Chosen Wolves

4 - I'm Not Going Anywhere

Claudia’s POV

I can’t believe that insufferable, arrogant asshole. The nerve of his torture against Error and then laughing about it. He tortured him for what; being born? That’s ludicrous. A mother will always give her life for her child. I know my mother will do that for me.

I sniffed his scent; maple and vanilla. The fact he still has a scent is a good sign, I’m sure of it. Doctor Elliot said he is very undernourished and needs to be fed via a drip. He was surprised he was able to stand, let alone place a knife through his neck.

“Sweetheart, you need to rest. You have been by Error’s side for over two months now. It can’t help, you are still aggravated by James and Todd’s actions”, Mum said to me from her seat in the corner. "He could probably feel your aggravation through the mate bond."

She can't talk. She and Dad have been here just as much as I have. “Doctor Elliot said, me being here will help. I’m not leaving” I seethed, placing my hand on his. I can still feel the tingle of the mate bond, another good sign.

I glanced down at Error's unconscious body. He has put on a little bit of weight and his hair has started to grow back. I had it completely shaved when we first got here. It looked awful, they must have pulled it to the point they pulled it from his scalp, there were chunks missing all over his head. I can only imagine what he went through and what they did to him. I will make sure he never has to deal with that sort of thing again.

“Ahh, ahh” he stirred, and I jumped off my chair next to his bed; “Error” I called out to him as his eyelids began to flutter. “Error” I said again, softly.

He opened his eyes and looked around the room, looking at my mother sitting on the chair in the corner, before turning his head toward mine, a smile crossing his face. “Claudia” he whispered.

“You remember?” I smiled with relief in my voice. He was finally awake. I put my hand on his again; the mate bond electrifying my body. He pulled away, quickly. “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing. What happened?” he asked, shaking his head and looking around the room again.

“You tried to kill yourself. We took you away from those monsters and brought you to our hospit...” “No; just now. What just happened, when you touched me?” he said, cutting off mum’s explanation.

I smiled at him; “do you mean the mate bond? When we touch; it’s like electricity going through our body, lighting up our desires. For me anyway”, I explained. He looks at me again and sniffs the air as his eyes glaze over. He must be talking to his wolf.

He reached out for my hand and I grabbed hold of him again. The sparks flew through my hand and arm, more intense than before as he smiled. “I like it.”

I give him a smile back, there is so much I want to say and do. “Firstly, we need to change your name. I am not going to call you Error”, I said, still annoyed his father would call him that.

“Danny...” “I beg your pardon?” Mum asked, not letting him finish.

“Grandma Nelly said Mum was going to call me Daniel. She looked after me until I was 10. That’s when she died in a house fire, and I was chained to the wall of the packhouse. She always called me Danny” he exclaimed.

I smiled; I like that name. “Danny, it is then."

“I will let Doctor Elliot know you are awake, Danny” Mum said, getting out of her chair.

“OK” he murmured as she walked out the door. “I don’t want to lie to you, Claudia. You are my second mate. My first mate was Anastasia and she was worse than Todd when it came to hurting me. I only found out about her on the day of Todd’s Ceremony when she came to reject me and become Todd’s Luna. Jesse released the barricade and I found out she was my mate too. He blocked the bond somehow. I accepted the rejection and rejected her back. He prayed to Goddess Selene for me to find my one true mate before I knew about her; and you came the same night” he said, as I looked at him curiously, speaking as fast as he could to explain what had happened.

“Is Jesse your wolf?” I asked, taking in what he just said to me.

“Yes; he would like to meet you and your wolf. What’s her name?” he asked as I sat down beside him.

“Amanda” I answered. “How do you know he prayed to Goddess Selene for me to be your mate?” I questioned further, frowning a bit.

“She told me. I didn’t die, but I wasn’t living; I was in between. She said I had to go back and be the man I need to be”, he explained as I continued to listen to what he was saying. “I came back to be with you; that’s OK, isn’t it?” he asked. He must have seen the puzzled look on my face.

“Sorry” I apologized. “It’s a lot to process. This isn’t my worried look, it’s my thinking look. I get told they look the same” I laughed as he continued to stare at me with a frown on his face. “It’s OK. I am happy you came back to be with me.”

He touched my hand again; “I really do like the feel of the mate bond”, he grinned as I gave his hand a squeeze, smiling. So do I.

……….

Danny’s POV

“What do you think?” I asked Jesse about everything that was happening. Having Claudia here is overwhelming. I’ve never had a girlfriend before. Walking straight into a committed mateship is daunting and scary.

“Talk to her; get to know her” he encouraged, sitting down with a content smile on his face.

“What do I say?” “Be yourself, Danny. The mate bond will make it easier for you, but don’t rely on it to do all the work for you. You need to work on it as well”, he told me, as though I should already know that. How could I? I was chained to the packhouse before I even had my first girlfriend. “Ask her on a date. A date would be a good way for you to get to know her.”

I let out a breath and looked at Claudia. She is really pretty, with brown hair and blue eyes. “When I get out of here, do you want to go on a date?” I asked as my heart started to beat really fast, causing an alarm to go off on the machine next to me.

A man in a white coat walked into the room; “good morning, Danny. Luna Jade said that’s what you would like to be known as. I’m Doctor Elliot; it’s good to see you awake” he said picking up my wrist. “How are you feeling?”

I let out a long breath, “I don’t know; like a pin cushion”, I told him with a shrug of my shoulders. I have needles and tubes coming out of every opening I have.

He chuckles at me; “Every needle and tube are necessary at the moment. Your health has come a long way from when you came in here.” I looked at him as he pushed a button on one of the machines next to me. “This is to monitor the fluids going into your body through the needle in your arm. The tube in your nose goes down your throat, into your stomach for nutrients and the catheter is for..” “I know what a catheter does” I interrupted his explanation.

He gave me another chuckle. “I want you to speak with a colleague of mine. Her name is Doctor Isabella Drury, she’s a psychologist”, he exclaimed as I gave him a blank look. I don’t know what a psychologist is.

“It’s OK, Danny; I can be with you when you see Isabella” Claudia said, smiling at me and taking my hand again.

“What’s a psychologist?” I asked them, still looking bewildered.

“Doctor Drury is someone who will be able to help you with your past. It’s been a rough one”, Claudia answered. I turned my head to stare at her. I don’t want to talk to anyone about my father and brother.

“What if I don’t want to talk with her? I would rather forget I have a father and brother”, I asked.

“I still want you to see her. Talk; don’t talk; it’s up to you. Everything you speak with her about will remain confidential. We understand you are hesitant, and we don’t want you to feel obligated to tell her anything if you don’t want to”, Doctor Elliot said, checking the needles in my arm. “Before we start removing some of these tubes and needles, I want to see how you handle eating and drinking. I will put you on light meals; if you can keep the food down, we will remove the feeding tube” he explained, a smile beaming across his face.

“I don’t know if I can eat anything. I used to nibble on dried biscuits or stale bread. If I had anything big to eat, I would throw it back up. Jesse said I was too weak to shift, because we weren’t a healthy enough weight, and it would kill me” I told them, as Claudia gasped. I don’t want her to feel sorry for me. “I got used to not having food, Claudia. When Beta Simon remembered to give me food, I would hide some away...” “That is another thing that is going to change for you”, she said, with a frown on her face.

“Jesse was right, you were too weak to shift. You have been unconscious for a few months, and we have been feeding you through a feeding tube. I’ll start you on some soup, and we can go from there” Doctor Elliot said, as I nodded my head.

“You didn’t answer my question” I said, looking over at Claudia.

“What question was that?” she asked, a smirk coming across her face. She knows what I was talking about.

“Do you just want me to ask you again?” I chuckled at her.

She grinned, “what if I do?” answering with a hint of playfulness in her voice.

I smiled, “do you want to go on a date with me?” I asked her again.

“Yes” she answered as I smiled and put my hands behind my head. What the f**k? I jumped, pulling my hands away from my head quickly.

“Careful; you’ll pull the drip out of your arm” Doctor Elliot said, checking the needle again.

“Is everything OK?” Claudia asked, concern etching on her face.

“I-I, yeah” I stammered, placing my hand on my head again. Rubbing it over my hair.

She smiled, “I had a hairdresser come in and fix your hair. She said the only way was to shave it off and have your hair grow evenly”, she said, and I looked at her, confused. She shaved my hair? It must have looked bad; it felt bad.

“Can I see it?” I asked.

“I will get a nurse to bring in a mirror for you. I will also get the kitchen staff to bring in a small bowl of soup for you” Doctor Elliot answered, walking out of the room.

“What else has happened, since I was unconscious?” I asked Claudia, looking down at myself. I can see my legs still look like bones covered in skin.

She looked at me and a smile crept onto her face again; “your face has filled out a little bit. Doctor Elliot said we will need to get you moving to help build your muscles up”, she told me as I nodded my head.

“Anything else?” I asked, looking into her blue eyes.

“We’ve told James and Todd, you died. We also told them they were no longer welcome here”, she says with anger in her voice.

“You don’t need to be angry at them. I gave up being angry a long time ago” I explained, as she turned to me a little shocked. “Don’t get me wrong, I still hate them. I’m just not angry at them” I explained further as she let out a long breath.

“I don’t care, they will pay for what they did to you” she spat; her voice still angry.

“Goddess Selene said something to me before I came back here. She said I won’t forget what happened to me and I have the choice to forgive them or not. At the moment, they don’t deserve my forgiveness. But she also said revenge is not always the answer. I don’t know exactly what she means by that. I think she was telling me not to seek revenge”, I frowned. I do know how she feels; I feel it too. I hate them and I want them to pay for what they did.

“Maybe” she said with a shrug of her shoulders. “That might be something to discuss with Isabella” she said, grabbing my hand. I can’t get enough of the sparks from Claudia’s touch. The feelings I have for her, I haven’t felt before. A sense of purpose and wanting to be alive. I’m happy Goddess Selene sent me back here to be with her.

“Danny, I’m nurse Jennifer. Doctor Elliot said you wanted to see yourself in the mirror?” Nurse Jennifer said, coming into my room and placing a mirror in front of me. I looked at my hair; there were a few inches of growth all over my head. A tear escapes my eye; I never thought I would have a head full of hair again.

Claudia leaned over and kissed my forehead. Wow; the tingles of the mate bond are hitting a place I don’t think the doctors and nurses would want it to hit. I cross my legs under my blankets to hide the bulge starting. I look back in the mirror and touched my face. It looks very thin and pale. I haven’t seen myself properly since I was 10 and I look horrible. Another sob escapes my lips; “If you want to leave, I understand. I wouldn’t want to love this, either” I cried, looking at my face again.

“I’m not going anywhere” she says again, giving me another kiss.