Chapter 4 DAMON MISSING

POV - Hazel

“Let’s not panic, ok? He might just be doing something and has his mind block on. We’ll start a search now, and we’ll display all the warriors available,” I encourage, trying to sooth both Meera and Derek; but the truth is, I also have a very bad feeling about this deep in my gut, I just hope I am wrong about it. This pack can’t take another loss like this.

“Meera, what time did Damon take off? I’ll ask my friends at the police office to check the cameras outside the pack grounds, and on the road towards the city,” Derek asks urgently.

“Around 5:30 p.m., I think.”

“Ok, then, while you get in touch with your contact, I’ll gather a team. We can head out first, and check the area which takes to the city,” I say earnestly, wanting to get started with the search immediately.

“I’m coming with you!” Meera says decisively. I nodded my approval, knowing how difficult it would be for her to stay here waiting and imagining the worst.

In around fifteen minutes, we are leaving the pack premises flanked by our best trackers and warriors, all in our wolf forms, so that we can move faster and our senses of smell and hearing are heightened.

We headed south, towards the city, where Damon was most likely directed; we covered both the main street and the surrounding woods, in order not to leave anything unchecked.

We were out for nearly half an hour, when we heard some rustling from the bushes nearby. We all got immediately alert, our fur risen on our necks, ready to pounce at any threat that might come at us, but to our utter disbelief, the only non-threat that came out of the foliage was none other than a very shaken-looking Damon.

Meera was the first to shift back into human form, and she was going to throw herself into Damon’s arms, before I stopped her, blocking her way.

“Stay where you are, Meera,” I ordered, lacing Alpha power in my words. I can see that she wanted to argue, and I can’t blame her, but luckily, she wasn’t strong enough to overpower my command.

“Everyone, stay back!” I ordered through the mind-link, ensuring that no one approached Damon, while I took a few cautious steps toward him. He didn’t move a muscle, just kept his position and maintained eye contact with me.

“Luna, Alpha won’t be happy knowing that you are putting yourself at risk, let us help,” our new Delta suggested.

“Don’t worry, Damon won’t be able to hurt me; I just need to make sure that he hasn’t been manipulated,” I wanted to add, like Alice, but it would hurt to link those words out loud.

I take another few steps toward Damon, until there’s only one meter distance between us. He doesn’t make any move to attack me, like Alice or Cindy have done in the past, so maybe we are lucky enough and he hasn’t been injected with the mind control serum.

“What happened?” I link him, showing my concern, and not trying to sound like a questioner.

“I am not sure,” he replies, a little defeated, “I went out to reach you and Derek, but I didn’t make it far before I started feeling weak, I guess I fainted, because I woke up much later on the side of the road, in the same spot I blacked out. I felt weak and exhausted, wasn’t able to shift, so here I am walking home on two legs. I honestly don’t know what happened to me.”

I have no doubt that what he’s saying is the truth, but his story makes me feel even more concerned. Werewolves don’t get ill, our enhanced healing system prevents that, so his symptoms must be caused by something else. Could he have been poisoned like me?

“Andrew,” I link our Delta forward, “please, take a couple of men and help Damon get back to the packhouse. He’ll stay in the infirmary for now, we need Doctor Simons to run some tests first. I have already mind-linked her, she’ll wait for you there”.

“Yes, Luna.”

He immediately shifts into his human form and takes Damon into custody, and with three other warriors starts walking towards the pack grounds.

“No, Hazel, please! Damon could never betray you! He’s not a traitor!” Meera howls desperately, still unable to move.

“I know Meera, he would never betray our pack, not intentionally, at least. But we can’t deny that something could have happened to him while he was unconscious. We must be sure that he’s ok. For him and for us.”

Meera drops her head in defeat, she knows that what I said is right, but it still hurts to think that something might have happened or might still happen to her mate.

“Come on, let’s go back to the packhouse, and see if Doctor Simons can find out anything,” I coax her, breaking the command that wouldn’t let her move around freely.

…

As soon as we got to the infirmary, we could hear Derek’s voice firing questions at Damon.

“Did you smell anyone? Anything at all?”

“No, no one.”

“Did you feel something prickle your skin? Like a needle, a dart, or something similar?”

“No, I felt nothing.”

“Dammit, Damon! You must have noticed something, anything!”

Derek was starting to get frustrated, apparently the questioning didn’t get him anywhere.

“I’m sorry, pal, I wish I could give you more, but I didn’t see, or hear, or sense, or feel anything at all.”

Derek sighed, and flopped on a chair, at least, that’s what it sounded like.

“No, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have yelled at you; it’s just that I don’t want anything to happen to you or anyone in the pack. And this thing that happened here, has Lacroix Pharmaceuticals stamped all over it. I thought their company had been dismantled, but maybe someone else took over and is carrying on their research, or their vendetta.”

I open the door to the infirmary, and my gaze immediately finds Derek, seated on the chair in the corner, with his head in his hands. I don’t need the waves of anxiety and anger coming from the mate bond to know how he’s feeling. The tension in his muscles and the way he’s gritting his teeth says everything in itself.

I start massaging his shoulders, feeling his muscles relax a little under my touch; it’s empowering to know how much influence I have over him, although I am very aware that it works both ways.

Meera is already snuggled in Damon’s arms, they look so cute together, but from the expressions on their faces I know they are mind-linking, and their conversation is full of worry and dread.

“So, did you manage to get any video recording from a street camera?” I ask Derek, trying to get a full picture of the situation.

He shakes his head. “No, the recordings have been wiped out before I could get my hands on them, which means, that something really happened there, and that someone powerful is at work against us.”

A knock on the door has me jump in surprise, making Derek laugh at me.

“No need to panic scaredy cat, it’s just Doctor Simons with the results of the tests.”

I roll my eyes at his antics, while Doctor Simons enters the infirmary and announces to all the presents that all test results are negative, and that she is quite positive that Damon has not been injected with any poison. She has also checked his body for under-skin chips or tracking devices but couldn’t find anything.

This is both good news and bad news, good because no harm seems to have come to him, bad because we know for sure that something has happened, but we don’t know what exactly, and sooner or later it will come to bite us in the ass. Probably sooner rather than later.

Suddenly I have this overwhelming feeling that everything is out of our control, and it scares me. I thought we were doing fine, that we could finally have a moment of peace to ourselves, but this new attack only shows me that I was kidding myself all along, we were never safe, and we will never be.

“Excuse me for a minute,” I say, while I make my way to the door not looking anyone in the eye. I need to get outside and rail my emotions in before I have a panic attack, which won’t look very Luna-like.

I feel footsteps behind me, and I know it must be Derek, alarmed by the cocktail of feelings he’s getting through the mate bond.

As soon as I am out of the main door I inhale deeply, then exhale, inhale again and exhale. I feel Derek’s hand soothingly massaging my back.

“Looks like we have some butts to kick, Luna?”

I can’t help but start laughing at his stupid joke, it’s more hysterical than anything, but it helps release some of the pent-up pressure. Derek joins in my laugh, and we end this long day this way, laughing into the night, and getting weird looks from our pack members.