Chapter 4 : Why Doubles?

Damian’s POV :

     Spooky and I walked into the coffee shop, yeah I had gotten an earful (mindlink-ful actually, since I have been avoiding the packhouse since storming out). I definitely could have handled it better, but my father has ordered another wild goose chase. He sends me off to follow up on these leads he gets all the time and I find nothing but dead ends. I furrow my brow, something in here smells good, I mean it always smells good, they have the best coffee around, but this is beyond good…this is divine, like moss and earth and some sort of flowers…light, but sweet on top of the heady earthiness. Spooky and I place our orders and I hear that annoying voice. Damn Kristalle is harassing Ashe and that gorgeous witch they hang out with…did I just hear her call herself “future Luna” ? over my dead body! I am against rejecting your mate, but goddess help me if she is my mate I will reject her, she has been following me around trying to get in my pants since she was 14, and at 20 years old having a 14 year old throw herself at year just makes me sick, why would a girl do that? 

     I growl “You are not the future Luna!” as I turn towards the group. God that little witch is tempting, the way her eyes widen at my growl, brightening to cobalt, and did I just see silver flash, or was that a trick of the light? Must be the sun reflecting off of something, because witches' eyes don’t flash like that. As my eyes fix on hers I can’t help but feel a bit disappointed that Ashe is holding both of her hands. I knew they were close, but not that close. I mean I can’t blame the kid if they were, who could stand to be that close to her, to sleep under the same roof as her and not want to be tangled up with her, running their hands through her raven hair…woah, real it in , man. Take a deep breath. Now that I am closer I can tell that is where the heavenly smell is coming from. This witch is intoxicating! I apologize, at least I think I did a good job at apologizing. There seems to be way too much to apologize for. Goddess, I am an idiot! That was probably the most awkward way to let them know you want to see more of them…or at least her, but they seem to be inseparable. I don’t even know if I will be back from this damned mission in time for the Back to School Dinner. I sure hope that I am, otherwise I gotta think up an excuse to try to talk to her again. I must be going crazy…I gotta find my mate, not waste my time lusting after teen witches!

     I’m all packed up and Spooky, my future Gamma and I have loaded ourselves and 2 warriors into one Escalade, while Riff, my future Delta, takes 2 more warriors and our best tracker in the other. We head south.

     “Man, are you gonna tell me what that was at the coffee house or what?” Spooky says as we hit the highway. 

     “I don’t know what you mean! I always growl at Kristalle, especially when she tries to pull that Future Luna shit!” I huff. There are sniggers from the back seat, but Leo and Ed, both know better than to voice their opinions on the matter.

     “Not that! The other 2…the hot little witch and her wolf friend. I saw how you were with them. I saw how you responded to them” he says.

     Damn, I was hoping no one noticed, but well…how can anyone not notice that little temptress…her curvaceous body in leggings and an oversized band T-shirt. I did not miss that she had a Bikini Kill shirt on. Riff is gonna want to hang out with her, take her to punk shows and shit, most of the girls around here aren’t into punk, let alone feminist punk bands. I wonder if she is just wearing it to be cool, or if she actually listens to them. Oh, shit…I still haven’t answered and Spooky is giving me some seriously creepy side eye as he drives. “I dunno, Ashe is some distant cousin or something and my father said the witch is really important” I grumble, hoping he’ll drop it and leave me to my thoughts. Wait, he called her “hot”, dude better stay away from my little witch! Did I seriously just call her “my little witch?” I’m fucked. I gotta get with it, this girl is dangerous. I mean our former Alpha and Luna had been a wolf/witch pair and they had it coming from all side…witches, wolf shifters, fae and eventually hunters sought them out and they had to go into hiding, had to run. Then they completely disappeared. The packlink went totally dead, not severed, but it feels like a hot poker to your forehead and all you get is something akin to static when you try to mindlink Alpha Damian. I don’t want that to happen to me, and I certainly don’t want that for her.

     “Okay, man! Chill out! You don’t have to get all growly at me…I was just wondering.” Spooky spits out glancing at me. I must have been growling but I don’t remember doing so. He pauses, then adds “I still think there is more to it, but I’ll shut up.” 

    Good, because I don’t want to have to kill one of my 2 best friends because he won’t stop talking about a little witch. I sigh and we continue on in silence.

     ‘You know he’s on to something’ my wolf, Steele says. `Yeah, but we can’t give into base desires, no matter how tempting the little witch is’ I retort while rolling my eyes at him. ‘I like her, I say we mate her’ he growls, reminding me of how shapely her legs were in the black leggings she wore, how even in the baggy t-shirt I could see the curves hidden beneath. Damn this wolf for putting the image of her in my head! ‘We can’t, I shouldn’t have to list all the reasons, you know them as well as i do’ i huff. ‘Fuck all your reasons! They are bull-shit, besides you only assume your father would forbid it’ he snarls. We are both getting frustrated with each other by now but I can’t help saying ‘father won’t approve of anyone but my fated mate and you know that! You are the  one

who is supposed to hold me to task on that matter.’ He huffs at me before heading to the back of my mind, curling up and glaring at me.

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     We pulled up at the inn and checked in, my father had made reservations. Today has been quite the day…after we get to the rooms I take a shower and crash on the rather lumpy mattress. This is certainly no 4 Star hotel, but it’ll do, hopefully this investigation only takes a couple of days and I can be back in my own bed soon. As I drift off her face pops into my mind.

Darkness…

Darkness…it’s all I can see, I feel noncorporeal, what is with this? This is one fucked up dream, but it doesn’t feel like a regular dream. I hear a deep breath, then distant voices, they sound weak and have a slight raspy quality. a dull light shines and I see her silhouette, I don’t know how I know it’s her with her back facing me, but I do. She seems more solid than I do, am I in her dream? I just stare at her until I hear my last name…I hone in on what the man is saying, he seems familiar…why would my father train a witch with his warriors? How do they know my father? Why send their daughter to him? Wait, those are her parents! But…but… oh, shit it’s fading! I bolt upright, sweating, panting…what the fuck! 

     “Why are you waking us all up at 2 a.m., man?” Spooky grumbles from his side of the room. Why did we get doubles?