Chapter 41: Chapter 13

DAMON

The sun begins to set, and the excitement of the pack is palpable. “What’s happening?”

I take Natalie’s cocoa and set it on the table. “Pack run.”

She nibbles her lip and looks around.

“There’s a dog door in the kitchen wall. You can shift inside.”

She rushes up the stairs, and I head outside to shift. Everyone begins to gather around me as I wait for the pack. The dog door pushes open, and my wolf howls.

~“What’s up, man?”~

~“It’s her! I was right, she’s my mate!”~

Finn stands beside me to see the pure white wolf with turquoise eyes walk up to the group. She’ll recognize me as her alpha, but anyone else will be by scent.

She surprises me when she bumps Spencer’s shoulder with a bark of laughter. Spencer plays with her, and I involuntarily growl. Finn nudges my flank to get my attention. They both stop and face me.

~“Just messing around, Damon. I know, she’s only sixteen.”~

I get control of my wolf. No one but Finn knows that she’s my mate.

~“I’m sorry, Damon. I didn’t know this is supposed to be a serious thing.”~

~“It’s not, Natalie. My wolf is just protective of you. Go have fun.”~

~“Okay. Thank you for letting me be part of all this. Everything has been so incredible. By the way, you’re huge, and your drawing looks just like you.”~

I would laugh if I could. ~“Thank you. You’re beautiful.”~ Shit, that came out of nowhere. ~“I’ve never seen a pure white wolf before. You truly are special.”~ Did that just make it worse?

Finn nudges my flank, and I look around to all of the pack. Everyone is ready to go. I throw my head back and howl. The pack joins in, and we run.

Finn takes the front while the elders set the pace. My guards naturally fall into position surrounding everyone. I stay in the back to make sure everyone is safe.

Natalie’s pure white wolf is easy to spot in the crowd of colorful wolves; she’s with Bianca and Melissa. Bianca tends to look after her, which is a relief to me. My mate. My sweet, beautiful, amazing mate. Natalie.

I howl, and Finn brings everyone back around to the pack house. We shift then go inside to tell stories in front of the fire.

Natalie brings me more hot cocoa with peppermint sticks and whipped cream; I can tell she loves this stuff. I’m going to have to invest in chocolates for her.

There’s nowhere for her to sit, so I scoot in my chair and pull her to sit with me, partially on my lap like before.

My dad begins the stories, and the pups, and Natalie listen attentively. Once Pop finishes his story, he claps his hands. “Okay, little ones. Bedtime.”

“Ah.” The pups boo but begin making their way up the stairs. A few of the little ones give me hugs and thanks before scampering up the stairs.

“You’re good with kids. You’re a good alpha.” Natalie moves off of my lap to sit beside me now that there’s room.

“I’m trying to be.”

~“Damon!”~ Finn gets my attention and tilts his head, summoning me to him, and I know something is up.

“Excuse me. Finn needs me.”

She nods, and I get to my feet, leaving my mate to listen to more stories.

“What’s up?” Finn leads me outside.

“Two guards fell. Marlena is on her way, but it looks like they need Natalie.” I nod. “We can’t have them in a building if she’s going to set everything on fire.”

~“Natalie, emergency!”~ “I’ll figure something out.” I follow my links to my guards that are fading.

Natalie joins us, and Finn drives to the hospital. The room is in chaos as the nurses and Marlena are trying to stabilize them.

“Everyone out of the room, now!”

Marlena stops, but the nurses keep working. “OUT!”

The command sets in, and Natalie takes their place next to Yuri, the one closest to the door.

“Finn, open the window then get ready to put out the fire.”

I reach out with my link to talk to my guards. Natalie’s palms light up with a yellow glow, and Yuri begins to come out of the darkness. She runs to Muriel’s side and pulls her from the darkness. Natalie rushes to the window, and her light turns orange, and fire spreads up a nearby tree. Natalie’s hands drop to her sides, and I catch her as she passes out.

I carry her out of the room, and Marlena rushes to check her over while the nurses get back to my guards. “Muriel and Yuri are sleeping. Natalie used too much of her power.” Marlena leads me to a bed where I can lay her down.

“She’s something really special, isn’t she?” Marlena states as she covers her with a blanket.

I nod. “Yes, she is. I’m not sure what, though.”

“She’s your mate if I’m not mistaken.” She puts in her stethoscope to listen to Natalie.

I lick my bottom lip. “What makes you say that?”

She stands up straight to look at me. “Alpha. I see how you look at her…”

“She’s coming! The Goddess is coming! You can’t save us!” I grunt from Stewart’s ramblings, but I did want to know what’s going on with him.

I walk into his room, and he’s frantically pulling at his lines. “STOP!”

He clenches his jaw as he looks at me. “You’re going to get us all killed. She’s here, she’s going to set everything on fire. She’ll steal our souls. You can’t stop her, she’s too powerful.”

“Stop who, Stewart?” He clenches his jaw and glares at me. “I’ve already lost one wolf, and three have been injured. You know something. What’s going on, Stewart?”

“Alpha Roberts got rid of her, but you, you brought her back.” Alpha Roberts was capable of doing something? I highly doubt that. I could just make him answer my questions, but his ranting leads to more and more information.

“Who did I bring back? And how did I bring her back?” I cross my arms and wait for an answer.

“You stole Alpha from Roberts. You broke the spell.”

“What spell?”

“The spell to lock her away in darkness, but she’s not afraid of darkness.” Now I’m just getting more and more confused.

“STEWART, WHO WAS LOCKED AWAY?”

Stewart gets quiet as he tries to fight my command. I let some of my power out, but he continues to fight me. I let out more, and he can no longer keep it in.

“Realta.” Stewart lets out a pained breath then relaxes back into the bed. His ranting and raving made no sense to me, but I kind of get the gist that a Goddess by the name of Realta is tormenting my pack for some reason. I let him sleep. I’ll try again another time.

“Is he nuts, or should we listen to his crazy?” Finn stands beside me as I watch over Natalie.

“I think he knows what’s going on, but more than that, I think he’s involved.” Natalie looks lost in a dream, so I hold her tiny, yet powerful hand.

“How so?”

“With how worked up he is. He’s not worried about the pack, he’s worried about himself.” Natalie’s hand squeezes mine. Fuck this. I pick her up from the bed. Finn looks at me in question. “She’s only sleeping, might as well sleep in a comfortable bed. Would you mind dropping us at the alpha house?”

“Sure. You know it’s your house, right?” he says as he pulls his keys from his pocket.

“Not yet. I need to make some changes. I think I’ll start after the Alpha Summit.” I lay Natalie into the back seat of Finn’s truck.

“What happens when she goes back?” He tilts his head toward the back seat. “She’s the only way to keep people from dying. This energy is undetectable to everyone but the two of you, and Marlena can’t do anything medically.”

“She asked me that too. I don’t have an answer. I don’t even know what it is. The tomes I looked through with Dec and Troy were about witches; they didn’t have anything helpful. One thing I do know is that we never did check out the dungeon.”

He tilts his head and hisses in a breath. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

“Stewart said this Goddess Realta was locked away by Roberts, where else would he put her? I never went further than Kya’s cell, but it looked like there was more to the structure.”

“I’ve never heard of a Goddess named Realta.” Finn pulls in front of…my place.

“I’ll call Dec and see if he knows anything.” I pull Natalie from the back seat of the truck.

“I can call him. You have a lot to deal with.” I give him a nod then take Natalie up the stairs and into her room.

I remove her jacket and shoes, then tuck her into her bed. I look her over and let out a breath. I give in to my burning desire and place a soft kiss to her hair. “Goodnight. My mate,” I whisper, then leave her side. I look over her one more time, then reach for the doorknob.

“Damon?” Her soft voice cuts the silence.

I freeze at the doorway. Did she hear me? “I’m here, Natalie.”

She hums, then snuggles deeper into her blankets.

I close the door, then scrub both hands through my hair. “Ah,” I grunt out. What am I doing? She won’t know for at least six more months; her birthday is in June. Even then, she’s still only seventeen.

B is the only one I’ve ever met who got a mate early, and I assume the only reason is because Finn was meant to be my beta. I can’t mate a seventeen-year-old; I could claim her. I would never hurt her, but the bond is going to get much stronger than the feelings I already have for her. I take a shower to clear my mind, then crash in my bed.