Page 17 of Dane's War

“Yeah, Dad would let me ride on his back. Bandit would too, but usually, it was Dad. Mom would play with me while in wolf form, though as I got older, the less I went out with them,” I explain with a shrug.

Dane gives a nod and strokes his fingers along my side. “The older a pup or cub gets, the less they need their parents. They have to make it on their own and prove to nature and themselves, as well as their packs, that they can do just that.”

That makes sense.

“You ready to tell me about what happened out there? Did you know those men? From what I heard, they knew you?—”

“I know them,” I blurt again without thinking, interrupting him. It was like the words just came out on whelm. I shouldn’t have said it, but I did.

“Raine, I heard them out there. It took a lot for me not to tear them limb for limb. The only reason I didn’t is ‘cause you were there. Now, talk to me. The prospect will be here in an hour with the pizza. If we get this out of the way, we can enjoy the pizza free and clear.”

Free and clear.

I’ll never be free and clear.

“I can’t,” I tell him. “It’s not your problem or my brother’s.”

“Dolcezza, you’re my mate. Anything to do with you is my problem. And to fix it, I need to know what the fuck I’m dealing with,” he explains.

“Just because you say we’re mates doesn’t mean my life is any of your business,” I say a bit heatedly.

“Raine,” he growls.

“Dane,” I snap and sit up straight. “I might not be a shifter, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know how to take care of myself. Last night, I’d been caught by surprise.”

“Raine, I fixed your car myself,” he states matter-of-factly. “Your car might be a piece of shit, but it shouldn’t have broken down where it did. The fact it did, and those men happened upon you, didn’t add up. So, you knew them. They knew you. I got that part. Same as I got that they were delivering a message. Now, what was the message?”

I narrow my eyes on him, glaring at him, not liking how easily he put that together. I could tell him and get it over with, but I don’t want to. It’s not anything he needs to concern himself with.

“I want to go home now,” I announce.

“Baby, you ain’t goin’ home right now. We’re discussing this shit, then eating pizza, and after that,we’ll watch something else. After that, I’ll take you home if you want, but we’re spending the day not only getting to know each other but also giving you a chance to learn you’re safe with me.”

That’s sweet. It really is, which makes it suck that I can’t deal with this.

“Talk to me, Raine,” he grunts.

Sucking in a breath, I shake my head. “I can’t.”

“You won’t,” he counters.

Instead of giving him words, I just simply continue shaking my head.

Dane’s phone rings, breaking through the moment between us. He growls, twists, and grabs it off the nightstand. Without looking at the screen, he answers it, bringing it to his ear, barking, “What?”

There’s a long pause, he is listening to whoever was on the other end. Then he growls harshly. “No fuckin’ way. You ain’t coming here, and I’m not coming to the clubhouse. I’m with Raine, and we’re —”

He doesn’t finish what he is saying, evidently being interrupted.

“Prez, it can wait. You show here, it’s going to fuck everything up. Karsyn can get over wanting us there.”

Another long pause, and Dane growls. “Right. Fuck. Whatever. We’ll be there.”

Pulling the phone away from his ear, he tosses itonto the couch, eyes coming to me. “Looks like our date is being moved to the clubhouse.”

“What was that all about?” I whisper, uncertainty seeping inside.

Dane lets out a rough sigh, rakes his hand over his face, and gets to his feet. “My sister and I, we don’t share the same mother. Our dad had two mates. My mother was by choice. He married her after they found out she was pregnant with me. She was killed by blood witches in front of me when I wasn’t old enough to defend her or be able to do anything about it. His second mate, she was his fated mate. I didn’t even know about her until recently. She was an earth witch. Karsyn, my sister, she’s more than just an earth witch. Powerful. Yet, she’s also a pain in my ass.”

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