Chapter 14

"Mom, you look great!" I repeated for the upteenth time as I returned the garlic potatoes back into the oven.

She has been changing in and out of clothes for the last hour saying she was looking for 'The One' and to me, every single one of the ones she had changed to were 'The Ones.'

She had on a a grey, off the shoulder pencil dress and a pair of black pumps. Her ears were adorned by a pair of simple, but gorgeous diamond stud earrings that complimented the necklace that caressed her chest. Her black bra straps were clearly visible from her shoulder, but not in at all any ugly way. It was fashionable in its own way. She had gone to the salon earlier today to get her short hair sorted out so now the edge up at her temple was more prominent from her short curls. She had some mascara on to accentuate her already full and long eyelashes and some eyeliner to make her dark eyes seem more darker, but in a very beautiful way. Her lips were coated in nice, maroon coloured lipstick that went exceptionally well with her brown skin.

I on the other was less worried about my appearance which consisted of a pair of blue skinny jeans, a, white, women's button up shirt and some black pumps. My make up was kept to the bare minimum consisting of my favourite translucent lipgloss.

"You really think so?" She nervously asked as her hand ran down her curves to smooth out non-existent creases.

"I promise, Mom," I assured as I made my way over to her and pulled her into an embrace. "Calm down. He'll love you."

"Awe," She pouted as she pulled me into her chest. "Thanks Hon. You're the best."

"I take after you, Mother Dearest." I dramatically coughed as I pulled away and made my way towards the oven. The sound of a knock on the door had me stiffening for a second before I relaxed.

"He's here!" Mom half squealed, half squeaked in excitement and nervousness.

"It would be great to open the door for him then, Mom." I lightly giggled as I put on the oven mittens and placed the wooden board on the counter. I then opened the oven, just as the presence of a baritone, authoritative but warm voice sounded in the kitchen. I carefully grabbed the tray and placed it on the board before turning around to turn off the oven.

"Mel Honey," Mom's nervous, but excited voice filled my ears, making me turn to face her with a soft smile. I wasn't surprised to see the unknown man, what I was surprised to see was how tall and bulky he was. I didn't know Mom was dating a weightlifter. His casual clothing didn't help with decreasing his strong and demanding aura as he softly smiled at me. His blonde locks and baby blue eyes gave him this innocence that the firmness in his eyes betrayed. The navy-blue skinny jeans and white dress shirt only made him look charming, but boss like. He was the type of person who'd makes you feel insignificant under his mere stare if you made his angry. "This is Damian." She introduced with a giddy, but sweet smile.

"Hi," I awkwardly greeted. How can I be normal when I feel so intimated. I mean, Mom has never brought guys over, so I don't know how to act towards them, especially this gigantic, intimidating one. "It's nice to meet you, Sir."

"Please, just Damian," He said, his voice wavering at the end as if it pained him to say his own name. Mom gave him a soft smile, while gently rubbing his arm, kind of confusing me a bit, but who was I to say anything. "Oh," He said as if he remembered something before he placed a medium sized gift bag on the counter. "This is for you." He nervously chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. The same man who stands in front of me with an air or authority is nervous? I never see that everyday.

"Thank you." I softly smiled as I grabbed the bag and pulled it toward me. A part of me felt awkward and didn't know how to act, but another part of me urged me to show the happiness that boiled inside of me as well. I genuinely loved surprised.

I looked inside to see a some pink tissue paper inside the bag.

"Please take a look." He urged, indicating toward the bag with his one hand while his other arm hung loosely from my mother's waist. Mom on the other hand has her one arm to his back while the other was gently pressing against his chest as a smile of contentment and adoration marred her features.

"Okay." I genuinely smiled as I pulled out the tissue paper, just for my eyes to almost bulge out of my eye sockets at the items inside the bag.

"I didn't know what to get you, so I guess I got you a little of everything," He nervously chuckled.

A little? More like a lot.

Inside the gift bag was a cute, medium sized white stuffed bear. A box with the picture of navy blue headphones, a much smaller box with the picture of Bluetooth ear phones, a transparent box with a watch, a small box and a large box with the picture of a white laptop.

This is too much. It was definitely crazy expensive, I can't accept this.

I opened my mouth to protest, just for him to shake his head," Don't say it. I'm not taking a single item back, everything in there is yours."

"Damian," Mom said, using a very familiar warning tone that said she suspected that you had did something she told you not to do. "What did you get her?"

"Just a few things," He nervously smiled at her," I promise they weren't too expensive."

I think she saw that she wasn't getting a clear answer from him anytime soon, so she threw me her motherly stare that had me wanting to dash up to my room.

"Mel," She started," What's in there?"

"M-" I stopped, as I was cut off by Damian's rant.

"Look Baby, I didn't know what to get exactly, so I got everything. It's not much, I promise. Just some Bluetooth headphones and earphones, a small stuffed bear, a laptop and a wristwatch," He listed during his short rant that had my mom placing her hand against her forehead as she shook her head. "I'm sorry, Babe. I couldn't help it."

"What's done is done." She smiled at him with an amused smile.

"Thanks for understanding, my Love." He sighed in relief.

"I'm sure it's more of accepting than understanding, Sweetheart. But thank you." She gently hugged his side. In return, he affectionately kissed her cheek making me smile at the apparent love they share with each other. I just hope he continues to love her and treat her right because I only want my mom to be happy at the end of the day.

"Thanks for the gifts, S-I mean, Damian." I quickly corrected myself.

"Anytime, Sweetheart," He smiled at me with such softness that it caressed a part of me that has remained dormant for majority of my life. The part of me that has always craved for a father figure, but accepted that I would never have one. For some reason, Damian reminded me of that yearning, of that longing while somehow filling it some. It's unexplainable. "So, whats cooking? And how can I help?"

"We're almost done," I smiled at him," Besides, you're our guest. It wouldn't be right of us to having you working in the kitchen on your first visit."

An unreadable emotion, shot through his eyes at my words, almost as though he knew something I didn't before his eyes connected with my mother's in what I could read as a silent conversation. Maybe this wasn't his first visit here.

Mom gave him a peck on the cheek before coming over with the intention of helping me make the salad.

"No no," I shooed her away," We wouldn't want any accidents happening here."

"But-" She began, but one look from me was enough for her to raise her hands with a chuckle. "As you wish, Chef Melissa." She smiled in defeat as she made her way back to where she was but this time, she took a seat next to Damian who immediately wrapped his arm around her waist and pressed a quick, but affectionate kiss on her cheek.

My mind decided that that was the time to imagine me in the same position, but with someone else. A specific, or rather, two specific green eyed, black haired men. A girl can really dream or rather, a girl can have crushes.

"Let me go put this in my room quickly, then I'll be back." I indicated to the gift bag on the counter that was occupying a bit of required space.

"Good idea." Mom agreed with me.

I grabbed the bag and made my way down the hall to my bedroom. The room was bright thanks to the light I had turned on earlier. I didn't want any accidents happening with me in the dark. I might not be the clumsiest person on Earth, but I'm not the most balanced either.

I dropped the bag on my bed and quickly hurried back to the kitchen when as the image of the potatoes being brushed by the cold air caught my attention. I needed to put them in a bowl and fast.

As I was about to step into the kitchen, my feet stopped moving at the sight before me. How in the world am I walking in on such a moment.

My mom and Damian were facing each other with equal looks of love as Damian gently cupped my mom's face between his hands and drew small circles on her cheek. Her arms were pressed against her chest as she looked at him with a loved love drunk smile that promised forever. Anyone could tell that these two are madly in love that a part of me is finding it difficult to believe that they have only known known other for almost three months. They were so head over heels for each other that I'm sure they would get married to each other tomorrow if given the chance. How romantic can two people be.

Unfortunately for them and me though, I had to be the party pooper as I spotted the uncovered potatoes on the counter.

I stepped into the tense room and awkwardly cleared my throat, instantly bursting the bubble that had surrounded the couple and almost suffocated the food, I'm sure.

"I'm sorry." I squeaked as I made my way over to the counter.

"Oh Dear," Mom shyly twiddled her fingers on the counter. "I'm sorry you had to see that, Honey," She shyly smiled at me as she looked up at me from her eyelashes just like how I used to look at her after I had eaten more cookies from the cookie jar than she had allowed. How ironic. "How embarrassing." She whispered to herself.

"I'm old enough to handle it, Mom. Don't worry." I reassured as I grabbed the empty bowl on the counter and slid the potatoes off the baking tray with my spatula so I could slide them into the clear bowl.

"Still...how embarrassing." She squeaked.

Damian chucked at her for a second before his shoulders seemed to grow tense along with his facial muscles that grew hard. All the laughter and lightness in the room dissipating and replacing it with suspenseful, dark tension that had me feeling on edge. The feeling of dread and concern suddenly settled into my stomach as the feeling from the day before during my lecture came back even strong making nausea crawl into my being.

The hairs on my body stood to attention in fear and worry of an unknown problem as I stared at Damian who jumped up from his chair, making it fall back and onto the tiles with a loud bang that ricocheted across the room. One second he was in front of me and the next he was bolting out of the door.

A sudden course of adrenaline filled my core as I found myself running to wherever my body was taking me with my mother calling my name behind me. I couldn't hear the words properly nor see the vision before me until I was standing inside of a familiar house. Nolan's.

My breathing felt laboured and my vision blurry. My head was pounding and my chest felt tight, but I trudged on up the stairs, my mind not registering the emptiness of the house. I found myself standing outside of an unfamiliar room with the door wide open. My eyes went to the floor next to the bed, to find a crying Grace with her head buried into a scared Nolan's chest as he remained on the floor, trying to comfort his niece. My heart ached for him as my body tried to get me to go comfort them both. The strong need had me balling my hands to fists at my sides as I felt my own eyes tear up at the heartbreaking sight. The fear and dimming hope in Nolan's eyes had my heart plunging to my churning stomach, the cries that left the innocent child in his arms had me wanting to run over to cradle her, actually, both of them in my arms. It was a battlefield within me.

I however, couldn't see if anyone was on the bed because of Damian's large build that blocked the whole door and thus blocked the view, but something deep down inside me knew there was someone there. Someone who had my heart racing in both fear and concern even though I couldn't see them.

"Alpha." Nolan's weak voice broke as he looked at Damian with a fearful and weak expression. His eyes shining with unshed tears. At that moment, I knew I never ever wanted to see him looking so broken, so defeated, so hopeless and so in pain ever again. The image of a broken Nolan and a heartbroken and scared Grace would forever be imprinted into my brain, and I hated it.

"Is he alive?" Damian simply asked, confirming my suspicions that someone was indeed on the bed. A he.

"Barely," Nolan hoarsely responded," The pack doctor is on his way."

"Liam's presence is too faint." Damian said as he slowly took a step forward, giving a bit off room to sight in front of him.

"Could it be the mate bond?" Nolan weakly asked.

"Most likely." Damian sighed.

They spoke so openly in my presence that I asked myself if they hadn't noticed me, which is unlikely, or if they just didn't care at this point. I think it's the former because the things they are mentioning are strange. Nolan referred to Damian as 'Alpha' when he saw him and now they are talking about something called a 'Mate bond'? What in the world are they talking about. And what in the world is a pack doctor? Why are they playing around instead of calling for actual help?

The gentle, but familiar touch of my mother as she touched my shoulder had me tensing, before calming down.

"Sweetie, we can't be here." She said with slight concern in her voice, but I couldn't bring myself to face her, but I wish I had because the sight that was revealed to front of me is not a sight I was ready to see and it's not a sight I think I could easily unsee.

A sickly, almost boney, pale figure laid on the bed. Their chest unmoving and their body deathly pale. He was knocking on death's door if he wasn't already a foot in and that mere thought caused my heart to feel like it stopped pumping for a second as the nausea came back full force as my world turned blurry. My hearing slowly disintegrated as I heard my mother calling my name from the distance. It felt like I was falling, but at the same same time I was drowning. My eyes were burning and my cheeks felt damp. My breathing felt incredibly shallow and laboured as I struggled to get in any air in my lungs. It felt like my body was fighting against its own existence, almost like it was caught between wanting to give up on me while remaining holding a thin thread.

Why am I feeling like this? Like seeing him like that is killing a part of me....literally. Why is it causing such a reaction from me? Why do I feel so wrecked by this?

One thing I knew is that this couldn't be just an ordinary crush. It was something more, something uncontrollable, beautiful and dangerous.