Chapter 22
By late afternoon, everybody at the Gallagher estate knew about what had happened between Charlotte and Byron.
The news had traveled faster than a California wildfire and caused plenty of damage.
There’d been bad words between the Gallagher siblings and cousins, not to speak of Flora, who seemed particularly annoyed about the development.
Seeing that there would be more arguments among the various groups in the household, Danielle decided not to host a communal dinner.
Instead, she instructed Priscilla to set out various dishes in the kitchen for everybody to help themselves whenever they were hungry.
Priscilla was still her confidant despite the very unequal roles they now inhabited.
It didn’t matter. The same kind of trust and affection remained between them even after Danielle had risen to alpha female of the pack.
“I still can’t believe it,” Danielle murmured.
She and Priscilla were the only ones in the kitchen, and even though Priscilla didn’t want to accept her help, Danielle nevertheless assisted her with the food preparations.
“My sister-in-law and my half-brother? I didn’t see that coming.”
Priscilla cast her a soft smile. “Charlotte is very pretty and just as nice as you. When I changed the sheets for her yesterday, she insisted on helping me. She didn’t treat me like a servant.”
Danielle put her hand on Priscilla’s forearm. “Nobody should treat you like a servant. You’re more than that.”
“Thank you.” Priscilla continued with the preparations. “I’m just saying, she’s pretty and nice; it would surprise me if Byron weren’t attracted to her. I mean, she’s his type.”
“I didn’t know that.”
Priscilla nodded. “Oh, yeah. Heath would sometimes run into him at the bars in town, and he’d always flirt with the same type of girls.” She shrugged. “He can be very charming. Women really like him.”
Danielle raised an eyebrow. “They do?”
Priscilla chuckled. “Well, at least those women who don’t know what he’s like at home. He acts differently when he’s not here.”
“Your brother said that?”
“Yeah. I mean, I don’t see it, probably because I see how he behaves here. As if he has to prove something when he’s home, and when he’s among other people who don’t know the family, he’s nicer.”
Surprised at Priscilla’s analysis, Danielle had to admit that she was probably right. “You might be right. We really only know one side of him, don’t we? I guess that can be said for a lot of people. We all have to portray a certain image.”
“That’s a good way of saying it,” Priscilla agreed, then leaned in. “What do you think will happen now?”
“I don’t know yet. I haven’t had a chance to talk with Jude in private. We all got steamrolled by it. And given that Jude and Byron aren’t exactly… how shall I say?”
“On friendly terms?” Priscilla offered. “Not that he’s on good terms with Eve or Flora right now, either. After that argument today—”
“Stop with your gossiping, you stupid girl!” an angry voice interrupted from the open door.
Priscilla whirled around, and Danielle did the same. It was Flora who now entered the kitchen, her glare directed at Priscilla.
“Flora,” Danielle said in a stern voice, realizing instantly that Flora hadn’t seen her yet.
Immediately, Flora swung her gaze to Danielle and cleared her throat. “Oh, didn’t see you there.”
It didn’t sound like an apology, but she wouldn’t just stand by and let Flora reprimand Priscilla. Flora had done that often enough before Danielle had become Jude’s mate, and she’d thought that it had stopped. Apparently not.
“Priscilla wasn’t gossiping,” Danielle corrected her, lifting her chin high. “Unless there’s something you need, Priscilla and I would like to return to our conversation.”
She could see Flora suppressing an angry retort. To show her that she had no authority over her or Priscilla, Danielle turned back to the counter.
“Priscilla, do you want me to cut the carrots lengthwise?” she asked as if nothing else was more important right now.
A few seconds later, she heard Flora turn on her heel and walk down the corridor out of earshot. Priscilla let an audible breath roll over her lips.
“Oh my God, she looked like she wanted to throttle you,” Priscilla whispered. “You shouldn’t have confronted her.”
Danielle turned to face Priscilla. “Listen, if Flora reprimands you again for anything, anything at all, you tell me right away. It’s not right for her to bully you. Those days are over. You’re my friend, and I won’t let her hurt you just because she needs a scapegoat.”
It was clear to her that Flora was in a bad mood because she believed that Byron sleeping with Charlotte was akin to sleeping with the enemy.
Priscilla nodded. “Thank you. You’re always so good to me.”
“Because you were there for me when I needed you.”
For the rest of the day, Danielle didn’t have another encounter with Flora, and she was glad for it.
She’d most likely withdrawn to her bedroom to lick her proverbial wounds.
It didn’t matter. What was more important right now was Charlotte’s future.
She was glad when it was finally time for bed, because it meant that she and Jude could talk in private.
During the day, they’d only exchanged a few quick words, and she’d noticed how much the events of the day weighed him down.
She knew better than anybody how much he doted on his sister and wanted only the best for her.
When she heard the door to the master suite open and then close, Danielle stepped out of the bathroom, wearing a pink silk negligee. Without a word, he met her halfway and wrapped his arms around her, holding her in a tight hug.
“You wanna talk, my love?” she asked him.
Jude severed the embrace and took her hand as he led her to the loveseat in front of the fireplace. When he sat, he pulled her onto his lap, one arm around her waist, the other on her thighs. She put her arm around his shoulders.
“That was quite unexpected, wasn’t it?” Danielle asked softly.
“That’s an understatement,” Jude sighed. “I don’t know how to make it clear to Charlotte that Byron is bad news. In the end, he’ll only hurt her. She’s making a big mistake. And I can’t let that happen.”
“We all have to make our own mistakes; that’s how we learn and grow.”
“I know that, but I fear that there will be no coming back from that. He’ll break her heart just to get back at me and the Alliance.”
“We don’t know that.” She caressed his shoulders and felt how tense he was.
“I’ve known Byron for a few years, and while he’s not the easiest to get along with, he’s not bad in his core.
All he wants is to be loved and respected.
And while Cameron was alive, he never got that from his father.
He always had to compete with a brother who couldn’t do anything wrong in his father’s eyes.
That’s what made him so stubborn and angry. ”
“Hmm. I get that it can’t have been easy for him, but that doesn’t justify him being an ass.”
“But is he really? Or are we all blind to him, maybe having changed since William was exiled?”
“I don’t know.” Jude let out a deep sigh. “I can’t believe anything he says. He even claims that he didn’t take down the deer and eat its heart.”
“He said that?”
Jude nodded. “When I told him that I don’t want somebody as volatile as him for Charlotte… I pointed out the incident with the deer, and he practically wanted to throttle me. He claims it wasn’t him.”
Danielle contemplated his words. “Maybe it wasn’t.
Byron is many things, but he’s not one to lie easily.
If he really killed that deer, he would be rubbing everybody’s face into it.
He wouldn’t deny what he’s done. Despite everything you know about Byron, he’s not duplicitous.
He’s straightforward: what you see is what you get.
He wears his emotions on his sleeve. That’s what gets him into trouble with everybody. ”
Jude met her gaze. “You really believe that?”
She nodded.
“Even if you’re right that Byron is truly in love with Charlotte, it doesn’t mean that she feels the same.”
Danielle furrowed her forehead. “Why not? You said she told you that she loves him.”
“She might think that, but I believe the reason she is throwing herself at Byron is because she doesn’t want to mate with the man my parents and the Alliance have chosen for her. That’s the whole reason why she’s even here: to hide from my parents.”
“Why didn’t you mention this earlier?”
He stroked his fingers over her cheek. “Because you weren’t feeling well after getting the tattoo. I didn’t want to burden you with it.”
She shook her head. “Jude, you’re not burdening me with this. I’m your partner. You don’t have to carry this by yourself.”
“I’m sorry, baby, I should have known.” He pressed a kiss to her lips. “Forgive me.”
“You’re forgiven. Now, tell me why she doesn’t want the man the Alliance chose for her.”
“She claims he’s violent.”
Her breath hitched. “What did he do to her?”
“Nothing. She only met him once, three days ago, and my parents were with her the entire time. Nothing violent happened. But she claims she can feel that he’s violent.
Now she wants me and Austin to look into him.
She’s sure he’s got skeletons in the closet.
But I know that the Alliance ran a thorough background check on the Leon pack. He’s a good match. He’s the son of—”
Danielle’s heart stopped. “The Leon pack?” she choked out.
“Yes, like I said—”
“Steve Leon?”
She barely had any air left in her lungs after she uttered the name she would never forget. A chill raced through her body, freezing the blood in her veins, and fear crawled up her spine.
Jude stared at Danielle. All color had left her cheeks. Her face looked ashen, as if something had scared her to death.
“You know Steve Leon?”
She swallowed visibly. “I told you about him. The Leon pack is the pack my mother and I joined after my stepfather’s death. The same pack that wanted me to mate with the alpha’s son: Steve Leon.”
“Fuck!” he cursed.
He remembered all too well what Danielle had told him shortly after their mating: that she’d fled from the pack because she knew that mating with the alpha’s son would put her life in danger. Only, she’d never mentioned the name of the pack. This changed everything.
“You have to believe Charlotte,” Danielle urged him.
“She’s right when she senses that Steve is violent and evil.
Because he is. I’ve seen plenty of his cruelty.
You can’t have the Alliance, and your parents force her into this match.
He will brutalize her and eventually kill her. You have to believe me.”
He didn’t even have to think about it. He remembered all too well how scared Danielle had been even talking about Steve Leon. He trusted her judgment one hundred percent.
“I trust you. There’s only one problem.”
“Only one?”
“Yes. In order to convince my parents and the Alliance, I need to tell them what you know about the Leon pack. And that means disclosing your past. I don’t think either of us wants to risk that.
Because once the Alliance starts digging into your allegations about the Leons, they might dig up more than that. ”
Danielle’s eyes widened, and he realized she understood instantly.
“They’ll figure out that I’m a suspect in my stepfather’s murder, and that the police are still looking for me.”
He gave a slow nod. “We can’t risk that.”
It was the reason why he’d created a whole new identity for her. And even though he’d used Werewolf Alliance resources for this particular task, the security around the system to create new identities was so strong that nobody in the Alliance would find out Danielle’s true identity.
“But you can’t let this happen to your sister. Please, you have to save her from him. I could never live with myself if she had to mate with him because I didn’t speak up.”
“I won’t let it happen. I promise you that. I’ll find a different way to make them realize that aligning ourselves with the Leon pack by having Charlotte mate with the alpha’s son is a bad idea.”
“And if you can’t convince them?”
“I will convince them.”
He had to. His sister’s life and happiness were at stake.
“But if you can’t, then we have to tell at least your parents what Steve is really like.”
“If my father knows, then the Alliance knows too. As an elder, he has to tell them. To my knowledge, my father has never kept a secret from the Alliance. And the more people know about your past, the more likely your secret will be leaked to those who will use it against you and me. I haven’t even told Austin, but given the circumstances, I might have to. ”
She nodded, her expression serious. “Tell Austin and Mason. They’re family. You’ll need their help.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. You can’t do this alone. And you need to do it quickly, before your parents find out that Charlotte is here. You haven’t told them yet, have you?”
“No, I wanted to give Charlotte a couple of days to decompress. But my parents aren’t stupid. They probably already guessed that she came to me.”
“That can’t be helped. That’s why you have to act quickly. I’ll give you all the information I have about Steve and the Leon pack. Maybe it will help you find something that makes an alliance with the Leon pack undesirable, and you can present it to the Werewolf Alliance.”
“I’ll do everything in my power.”
Because he couldn’t risk Danielle’s secret coming out.
She had killed her stepfather in self-defense.
But the police would never believe her, because according to Danielle’s own words, she’d torn him to pieces, and evidence at the crime scene had instantly classified her justified kill as murder.
She and her mother had fled the same night.
No jury in the entire country would come back with a not-guilty verdict.
They would see her as a brutal, psychotic murderer who was a danger to society—not as the fiercely loyal daughter who only wanted to save her mother’s life.