“Hey, Daddy,” Dawn said, smiling.
She didn’t look toward her mother, and neither did her father.
“You’re all mated now. Wow, when did you grow up? It doesn’t feel ten minutes ago since you were born.” Don held her hand, the love shining from his eyes as he looked at her. “When I felt you being torn from me, I panicked. I’ve never experienced anything so awful.”
“Don, please, she’s a big girl. It’s time to let her go. You should have let her go a long time ago,” Francie said. Her mother was glaring at Dawn.
Daniel saw the anger, the fear, and the disgust within her mother’s eyes. There was also envy along with jealousy. So many emotions coming from her mother but she wasn’t a true alpha, as otherwise she’d have kept those emotions locked up tight.
“Stop it, Francie.” Don glared at her, but the smile returned to his face when he looked at his daughter.
“You’re always so busy with the pack, Daddy. You never really saw I was growing up.”
“No, I didn’t see a lot, did I? There are times I feel like I lost time with you, honey. I’m going to miss you.” He turned to look at Daniel. “I don’t suppose you’ll let her visit me often, would you? I’m going to miss my baby.”
Daniel tensed, seeing the glee in Francie’s eyes. Yeah, he wasn’t going to be letting his woman anywhere near this bitch.
“I can’t allow her to come here unattended, Don. I’m sure you can understand seeing as her tormentor and abuser is still living here.”
“Daniel!”
He held his hand up stopping Dawn from speaking.
“No, baby, you’re not going to let her get away with this shit for much longer. I’m done and I can see he loves you very much, but I’m not going to let her get away with it.”
Francie started to panic.
“What the hell are you talking about? My daughter has never been abused.” Don growled the words, getting to his feet.
“Your wife, your mate, she’s the reason your daughter has been unable to feel any kind of pain. She tortured her during her transition, keeping her chained to trees and beating her when she turned. Your mate tried to break my woman, and for that reason, I can’t let her come here while you still have her.” He pointed his finger at Francie.
“You can’t do this!” Francie started to scream. “You little bitch. You couldn’t keep your mouth f**king shut.”
Her mother charged toward Dawn. His mate didn’t move, twitch, or show any sign of fear. Before Francie got close, Don grabbed her around the waist.
“Is this true? Did you abuse our daughter?” He shook his wife, glaring down at her.
“She deserved it. The little bitch was always getting in to trouble and always running to you. She needed to know her place. This is not her pack. It’s mine. Fucking mine.”
“Her transition was her most important time. How could you hurt our child, our daughter? What the f**k is wrong with you?” Don’s anger filled the room.
Daniel wondered if he knew what was going on in his own pack.
“She was just a way of getting you. You wouldn’t have looked at me twice if I didn’t get f**king pregnant. The only reason I’ve got you is because I was f**king pregnant.” She spat the words back at Don. “This is my pack. Being your mate is my f**king right. She held alpha qualities. The moment you and the pack saw that, they’d have cast me aside. I wasn’t going to let that happen. Bitch needed to be put in her place.”
The bile coming from her sickened Daniel, and he had his answer. Dawn was a submissive, but she held the traits that only an alpha possessed.
“You’re not my f**king mate.” Don released her and stood. “All claim I have to you is over. I refuse to take a mate who can abuse my own daughter.” Don turned to look at Dawn. “Is all of this true?”
“Yes,” Dawn said, whispering the word.
“She’s no daughter of mine. She’s a f**king slut. I hate her. It’s not fair. She doesn’t deserve to have an alpha.”
Suddenly, one woman entered the room. Daniel didn’t have a clue who she was.
“I would like to make a formal complaint about your mate.” The woman dropped her gaze. She was fidgeting with her hands.
Daniel watched in amazement as three more women he didn’t know entered the room.
“The first woman is Leah. She cooks for us,” Dawn said, whispering against his ear. Daniel didn’t know what to make of it as he listened to several women speak against Francie.
Francie was cursing, trying to get to the women.
Don yelled out as he restrained his mate in his arms.
Daniel watched three men walk into the room.
“Take her to the basement. I want her locked in and make sure no one lets her out. I will not have any woman by my side who abuses her own daughter.” Don’s alpha power stripped Francie of her status, tearing her will from the pack. “We’ll be talking with everyone in the pack. I know you were hard on the pack, and I want to know the extent of your supposed help. If you’re lucky, you’ll end up in jail, and if not, you’ll be sent on the hunt.”
The hunt was a pack’s right to hunt the person who tortured them.
Dawn tightened her hold on his hand.
He turned to look at her. She didn’t want to take part in any hunt or decision when it came to her mother.
The rest of the meeting with her father went by with him asking Dawn questions about what happened when she was younger. After a couple of hours Dawn took the lead and told him they had to leave.
Daniel promised to let Dawn visit with her father regularly, but he also made sure she would have a guard with her.
“I can’t believe you did that,” Dawn said, climbing into the car. “Why did you say anything?”
“Baby, I saw the glee in her eyes. She was going to hurt you whenever you were around her. I wasn’t going to let that happen.” He pulled away from the pack, happy that Francie was not going to get the chance to hurt anyone else.
“I can’t believe Daddy did that,” she said. “I thought he loved her.”
“No, he didn’t. She was a convenience for him, nothing more.” Daniel drove back home.
Once inside the grounds, he felt the love of his pack surround him. Glancing at Dawn, he smiled. “Do you feel it?”
“Yes, I feel them. They’re all happy for us. There’s no jealousy. This is the way a pack is supposed to work.” She leaned her head against the car seat. “I love you, Daniel.”