Danny POV

The moment they jumped on the roof, I knew we were in trouble; everything happened so fast. 

In a blink, one of them was on top of me, sinking his teeth in my hand, I had to let go of Pearl, and she started crawling away; I didn't think she knew what she was doing. The rogue on top of me instantly moved his head toward her, sniffing. Her pheromones were the only thought he could probably think about, he totally ignored the gun I had, and he died quickly.

Pearl struggles a bit in my grip as warriors from my pack fight rogues, but I feel a strange calmness. Although I don't see Drake, he isn't present.

Soon the united howl of many wolves makes me understand that the rogues are dead; I dare to stand up and look down; I see many wolves, some of them shifted, some not. I recognize Alexa kneeling in front of Terry and Ivory. I see to my utmost fear also Brandon.

"Danny, it's alright!" He screams, noticing that I am looking at him. "Only mated warriors or those strong enough to control their wolves are here. Alyssa is driving here in the car; we will take you all home soon."

He smiles at me but does nothing. Not when Alexa helps me take Pearl down, not when we can put both girls and me and Terry into the car. Brandon all the time just smiles slightly as he says that he will stay to clean after the fight.

And half hour later, we are in the pack's infirmary. Ivory is wounded quite severely, and Terry has bruised ribs. Natasha and Chen are not present cause she is taking care of the rest of the rogues.

Pearl, still in her heat state, is sleeping in a sealed room for omegas, still whimpering in pain, snuggled into Fiona because Alyssa said the smell of her pregnancy would make her wolf much calmer.

Alyssa is taking care of Ivory with Terry present, and Alexa and I are sitting in the corridor. Julius only managed to hug me, and he had to go with Chen to help Natasha. So apparently, the first group of rogues wasn't the only one which attacked the pack today.

"If we count what you went through today, we had five attacks, "Alexa says." The situation was quite bad; I will have to call our allies north to check on them because that's where all those rogues came from. Sorry that Brandon was there, but the situation was so serious that we had to fight with what we had."

"Do you know why it happened?" I ask, and she shrugs, but I'm sure she finds it a bit strange. Howl Pack has encounters with rogues quite often, but never so big and from so many places simultaneously.

Brandon enters the corridor, which makes me tense; seeing him so close to me after so much time is hard; Alexa snarls at him.

"I won't do anything," he says, putting his hands up," Danny, please, I just want to talk to you. Alexa can always be present; please give me just 10 minutes."

Alexa looks at me because this is my decision to make. I don't want to talk with him, but I can't avoid it. Sooner or later, we must have that confrontation, so I nod. We go to another room, but Brandon leaves the door open. If I need Alexa, I just have to shout.

I wonder what I actually feel, despite the fear, looking at him. Sadness, maybe, that it turned out like that?

Brandon seems normal, yet he has dark bags under his eyes and signs of fatigue on his face.

"I don't feel Bruce," I say slowly, which is true.

"He is in pain; he misses you. I miss you."

Because I neither comment nor look at him, he continues:

"No words will ever make it well, but I'm so sorry, Danny, I really am. I thought I had it behind me."

"What are you talking about?" I ask, wondering what excuse he has, but he manages to surprise me:

"My father was beating my mother, not very often, but still. I thought I didn't have it in me, and yet every time we argued, I did exactly the same thing he did to her. I'm so sorry, Danny. When we met, I was sure I wouldn't be a threat to you, and look what I did."

He seems genuinely sorry. He has teary eyes, and his hands are trembling. A part of me still wants to come and console him, and yet I don't move. I'm still scared of him.

"When you cheated, and Fiona got pregnant, I lost control. I was so sad and so angry. I know that is not an excuse, but I love you; I know I fucked up everything, but I love you very much."

"If you want me to go back to you..." I start, but he shakes his head.

"You can't come back, not yet. I need therapy. I need to be sure that I will never hurt you again. But please give me one more chance. Not now, but please consider it, at least. You are the only one that matters, the only one I care about. So please let me try to earn your forgiveness."

I gulp; truth be told, I would prefer if he were still trying to force me, not beg me into anything. He's never begged me for anything till this one day. He looks at me, pleading with his eyes, and doesn't move to touch me or anything.

"What about Fiona?" I ask, and Brandon sighs:

"I care about Fiona, but I love you. She will have my baby, and I must take responsibility for that, and I want to. But I know I will never be with her, she has her mate, and I have you."

"And what about..." somehow, my voice gets lost in my throat, and Brandon smiles sadly.

"Your lover? I know I felt it, I... I'm in pain, but I deserve it. I understand you must have feelings for him or her. But I beg you not to make any rash decisions. Please just don't leave. Stay close for long enough so I can prove to you that I have changed, and if you still don't want to come back to me, we will find a way to end this."

I don't know if he is honest; I don't believe him completely. He has promised before and... No, he has never promised anything before, he has never apologized before, he has never...

"Danny, I'm your mate, but I will accept everything you decide. Please give me more time," he whispers as I leave the room.

Julius POV

Since the day I started walking again, the pack has been astonished, to say at least. Drake is back, and Danny... Danny is mine; I'll make sure of it.

The final hearing from candidates will be in three days, and after that, I must do something with Brandon, or at least that's what I thought.

Now, after I hope finally dealing with all rouges for today, I come with Natasha to the infirmary where Danny is. He wasn't hurt today, but I'm not happy that Brandon was present while rescuing him. Still, we couldn't take any unmated males because of Pearl's heat, and because I was on the other side of our territory, I could only trust Alexa to lead the rescue, even with Brandon present. We didn't have that many warriors to dispatch.

She mindlinked me very soon that everybody was safe, and Brandon followed her orders and didn't argue about anything. So I wonder what is going on. He's definitely lost a lot from his big attitude recently.

Just as we enter the infirmary, I see Danny entering the room and Brandon walking right behind him. My instincts kick; I want to attack, but Natasha's and Alexa's looks stop me. However, Alexa is close enough to stop Brandon from anything, so it's safe.

And yet when Brandon passes me after talking with Danny, he seems defeated, as if he lost something. Danny has tears in his eyes but says we will talk later about it. So Natasha, Chen, and I, with Danny, enter the pack's doctor's office, where Terry sits and nods to us.

"Ivory is sleeping; she got wounded severely but will get better; Pearl is secured. She got painkillers and scent suppressants. Fiona is with her to make her calm. Because I think it's her first heat, it will end tomorrow." Alyssa says, " I think it will be better not to move none of them till tomorrow. You, too, Terry, should get some sleep; your ribs are not in the best condition."

"I don't want to abuse your hospitality," Terry answers, giving Natasha a look.

He is wary; I'm not surprised. We did save him, but he is now on our land, so we can kill him any moment we want no.

"You will all stay for the night in the packhouse, of course, guarded by Alexa and Julius; I promise you safety. I will call Mae to come and get you all tomorrow. Jason will also come here soon, so you all will be safe." Natasha says.

My eyes lock with Terry; we may not be happy with it, and I still can't just forgive him, but we manage to tolerate each other, and for sure, we may continue so. I grab Danny by his hand, and we step outside the infirmary. We hide in one of the corridors in the packhouse, and I try to kiss him, but to my surprise, he moves away.

"Brandon will feel it," he whispers." We've just talked. I don't want to make it more complicated."

I sigh, but I understand him to some point, at least. I stay silent as he tells me the details of their conversation.

"Do you believe him?" I ask, feeling fear. They are marked and bonded, they still feel a pull for each other for sure, and I'm a third wheel, and I can't lose Danny; I just can't.

"I don't know, I may believe that he is full of remorse, but I still care about him and Bruce because the bond is still there. But I don't love him, and I wasn't brave or strong enough to tell him that."

I nod and hug him; this he doesn't protest; I keep my nose in his hair, inhaling his sweet scent, which I love so much. But then, I feel someone coming closer and raise my eyes to look at Madison and my son. I forgot that during the attacks, Trist was all the time in the packhouse with her and Chen's family. He looks a bit surprised seeing Danny and me in that position but doesn't comment.

"I heard Ivory was hurt. May I see her?" he asks, and Danny nods, getting himself out of my arms and taking Trist to the infirmary. Madison stays.

"I didn't know you are in someone again, especially that he's a mate of another," she says, and I growl a bit.

"It's not your business Madison; you are nothing to me now but a mother of my son. What I do is my business, not yours, especially not who I love," I say harshly.

"Well, you've never loved me, you tried, but you never did, and I? I was not ready for a baby, family, and your expectations. So don't give me that look; I don't try to put all the blame on you."

"When Drake came back, I saw a vision of you losing your wolf. Will you tell me what happened?" I change the topic.

She shakes nervously and averts her eyes.

"After the rejection, my wolf weakened, but she kept me safe. It was hard. She was in pain because of rejection and separation. But we managed to get some balance, and we continued to carry on, but one day, my Alpha in the pack, where I was a slut, got a guest. I'd never seen the guy before, and my Alpha chose me to participate in his experiment. He gave me something directly to my veins, and it was horrible, the worst pain I've ever felt. And when I woke up, she was gone" Her voice is dead when she says that."I ran away as soon as I left the infirmary".

"It's a serious matter, Madison. I think it should be reported to the Council," I say.

"We both know we can't do this. They will ask questions, many questions, and they may find out about me being involved with Red Venom, and it may cause disbanding of Howl Pack."

Fuck, she is right about this one, but still... her wolf was innocent in this, and Drake...

I can clearly feel that Drake doesn't believe in her story, at least not entirely.

"See you soon," I say and turn around to leave, but she stops me by putting her hand on my shoulder. Drake is out for blood. I barely manage not to hit her.

"Julius, I know you don't want me here, but please, please let me stay here with Trist; I have nowhere to go."

"We will see about that," I say; I mean it. However, I'm still not convinced; aside from Drake's obvious hate, I also don't trust her. She is desperate and, because of that, capable of everything.

"This man who took your wolf away. Do you know anything more about him?"

"No, except that he was an omega," she says.

I step outside the packhouse and go to Natasha, who, as always, is sitting on the porch.

"Alpha's candidates left the territory today," she says. "We both know we had no other choice if we wanted to save Danny and the others. But the final hearing is in three days, and I wonder if Preston intends to use this break of the rule to his advantage."

"Is it why Alexa decided to take Brandon there too?" I ask, and Natasha nods.

I must say I'm impressed, it was an operation that had to be prepared very quickly, and Alexa managed to make it work and still secure her back. So, yes, she is definitely ready.

"If Preston decides to use it, the best he can do is to annulate the whole trial period, but I doubt that the rest of the elders will be happy with it," I say. "Brandon asked Danny today for forgiveness."

"I can't help you with that. Danny and Brandon are marked. The best we can do is ensure Danny has the time and space to decide. I checked, Julius; there is no way to break the bond between them unless risking Brandon's and maybe Danny's life. But Brandon also talked with me yesterday. He said he wanted time to try again with Danny, but if Danny didn't forgive him, he would reject or agree to burn the mark away."