The scent of Damon still lingered in the air and I swiftly breathed it in, wanting to savor the smell. His smile replayed in my mind over and over again.
Samuel smiled at me from across the table. "You know he really does care for you, right?"
I sighed and gazed down at my plate. With my fork, I pushed around some of the fatty part of the meat. "I should get going back to the cabin. Valerio is probably waiting for me." I ignored his question, not wanting to admit my thoughts and feelings to him.
He stood and took my plate from me. "I know you don't want to talk about it now, but if you ever do, you can always talk to me."
I smiled softly up at him and nodded. Excusing myself from the room, I departed from the pack house and made my way down the dirt path. As I passed through the dimly lit grove, warrior wolves guarded the edges of the path and silently watched me. The dim glow of the moonflowers that snaked up the trees and along the path illuminated my way. Beams of moonlight shone through the crevices between the trees.
Walking further down the path, I noticed Luca whispering to the man and boy I saw earlier. The man caught my eye and immediately stopped talking and nudged Luca. My eyebrows furrowed together as Luca silenced and his head snapped to me.
What was going on with him? Luca waved me over and I hesitantly walked over to the men. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me into a hug.
"Luca, what are you still doing here? It's getting late," I stated.
"I'm here to help prepare with the Ascension," he said. The man looked between us and shuffled uncomfortably. I wanted to believe him, but something inside of me stirred. I knew he was telling the truth to some extent, but by the way the men in front of me stopped talking so suddenly made me think there was more than what he was telling me.
"I know," I breathed, eyeing the man in front of me. The boy's stared intently at the ground as the man swallowed nervously.
"I was just talking to some members of my old pack. Mae, meet my beta, Steve," The man smiled at me and held out his hand. I took his hand in mine and shook it, studying him. "And this is one of my best warrior wolves, Kellian." Luca motioned to the boy and the boy's eyes immediately glanced up at me and he bowed his head.
That must be why the boy was able to be whipped over and over again and not seem like he was hurt one bit. He was a warrior.
I nodded my head to him.
"Well, it's getting late," I stated. "I will be on my way."
Luca pulled me in for a hug and placed a soft kiss on my cheek. I weakly smiled his way and then turned to the path. I listened as I departed from them, wanting to catch a piece of what they were talking about, but they stayed quiet until I was out of distance.
Why was he acting so weird? The last thing I expected was for him to voluntarily work with Damon. I knew he told me he was going to do everything her could for the ascension but working with Damon took everything to a whole new level and I was beginning to question his actions. He hated Damon and Damon hated him.
Once I entered the cabin, I peeked my head in Valerio's room to see him lying on his bed. The only light came from the moon shining through his window and the bright illumination from the hallway. Valerio's ankles crossed over one another and his fingers intertwined with each other, resting on his stomach. As he heard me, he opened his eyes and raised an eyebrow.
"Valerio, could you do me a favor?" I asked. He sat up in his bed, leaning his bare bare against the bed frame. The blankets rolled off of his chest and onto his lap. "Keep an eye on Luca. I'm getting a weird vibe from him and I don't know what's going on."
He nodded his head, but furrowed his eyebrows together. "I will, but why do you think that?"
"He's just acting odd..." I answered. I was probably just over reacting, but I wanted to be on the safe side. I couldn't risk someone getting close to me and then betraying me.
As he nodded, I yawned. Exiting the room, I walked to my room and laid on my bed. Taking a deep breath, I shut my eyes.
The way Damon acted today shocked me. Never did I expect him to be good with kids. He treated them with more respect and love than I thought he could. He would be a great father one day if him and Alexandra ever mated. My heart clenched in my chest at the thought of Damon and Alexandra being together. I didn't want them together. Deep in my heart, I was still attracted to Damon. I understood his reasons for hurting me and then I put him through so much pain. He had felt everything I did. Luca would never understand everything that I had been through in the past month. He wouldn't understand the pain and heart break, the suffering and agony. Damon lived through it with me. Every time I hurt, so did he. I couldn't let him mate Alexandra. I wanted him as mine.
I hated myself for being torn by the two men in my life. I hated the fact that I loved them both. I hated that I didn't even know if I could trust either of them anymore. Whoever I chose to be with, someone would be hurting. Either way, I'd be hurting.
As much as I wanted to forget about Damon, he contoinuously crawled into the back of my mind. It was as if he was always there. And, to be honest, he was. He was my mate. He was supposed to always be there.
I wish things could've just been normal between us. I wish he could've accepted me for myself in the beginning.
I sighed, and my eyes became heavy. I wanted to forget about my problems for a bit. Allowing the darkness to take over me, I fell into a deep sleep.
I opened the door to Damon's pack house. As I walked in my eyes widened in terror. Blood drenched the wooden floor and was splattered all over the walls. Dead wolves laid on the couch. Small flies flew around their bodies as rats ate at their flesh.
Pressing my lips, together, I tried not to breath in the horrid iron scent. I ascended the stairs to find more pups with deep claw incisions in their chests. Their throats were cut, and they laid in a pool of blood.
I adverted my gaze and walked further up the stairs. A trail of blood led through a hallway to a door. It looked as if people's dead bodies were dragged. I didn't want to enter the room, but their distinct smells sent me into a frenzy.
Shakily, I turned the knob and pushed the door opened. A shriek escaped my lips and I fell to my knees. Blood was smeared across the white walls and small candles illuminated the room. Five wolves laid next to each other, belly's up on the ground. I crawled closer to them to see who they were, and I doubled over.
Aaisha was the first body. A deep claw mark gashed into her neck. Next to her a small mason jar sat with a strip of tape on it. I shakily took it in my hands and read the small writing on the tape.
AAISHA'S FRIENDSHIP
My scream pierced through the room as I noticed Aaisha's hand stuffed into the jar. Shakily, I placed the jar down and wrapped my arms around myself.
I crawled to the next body and my lips trembled as Luca laid before me. A deep gash punctured his upper chest. I doubled over onto him as tears streamed down my cheeks. A jar next to him read, LUCA'S AFFECTION, and his bloodied heart was stuffed inside of it.
My arms shook furiously as I crawled to the next body. Valerio. His body was torn apart, he was barely recognizable, but I could still see his piercing eyes and his blonde hair. The jar next to him read, VALERIO'S SUPPORT. Inside of it, part of his arm muscle was torn off and stuffed into it.
My lips trembled as more tears raced down my cheeks. I didn't want to continue, but my body forced me to.
Damon was next. His dull green eyes stared at the ceiling. He was the most torn up. His body had deep gashes from head to toe. Large canine marks sunk into his muscle, bruising it. A pool of blood laid around him. I shakily reached for the jar next to him. DAMON'S SOUL. A warm essence swirled around in the jar, looking to still be alive even though he wasn't. I held the jar tightly to my chest and then put it down.
Crawling over to the final body I knelt at its side. This body was different. It was placed in a black body bag. There was a piece of tape with writing on it at the top of the bag. YOUR LIFE. Carefully, I unzipped the bag and looked down at a young boy. His body looked to be completely drained of blood and suddenly vivid images of thousands of drained pups flooded my mind. Their bodies laid lifeless all over the ground. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to rid my mind of the image. Once the image was out of my head, I opened my eyes to study the pup further. He looked to be the boy I saw in my last dream from my mother. Last time he was full of life, this time he was drained of it.
Shakily, I stood up, wanting to get out of this mess. As I ran to the door and hurried out of it, I bumped into my mother.
Wrinkles pinched at the edges of her eyes and dark circles encompassed them. "If you fail your duties as Moon Goddess, this will be the futures of all of the wolves."
A/N
THE BLOOD MOON IS APPROACHING!!!
ALSO I LOVE YOUR COMMENTS <3 Some of you are hardcore DamonXMae fans and some of you are hardcore LucaXMae fans. TBH I don't even know who I'm rooting for any more
What do you think is happening with Luca?
What do the jars in Mae's dream represent?
Damon and Luca working together? What do you think about that one?
Warmly, Destiny <3