Page 82 of Binding His Fated Mates

We, along with the pack, were his people. We were his family now. We belonged to Daniel. And he belonged to us.

The three of us, together, made each other real.

Hunter seemed to understand exactly what I was thinking. Because, with his gaze on mine, something hardened in his expression and he nodded. We would fight for Daniel. We would always fight for Daniel. And for each other.

CHAPTER NINETEEN || DANIEL

Islept a little, with Hunter on one side of me and Lee on the other, both of them doing their best to soothe me and make me feel safe. They didn’t understand yet that I was anything but safe. I wanted to lose myself to unconsciousness, but I only let myself sleep in fits and bursts.

In the afternoon, Reed and Harris called a pack meeting to debrief the events of the previous night. We met in the mess hall, which I thought was strange—apart from pack breakfasts, we usually debriefed at Emma’s. Or sometimes even at the fire pit—which had been Jeremy’s preference before Reed took over as alpha. But when the three of us walked in, I understood why we needed the bigger space. Harris and Reed had invited both Tamrand and Topher to join us.

A fae and a vampire in a pack meeting was almost enough to make me momentarily forget about my family insisting that I was leaving that very night.

Almost.

“The pack isn’t going to allow anything to happen to you,” Lee assured me, as though he’d just read my mind. “None of us are.”

“Once we tell them what happened, the pack will run those fuckers out of town,” Hunter added, his voice low. He gave me a reassuring smile. “You’ve got nothing to worry about. Every single one of us will fight for you.”

“Yeah.” I nodded, trying to make myself believe that. With effort, I managed to return his smile.

“First things first,” Reed said, after we’d all gathered, standing and moving to the center of the room to face us. “We owe a very deep debt to Hunter, Lee, and Daniel. They were the ones who thwarted the Mara. Their combined skill and bravery ensured the continued safety of the pack and the town.”

“Let’s go, Daniel!” Lacey whooped, turning in her seat to beam in my direction, pride stamped across her face. “You’re awesome. Obviously, we all already knew that.”

“Hear, hear,” Emma said, nodding at Lacey. There was warmth in her eyes when her gaze met mine. “The pack is stronger with you in it, young man. Especially now that these sympathetic manifestations have died down. You are truly one of our own.”

Sarah added, “Those creeps didn’t stand a chance. And now they can’t hurt anyone else. That’s all because of you guys.”

Oliver smiled over at me as well and when his dark eyes met mine, he simply said, “Well done.”

But coming from Oliver—who was often quiet and reserved during pack meetings, especially now that Jeremy was gone—that was practically a gushing endorsement.

“It was a team effort,” I mumbled, my face suddenly feeling uncomfortably hot. “Hunter and Lee did most of the work.”

“Not at all true,” Hunter disagreed loudly, with a grin that went all the way up to his eyes. He gave my hand a gentle squeeze, then announced, “If not for Daniel, we wouldn’t have been able to slay the Mara. The fight would have gone really differently.” His gaze slid away from the pack and met mine again. “You made it possible. You’re magic, Daniel. You always have been.”

“Agreed,” Lee said firmly, a warm smile tracing across his lips. His voice dropped and he added, “And we’ll keep reminding you for as long as it takes.”

I met his eyes and smiled, some of the anxiety from the encounter with my family—and with the sudden attention of the pack—subsiding.

“You also aided us in maintaining our secrecy after the fight,” Harris put in, leveling a wide smile in my direction. His eyes were dancing with pride. “Thank you, Daniel.”

Reed, who was gazing fondly at Harris, his dark eyes filled with absolute adoration, nodded. He, too, met my gaze. “We don’t take anything for granted.”

“Of course,” I managed, feeling the strong desire to melt right into the floor. “It was no problem.”

I blinked back tears.

Had the pack ever publicly recognized me like this before?

While I struggled to control my breathing, so I wouldn’t become a blubbering mess in front of all of them, Reed added, “We also owe Tamrand and Topher a deep debt. They are here as well, because we wish to formally thank them for aiding us.” He paused, his gaze meeting with Tamrand’s. “You told us how to destroy these creatures and helped us maintain the safety of our town.”

“This was the least I could do. It is my town as well,” Tamrand said stiffly, his back ramrod straight. Like me, it was clear he didn’t care for the attention. “But yes. You are quite welcome.”

Reed nodded at him, then turned to Topher. “You’ve also done our pack a great service. The Greens, who witnessed our pack in action, no longer remember anything that could put them—or us—in harm’s way. You helped us with Robert, as well. Thank you.”

Murmurs of “thank you” went around the room, though I could tell that the pack was less comfortable with Topher than they were with Tamrand. Until recently, the pack had thought vampires were soulless monsters. And old habits died hard.