Warring Twin Wolves

Chapter Six

Danny's POV:

        I was sitting at the desk in my office, in a deep funk.  It has been a few days since I rejected her, and my brain and my wolf have not given it all a rest.  

        When I ran from her the other night, I realized later that at the time, I had not thought I was running away from her per se, I just needed to leave for her own good.  Well, I had an epiphany soon after I had arrived back home and had calmed down enough to think everything through.  I saw that the truth of it was that I had panicked because I was filled with uncertainty.  

         How could I not have verified what Cindy was saying?  How could I just accuse someone based on circumstantial evidence?  I had been enraged that she wouldn’t answer my questions, but as I thought back on our exchange I had to begrudgingly admit to myself that I would have acted the same way if an angry male was blindly accusing me of things and demanding information he had no right to know.   I was uncertain about, oh pretty much everything I had done the moment I arrived at that dratted party.  I was ashamed because deep down in a place I don’t want to acknowledge at the moment, I know that I messed up big time, and as a future Alpha, I could not afford to make mistakes when it comes to mates and my Luna.  

         Wait, that was the kind of thinking that got me in trouble in the first place!  ‘Actually’, my wolf Damien interjected, ‘your ego and your pride is what got you in trouble this time around'.  I breathed in, and let out a big sigh.  ‘What good does any of this hindsight provide right now?’, I asked him, ‘I condemned and dismissed my true mate without giving her the benefit of the doubt’.  ‘Yes’, he answered, ‘You just could not let your ego stop blinding you, and now your pride is keeping your butt in that chair’.  I guess this is going to continue for quite a few days, everything swirling in my head.  

         There was a knock on the door, and I uttered a very low, “Come in.”.  Cindy came striding into my office with an air of confidence that she should not have right now.  “Hey Danny”, she said in a seductive voice, “I heard you were feeling down.  Is there anything I can do to lift your spirits?”, she finished, while sitting on my desk and bending over enough for me to see her cleavage.  I see she hasn’t learned what I like in a woman.  I rolled my eyes and sat back in my chair, and said, “Cindy get out, or I will throw you out.  I have tried to be nice, but it seems I need to be rude to get through to you.”.  I took in a steadying breath, looked her straight in the eye, and said in a clear voice, “I am not interested, I have mentioned this before, but you haven't heard me, or heeded me, for that matter.  If you come on to me again, you are going to receive punishment doing ALL of the dishes for the day for as long as I feel necessary.”.

           Her eyes grew wide, and said in a panicked voice, “But clean-up duty is for the whole staff.  You would expect me to clean for the whole pack, a job that usually requires three or four kitchen staff members?”.  I didn’t even hesitate.  “Yes”, I answered, and left it at that.  I kept glaring at her until she left and closed the door.  I relaxed against my chair, not feeling the strength or motivation to do much of anything.  

             Jaycie popped her head in, and said, “Do you have a moment?”.  I sighed, and said, “Sure.  Come on in”.  She hesitated, and said, “On second thought,  you don’t seem like you’re in a good mood.  I assume it has something to do with Cindy storming around?”, she said, trying to pry information from me.  I said, “Jaycie, what do you want?”.  She paused, and said, “Um, I’ll just come back later”.  I was losing my temper, and yelled, “Jaycie!  Come in and just tell me what it is that you want!”.  

             She jumped at that but composed herself.  She came into the room quietly and sat on the chair in front of my desk.  She said softly, “My, um, mate is going to come soon with his family to meet you all, and then I am leaving with him.  I need you to be there, big brother.  Please?”, she asked with hope in her eyes. 

             I glowered at my desk until it occurred to me that I was doing it again.  I was putting my feelings and needs before another person.  Am I really that selfish of a person?  I need to make changes to my life.  But how can I be in the same room with the girl that plagued me every minute?  Maybe she won’t come.  But then I would have to endure the looks of contempt from her family.  No, I need to Alpha up and be there to support Jaycie.

             I am so tired of this back and forth in my head.  Actually, it had gotten much worse when Jaycie came home to check if I was okay and tell me about her mate.  She started by checking me for wounds, and then when she found that I hadn’t any physical ailments and was satisfied in that regard, she asked me what happened.  I knew I couldn;t speak at the time without crying, so I just shook my head.  She nodded in understanding, and asked, “Do you want to hear about my mate, or do you want to be left alone?”.  What kind of brother would I have been if I said no?  None of what happened was her fault.  I had given her a faint smile, happy inside that she was so happy, and nodded.  A huge dreamy smile started to spread across her face as she described her evening in great detail.  But when she had mentioned he was the future Alpha of the Dark Moon Pack, my heart clenched in my chest, and my stomach twisted.    

             I heard her talking to me again, but she sounded so far away. I looked over at her and felt confused until I figured I had been too much into my own thoughts and not paying attention.  I was a little embarrassed that I had tuned her out, so I shut my mind to the past for the moment to concentrate on my sister.  

             Jaycie was looking at me, concerned.  “Are you ever going to tell me what happened?”, she asked, with sympathy in her gaze.  I nodded, “But not right now, okay?”.  She said she understood and left.  I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready to talk about it, but I want to tell her.  I’ll tell her before they visit.  Wait, did I miss that information when I zoned out?  Crap, I’ll have to ask her later.  I perked up when a light bulb went on and I got an idea.  I opened my mind link.  ‘Jason, do you know about the details for when Jaycie’s mate will arrive?’.  I waited for his answer, and just as I was going to hail him again, he answered, ‘Yes Future Alpha, they will be arriving here at five tomorrow evening which will signal everyone that it is cocktail hour followed by dinner.  We will enjoy coffee or tea on the veranda after dinner, where the two families are supposed to get to know each other through conversation and perhaps some lawn games.’.  Jason might be a goofball, but when it counts, he is amazingly thorough.  

       I breathed out an exhausted sigh.  I am going to need to clear my mind.  I couldn’t shift into my wolf because I didn’t trust him to not go straight to our mate.  I got up and decided to go on a good old-fashioned walk.  Maybe I could jog through some of it.  My brain started up again as soon as I took my first step.  I am going to have to tell Jaycie everything before the family comes to give their side of the story.  As I continued my walk in nature, I went over everything in my head before I presented it to Jaycie.  When I came out of my thoughts, I saw that I was much farther from the house than I thought.  Well, good thing I wanted to jog on the way back.  

      I got home and went up to my room to take a shower.  Of course, this gave me time to think about everything, yet again.  I tried to think of what I was going to say.  It's hard to admit your shameful acts out loud as any regular person, but when you are an Alpha, confessing your mistakes and shameful behavior is emasculating.  He doesn’t want to show anybody any of his weaknesses, but if there was someone that I had to tell, it would be her.  I know that even though she will yell at me, she will listen first.  

       Jaycie’s door was already open.  I heard her on the phone and stopped in my tracks.  I turned around to go back to my room when my ear picked up my name in the conversation.  Her voice was all dreamy and lovey-dovey, so I knew to whom she was talking.  Oh yeah, then there’s the other thing about werewolf hearing, and how we have excellent hearing up close and far away.  So I could hear Cooper on the opposite line.

Jaycie: What do you want me to do?  This is my brother, and I love him. 

Cooper:  What about my twin sister?  She won’t admit it, but I know just by looking at her how broken she is right now.  She keeps trying to convince people she’s fine, but she’s got dark circles under her eyes, she just stares into space and zones out, she tears up unexpectedly, I could go on and on, Jaycie.  You were there.  She was in so much pain, she passed out, for Pete’s sake.

Jaycie: (Sigh) I know.  I haven’t been able to talk to him about it, but don't think I will tell you about it in any way unless he says I can.  Okay?

Cooper: Fine.  Fine.  I don’t know if Gabby will come if he’s there, but I’ll try to convince her.  And you will ask him why he did that to her, right?

Jaycie: Yes, my love.  Tell Gabby I am excited to plan the Luna ceremony with her.  I miss you so much, and I can’t wait to see you tomorrow and be with you forever.

Cooper: (Gives a little laugh at her cuteness) I love you too, you sexy thing.  I cannot wait to see you tomorrow, take you home, and take you up to our bed, and-

        Danny covered his ears and took a lap outside of the whole house a few times, then came back.  He came into her room. She was off the phone and sitting up in her bed, reading.  I took a deep breath to begin as she looked up expectantly.