Chapter 168: Daniel The Guardian

Ivy’s POV

Daniel half-dragged, half-shoved me into the passenger seat of the car like I was contraband he needed to smuggle out before the border patrol caught us.

The door slammed shut, rattling on its hinges, and I stuck my tongue out at him through the glass. He opened the driver’s door, slid in with that infuriating calm of his, and buckled up like we hadn’t just left my father on the verge of a cardiac arrest.

“You think you’re funny,” he muttered, turning the ignition.

“I don’t think, Danny-boy,” I said sweetly, leaning back with a smug grin. “I know.”

His jaw flexed, that vein in his temple pulsing like it had its own heartbeat. He gave me one hard glare, so sharp it could’ve cut glass. Honestly, I didn’t need a translator. That look screamed: ‘Dear universe, grant me patience before I strangle this woman with my bare hands.’

Nyxara snorted in my head. ‘Strangle him first. He’s insufferable.’

‘You don’t like anyone,’ I reminded her.

‘Correction,’ she shot back. ‘I don’t like him. Just him and maybe, everyone else.’

I rolled my eyes so hard Daniel glanced at me like he thought I was seizing. “You good?” he asked flatly.

“Peachy,” I replied, flashing all my teeth in what could only be described as a wolfish grin. “Just having a private chat with someone who agrees that you’re a pain in the ass.”

He didn’t even flinch. “Your wolf hates me. I’m aware. You don't need to rub that in.”

That made me pause. My dad, Uncle Marcus, and even Rosa tended to forget Nyxara existed unless she drags her into the spotlight. But Daniel? He caught everything…every shift, every shadow, every flicker of her presence. Probably because he was a different kind of wolf. Not normal. Not even close.

The first time I saw him shift during training, my jaw nearly dislocated from the shock. His wolf wasn’t sleek and sharp like the ones he made me watch during one of the training sessions he called ‘beginners class.’

He was bigger. Wilder. His fur shimmered with strange silver streaks, almost like liquid moonlight. His eyes glowed brighter, too…like molten steel instead of gold. And the way the earth itself seemed to tremble beneath him… Yeah. Not normal.

Father once told me…in one of his rare, unguarded moments…that Daniel had ‘sworn’ to protect me. A guardian, he called him. The kind you barely hear about anymore, a dying breed of protectors who had come to him for shelter during the time his clan was being destroyed.

‘Protector my ass.’ Nyxara sneered. ‘We can protect ourselves!”

“Are you going to pout all the way to the office?” Daniel asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I gasped. “Excuse you? This is not pouting. This is strategic silence.”

He arched an eyebrow. “Strategic silence?”

“Yes. I’m letting the weight of my genius plan settle in your thick skull.”

“Matchmaking your father with Rosa is not a genius plan.”

“It’s brilliant,” I corrected, wagging a finger at him. “If you had an ounce of romance in your terrifying, oversized wolf body, you’d understand.”

“I’m not oversized.”

“Oh please.” I snorted. “When you shift, you look like a steroid-infused bear got dipped in silver paint and decided to join the wolf club.”

His hands tightened on the steering wheel. “Remind me again why I volunteered to babysit you?”

“You didn’t,” I chirped. “My father forced you. And lucky for me, you’re stuck.”

“Unlucky for me,” he muttered under his breath.

Nyxara perked up, practically vibrating in my head. ‘Say it. Tell him he’s jealous because Rosa likes Richard more than she likes him.’

‘That’s stupid.’

‘Stupid but funny.’

I bit back a laugh, pressing my lips together so tightly my cheeks puffed out.

Daniel noticed instantly. Of course he did. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing.”

He cut me a sideways look. “You’re a terrible liar.”

“Okay, fine.” I leaned in conspiratorially, lowering my voice. “Nyxara says you’re jealous of Rosa.”

The car swerved just a little, and I threw my head back, cackling.

“I am not—”

“You so are!” I poked his arm. “Don’t worry, you’ll find your own Rosa one day. Someone who loves your cooking, your humor, your… terrifying oversized wolfiness.”

He gave me a flat stare that could’ve peeled paint. “You’re insufferable.”

“Thank you.” I batted my lashes. “I do try.”

We drifted into silence after that… Well, Daniel did. I kept sneaking glances at him, because knowing him, he was just biding his time, plotting the perfect comeback. The man treats banter like a blood sport…no way he’s letting me win.

I rested my forehead against the cool glass, watching the trees blur by.

And then, softer, more to myself than him, I whispered, “They’d be good together, you know. Rosa and Dad. I could almost see it.”

For a moment, Daniel didn’t answer. Then his voice came quieter than usual, almost thoughtful.

“Sometimes, seeing it doesn’t mean it’s possible.”

I blinked at him, surprised. There was something in his tone…something that sounded almost… personal. Like he wasn’t just talking about my father and Rosa.

Nyxara shifted uneasily inside me, ears flicking back. ‘Poor thing. What if he doesn't believe in love anymore because of an ugly experience?’ she whispered.

But me? I just stared at him.

Because for the first time, I wondered what Daniel’s story was. And why it felt like it was more messed up than mine.

By the time Daniel parked the car, his last words were still looping in my head like a heartbreak song stuck on repeat. But I shook it off. Because here, in this space, I don’t get to be Richard Blackwood’s spoiled daughter. I don’t get to be the girl fumbling with half-lost memories and a wolf she can barely control.

Here, I have to be the boss…the woman at the head of the table, face set, eyes unreadable.

Work.

It sounds boring. It should be boring. Paperwork. Meetings. Contracts. But for me? It’s a thrilling adventure. It’s adrenaline wrapped in silk. It’s where my brain gets to play chess while everyone else thinks we’re playing tic-tac-toe.

And I’m damn good at it.

Daniel trailed after me like my oversized shadow as I strutted into our company's boardroom, heels clicking like a war drum. Men in suits, women in pearls, all those smug faces who thought a young woman couldn’t possibly outmaneuver them in a business deal…perfect prey.

I slid into my chair, smoothed my skirt, and smiled sweetly. “Gentlemen. Ladies. Shall we?”

Thirty minutes later, the deal was done. The Jenkins team sat blinking, dazed, like I’d just robbed them blind but left them feeling grateful about it. Contracts signed. Clauses neatly in my pocket. Numbers so beautifully arranged that Uncle Marcus would’ve needed three bathroom breaks just to recover.

I leaned back, satisfaction humming in my veins. “Pleasure doing business,” I purred, rising with all the grace of a cat who just cleaned the cream off her whiskers.

As the boardroom emptied, my assistant Olivia practically skipped up to me, hugging a tablet and that impossibly sweet smile she always wore neatly plastered on her face.

“Ivy, that was amazing,” she gushed, adjusting her glasses. “The way you handled the clause on property rights? Genius. You should’ve seen Jenkins’ face…he looked like he swallowed a whole lemon.”

I grinned, warmth blooming in my chest. I liked Olivia. Always had…or so the file Daniel complied for me to go through before coming back to work had told me. But liking her came easy. She was sweet, sharp when she needed to be, and most importantly…loyal.

“You’re the best, Liv,” I said, bumping her shoulder with mine.

Her smile faltered just a little, her gaze dropping. “Actually… I’ve been meaning to ask you something.”

I raised a brow, tossing my pen in the air and catching it. “Shoot.”

She hesitated, biting her lip. “It’s about… the other one.”

I blinked. “The… other what?”

“The other you. Your twin.”

I froze mid-pen-toss, the pen clattering to the table. “Excuse me?”