Damien."We need to talk."It was one thing for someone to barge into someone's house, neighbour or not. It was another thing for said person to come after a person eating dinner and minding their own business.The tension in the dining room was suffocating. The burly man, Ryan, stood close to the doorway, his shoulders blocking out the light. His eyes were still locked on mine, and I felt the weight of it as though it could crush me where I sat.Elliot’s family watched warily, their smiles vanishing. I would have given a million bucks to know what was going on in their mind."I said," Ryan repeated, his tone low and deliberate. "We need to talk, Damien."Elliot bristled beside me, his chair scraping the floor as he stood. "What the hell is going on? Who are you?" His voice was like sharpened knives. Ryan didn't spare him a glance. His focus was entirely on me, his lips curling into something between a smirk and a sneer. "You know who I am, kid."My stomach twisted.I didn't know thi
Elliot.And people blamed me for disappearing for five years.What the heck had just happened?The night felt heavier after Damien left. His silhouette disappeared into the darkness, and with it, any sense of normalcy I thought we still had.Something was wrong... terribly wrong... and if he wouldn't tell me, I'd figure it out myself."Elliot, honey, what's going on? Is Damien alright?"I hesitated, not wanting to alarm her. “I don’t know, Mom. He just… needs some time to himself.”She wanted to say more. The way she moved around and her lips purse together. But thankfully, she kept them to herself and just motioned for me to come inside."You too. It's late, and you shouldn't be out in the cold."Yeah, she was right.I nodded but didn't move. "Mom, who was that man? Ryan?"Her brown eyes narrowed slightly, the worry on her face deepening. Once upon a time, my mom was the prettiest woman in the land, now the stress of old age, a child who disappeared for years, and work had worn her d
Damien.The warehouse was cold. Damp. The perfect place for drowning in my own thoughts.I sat on the edge of a rusted steel beam, staring out at the sliver of moonlight that pierced through a crack in the roof. The city hummed faintly in the distance... alive, vibrant, and completely unaware of the chaos simmering inside me.Why couldn't I remember?What had I done years back that was so devious I couldn't even remember?My survival instincts were working overtime at this moment. Run. Run. Leave New York behind. Disappear again.Elliot knew I would leave eventually. We both knew I was just here for the time being.Wasn't that why I delayed everything that had to do with completing our mating process?Yet, every time I tried to make that move, my mind betrayed me with flickers of a certain past I couldn't fully remember. Faces. Voices. Shadows that felt too real to ignore.It was all in my fucking head. "Mate. Mate. Mine." Elliot’s voice replayed in my head like a broken record. "Whe
Damien.I often prided myself in my ability not to lose my control.That all burned to ashes when I met Elliot and discovered he was my mate.The house loomed in front of me, silent and dark. Too silent. Too dark.I shifted back into my human form just outside the front door, the transformation leaving my skin pricking with leftover adrenaline. If anyone saw me, that would be a case I would handle some other time.My breaths came in sharp bursts, clouding the cold night air, but my chest still felt tight.This was wrong.This quietness was unusual.The scream... no matter how far I had been from the house... it belonged to Elliot. I was sure of it.I didn't waste time.I slammed my shoulder into the door, forcing it open with a loud crack. The frame splintered, but I barely noticed."Elliot!" I shouted, my voice echoing through the empty hallways.Nothing.No footsteps. No shuffling. No hurried explanations from his parents or questions about why the house was so dark or why I had de
Damien.The bond between us burned, not with the faint flickers I'd felt earlier but with a consuming, relentless fire.It roared in my chest, growing sharper with every breath I took, every frantic beat of my heart.I didn't get all chummy with Elliot most of the time. Not because I didn't want to... if I was opportuned, I would kiss, touch, and fuck him every single day... but because he was still coming to terms with the fact that he was attracted to a male.Elliot was trembling in my arms, his nails digging into my skin as if he was trying to anchor himself. Or maybe trying to hurt me.I couldn't tell, and honestly, I didn't care.All that mattered was him."Elliot, look at me," I whispered, cupping his face, my thumbs brushing against his cheeks. "You're safe. You're with me now. Just tell what happened, and I'll fix it."His brown eyes, darkened with lust, locked onto mine. His lips parted, but no words came out... just a shaky exhale that sent a pang of helplessness straight t
Elliot.Pleasure clouded my mind, hungry and dangerous, as hazel eyes lined my vision.That was seriously the best blow job I had ever gotten in all my years of living. It was satisfying enough to make me forget the reason I was out here.In the woods.Alone.Damien stood up so he could slide his pants and briefs down and kick them to the side until he was wearing nothing.Damn.I had felt it. Touched it. But seeing it? That was different.I tried to look away, but I realised later on that it was practically impossible to ignore the handsome man in front of me.During most of our time together, I had kept myself from asking why he didn't have any tattoos like most of his peers. Even the werewolves at the pack close to the woods had something inked onto their skin.The moon. Eyes. Anything.Damien didn't.I attempted to get my fill of the way he looked fully naked and under the moonlight. All the muscles that are proportionally placed over his tall frame and slightly broad built.But t
Elliot.The memory crashed over me like a tidal wave, a force I couldn't control or stop.I had no idea if it was because that was the memory I was actively searching for or if there was another reason.Her face. Her wide, terrified eyes framed by dark curls, pleading silently as blood stained her pale skin. My vision shifted, disorienting me, and I wasn't standing in the woods anymore.No.I was in his body.Damien's hands reached out, fingers trembling as they brushed against her cheek. Her lips moved, forming words I couldn't hear, drowned out by the maniacal laughter that echoed around us.The witch stood nearby, her hands weaving intricate patterns in the air, her lips curling into a wicked grin. A spell radiated from her, distorting the space around us, enclosing us in a bubble that hid the horrors from anyone who might stumble upon the scene.And then, to the left... Ryan.He wasn't smirking or simply annoyed like he had been when he barged into my parent's house. His eyes were
Damien.I watched him run.With that one single thought running through his mind just like the first time he learnt I was a werewolf.Monster.The air was thick with tension as Ryan's taunting voice cut through the forest like a serrated blade, each word deliberately chosen to wound. My body trembled, not from the chill of the night but from the storm raging within me.Frozen.I stood frozen a few feet away from him, blood drained from my face, and I was pretty sure anyone who saw me saw the mixture of anguish and fury written all over my face."You're such a fool," Ryan continued, his smirk sharpening into something as sinister as his heart. "Did you honestly think you could keep running from your past? That you could bury it deep enough that no one... least of all, me... could dig it back up?"Fuck.My growl rumbled low in my throat, a warning Ryan ignored entirely. "You knew," I snarled, my voice rough like grave scraping against steel. "You knew what it would do to me. Why? Why d
Damien."It doesn't even matter..."I tilted my head back, the glass of orange juice halfway to my lips when the sound pierced the quiet night.A howl. It wasn't just any howl. The haunting echo came from the direction of the woods, sharper than I've ever heard, and it thrummed through my bones. My wolf stirred instantly, a tremor of recognition vibrating through his entire being.The bond. Crash.Shit.The glass had slipped from my trembling fingers and shattered against the wooden porch. Glass shards sparkled in the moonlight as the juice seeped into the cracks between the planks, but I barely noticed that.That bond that chained Elliot and I was pulsing again, undeniably stronger than it had been in the past few days.He was okay."Damien?" Fiona’s voice broke the moment. She was still seated, her own cup untouched in her hands. Those green eyes narrowed at me with concern. "What's wrong?"That wasn't a question I had time to answer because I had already risen to my feet, lis
Elliot.The scent of burning herbs clung thick in the air, mingling with the smoke curling from the dying fire.I was shocked I hadn't choked to death from it.My eyes were closed, my breathing as steady as it could be,yet inside, everything churned violently... the ache in my chest, the hunger gnawing at my ribs, the restless full of the wolf pacing along the edges of my mind."You can't win against me, Elliot."I knew Matthias told me to engage with it, know what it wanted, but that wasn't a decision that came easily.Instead, I tried to ignore it. The sound of the fire crackling softly was actually pleasant, so I focused on listening to that. After all, I was left with nothing but the silence and the pull of my bond.Damien.I couldn't stay without thinking about him no matter what. I felt him. And feeling him came with the ache all over again... the fear of being left behind. Of wondering if I'd ever be enough for him.Fuck it.What was even wrong with me?I clenched my fists aga
Elliot.My mom always told me to be weary of strangers. A rule I followed for the majority of my life because most strangers were out of actually get you.Until I met Damien in those woods.Now, I wander deeply into the woods while my heart ached badly against my chest with a man I knew nothing about.The forest stretched endlessly, shadows tangled in the branches above, the damp earth soft beneath my bare feet. I didn't know how long I'd been walking... only that the ache inside me hadn't stopped since I walked out of spying on Damien.It wasn’t just pain. It was hunger. A gnawing, hollow ache tearing through my insides, growing sharper with every step. My body felt... starved. My mind? Fractured. The wolf within paced restlessly, its presence like claws scraping against the edges of my mind, waiting for me to break."You can't be with him," the voice whispered again. Because it couldn't keep shut for even a minute.My hands curled into fists. "Shut the fuck up," I thought bitterl
Elliot.The woods whispered with ghosts. Not the kind I could see. No, these were the silent, aching kind. Memories pressing against my chest like old wounds that never fully healed.The wind stirred the branches above me, hollow and biting with the scent of damp earth and pine assaulting my nose and taking over my senses. The underbrush crunched softly beneath my feet, but I barely noticed.My pulse thrummed louder than the wind. Louder than the creak of trees shifting in the cold.Because I'd been here before.Too many times.The first time had been when I had dragged a half dead, bloodied and broken, through these very woods. The air had been tainted with the smell of blood, Damien's body limp in my arms that I had thought... no, feared... he wouldn't make it.I had fought for him then.Refused to leave the stranger behind, no matter how close that horrible creature had come, no matter how much the shadows seemed to close in.And now?Now Damien was gone.All I had gotten were tex
Elliot.The cabin felt colder without Damien here.None of his sparky personality, sarcastic comments, or even the smell of his wonderful home made cooking.On the day he left, I blinked awake, expecting to feel his warmth pressed against my back, the steady rise and fall of his breathing acting like an anchor against the dark cloud in my mind. But the couch was empty, the sheets already cool where Damien should have been.And my whole body ached because I slept on a couch.The hollow silence, though, was enough to make my stomach twist. It wasn't like Damien to leave me without a word.I forced myself upright, brushing tangled hair from my face as my eyes swept the dimly lit room. The cabin was still... the kind of quiet that didn't feel peaceful, only wrong.And then I saw it.And then he saw it. A folded piece of paper on the kitchen counter.No.My pulse quicked, a sinking weight pressing down on my chest as I snatched it up. The paper felt rough under my fingers, creased like it
Damien.With Elliot in the house, there was always something going on.Reading.Writing.Journaling. Cooking, cleaning, eating, talking. Whatever mundane activity one could think about, we always had at least one going on.Even on the days he was mad at me, so the silence around and in the cabin felt deafening. I stood in the wreckage of our home, the faint scent of blood still lingering in the air, mixing with that horrible tang of destruction. Our bond... the one thing between me and Elliot, usually a steady hum at the back of my mind, was eerily quiet.No pull. No sign. Nothing.This wasn't an unusual occurrence for us, but considering the fact that he had a monster wolf in his mind...I clenched my fists, my nails biting into my palms as I scanned the room again, searching for something... anything... that might give me a clue. "Elliot!" I called out, my voice hoarse.The echo of my own voice was the only reply."Damien..." Fiona’s voice was softer than I was used to... more h
Damien."You did the right thing."I stared at the cabin, its wood soaked in the first light of dawn. The healer was already shuffling toward Fiona car... which was completely repaired now, his silver braid swaying, his bag of tools slung casually over one shoulder.Behind him, my mother stood with her arms crossed, her face closed off.Were they dating? Was she his assistant or something? Was this where she had been all those years?There were too many questions swirling around my head this morning."You'll be travelling without me," she said to me, her voice like cold steel.The relief I felt was sharp and immediate, though I buried it deep down. She wasn't really talking to me, and it would be stupid to show that her words affected me. So, I schooled my expression into one of indifference and nodded as if her absence didn't matter.But it did.She wouldn't be coming with us. She wouldn't be around to ignore me, to pretend I didn't exist. She wouldn't be available for my questions
Damien."Mom?" The word slipped from my mouth before I could think, hanging in the cold air between us. The woman... my mother... froze, her wide eyes locking with mine. Different emotions passed through her eyes at that moment before they hardened, and she turned her attention to Fiona...As if I hadn't spoken at all.Well, that was one way for our reunion to happen after years of not seeing each other.Fiona glanced between us, her brow furrowing, but before she could say anything, another figure emerged from the cabin.The man was tall and lean, his silver hair tied back into a neat braid. His piercing grey eyes swept over Fiona and I with calm curiosity and mild disinterest... or was it total disinterest.It was hard to tell.This was a man who carried himself with authority, like someone who was used to being obeyed."I see we have visitors," the man said. He had a husky kind of tone. "I am Matthias, the healer. And you are?"I tore my eyes away from the woman... my mother... a
Damien."Elliot,I'm going to fix this, and I'll be back soon. Don't worry about me. Stay safe, Saviour.Love, Damien.P.S. You should get a nickname for me soon."The cold morning air bit at my skin as I stepped out of the cabin, the wood floor creaking softly beneath my boots. I couldn't help but take a glance back at the cabin, the warm light of the living room spilling out through the cracked door. Elliot was still asleep, curled up under a blanket, snoring softly.Fuck.Just moving out the door was enough to get my heart twisting in my chest. I didn't want to leave him, not now, not ever. Elliot needed me beside him right now, but staying wasn't an option.If there was any chance of helping Elliot... of keeping him safe and in control of his mind... I had to take the risk.At least I left a note on the kitchen counter for him to find.I spared one last look at his peaceful form, I stepped outside and closed the door softly behind me.Fiona, the red-haired princess that she was,