother muttered a spell under her breath and pressed her hands flat against the backs of the two Henbane men, who were both on their knees side by side, looking halfway to passing out.
Her palms glowed briefly with an angry reddish-purple light.
It looked hungry and alien. Nothing at all like Daniel’s magic.
The effect was immediate. Her husband and her son both sucked in deep breaths and some of the color returned to their faces.
Micah straightened first, pushing himself to his feet and looking visibly steadier.
He held out a hand and, when his father took it, Micah helped him stand.
Ash Henbane, however, had clearly pushed himself to the edge of his capacity.
When he swayed on his feet, Micah slid his father’s arm over his shoulder, half-supporting his weight.
“You did this,” Micah said, his gaze locked onto Daniel’s accusingly. “You ungrateful little piece of—”
“Micah,” Carmellia said, her gaze cutting over to him.
Pursing her lips, she shook her head. Scowling, Daniel’s brother fell silent.
“It’s time to leave,” she added, turning back to Daniel and studying him intently, as though seeing him for the first time.
“I’m not angry with you. None of us are.
We’re impressed. Come home with us, Daniel. ”
Micah shot her a mutinous look but said nothing to contradict her.
“Daniel isn’t going anywhere with you,” Hunter growled.
My twin was standing on the opposite side of our mate, his fingers interlaced with Daniel’s. I held our mate’s other hand.
Daniel stared at his family, the expression on his face hollow and strange, as if seeing them for the first time. But he was okay—physically, at least.
Hunter and I were both okay, too.
With the help of the pack, our mate had saved us.
“He isn’t going anywhere he doesn’t want to,” I said. “We aren’t going to let that happen.”
Carmellia’s lips pressed into a thin frown as she peered at me, as if trying to puzzle me out.
“You can’t possibly want this life,” she said at last, sounding almost exasperated with me.
“You’ve been split into two people and then turned into this thing.
Your entire existence is violence and secrecy!
I am entirely certain you didn’t ask for this. ”
“We didn’t,” Hunter agreed. He glanced over at Daniel and then me. “But we wouldn’t trade it. Neither of us would. We’re happy—for the first time in our entire lives, we’re actually happy. And you damn near took that away from us.”
Carmellia’s frown deepened, but she said nothing.
“Daniel,” Ash said weakly. “We can be a family again. Your mother is right—we’ll forgive this display of foolishness. You were just testing your power, after all.”
“I’m not going with you,” Daniel said. His voice was even, devoid of emotion. There wasn’t even a hint of apology in him and his armor-plated smile was nowhere to be found. “I don’t want you to be my family anymore.”
“But where will you go?” Carmellia demanded, sounding bewildered. “You can’t possibly stay with the wolves!”
“That’s exactly where he’s going to stay,” Lacey cut in, glaring her down. “For as long as he wants. He’s one of us now.”
Micah stared at her, too shocked by her words to get angry. “You can’t be serious! You’re wolves. He’ll never be one of you! Not really.”
“Daniel will always have a home with us,” Reed said firmly. “He’s pack.”
Harris added, “And we will fight for pack. To the death, if necessary.”
Daniel’s brother went paler as that sank in.
Between Harris’s words and the glowing gold eyes from both of our alphas, it probably sold the fact that we were all willing to do whatever it took to protect Daniel.
And it also probably occurred to him—to all of them, if they were smart—that they were outnumbered and outclassed.
Not only could they barely stand, much less pull off any major castings, but the moon was fully in the sky overhead.
Everyone in the pack could shift now, and then, weakened as the Henbanes were, the fight would pretty much be over before it started.
“Very well,” Carmellia said tightly. “We will leave.”
Ash tilted his head to the side, his gaze on Rowan. “It’s time to go.”
Rowan, who was standing with the pack, shook her head. “I—I don’t want to.”
“You what?”
“I don’t even know who you are anymore!”
“We’re your family,” Ash replied, his expression storming over. “Rowan, don’t be silly. Come with us.”
“No. Daniel is my family! I’m staying with him.”
“No, Ash. Let her go,” Carmellia said flatly.
Her lips twisted in disgust as she gave her daughter a once-over, her eyes glittering with malice.
“You’ve always been beneath us—the weakest of the Henbanes.
Even more so than your brother. We don’t need a traitor in our home, breathing our air, undermining us. ” She sneered. “You’re dead to me.”
Rowan sucked in a ragged breath, her expression crumpling.
Lacey, who was standing next to Rowan, shot her a sharp look and put her hand on the witch’s shoulder, steadying her.
Then she turned back to Carmellia, and her eyes flashed, gleaming and animalistic.
“Get out of here,” she growled dangerously.
“Before we change our minds and rip you apart. And don’t ever come back. ”
“Leave my journal,” Daniel added, his tone colder than I’d ever heard it. “It’s mine. It doesn’t belong to you.”
Carmellia snorted at that, but when she saw that Daniel was deadly serious, she slammed it shut and tossed it to the ground.
She stared down at it for a moment, her lips pursed.
Then her gaze slid back to Daniel and something in it softened slightly.
Addressing him directly, she said, “If at any point you wish to come home, our door is always open to you. You’ve proven your mettle tonight.
Once this—” She gestured at the pack, before continuing, “is out of your system, we can be a family again.”
With that, she turned to her husband and her other son, ushering them away from us.
Daniel strode forward and bent down to snatch his journal from the ground. He stood again and tucked it under his arm.
“I renounce you,” he called out, his gaze locked on Carmellia’s retreating back.
She froze and then, very slowly, turned to face him. The expression on her face went wooden and blank with shock. Her lips parted and her eyebrows rose.
“No, son,” she said, shaking her head. “Don’t.”
“I’m no longer a Henbane,” Daniel said flatly.
A crackle of magic filled the air around him, turning his words into a spell.
“Your magic is your own and mine belongs to me. From this day forward, I’m Daniel of the Crescent Springs pack.
I’m a warlock and a spellcaster, but I will never be your son again and I am no longer a Henbane.
I renounce everything to do with you. You three aren’t my family anymore and you have no claim over me or my magic.
” He shot his sister a fierce look. “The only one who does is Rowan.”
Total, shocked silence met his statement.
Then Daniel’s voice sharpened dangerously, his eyes reflecting the light of the moon, just like a wolf’s. “Don’t return here, Carmellia. Or the pack will kill you. And I’ll help them do it.”
The magic—a pulsing wave of golden light—flowed into his words, illuminating pale white threads between him and the other three Henbanes facing us. Then the threads broke and vanished into nothing.
The fight went out of Carmellia and she sagged, her expression cracking right down the middle. After staring at Daniel for a long moment with naked anguish on her face, she turned and ushered her remaining family out of the forest.
We watched them go. All of us together. As one. As pack.
* * *
We returned to the commune. Rowan cried without a sound, tears streaming down her face as we walked. Apparently that was a family trait she shared with our mate.
“You can stay with me tonight,” Daniel told her, shooting Hunter and me a furtive look, as if testing the waters. I couldn’t say I blamed him—we hadn’t actually talked anything out yet. “You shouldn’t be alone right now.”
“No.” Rowan shook her head. “You should be with them. And, anyway, I’m not sad.”
Daniel’s brows slid together in confusion. “Are you crying happy tears?”
“It’s a mix, I think. I feel a little overwhelmed. I think I just want to be alone tonight.”
Our mate hesitated, but nodded. “Whatever you need, okay?”
She flashed him a watery smile. “Thanks.”
“We need to talk anyway,” Hunter said.
His voice was still a little rough, but I was surprised it wasn’t worse—for him or for me. The spell the Henbane family had attempted to cast on us had been extremely painful. Probably because we’d been resisting it so strongly, but that was just a guess.
Hunter’s eyes locked onto Daniel’s meaningfully.
Our mate went paler and he nodded. Then he turned back to his sister. “Use my cabin.” Then he paused and shot Reed and Harris a questioning look. “That is, if she’s welcome? At least to stay for a little while?”
“Of course she is,” Reed said immediately. His gaze slid from Daniel to Rowan, addressing her directly. “You’re welcome to stay with us as long as you want to. You did the right thing tonight. I’m sorry it cost you so much.”
“It didn’t cost me anything,” Rowan said firmly, wiping away her tears. She sucked in a deep breath, defiance flashing in her eyes. “I’d do it again. It freed me.”
The alphas both looked vaguely impressed at her words.
Reed nodded at her slowly. “Yes. It did.”
Lacey, who was walking beside Rowan, perfectly in step with her, smiled at that. It was slow and filled with an odd amount of pride, given that she’d just met the witch tonight.
She shot Rowan a shy look but said nothing.
Rowan didn’t seem to notice. But I suspected she would notice Lacey soon enough, once the dust had fully settled.
She went into Daniel’s cabin and Hunter and I led the way to ours, with Daniel between us. I could hear his heart beating faster.