“I don’t want you as my alpha!” Danny yelled, right into Daddy’s shocked face. “You hurt Mr. Griff, when it wasn’t even fair! I wish he was still my alpha! I wish he was my daddy! I don’t want you! Go away!”
Daddy snarled, his hands clenching. Danny’s skin prickled as Simba surged forward—but Daddy stopped dead. He stared at his own fists, then down at Danny. His face went white.
“No,” Daddy whispered in horror. “I nearly—no!”
Daddy whirled, his own form shimmering. His clothes tore away as he shifted. On four paws, he charged blindly out the door. Danny heard him crashing through the trees. His enraged, agonized roars faded away as he disappeared into the woods.
Simba wanted to run too, all the way home to Mommy, but Danny held his lion back. “It’s too far,” he said to the cub out loud. “And we don’t know the way.”
We can’t stay here. Simba’s tail lashed in agitation. What if he comes back?
Danny made himself a deep breath, focusing on staying calm, just like Mr. Griff had taught him. Frowning, he tried to think with his human head instead of his lion’s heart. “We need a plan.”
The front door was nice and thick. It made a big bang when Danny pushed it shut. He found a big metal key in the lock, and turned it with a reassuring click. Then he went through all the rooms downstairs, checking that all the windows were closed too.
“There,” he said to Simba, when he was satisfied that Daddy wouldn’t be able to get back in. “Now we just need to call for help.”
Simba looked mournfully at the dark, cold place where the pride-bond—the real pride-bond, not Daddy’s fake one—had been. How?
There was a phone in one of the bedrooms upstairs—a funny old-fashioned phone that was plugged in, not like a proper phone that you could put in your pocket. It took Danny a little puzzling how to work it, since it didn’t have a screen to touch, but in the end he figured out which buttons to press.
He didn’t know Mommy’s number, but there was one number he did know. It was a different number from the one in America, he remembered. Mommy had made sure that he learned it by heart. She’d told him to call it if he was ever hurt or scared or needed help.
He definitely needed help now.
“999,” said a stranger’s voice in his ear. “What is the nature of your emergency?”
“Can I talk to the firefighters?” Danny remembered to add, “Please?”
There were a few clicks, then a different man said, “East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service. Where is your emergency?”
Danny thought this was a very strange way of saying hello. “Is Mr. Griff there?”
There was a pause. “What do you think this is, the damn Yellow Pages? I’m a fire dispatcher, not an operator. Is there a fire near you? Do you need a fire engine?”
“No, thank you,” Danny said politely. “I just need Mr. Griff. He’s a firefighter, so I know he works here. Could you get him for me? Please?”
“Oh, for the love of-” The man sighed heavily. “Kid, unless you’ve actually got a fire—a big fire—don’t call the fire department. Got it?”
“Um…okay,” Danny said, dubiously. “But-”
The phone made a funny beeping sound in his ear. The man had hung up.
Now what? Simba wanted to know.
Danny hopped down off the bed. “Now I guess we look for some matches.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Griff
Griff had never felt less like going in to work.
He’d spent half the day waiting impatiently for Ash to come off duty. But when Griff had finally managed to accost him at the fire station, the Phoenix had flatly refused to try to burn away one of his shifter animals right away.
“You are not in a fit state of mind to make this decision now,” Ash had told him. The Fire Commander hadn’t even had a chance to change out of his turnout gear, the scent of smoke still heavy around him. “And in any event, I am not in a fit state physically to attempt it. I must rest, and you must reflect. You must be absolutely certain that this is the only way forward. Think. If you have me do this, it cannot be undone.”
The best Griff had been able to do was to force Ash to reluctantly promise to make the attempt tomorrow, if Griff didn’t change his mind before then. He knew that he wouldn’t. Now that Reiner was Danny’s alpha as well as father, he had a double claim to the boy. His legal position was practically unassailable.