Sunflower (Temporarily on Hold)

Chapter 5; a warning from the young alpha

I have a thing for territorial men, as you will see by this chapter. Anyway, enjoy!

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Dani

Dani watched Ophelia enter her home. He didn't leave her driveway until he saw the two silhouettes in a window and knew that she was safe inside. He was surprisingly calm during the small drive back to his house. It was only five minutes, after all, and yet it still felt as if he was putting hundreds of miles between himself and the girl the wolf in him had chosen. Ophelia was a beauty like no other. She was a treasure found among the rubble with so many hidden surprises that Dani found himself overwhelmed.

It wasn't something he had expected when he was made to board the plane from London to here. He had not thought that his wolf would find another, and certainly not someone who thrilled him in more ways than one. And that was why the thought of that wolf, eyeing and stalking Ophelia like a prize as if he had any right, enraged him. It was good that they were in public. It was good that his siblings were with him because he was certain that if he had been alone with Ophelia, even for a fraction of a second, one look from the beta male and he would have had his throat.

Dani's knuckles whitened on the steering wheel as he pulled into his driveway, gravel crunching underneath the wheels. Ophelia's face when she had sensed whatever it was the had bothered her was ingrained in his mind. The urge to protect had overcome him and it was terrifying; the fact and knowing that he could care for someone again with such intensity and the possibility that she may be ripped out of his arms just like Lily.

Amelia knocked on the car window, her face expressionless. He knew by the tautness of her shoulders that she was worried about his sunflower. That wolf hadn't been good news, not the way he had stared at her as if she was his. That thought alone had a snarl ripping out of his throat.

Dani stepped out, pushing his hand through his hair with a sigh to calm his rage down. Ophelia was safe with her mother and he knew that. But his wolf felt threatened still.

"Did you check the perimeter?" He ground out. Amelia and Ed had gotten out the car just before Ophelia's home with the instructions to check the territory and leave their mark. He hadn't been planning on staying on the no man's land for long, but now that she was here he did not see himself leaving. Certainly not now, at least. With those wolves prowling around from that pack ten or so miles from them, he wanted to be sure that they wouldn't cross boundaries.

"She isn't Lily, Dan," Amelia's voice was barely a murmur, even still he heard the firmness in her words, the slight defiance that sparked in her eyes.

A snarl rumbled itself out of his chest as he straightened his shoulders. Amelia's eyes flickered to the ground in compliance, knowing that it wasn't her position as his sister and the weaker wolf to question him. Still, he knew that she spoke the truth. Dani sighed, wiping his hand over his face in an attempt to give himself a reality check. "I'm sorry," he muttered, "those pups have me on edge."

The corner of her mouth quirked up into a smile, "it's alright. We all know that you're a big softie anyway, Alpha."

He glowered, "the perimeter, Amelia?"

"Clear on our side..." she trailed off with an uncertain look on her face.

"What?"

"I'm assuming that beta has been making visits. His scent is rather stronger on the borders of the trees, just around the back of her home. "Amelia frowned, "they didn't follow us, though. The scents around a day old."

Dani ground his teeth knowing better than to take out his anger on his family. Yet he couldn't help but wish to crush something in between his hands, something that resembled that boys head. Oh, he knew what he had to do, though he hadn't planned to do it this soon after meeting her. His relationship with Ophelia was delicate, still fresh and new and he hadn't planned on staking a claim yet. But now that those males were sniffing around he had no choice to. It would be a sin to pass up this sunflower, so bright and rich, ready to be taken. He would let them know, alright. And he'd have fun doing it. There may be a pack here but he was an alpha, a powerful one and a bunch of pups wouldn't stop him. Not when he had an army back home.