CHAPTER 34


Damein sat behind his office desk, reading over a pile of files. His eyes had lost their sparkle in the past few days, dull with deep dark circles over his overly pale face, giving him a sickly look. His worries were easily visible on the face, lines having become prominent recently from the stress. Not sleeping properly worsened his appearance with time, but he kept working on.

He had been nonstop working on and on over his Alpha duties, trying to forget all the problems going around him—the only way possible to get his mind off those beautiful onyx eyes that had been haunting his dreams for days now. The incident still fresh in his mind, as he reminisced about the fear and desperation to stay far away from him in his mate's eyes. The question sliced his heart apart each time he was left idle. His state got worse as he lost his patience and hope of his mate coming to him with time. The emptiness of her presence made him hollow. His wolf had already lost in depression in his subconsciousness, remaining quiet and losing contact from his human side.

"Alpha Damein, may I enter, please?"

A knock sounded in the empty room, followed by a feminine voice calling from outside his office door. His attention broke from the sentences he was reading in the file. He looked up to realize the sun rays of the afternoon entering from the open balcony doors, as the curtains danced with the soft wind. The outside weather was a contrast to the gloomy temperament of the office.

"Enter..."

Damein commanded as the door opened. The person entering surprised him with her presence as he watched her stuck for a moment. A smile followed his stooped expressions as she replied.

"I brought you lunch..."

Miranda told him as she looked up at him from the piles of plates in her hands. Many dishes lined the big tray she carried into the office with ease. Her hands easily balanced the heavy-looking tray as she walked further into the room. Her attention focused on the task at hand.

"Ah, Miranda, how have you been? Oh, you don't have to do that; I would have called someone else..."

Damein, surprised by her presence, met the woman after many years. Years had passed since he had met her; she had been left for some personal reason. The situation turned awkward for him as he realized that he knew of her return but still did not make time to meet her. The woman whom he was quite close to all those years ago. She was the last person on his mind to enter his office at this time.

His face was clouded with surprise and uncertainty about what actions to take as he thought about what to say next. Miranda, completely oblivious, entered the room walking to his desk. She put the tray down and started laying the dish and plates for him, like a child. Her old habit of serving him still had not been lost. But the woman stayed completely oblivious as she acted just like the old times. Miranda was busy with her task of serving as Damein accepted it awkwardly, sitting back on his chair, watching her.

"Oh, it's not a hassle..."

Her voice was jolly, as if they had been acquaintances for quite a long time. And her being away for more than a decade was not important. She was respectful, knowing the child whom she had adored years before had grown and was now the heir to the Alpha position of the most powerful pack in the subcontinent. Her motherly voice was still the same Damien remembered from his memory. Trying to keep the conversation going, Damien asked her with a soft smile, trying to keep his face composed as she took her seat.

"So... how are you coping back into the pack life?"

The first time she entered the office, their eyes met. Concern for him reflected in her eyes, her emotions bare for Damien to see as she replied formally. Still on edge, that the child she is meeting now has changed for good or bad. Damien, trying to hide from her eyes, moved toward the food, piling his plate even though he had no appetite. But her voice betrayed everything her eyes reflected on, as she replied delightedly.

"It's good to be back after years of staying away. Being with family, friends, people you care about, those who care about you, ...it's quite refreshing."

Her eyes glistened with tears as she tried to communicate with Damien. That she is still the same person she had been years before she left. That she still cares for the child of her best friend more than she can explain. That he can rely on her, trust her with his dearest fears and emotions. Damien watched her, unable to form words. It was as if his mouth was sealed shut, watching all the emotions in Miranda's eyes. His heart melting, cracks appearing in his hard shell as his fragile heart peeked for hope. He stayed motionless as he looked at her, his actions rooted, the food long forgotten. Watching the shocked reaction, she went on asking.

"...how are you coping, Damien?"

Her question insinuating thousands of unasked questions, all at once. Her eyes showing the promise that he can trust her truly. The weight of the question sat heavy on his chest as his lips moved to form a sentence but no voice followed. His lips moved shiveringly, as he lost his cool, while his facade dissolved in front of her. All his hard work to keep his fragile, broken self from peeking going into nothingness from his single reaction.

"Uh, I, uh ... am doing, ...uh..."

His eyes glistened as he tried to calm his beating heart. His lonely, burnt self shining out as a big tear dropped from his deep ocean-blue eyes. His composure like an innocent child, as he sniffled through his incomplete sentence. Not being able to take in his condition, Miranda walked hastily around the desk as she went to hug him. Her heart breaking watching his condition decline to such a state.

"Come here..."

She hugged him, as if protecting him from the realities of the harsh world. Her touch made Damien burst into tears as he sniffled continuously. She hugged him tight, trying to console him, his tears staining her clothes, but she kept rubbing his back as she cried with him. Both tried to find solace in each other's embrace. Damien complained to her as he went on and on about how harsh the world had been on him. Getting a parent figure after living on his own for years after his mother's death. His father being too proud and busy in his own grief to be concerned about his only child.

"I don't know what to do, Miranda. She left me. What have I done wrong?!?! We haven't even talked and she ran away from me the first time she saw me. No one wants to stay with me; everyone leaves me. You left me, Mother left me, MY MATE left me..."

His voice went silent as he sniffled harder with every word. His complaints went on gibberish as he stayed unable to stop his surging emotions. All his pent-up emotions came out as he cried. Never being a child with no responsibilities was his destiny. Always expected to behave like an Alpha was his duty. Never being able to be a kid, free from the world's restrictions, left alone to look after himself, made him become the cold person he is today. Miranda consoled him with words of sweet nothing, giving him false hope.

"She must have a reason to. She must..."

Miranda's eyes were also moist as she heard all his complaints, rubbing his back. Both sorrowful for what life had thrown at them. Time passed as Damien turned silent in her embrace, only his sniffles heard in the office room. Both of them sat on the ground, trying to find solace in the person they both had lost, who was dear to them both. Having been torn apart, Miranda consoled him. Her voice followed with calmness after both turned quiet.

"Your mother adored you very much. So much that she could barely be kept away from you for even as much as one night. She'll be missed..."

Her voice came out hopeful as she reminisced about the old times, trying to be hopeful for him. She told him about his mother, denying any depressing thoughts that had homed in his heart. She pulled his head, staring into his eyes determined to give the child every bit of happiness he deserved.

"...don't worry. This difficult time will pass. Promise me, you will come to me if you get stuck... promise me you will..."

Her eyes determined as she made Damien promise that should he face any problem, he will come to her. Miranda looked at him in the eyes, providing him the lost hope. Her words a beacon of hope to his already burnt-out heart as she tried to lift his spirit. But oh, who will tell her, the child she left behind was so broken that these few measly words were like lightning a fire from soaked branches. She was quite a few years late in saving this shattered person. Damien looked in her hope as he controlled his emotions, looking away from her eyes. Hiding his emotions, knowing a decade of pain and suffering is not going to be forgotten by shedding a couple of tears. He just nodded along with her persistence as he got up from the ground with her.

"...uh yeah..."

He took his seat behind his desk as Miranda stood looking at him. Her eyes filled with pity, sympathy, but also love for him. The only thing differing from all the people when they looked at him. Her eyes shone with love and determination as she wiped her own tears, sniffled.

"...okay, I think I should take my leave now. You must have much work to do, right..."

She looked at the ground trying to hide her tears as she wiped them. Her face brightened again as she looked at him, a soft smile on her lips as she turned to take her leave. Just as she turned and had taken a step, her steps faltered as she murmured slowly. Her whole body stopped as her eyes caught something lying on the coffee table. A very particular feminine jacket lay there with the discreet scent of his mate. Her feet moved towards the jacket, without asking.

"Oh my, what is this doing here?..."

Damien watches as she walks to the coffee table, approaching the only link to his mate. His eyes follow her movement, confused by her choice of words. She is oblivious to the connection with the jacket as her hands move forward, picking it up. Her actions alarm Damien as he gets up, his heart thumping wildly as he watches her take the jacket, confusing him with every passing moment. Questions rise in him as he watches her handle the jacket with casual ownership.

"What... what are you doing? Leave it there..."

His mind in disarray, she clutches the jacket in her hands. His hands clammy, fearing if his mate's scent will get rubbed off the jacket. He jumps to his feet, walking hurriedly around the office desk, approaching Miranda. His possessiveness with the jacket surfaces with every step towards Miranda.

"Oh, this... don't worry. I will return it to its place..."

Her words stop him in his tracks. His mind going berserk as he hears her words. Confused and stopped, he stands in his tracks, unmoving as he stares at her, shocked to the core. An unconscious question flows out of his mouth, unable to understand her words.

"What?......"

Miranda, oblivious, replies, smiling at him as she looks back at the jacket. She folds it cautiously, as if having dealt with the same jacket numerous times.

"... she must have left it. She keeps losing her personal things; it's becoming a habit with time. How come she never lost her schoolwork is a miracle to me. This kid makes me roam around the house searching for her belongings..."

Miranda's cryptic answer makes Damien panic as he watches her. His hands shaking fervently as he fists them, hiding them. Her reply makes his heart stop as he listens to her response. Her answer makes him run in circles, his patience wearing thin as he bursts out asking, interrupting her mid-sentence.

"Who are you talking about?..."

His voice makes Miranda look up at him in confusion. She loses her smile as she stares at his stress-ridden face. The stress lines on his forehead as he looks at her with desperation for an answer. Her eyes reflect her surprise at his outburst. A confused frown marks her face as she replies.

"Well, who, of course, Aadaya..."

A beep is the only sound he can hear after she utters the name. His fast-beating heart, like a horse, stays flat as he stares at Miranda dumbstruck. His expression is foolish as echoes of the name ring in his ears. The face flashes in his memory, his mind aligning all the connections. Some pieces come up short, his face still contorted in a frown. Taking his frown as a possibility that he has not met Aadaya, Miranda goes on completely oblivious most of the time for the whole day. She replies with a soft smile as she tries to explain to him.

"Surely, you remember Aadaya, my niece. You met her the first day she came here. The small girl back from all those years, whom you refused to leave alone, even for a nap. The small onyx-eyed, dark-haired girl you called a doll when you were small. I remember you even slept in my room just to stay near her. Remember!"

She laughs, reminiscing from back all those years before, while Damien stands dumbstruck, listening to her. His eyes show his shock as he tries to cohere his thoughts. A numb feeling makes its way through his ears to his brain as he listens to Miranda. He stands in his place, not moving at all, as Miranda walks out the door, feeling a bit confused. A frown mars her face as she walks out, watching the shocked expression on his face from her small statement.

...She walks out, not knowing that she had ended the hunt...

...the hunt for his mate...

********************************

A man dressed in a deliveryman's uniform stood outside the big villa in the countryside, staring up at it. The bright and colorful surroundings of the place screamed well-maintained and extravagant. The modern-styled house, deep in the forest, remote from the city, was a suspicious sight in the area. But one cannot deny the populous modern area, being so dense with people living here, even after its remote location.

The man stood like any other normal person, staring in awe at the structure. His whole demeanor a façade to the eyes, as his entire aura screamed eerie danger. His eyes under his cap were in slits with revenge as he stared up at the packhouse. A knowing look reflected in his bloodshot eyes, hidden behind his attire. His hands held a fairly large package, looking to be heavy, but he held it effortlessly. He walked slowly to the porch, his hands reaching up, ringing the bell.

Ding dong.

A voice was heard from behind the door as he waited for it to open. The double doors stood in front of him as he looked around in suspicion, making sure that his face stayed concealed. His eyes flowed across the front richly flowered garden as he looked at all the pack members going about their work. His eyes followed everyone passing the front gate just when he heard the double doors opening with a loud creak.

"Yes?"

A feminine voice was heard as he turned around to be looking at a small five-foot woman appearing to be in her 40s with glassy grey eyes. She smiled softly at him, her carefree demeanor irritating him, her smile making blood thirst rise in him. His eyes followed her neck; he could feel her pulse in her veins. Stuck in his want for her blood, he slowly shook his head as he licked his lips behind his mask.

Miranda stood and smiled at him, her rosy cheeks making her look years younger. Her hair and features resembled the woman he had been shown a picture of by his friend Abigor Brar. She looked to be an exact copy of the woman who had been dead for years. Making him remember the tidbit of information his dear friend gave him, that the woman had a twin sister. His eyes popped up in realization as he hit the jackpot by luck.

"Whose is this delivery for?"

Her words made him break his river of thoughts as he jerked forward the package. He pulled forward his pad as he voiced out the name of his target. His voice came out strained and crooked as he detested calling her name the most.

"Package for Aadaya Valanke..."

The woman turned around, yelling back into the house with no care of appearance. Her soft voice flowed in the house as she called the owner of the package, her niece.

"Aadayaaaaa, you have a package here....Aadaya, come here...."

A sly, evil smile lined the man's face as he looked back into the house. His eyes glinted with the desire for the blood of his enemy. His eyes followed the direction the woman called, looking at the hallway from where a reply was sounded. He was so close to achieving his goal that he could even taste the sweet texture of her blood on his tongue. His fervent eyes looked back at the house just when footsteps followed the reply.

"Coming, Aunt...."

A tall girl, having not so much of a structural similarity with the woman who had greeted him first at the door, walks down the hallway. But her features are a mirage of an impeccable copy of the older woman. Her giggle follows as she replies to someone behind her. Her smile paints a hatred in his heart as he looks at her rage. Only one thing is clouded in his mind: her blood. He wants to kill her, just the same as she took away his beloved. A loud sigh escapes his dry and cracked lips as his eyes meet hers when she looks at him.

A realization strikes Aadaya as she looks at those bloodshot eyes and the unkempt appearance of the uniformed man. His every details screamed with horror of only one possibility of his species : Rogue. Fear strikes her heart in that moment as she watches his eyes glint with hatred for her, standing behind her aunt. Her face loses all its color as she watches her aunt looking back at her, oblivious, prompting her to come forward.

Aadaya goes pin-drop silent as her face drains all its color. She witnesses the man standing behind her aunt pull something out of his back pocket as Miranda's sweet smile fades, and her head falls to her tummy. Aadaya cries loud, but her ears couldn't comprehend what was going on. Her painful cry is heard all over the big house, but she herself is silent.

She follows her aunt, looking down at her tummy, her bright yellow dress getting tainted with red color. A sigh follows her lips as she looks up to follow Aadaya's face. Aadaya looks shocked as she stares at her aunt's face with horror. Her face showing her lost expression as her brain goes dead; a beep is heard ringing in her mind.

The moment turns to eternity with pain as she feels stuck in that moment. She watches as the man pulls out the knife, and his hands again follow its path in the woman's back, stabbing her hard.

"Hechhh..."

A small whisper comes out of Miranda's mouth as she feels the incredible pain. A tear drops from her left eye as her body starts collapsing on the floor. A painful wounded cry is heard as Aadaya's body propels forward, smashing into the man hard. The impact is solid, and their bodies fly out the door through the porch, falling hard on the ground. Both of them, plunging onto the hard ground, hitting badly as they roll away. The man falls a little more than a meter away from Aadaya.

Both their bodies lay still for a moment, when Aadaya gets up, crouching on the ground, a growl emanating from her lips. Her eyes bloodshot, witnessing the murder of her aunt. Her cry unknowingly comes out like a beast losing control of her humane thoughts. Her mind thirsting for his blood, her beast wanted him to suffer. It wanted Aadaya to make him suffer until the end of the world.

The man lies still on the ground as if dead. Just when a croaking cough comes from his unmoving body. The dust flies off as he lies still from the place of her mouth, and he pulls his body strainingly upright. His half face smeared with dust from lying face down on the earth. Blood comes out of his lips from the cough as he groans, looking up at his enemy. His bloodshot eyes look straight at Aadaya, who is growling like a rabid beast crouching down on the ground.

Aadaya stays in her place, growling like a feral beast as she watches him get up. Her pupils enlarge, reflecting the presence of her wolf, as she looks up at the man. Her only thought is the blood of this man, wanting him to plead like the dog he is. She wants him to suffer, so badly. She watches him stand upright, groaning with a problem, but she pays no heed to his stature; she just thirsted for his life.

A loud war cry is heard as she runs up at the guy, her claws drawn out. Her hands have turned into those of wolves, her mind riddled with emotions of the want of revenge. She swiftly, like lightning, jumps over the guy as he falls back from her hit. Aadaya lands over his chest as she strikes her talons deep into his chest. Warm thick blood starts gushing out of his chest as it coats her hands. The blood flies to her face as she hits his dead body again and again. Her first blow being his imminent death, as his body stays being mutilated by Aadaya's feral self.

She digs her talons deep into his chest, scratches, and tears off his flesh wherever her hits land on him. A cry sounds from her with every blow as she tears off his body. His blood coats her face and hands as she tears off his head cleanly from his body. A loud exhausted cry is heard as she cries in the area. Her tired cries sound in the pin-drop area, making her look up.

The pack members watch her sitting among the brutal display of horror of her doing. Their eyes lidded with fear from her...

...to be continued

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