Chapter 17 - Damien

Waking up with Jade tangled in my sheets is… surreal. But in a good way, like that fleeting moment before reality kicks you in the teeth. Her body is warm against mine, and the soft rise and fall of her chest brushes against my skin. The way she fits here, curled up like she’s always belonged, it makes my heart pound harder than I’m willing to admit.

I’m a damn alpha, and this—waking up with the woman who drives me out of my mind—is somehow the most exhilarating thing I’ve felt in years.

Her brown hair spills across the pillow, and her lips are slightly parted as she breathes evenly. I could get used to this. Hell, I want to get used to this.

My arm is still wrapped around her waist, and for a minute, I just lay here, letting the moment stretch. I’m not stupid. I know as soon as I get out of this bed, the world will come crashing in, reminding me that this peace, this quiet, is temporary. But right now? Right now, I’m just a guy lying next to a woman I can’t seem to stay away from, pretending that the weight of the pack doesn’t rest on my shoulders.

I let my hand trail over her bare skin, tracing lazy circles along her back. She shifts, mumbling something incoherent as she presses closer. I feel her body mold into mine, and damn if it doesn’t take every ounce of willpower not to pull her under me and start this morning off the same way last night ended.

But I can’t. Not yet.

“Morning,” I murmur against her hair, inhaling the scent of her. It’s a mix of something floral and wild, and it hits me in all the right ways.

She stirs, blinking her eyes open slowly, and her voice comes out groggy. “Morning. You’re… still here.” There’s a little surprise in her tone, like she half-expected me to bolt the second the sun came up. Can’t say I blame her. Old me probably would’ve done just that.

“Of course I’m still here.” I brush a strand of hair from her face. “Where else would I be?”

Her lips quirk up into the tiniest of smiles, and for a second, I think everything will be fine. But then I hear it—the faint buzz of my phone vibrating on the nightstand. The sound pulls me back to reality like a goddamn slap to the face.

I ignore it. Whatever it is can wait.

But the buzzing doesn’t stop. It keeps going, persistent as hell, and the knot in my stomach tightens. Something’s wrong. No one calls me this early unless there’s trouble. Big trouble.

Jade glances at the phone, then back at me, with one eyebrow raised. “Aren’t you going to get that?”

“I don’t want to.” I press a kiss to her forehead, lingering there for a moment longer than I should. “But I probably should.”

I reach for the phone and glance at the screen. According to the caller ID, it’s coming from East Hills. That knot in my gut pulls tighter, and I know before I even answer that this isn’t going to be good news.

“Damien, it’s bad,” the strange voice on the other end says as soon as I pick up. There’s panic laced through every word, and I can already feel the shift happening. The one where the calm morning I’d hoped for dissolves into chaos. “There’s been an attack. A big one.”

“How bad?”

“Real bad. We’ve got injured, and we can’t reach Alpha Patrick. We need you here. Now.”

The words slam into me like a freight train. All of our packs have been on edge for weeks, ever since the attacks started. But this… this is something else.

I throw the covers back and sit up in bed. “I’m on my way.”

Jade’s watching me, no doubt already piecing together what’s going on. She doesn’t say anything, but I can see the concern in her eyes. She’s good at hiding it, but I know her better than that. Hell, I can feel the tension rolling off her in waves.

“What happened?”

“There’s been an attack. East Hills.” I run a hand through my hair, trying to shove down the frustration. “It’s bad.”

Jade’s quiet for a moment. I know what she’s thinking, because it’s the same thing I’m thinking. Whoever did this, whatever did this, isn’t going to stop.

She sits up and pulls the sheets around herself like a shield. “You have to go.”

It’s not a question; it’s a fact. I do have to go. My pack needs me, and right now, they come first. But it doesn’t stop me from hating every second of it.

“I don’t want to leave you,” I admit, surprising even myself. “But I have to.”

“I know,” she says. “You’re the alpha. They need you.”

There’s a part of me that wants to argue, to tell her I’d rather stay here, wrapped up in this fragile peace we’ve somehow found. But I can’t. Duty calls, and I’m not the type of guy who ignores it.

I lean over, pressing a kiss to her lips, soft and lingering, as if I can somehow make up for leaving her. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“Be careful,” she whispers, and I can hear the weight behind those words. She doesn’t need to say more. I know what she’s thinking. Hell, it’s what I’m thinking, too. There’s no guarantee I’ll come back unscathed. There never is.

I pull away, grabbing my jeans from the floor and yanking them on in record time. Jade watches me with her arms wrapped around her knees, and for a second, I let myself wonder what it would be like if things were different if there weren’t attacks, pack politics, and the looming threat of something darker hanging over us. But that’s not the world we live in.

As I head for the door, I glance back at her one last time, taking in the sight of her in my bed, looking both vulnerable and strong at the same time. It’s a sight I want to hold onto, one I’m not ready to let go of.

“I’ll be back,” I promise again. “Keep an eye on Penny. Don’t let her out of your sight.”

The minute I’m out the door, I’m already shifting gears. Alpha mode kicks in, pushing aside the peace of the last few hours with Jade. It’s like flipping a switch—I go from basking in the warmth of her presence to steeling myself for the chaos waiting on the other side.

Alec is already outside, pacing near his truck. He catches sight of me, and I can see the tension in his jaw. “What’s going on?” he asks before I even reach him. “I heard something went down at East Hills. How bad is it?”

“Real bad,” I say, striding past him to grab my gear from the truck bed. “Pack member called it in. There’s been another attack. We need to move now.”

Alec swears under his breath and kicks at the dirt. He’s always been the level-headed one in the pack, but even he looks rattled. “Who’s coming with us?”

“I’ll radio the others,” I tell him, pulling out my phone. “We’ll need everyone we can get.”

Within minutes, I’ve gathered the key members of the pack. There’s Alec, my right-hand man, who’s as solid as they come. Then there’s Mason—big, broad, and always ready for a fight. And Leah, one of our fiercest warriors, quick on her feet and sharp as hell. We pile into the trucks, and the urgency crackles through the air like static.

We make the drive to East Hills in record time, and my fingers grip the wheel tighter with every mile. The landscape rushes past, the trees blurring into a dark green wall as we close in on the neighboring pack’s territory. The closer we get, the more I feel it. A wrongness in the air, like something evil is crawling beneath the surface.

When we arrive, the scene is worse than I expected.

Blood stains the ground, and the scent of it hits my stomach like a lead weight. Shifters are scattered across the clearing, some injured, some dazed, and a few… motionless. Patrick, the alpha of East Hills, is lying near the tree line. His body is twisted in an unnatural way. He’s hurt, badly, and my stomach clenches at the sight.

“Damien!” one of his shifters yells as we jump out of the trucks. “It’s chaos out here. They came out of nowhere—”

He’s cut off by a deafening roar, and my head whips around just in time to see it: a demon—twice the size of any shifter. Its massive, hulking frame is covered in slick, blackened scales that glisten under the sunlight like oil. Its eyes glow yellow, with pupils slitted like a serpent’s, and its long, jagged horns curve menacingly from its skull. Muscles ripple under its leathery skin as it moves with an unnatural fluidity. The creature’s mouth is full of razor-like teeth, dripping with a dark, viscous liquid that sizzles when it hits the ground. The stench of sulfur and death hangs in the air around it, choking everything in its path.

Demons. Our legends spoke of them. We all grew up hearing the ancient stories passed down through the generations. But I never thought they were real—always figured they were just fairytales meant to scare the pups. Tales of creatures too dark to truly exist. But here it is. Right in front of us.

It’s the stuff of nightmares, a twisted, hellish thing that doesn’t belong in this world—and it’s coming straight for us.

In the blink of an eye, the thing tears through the air toward another shifter. The poor guy’s already injured with his arm hanging limp, and he’s struggling to stay on his feet. The demon’s claws slice through the air, aiming for the kill.

I don’t even have time to think before my body moves on instinct. “Get him out of there!” I shout to Mason and Leah as they rush forward, on the verge of shifting. But even as they close in, I know it won’t be enough. This thing is powerful. More powerful than anything we’ve faced before.

But then, out of nowhere, a blast of energy slams into the demon, sending it reeling back with a guttural screech. My heart stutters, and I look up to see Jade standing at the edge of the clearing with her hands raised and magic swirling around her like a storm.

“Jade…” I murmur, equal parts relief and awe flooding through me.

The demon snarls, and its eyes glow with rage as it tries to recover, but Jade doesn’t give it a chance. She steps forward and sings out in a spell that sends the demon stumbling back further, its form flickering like a flame about to go out. Another pulse of her magic, and the thing lets out one last shriek before dissolving into the air, vanishing into a cloud of black smoke.

Silence falls over the area, broken only by the sound of heavy breathing and the groans of the injured.

“Is everyone okay?” Jade asks, breathless as she rushes toward us, eyes darting from one wounded shifter to the next.

“Where’s Penny?” I demand, searching the area behind her.

“I put a protective barrier around the cabin,” she explains. “She’s safe.”

Without hesitation, Jade marches across the field and drops to her knees beside the nearest injured shifter—a guy from East Hills whose leg is bent at an impossible angle. Her hands glow faintly as she works, muttering words under her breath, and I watch as the wound slowly knits itself back together. The guy lets out a gasp, his eyes wide with shock, and I know Jade’s magic has done the impossible.

She moves on to the next shifter, a woman with a gash across her abdomen, and repeats the process. The air around us seems to hum with the power she’s using, but I can tell it’s taking a toll on her. Her shoulders sag, and her movements slow with each spell.

“Jade, you don’t have to—” I start.

“I’m fine,” she snaps, wiping the sweat from her brow. But I can see the strain in her eyes. She’s pushing herself too hard.

Finally, she turns to Patrick, who’s still lying motionless on the ground. “I’ll heal him next,” she says, though her voice wavers.

“Are you sure you can handle it?” Alec asks.

Jade ignores him and presses her hands against Patrick’s chest. For a moment, nothing happens. Her magic flares, but it’s weaker now, flickering like a dying flame. Patrick groans, and his eyes flutter open for the briefest second, and then… nothing.

Jade lets out a sharp breath, and her hands tremble as she tries again. “Come on. Don’t you dare die on me, Patrick. Not like this.”

But it’s no use. I can see it in her face, the realization that she’s spent. There’s no magic left to draw on, no power strong enough to save him. Patrick’s breathing slows, and his eyes close again, this time for good.

“No,” Jade whispers, her voice cracking. She shakes her head, as if refusing to accept what’s happening.

But it’s over. Patrick’s gone.

The rest of the pack stands in stunned silence. Patrick was a tough bastard, but he was also a leader—someone who kept his pack together through thick and thin. Losing him like this… it’s a blow none of us saw coming.

Jade pulls away, and. I can see the guilt in her eyes, the way she blames herself for not being able to save him, but I know better. She did everything she could. Hell, she saved two other shifters tonight—shifters who would’ve been dead without her intervention. But Patrick’s injuries were too much.

“Jade, you did what you could,” I assure her.

She doesn’t look at me, just stares down at Patrick’s still corpse. “It wasn’t enough.”

“It’s never enough,” Alec mutters, stepping up beside us. His voice is low, and there’s a hardness to it I rarely hear. “But we move forward. That’s all we can do.”

I glance at him, then back at Jade, who’s still sitting there with her hands clenched into fists. I want to pull her into my arms, tell her it’s not her fault, but I know she won’t accept that right now.

Patrick’s gone, and the demons aren’t finished.