Chapter 55: Chapter Fifty-Four

We reached the village quickly, and saw Daniel in the middle of the village talking to Mucamutara’s mate, Afonso, and Mona. Georgie was giggling about something Fox said, causing Daniel to look over at us. He excused himself from the conversation and walked up to us. First he pulled me into a hug, allowing Niamh and Ruairi to connect. He pulled back and looked at Fox, “Fox,” he said curtly.

“Daniel. It’s good to see you,” Fox replied with a curt nod.

Daniel looked up at Georgie, “And who is this?”

Georgie tried to hide in Fox’s hair, but couldn’t quite hide on his shoulders. “This is my new friend Georgie. Georgie, this is my dad, Daniel.”

“Hi King Daniel,” Georgie said quietly, not looking up from Fox’s hair.

“Please Georgie, call me Daniel,” he said, “Where are his parents?” Daniel linked me.

“Killed by hunters pretty recently. His mom was the healer in training before Joseph happened. Mom told me he’s going to be a gifted healer,” I linked back.

His pain was evident when I told him about Georgie’s parents, “Come here Georgie, let me look at you,” Daniel said, reaching out for him. Daniel set him on the ground, but Georgie kept his head down. Daniel squatted down so they were eye level and lifted his head with a finger under his chin, “It’s okay Georgie. You look just like your dad, except for your nose, that’s your mom’s nose,” Daniel squeezed his nose gently, causing Georgie to laugh.

“You know my mom and dad?” Georgie asked excitedly.

Daniel nodded, “Your mom was very gifted, and your dad had all the markings of being a great warrior.”

Fox kissed my temple, “I’m going to go check on the guys.” I nodded and he walked away.

“Georgie?” Liza called out, seeing him with Daniel.

Georgie looked over at his aunt and uncle as they hustled over, “Aunt Liza, Uncle Mike! This is Daniel. He was telling me about mom and dad.”

Daniel stood to greet them, but Liza placed Georgie behind her protectively, “Please don’t hurt him.”

Daniel growled softly, causing Mike to push Liza behind him. When Daniel saw their reaction his face softened, “I’m sorry. I’m not going to hurt Georgie, and the fact you think I would tells me Joseph did, which upset my dragon. You have nothing to fear from me.”

They looked over at me, “It’s true. You don’t have to worry about Daniel hurting you guys like Joseph did.”

“Mike Torres and Liza Price?” Daniel asked and they nodded, “I know you don’t remember me, but I remember you both. Liza, you were my mom’s favorite kid in the clan. She liked your mischievous nature. Mike, you had just started training. You and Sean were two of the most promising kids we had. I’m so sorry for everything you both have been through,” Liza began crying and pushed past Mike to embrace Daniel.

“It’s not your fault, my king,” she said between sobs.

“Please call me Daniel. I can’t help but feel responsible for all that you’ve gone through,” Daniel replied.

Liza calmed down a little, and released Daniel so Mike could embrace him. “Don’t. You didn’t know, couldn’t have known,” Mike said before releasing Daniel.

“I should have. I felt the bonds break that night, but deep down I think I knew you all were still alive. I should’ve tried harder to find you all. I would understand if you didn’t want me as your king, however, if you did, I would be honored,” Daniel said to them.

“You’re giving us a choice?” Astrid asked, walking up to the conversation.

“Of course. We’ll support you no matter what you decide, but you will have a choice in whether or not I am your king. After everything you all have been through, I can’t force you to stay under my rule.”

The conversation drew a crowd. The dragons who made the trip to Alanza’s clan heard Daniel’s response to Astrid’s question. They shared looks with one another before they all went to one knee and put their fists over their hearts as a sign of acceptance of Daniel as their king, causing Daniel to fall to his knees in tears. I walked over to him and placed my hand on his shoulder. Mona stood and walked over to Daniel and embraced him. “My king, why wouldn’t we choose you? You aren’t Joseph, and many of us remember how kind you were before Joseph attacked us.”

“I’m so grateful for your trust. I won’t let you down,” Daniel said, standing back up and wiping his face. He embraced each member as they came up to him.

I gave him a pat on the shoulder before I walked away to find Jace. I found him easily on the edge of the village center. “How are you, Jace?”

“Shocked to say the least and worried they won’t accept me as quickly as they did Daniel because Joseph is my father,” he said with his head hanging low.

I grabbed his face with both hands and lifted it up so he had to meet my eyes, “You will prove yourself to them. They will stand behind you because you are a good leader. You’ve already started proving yourself to them when you helped the injured get food. Being mates with Finley will help too.”

He gave me a hug, “Thanks. You’ll always be around to help too, so that’s comforting.”

“Anything you need, I’m happy to help,” I said, giving him a final squeeze around his midsection before stepping away from him. “You can do this though. Even if you didn’t have Finley by your side, you could do this on your own. You aren’t Joseph.”

He nodded. “So,” he said, no doubt about to shift the subject, “I noticed you and Fox came into the village together, after leaving together. What’s going on there?”

I sighed, “We’re trying it out. He’s all in, so we’ll see.”

“Be careful, please. I’m here if you need me,” he said.

“Thanks Jace. What time do we want to leave in the morning?” I asked him.

“How about six? The SEALs probably need a little more time to sleep with everything that’s happened,” he said.

“Sounds good. I’ll let them know, if you’ll talk to Daniel about it.”

“Will do. Thanks for the chat, sis,” he said with a small smile.

“Any time little brother,” I said before walking away to find the SEALs.

When I found them, Matt and Fox were with them. “Do you know what time we’re leaving?” Matt asked.

I nodded, “We’re going to fly out at six, to give most of you a chance to rest a little.”

“We’re fine,” Todd said, “If you wanted to leave out earlier. We’ve gotten more sleep on this run than we usually get, so don’t worry about us.”

“We’ll still leave at six,” I said with a nod of my head before I walked over to Alanza. “How’s Nalda?”

“She has a long recovery ahead, just like you did. She will find it easier once she finds her mate,” she said in a sullen voice. “I wish I could stay here with her as she recovers.”

“You could. You don’t have anything, except maybe Jax, holding you back. The team will be fine without you, if that’s your concern.”

“No, I know that. I don’t think I can leave Jax for that long. You know he can’t go on leave whenever he wants, so I would have to leave him behind for however long. I don’t think I can do that,” she responded.

I nodded, “Whatever you decide, we’ll support you.” I said, giving her a tight hug.

“Thanks Amaya,” she said, returning my tight squeeze before letting me go.