Chapter 5 Untitled

DAMON

My heart dropped when I looked around and couldn't find Kira. "Where the fuck is she!?" I muttered the question over and over again as people pushed past me.

I struggled to get to the front stage, so I could get Kira and my stepmother out of there before the Killer had a chance to hurt them.

My temples were hurting, and I was beginning to panic. I couldn't lose Kira, not again. My wolf growled in response to the thought, and my sense heightened.

I practically skipped the stairs and managed to get there, but if my heart had been palpitating before, it stopped when I laid my eyes on the sight in front of me.

Bloody hell, "No!" I yelled, fear completely consuming me.

Kira was lying in her pool of blood, and her mother was also beside her. I wanted to protect both women but ended up failing.

I ran my hands through my hair and knelt in between them immediately. I needed to add pressure on their wounds so they wouldn't die.

"Stay with me, Kira! Stay with me, Mum!" I yelled frantically as I tried to apply pressure on their wounds simultaneously.

I noticed her mum was still conscious, and I saw the smile on her face. "That's the first time you've called me Mum," She whispered slowly.

Her face contorted into a painful expression, and My heart was aching in that moment more than ever.

I didn't want to lose another woman who was a mother figure in my life. "I can't lose-" I started, but she silenced me with a slight raise of her finger.

"Please do not abandon Kira," she winced, and I could tell it was difficult for her to speak.

"Somebody fucking help!" I yelled in frustration. I felt hopeless and wondered why bad things happened to good people.

She grabbed my arm, which caused me to look at her. "You left all these years; you better not leave my daughter again. You have no idea how much she had gone through because of your absence. How would you live, knowing that Kira never forgave you?"

My wolf growled slightly, pain gripping my chest as dread seeped out and engulfed my very being.

I wouldn't be able to live with myself if she died. I came back to save her. If I couldn't do that, then I was practically useless.

"I-" I started, but she caught me off again, clearly knowing the answer to her question, or more accurately, what I was about to say.

"Please... save her."

I turned my attention towards Kira and lifted her.

The healers and ambulances were already there, and the guards were rushing in, while I ran out.

I bolted past the flashing lights and frantic shouts, ignoring the metallic tang of blood that saturated the air.

Kira felt like a fragile doll in my arms, the weight of her unconscious form was a terrifying burden.

The blaring sirens outside seemed to mock the silent scream building in my chest.

Shoving past a bewildered guard, I barked, "Ambulance! Now!" Two healers rushed towards me; their faces grim as they took Kira from me.

Gentle hands worked a frantic rhythm against her pale skin.

My wolf whined deep within, which didn't help to ease the pounding in my ears.

I rushed back in with the guards to help Kira's mother. And I prayed to the heavens and hoped she was still alive.

We got to the front stage, the air thick with the stench of blood and fear.

There she was, Kira's mom, propped up against a wall by the podium. Her face, pale as moonlight, was etched with pain.

"We need a healer, now!" I bellowed; my voice hoarse with urgency. A young guard, barely out of his teens, flinched at my tone but scrambled towards the exit.

I wondered why such a happy occasion turned into something drastic and life-threatening.

The killer must have been a sadist and didn't want Kira to inherit the throne.

I made a mental note to make sure the bastard wouldn't get away with it, but I needed to focus on Kira's mum.

"You shouldn't be here," she rasped, her voice weak but surprisingly steady. Her eyes, the same stormy blue as Kira's, held a flicker of defiance.

"What do you mean I shouldn't?" I growled, ignoring the throbbing pain in my head. "You've been a nice woman to me, and almost replaced a mother figure. Why would you think I wouldn't come back to save you? I owe you that at least."

A ghost of a smile played on her lips. "You think you can repay a mother's love, Damon? With your presence now, when you were absent for years?"

Her words were a punch to the gut. I deserved that, and worse. But dammit, I wasn't going to let her die on me.

"Just hold on," I pleaded, the words raw in my throat. "The healer will be here any minute."

She chuckled a dry, humourless sound. "You think a healer can fix what's broken, Damon? Can they mend a broken heart? Can they erase years of pain?"

I didn't have an answer. All I could do was kneel beside her, the metallic tang of her blood a constant reminder of my failings.

"Tell Kira... tell her I love her," she whispered, her eyelids fluttering closed.

"Hey! Don't you do that! You'll tell her yourself, God damnit!" I barked, panic clawing at my throat. "Stay with me. The healer will be here soon."

But her breaths were shallow, her grip on consciousness slipping away like sand through my fingers.

"Please..." she rasped, her voice barely a whisper.

"I'm right here," I pleaded, the desperation raw in my voice.

A growl escaped my lips. No. Not again. I couldn't lose another woman I cared about. Not like this.

The sound of hurried footsteps echoed beside me. The young guard appeared, a healer by his side. But as the healer knelt beside Kira's mom, his face fell.

"She's gone," he said softly, his voice heavy with regret.

The world seemed to tilt on its axis once more, the room spinning around me.

Gone.

The word echoed in my head, a hollow drumbeat against the deafening silence that had descended.

I had failed them both.

But the deafening silence shattered the moment a booming voice filled the room.

Then, a voice, deep and a bit distorted, but still recognizable, cut through the haze of my despair. "Damon?"

My head snapped towards the source of the sound. There, standing near the entrance, was my father, Alpha Scott.

I took a good look at him now that he was closer.

He looked older than I remembered, his face etched with worry lines that must have formed while he worried about keeping his secret, but his piercing blue eyes held the same steely glint they always had.

A surge of hatred, cold and venomous, slithered up my throat. Seeing him now, in the aftermath of this carnage, felt like a cruel joke.

The supposed leader of the pack, arriving when it was all over.

He stood there, looking every bit of the powerful leader he was supposed to be with his broad shoulders and stern expression.

But all I saw was the man who ripped my world apart, the man who held a secret that choked me every time I looked at him.

I lost all ounce of respect for him when I found out his secret.

How could a man be so venomous? It made me want to burn myself alive to think that I was his seed.

Wasn't a powerful leader, or a leader supposed to protect his pack, and more importantly his family? I found it ridiculously convenient that he arrived right after Kira's mum died.

"What happened here?"

"Don't you dare act like you care," I spat, my voice raw with barely contained emotion.

The growl emanating from deep within me vibrated through my bones.

Scott's brow furrowed. "What are you talking about? What happened?" His gaze flickered to the fallen healer and the lifeless form of Kira's mom.

Understanding dawned on his face, slowly morphing into a mask of grief.

"No," he rasped, his voice thick with shock. "This can't be happening."

He took a tentative step towards me, but I recoiled, my lip curling in disgust.

"Don't come closer. Not even another step," I snarled.

His features morphed into anger, and the guard beside me slowly stalked away.

I didn't care if we were in public, it didn't mean I would hide my hatred for him, which had amplified.

A tiny part of me prayed he didn't have a hand in it, but I was way past hoping.

If I was the same person I was twelve years ago, I may have not even thought about the possibility of my father having a hand in this attack, but I knew his secret, and I could see right through his façade.

I made a final glance at Kira's mum's peaceful face and crouched down to kiss her forehead, which was now a lower temperature.

"Rest in peace, ma," I muttered, and my wolf whined in response.

With a disgusted glare at my dad, I stormed out of the place.

I needed to be with Kira.