Chapter 15 Saxon
I SPIED ON Danny. Of course I did. I had to know how he was doing.
I missed him. And for what? Nothing happened. I waited. Hours. Days. A week. But nothing came for me. No Fae warriors. No assassins. And no demons. And nothing came for Danny either.
I had given him up. For nothing.
My mother called. My aunt called. My father even called from his home in Poland. I didn’t respond to any of them. I was not interested in being a pawn for the Fae.
My brother didn’t call. He barged into my office. “So that’s it. You’re done with us?” my brother asked.
I had made no move to formally withdraw from our clan. I didn’t have the energy. “Get out,” I said. “If you show up again without calling, I’ll have you barred from the premises.”
I didn’t stick around to see his sputtering face. This situation wasn’t my brother’s fault. But the lines were drawn now, and he’d sided with the Fae.
I left the club and went back to the university to keep tabs on Danny. He didn’t withdraw from his life. For the last week I’d watched him as he went to class. He kept his routine. He studied. He saw his friends. But the spark in his eyes was dimmed.
I wedged myself behind a column as I watched him from afar. Near the bookstore, an Alpha opened a door for him. Danny flinched away from him and fled to the library. I wanted to comfort him. But he wouldn’t accept it. Not now.
I froze as I caught a familiar scent. Someone had gotten close to me. Shit. I’d let down my guard. No one had ever snuck up on me like this before. I spun around.
It was Hollis. Danny’s brother.
Was Danny in trouble? I”d just seen him, only seconds before. “Is Danny okay?” I asked.
Hollis just stood there, glaring at me, arms crossed over his chest. Hollis was Danny’s brother, the one with the vampire mate. And he was pregnant.
“Your vampire won’t like it that you’re speaking to me alone,” I said.
Hollis rolled his eyes. “Shut the fuck up. Luke isn’t my boss. He’s not going to attack you.”
Hollis might believe that. But I knew the truth. Humans would never understand how we felt. The level of possession that rippled through our veins would never make sense to them. A vampire could not best me, but I preferred not to engage with Danny”s family members.
“Everyone else wants to tiptoe around you because you saved Haven and his mate,” Hollis said. “And while I am beyond grateful for that, I am sick of your shit. I want to know how you’re going to fix this,” Hollis said.
Right. Danny had told me that Hollis had looked out for all of them. Their self-appointed keeper, from preschool until now. He’d told me about the gap it had left in their home when Hollis moved out.
I didn’t want to upset this omega, who was clearly pregnant. I snuck a glance down at his rounded stomach. I didn”t want to raise a child, not in this world, not as Fae. But the idea of Danny carrying my child… My throat stung.
Get a grip. Your grief has no place here.
“Leaving Danny alone is fixing it,” I said.
“You’re wrong,” Hollis spat. “You may be older. You might think you know everything. But you don’t. If you think this is helping Danny, then you’re wrong.”
Hollis didn’t understand. He didn’t know what my life was like. He didn’t know anything about the Fae. And hopefully he never would. “How is he?” I asked. I had to know.
“So now you care?”
I’ve always cared.
“He’s horrible,” Hollis said. “He finally, for the first time in his entire life, let his guard down. For you. For a Fae. Not for just any sugar daddy, but the one who owns the freaking club. And not just that, for an Alpha. Do you know what that was like for him? Do you realize how hard it is for him to trust anyone, let alone an Alpha?”
I did know. Or I’d thought I had.
“And you just took that trust and ground it into nothing.” Hollis pressed his fingertips against my chest. This omega was brave, I would give him that. “And now he’ll never trust another Alpha again.” Hollis pushed his hand against my chest, just a little. “Thanks to you.”
Had I ruined his life? Danny was sensitive and fragile, but he was also tough. But it was true that he was scared of Alphas. I’d seen him flinch too many times not to notice. He’d cringed away from the pilot on my plane, the bookstore owner in England, and the man skating next to us, who came too close. And even the Alpha today, near the bookstore. “He’s really not doing well?”
“No, you piece of shit. He’s not.” Hollis pulled his hand off my chest, but he didn’t move. Instead he pointed at me. “Danny is sweet. He’s reserved. In addition to everything else, you have no idea what it took for him to ask you for help. So don’t be an asshole.”
He glared at me one last time, then turned and left.
I tried to ignore what Hollis had said. But it was impossible.
And as the days passed, and nothing happened with the Fae, I resolved that I would make things right with Danny. If he would let me.
The next day I went through my usual routine: check on my club, then hit the university to spy on Danny. He was outside, eating lunch at a picnic table with one of his brothers. I was pretty sure it was Cason.
But this time, I wasn’t sneaky enough.
Cason saw me. He leaned down to whisper something to Danny. He stood, shoving his way back from the table. “I’ll get rid of him,” he said out loud.
“No,” Danny said, climbing off the bench. “Let me handle it.”
Danny’s hands shook as he approached me. I had done that. Me. I was the one who’d made him this upset.
“Why are you here?” he asked. His voice trembled, but not a lot.
“I was watching you,” I said. There was no point in lying.
His face paled. “Why? Haven’t you hurt me enough?”
“Danny. I never wanted to hurt you.”
He huffed. “Sure seemed like you did.” He averted his eyes and focused somewhere over my shoulder. “Please leave. If you don’t, Cason will call the campus security. I know they can’t actually make you do anything, but please, as a favor to me, just go. And don’t come back.”
“I can’t do that,” I said. I was going to get him back.