HURT

Damon's P.O.V

I decided to follow Blaze's lead and get up. One glance out the window told me it was night time, I'd basically slept the whole day and I was pleased with that. I'd fallen asleep in the same clothes I'd worn yesterday, my favorite knife still tucked into the small at the back of my belt.

I check my phone out of habit, rubbing the sleep from my eyes when I remember that it's dead. I hold it for a moment, trying to decide between charging it or leaving it as it was.

You need time Damon - Theo inputs, his voice as kind as always. Time on your own, away from the pack.

I don't want to be away from the pack - I reply honestly as I stare at the blank device.

It's what you need right now - Theo confirms with encouragement.

Theo was right, I knew that much, but putting away the only connection I had to what had only two days ago been my entire life was not as simple as he made it seem.

You're not throwing it away, just putting it aside until you're ready - Theo nudges once more and that helps more than it should. I could charge it and call, whenever I was ready or wanted to. It would always be there.

I open the empty drawer of my nightstand and place my phone in, shutting it slowly before taking a step back.

I felt as if I'd closed a door of some kind, but in a way that made guilt build, I also felt relieved because of it. It hurt to detach myself with such ease, but it eased my mind to know that I was taking a step away from the constant condemnation.

It was a tortuous type of freedom.

I stretch my limbs and rub at my nose, a sweet smell barely brushing at it making me hum with contentment.

I make my way to the kitchen, scratching at my chin as I pull out a glass, rinsing it before filling it with drinking water. I gulp down three glasses worth before the scent teases at my nose again.

I frown as I place the glass down, my body tugging at me to search for the source but I didn't even know where the hell it was coming from.

I walk around the apartment, my feet taking me side to side until I came to the door. My frown deepens as confusion blossoms throughout my body, both caution and an unfamiliar level of elation making itself known. Was it coming from outside? I grab the keys off the counter before opening the door and stepping outside.

The scent hits me then. Coming at me from all angles as my feet brought me right against my neighboring door which exuded the scent with a numbing force. I shut my eyes and soak it in, my skin tingling as it caressed me gently, the smell a pleasant mixture of Wild Honeysuckle and Cranberries.

Mate - Theo practically purred, his excitement spurring on inside of me.

I begin moving before I can fully grasp onto my thoughts, fully consider who the owner might be, my instincts taking over to find the owner, to find my mate.

I feel my chest tighten at the thought, I had a mate. A mate of my own, made for me and perfect for me, somewhere out there and I wanted nothing more than to lay eyes on them.

A slight jab of guilt hits me at the excitement I felt for someone who wasn't Amelia. I shouldn't be this happy to find them, should I? Not too long ago, I thought that the position of my mate was her's alone, but it wasn't.

Amelia is not my mate. I try repeating the words, forcing myself to feel the pain of it so I could accept the comfort of finding my actually mate.

My mate.

I had a mate and they lived literally one door away. I smile at that, oddly pleased that faith was blessing me with such an odd situation.

I find myself running, down the stairs instead of using the elevator, too impatient to wait, and out of the building into the dark setting of night. I'd always been comfortable with the dark night blanketed the world in and didn't hesitate to follow the scent, using it as a trail, following in my mate's path.

After a few minutes, frustration made itself known next to the happiness. I felt as if I was running in circles, tracking someone who'd passed the same route twice or maybe thrice. Taking me up and then down again, until I was lead to a road that didn't have a spec of light.

I pause for a moment, hesitance building as I look down the road that housed abandoned buildings. No one with two brain cells would go down this road unless the route was unavoidable, I hoped my mate wasn't an idiot.

I pick up my pace once more, heading down the road with no further pauses. The scent growing stronger the further I went, my chest thumping with excitement until the familiar tang of blood joined my senses as well.

Fear pooled in me immediately, fear of losing my mate before I even had them. Fear of being too late, at being useless, yet again.

Even with my low-light vision, there was barely anything to be made out in this darkness. Worry piled with concern for a mate I was yet to lay eyes on, but I was getting closer, I could hear an erratic heartbeat.

I used my senses to direct me until my feet came to an immediate stop where the scent and sound met. I take a hesitant step forward, looking down into the barely visible opening between two, grimy walls. A space which held a small, shaking body, perfectly hidden behind the patches of grass.

Mate - Theo declared once more. His glee budding over into my chest.

But within that same moment, the scent clears itself to reveal that the sweet aroma was coming off of a human. Once again, a human.

You have to be fucking kidding me.

Before my dread can fully form, my mate begins to scream at the top of her lungs making me jump back in surprise.

My eyes shoot up in alert as she screams bloody fucking murder for the world to hear, then barking begins and I release she has a dog with her. A dog which wasn't my biggest fan apparently, both of them working together to make the greatest amount of noise they possibly could.

"Woah, Woah. Hey, it's okay. Calm down, I'm not going to hurt you." I say lifting my hands in a gesture of surrender but the screaming continues. "I'm not going to hurt you," I repeat taking a step forward but that seems to only make it worse.

I take several steps back, heart thumping in my chest, every cell in my body fighting against the distance I'd put between us. But it seems to help, her screaming stops suddenly when I was back to the roadside while she pants breathlessly in her place. Her pants make room for sobs, small sobs that were hidden just behind the fucking barking that wouldn't stop.

I take a hesitant step forward but she just pulls into herself with a harder sob, so I quickly stop. My heart clawing at itself to stop scaring her, but I didn't know what I was doing that was making her so frightened.

"N-No." She begs through her sobs. "Don't come any closer."

"Okay, I'll stay back," I say quickly in response, ignoring the way my stomach twists from her words. "I'll stay back."

Her voice was soft and fragile. It caressed my ears with a tenderness that made me shiver. I wanted to hear it again, without the fear and pain. Wanted to hear my name from it.

I shake my head to push away the thoughts. For one, now was not the time and secondly, that was a human.

A fucking human.

I look around the area, half expecting someone to come running, but no one did. But I suppose no one would in this abandoned street, I could just about make out a bag not too far off on the pavement and wondered if it was her.

I look back to her, desperate to see her properly, I couldn't make out her features nearly as well as I wanted to. And I knew from her behavior that she wouldn't move for the time being. I could smell the blood on her but couldn't make out her injuries.

Had someone hurt her?

Rage doubles over with a strength greater than ever before at the thought, my fists clenched with the need to make whoever hurt her pay with their life.

"Did someone hurt you?" I ask through clenched teeth, trying to keep my voice gentle but failing miserably. My voice was so low that I probably sounded as if I wanted to hurt her.