"We have been so worried about you, honey. You're at the Enclave, in the infirmary. You've been out for more than twenty-four hours."
"Christopher?" she croaked without much sound.
"Christopher is home with his family. You saved him. He's been waiting for you to wake up so he and his parents can come see you. We're all very proud of you," she praised. The room suddenly swarmed with nurses and a doctor. Koren backed away from the bed, smiling at her from the wall she leaned against.
"Kayden?" Dani croaked again.
"I'll get him as soon as the doctor is done. He's been waiting on pins and needles. His father has kept him away in punishment for not being there for you," she said sadly.
"Get him now. I need him now," Dani struggled to tell her.
"I'll go get him and make a few phone calls. Several people have been by to see you. Griffin and Mason were here most of the night. I think Chase is still here. I'll call Griffin and tell him you are awake."
Chase had been driving back and forth to the Enclave for the past couple of days since Danielle woke up. He had waited for hours after she woke to be let in to see her. When he was finally admitted to her room, it was a shock to see her and Kayden together. Chase stood by and fumed for days while Kayden hung over her, holding her hand and kissing her cheek, getting her drinks and running to get the food she liked when she had finally felt like eating. It was driving Chase insane.
Griffin had been there every time Chase visited, so Chase couldn't very well express his annoyance. It wasn't good for a future father-in-law to see his future son-in-law lose his mind over another female. Chase was still in a heated debate with his father over the betrothal. His father was insistent that Chase honor his house and do the right thing. Reneging on the agreement would cause an even bigger rift with the Vaughns. They had a financial and legal agreement. Both his father and Griffin were set on trying to fulfill the prophecy foretold by Griffin's sister before she took her life. Chase was frustrated, but he wasn't giving up.
He'd won a huge victory the day before, though. He'd convinced Griffin and Mason that the best thing to do was to go with the original plan of having Danielle stay with him. She would be close to school and would only need a warrior when she went out. His building was secure, and he had a room ready for her. Griffin arranged to have a nurse look in on her for the first few days.
Chase was happily on his way to pick her up. If Kayden was coming, he would have to follow them.
Her room in the infirmary was full of flowers and get-well cards. She was alone for the first time when Chase arrived.
"Are you ready to go home, Lovely?" Chase smiled his obvious pleasure.
"I asked you not to call me that, and your home is not my home. It's your fiancée's home, though, isn't it? How's she taking the news that I'm staying with you?" Dani quipped.
"Don't be like this, Lovely, please?" Chase sat on the edge of the bed and picked up her hand, looked her in the eyes, because she'd avoided looking at him for days. "You know I love you. You know I meant what I said to you, and I'm still working on my father."
"Did you mean the part about it being just you and me with no one else between us? Because when Griffin came to see me this morning, his wife was talking about your bonding ceremony. I didn't realize you were marrying into the Vaughn family." She pulled her hand away. "Just stop bullshitting me. That isn't how you treat someone you love."
"I suppose you think Kayden loves you?" he snapped.
"I think Kayden cares for me, and I know I care for him. If you're thinking of coming between us, you can forget it. I will call your fiancée and invite her over every day, if you mess with me. I can date anyone I damn well please." Dani closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Sudden tears streaked down her face. "I don't want to fight with you, Chase. You know how I feel about you, and half of my attitude is jealousy. This will be easier for me after you're bonded and you don't want me anymore. Please don't ruin the happiness I might have once you've moved on. If you really love me, don't try to hurt me any more than you already have."
Chase couldn't respond at first. It was the first time she had let him see her real feelings since she'd left his bed that night at the club. Just as he opened his mouth to tell her he wasn't giving up and neither should she, Kayden ruined the moment, entering the room and scowling at Chase beside her on the bed.
"Hello, beautiful. I see you are up and all dressed." He grabbed her hand and pulled her away from Chase and across the room to sit on his lap. "I have a gift for you." He kissed her, on the damn mouth, and rocked her in the chair. Chase thought his head would explode with rage.
Chase watched enviously, hating every brush of Kayden's hands against her skin. Every press of his lips to hers made him sick. He wondered if the jealousy she fought hurt her just as badly. She knew he would love Sam after they were bonded, whether he loved her at the moment or not.
"Alright, Lovely, are you ready to go?" Chase broke into their moment.
"Stop calling me that," she huffed.
"I haven't given her my gift yet. Relax, would ya?" Kayden eyed Chase. "You shouldn't be stressing her out, ya know?" he admonished.
"You didn't need to get me a gift, Kayden." She blushed and nestled against his chest.
Kayden handed her a box that contained a necklace with a warrior symbol hanging from it. "These are normally pins we wear on our dress uniforms, but I had it made into a charm for my beautiful warrior." He grinned.
"I love it! Help me put it on." She turned so he could hook the clasp around her slender neck.
It made no sense to Chase. She wasn't a warrior. She couldn't be a warrior, because they didn't allow women to join the warrior class. Kayden was just hanging his mark around her neck for all the males to see, and it pissed Chase off to no end. He needed to get her out of there and home with him. Some separation from Kayden was apparently overdue.
Another warrior entered with a wheelchair for Dani, but Kayden refused it.
"That won't be necessary. I'm going to carry the warrior out." The guy saluted Dani as if she were a high-ranking warrior and took the wheelchair away.
Kayden carried Danielle to Chase's car, whispering to her and making her giggle the whole way. There were tons of warriors gathered to wish her well and invite her back to visit or spar with them anytime. Two in particular, Garrett and Troy, seemed very familiar with her. Indeed, they had been spotted in her room every day of her stay in the infirmary.
Christopher Stafford was also there. He, too, had a gift for Danielle. It was a gold bangle he'd had engraved with the inscription Angel of Wrath.
Everyone admired her new necklace as Kayden carried her from person to person so she could bid her farewells. It must have taken an hour to get from the door to the car.
Chase hoped his Lovely would never return to that place again and was exasperated by the time Kayden gently placed her in the front seat and fastened her seatbelt for her. Kayden had lost his mind if he thought Chase would let him play his Lovely like he did all the girls he dated. They said their good-byes, and he promised to be at her side and on duty in the morning. Another warrior would be following them home because Kayden had been assigned elsewhere for the evening. Kayden shut the car door and walked to the rear, where Chase waited for him to disengage. Kayden put his hand out in a gesture of friendship, but Chase didn't take it.
"Come on, Chase. We grew up together, and you're still my best friend. You're going to be bonded soon, so you have no reason to be angry with me for dating Dani." Kayden kept his hand extended.
"I'm trying my damnedest to get out of the betrothal agreement. My father is fighting me, but I'm working on him. I won't let you treat Danielle the way you've treated all the other girls in your life. She's precious and above you," Chase countered. "She isn't one of your disposable females."
"She doesn't think she's above me. And I think you mean the way you treated her? Vowing your love to her, alone, just to get in her pants, so you could drop her when you bonded to Sam? Because of your games, she thinks she can't trust any of us. You ran her straight out of our race with your bullshit. I'm surely not going to treat her that way, Chase."
"This isn't the end, Kayden. I'm not bonded yet. If I can stop it, I will, and then you'll have a fight on your hands. A fight you can't win. She still cares for me, and you know it." Chase tried to smile, but he knew as things stood, he was on the losing end of this battle.
"She may still care for you, but she is with me. She kissed me, and then she came back for more. I'm not letting her go." Kayden put a finger on Chase's chest and pushed.