Damian

by Desiree A. Cox

  “I’m so glad we’re leaving today. It was nice of Xavier to let us stay, and for me it’s the second time sleeping over, but these beds aren’t made for men our size. Maybe if we were six to ten inches shorter, or small in stature like the Mountain Lions, it would be more comfortable.” Thor laughed, and Damian joined in.

  “Chuck stopped by. He told me about the house that has to come down. I’ve given him instructions how to proceed so you won’t have to worry about that. All you need to do is focus on your mate. She’s the most important person to you right now,” Thor said.

  “I can do whatever is needed to rebuild the house. I’d like to learn. Maverick may even be interested, too.”

  “Nonsense. You won’t have time to build houses as Alpha, but I do think it would be good for Maverick. It’s always good to have highly-skilled laborers in the Pack. Chuck is invaluable to us. I’ll let him know Maverick will be his apprentice.”

  A knock on the door interrupted their conversation. It was Trinity, and one of Xavier’s guards was following closely behind her with a tray full of food. When he set the tray on the table, Damian’s mouth watered at the sight and smell of the breakfast meats, eggs, and pastries. His stomach rumbled to life.

  “I’m going to leave you to your meal, son.” Thor patted Damian on the shoulder after he stood up, then turned his attention to Trinity and the guard. “Thank you both for making sure my son eats.”

  Chapter 16

  Calista had been eagerly waiting for the return of her mate and her son. Thor had called her and let her know they’d have Damian’s injured soul-mate with them, but she wasn’t expecting to see her Wolf when they arrived.

  Thor was met by Jordan’s parents as soon as they got closer to the Pack hospital. Thor assured Jude and his mate that their son was doing much better, with the exception of calling for someone named Mindy. Jordan’s parents shook their heads. They had no idea who that was. Maverick glanced at Damian, and they smiled at each other as they listened in on the conversation. They knew who she was, and they knew Jordan had fallen extremely hard for her, even if he didn’t come right out and say it.

  After welcoming everyone back, and watching Damian’s mate and Jordan get moved into Trinity’s medical center, Calista quickly offered to help clear the guest house for her son and his mate, so they’d have a comfortable place to stay once she was released.

  Damian didn’t want to say it out loud, but it felt good to be back with the Pack he knew as his home. But he also knew it was temporary. He knew his father was right: there couldn’t be two Alphas, and he and his mate needed their own space, their own Pack. They would hopefully be starting their own family once she was completely healed.

  The afternoon became a blur with all the activity in the infirmary. Damian was encouraged to go get some rest while his mate was sleeping. He’d put up a good fight, but Trinity, Thor, and Calista all finally convinced him it was in his mate’s best interest since she’d be released later than night. They convinced Damian that if he was going to watch over her all night, he needed to be well-rested. Begrudgingly, he agreed, and left with his mother to get settled into the guest house.

  Calista glanced at her son, then took the pan of food he’d been holding. “Tell me all about her,” she said as she put the food in the refrigerator.

  “I don’t have much to tell, honestly.”

  “Oh, come on. You have to have something you can share with me. I know some things your father was able to share, but I want to know what she’s like. Is she nice? I mean, I’m sure she is, she’s your mate and the Goddess is very fair. But how did you finally meet? What’s she look like in her human form?”

  “Seriously, Mother, the only thing I know is she risked her life to save us. I tried to stop her, but she did it anyway. That’s how we met. I knew she was near a few times, but never met her before that day.”

  Damian looked out the window and noticed the sun beginning to set. He couldn’t believe it had gotten so late so quickly.

  When he and his mother left the infirmary earlier, both his mate and Jordan were doing much better. Jordan’s parents were bedside, talking to him a mile a minute. They were hailing him as a hero for taking the bullet that saved his friends. And, even though Damian had wanted to correct them that his mate was the hero, he didn’t. He knew his friend was entitled to being lauded as well.

  Then Damian realized he hadn’t seen Maverick since the morning, when they arrived. He wondered if he’d already talked to Chuck and was preparing to begin learning how to build a house. Fortunately for Maverick, the house they were replacing was small.

  “You haven’t heard a thing I’ve said,” his mother said. “I’m going to leave. Get some rest, please. If you need anything, you know where we are.”

  “Thanks, Mother.”

  “Be still my heart. I’m shocked. You actually said thank you instead of a smart-ass reply.” Calista giggled.

  “I can give you a smart-ass comment, if you want one.” Damian smirked, then winked at his mother.

  “Another day, sweetie. I’ll see you later.” She leaned in and kissed his cheek, gave him a hug, then turned and left.

  When Damian woke, the light shining through the window from the street lights was the only thing that broke up the darkness in his home. It was too quiet, too. He glanced at the clock and saw it was nearly eight-thirty. He’d slept for nearly two hours. He jumped up from the bed and pulled on his clothes, rushed out the front door, and made his way back to the hospital.

  Within an hour of arriving his mate was ready to be released with one stipulation. Trinity was going to spend the night with them. Damian’s mate hadn’t eaten solid food. Her only source of nourishment was from the IV Harley had given her and the one she received after getting settled in the Pack hospital.

  After returning to the house, Damian and Trinity helped get his mate moved from the gurney, which was wide enough to accommodate her, to the extra-wide king-sized bed. Trinity hooked up an IV to make sure she stayed hydrated through the night and had a low-dose muscle relaxant to keep her pain at a minimum.

  “When do you think she’ll be able to shift?” Damian asked.

  “It’s hard to say. With her not eating, it could be quite a while. She has to eat to regain her strength so she can shift. And when she does, the scar on her stomach will heal much quicker. Maybe since she’s going to be here with you, you can encourage her to begin eating something. Anything.”

  “We’ve got food in the refrigerator. I could see if she’ll eat that.”

  “Damian, she’s a Wolf right now. She doesn’t want a casserole or sausage. If she eats anything, it’s going to be raw meat. If you don’t have raw, unprocessed, uncooked meat in the refrigerator, you’ll need to hunt for her. Something small. A rabbit. Or a chipmunk, maybe. And with any luck at all, she’ll take at least one or two bites. Something to get her back on track.”

  Trinity fiddled with the tubing, making sure it wasn’t twisted anywhere. “Did you hear Jordan should be going home tomorrow afternoon?” Trinity asked.

  “No.”

  “Yep. His parents are taking him in, and they’ve been trying to convince him not to leave again. They heard about both shootings, and are terrified something will happen to him and he won’t survive. I told them it was a unique situation, but they refused to listen to me. Anyway, he’ll be at their place when he leaves tomorrow afternoon. You may want to see him in the morning before he gets discharged.”

  “Thanks. Yeah, I’ll make sure to stop by in the morning. Have you seen Maverick? He disappeared not long after we got back.”

  “I haven’t. His parents may have gotten to him, too. I’m sure he’ll show up tomorrow. It was quite the ordeal you guys went through. Fortunately no one else was hurt.”

  Damian shook his head. He couldn’t help but wonder what he’d be going back to, or what he’d do if his two Betas decided they weren’t going back to their new Pack with him.

  “Get some rest, Damian, whi
le she’s sleeping. I’ll see you in the morning. Good-night.”

  “Good-night, Trinity. Thank you for everything.”

  Damian sat in the chair, watching his mate, until his eyes got so heavy he could no longer fight the urge to close them. He eased into the bed beside her, staring at her until he eventually surrendered to his exhaustion.

  Chapter 17

  Mindy thought about Jordan every day since that night at The Canteen. The image of him had taken over her daily thoughts and dreams. Jordan was gorgeous, with dark eyes and sandy-blond hair. He had a muscled body, and, even though he wasn’t as tall as his friends, with Mindy standing only five-foot-four his six-foot frame was perfect in her opinion. He was perfect, except for one obvious, deal-breaking flaw -- his drinking.

  Mindy’s father drank. She had fond memories of her father and that he was a really good man with a heart of gold. Mindy remembered him sneaking into the kitchen many times while her mom was making dinner. He’d wrap his arms around her and held her tight while kissing her neck. Every day he told Mindy and her mother how much he loved and appreciated them.

  A functional, loving man who enjoyed a drink every now and then. That was exactly how her mother had referred to him on several occasions. That’s what they wanted to believe. That’s what everyone thought.

  And despite their obvious attempts to downplay the seriousness of his drinking in public, they knew it was more than that. They asked him to get help so many times, but he insisted he didn’t have a problem.

  The daily cycle had gone on for so long, it had become normal to walk into the house and see her dad not working, knowing he was drunk. But he was able to carry on a conversation and do everyday tasks while giving the illusion that he was sober, except for an occasional slur of his speech or an inadvertent stumble.

  Her father drank from sun-up until he passed out in the evening. Most of the time he spent the night hours in his living room recliner. Her mother would bring a small blanket and cover him after he’d fall asleep, so he wouldn’t get chilly. Then she’d kiss his cheek before going to get into her bed, alone.

  Things had been pretty routine from day-to-day in Mindy’s house, until the morning she woke before her mom and walked into the living room, and saw her dad.

  Her normal, ‘good morning’ went unanswered. That wasn’t like him. Her father always returned her greeting. Mindy glanced in his direction and saw her father had vomited. It wasn’t the first time it had happened. She went into the bathroom to get a wet, warm cloth to help clean up like she had done several times before. When she returned to her father, she noticed his skin didn’t have the same rosy tone. He was an ashy, bluish tint and his skin felt cool.

  “Mom!” she screamed as tears began to roll down her face. “Mom!”

  Her mother came running into the living room as fast as she could and stopped dead in her tracks. Slowly she crept over to her husband and touched him.

  “Call an ambulance. Now!” she demanded. She lowered her face to his and her tears broke free. “He’s not breathing,” she whispered as her throat tightened. Her worst nightmare was unfolding before her eyes.

  Mindy ran off and called 911 to get someone there as quickly as possible. By the time the emergency responders arrived, there was no way they could resuscitate her father. He didn’t survive the night. They suspected he’d asphyxiated on his own vomit.

  Mindy and her mom had been inconsolable. Before the man who was taken out on the stretcher was an alcoholic, he was a son, a brother, a husband, and a father. He was their world. And their world had just been shaken to the core.

  A couple of years later, Mindy met a guy who seemed like he was made just for her. Until she learned his secret. He was a heavy drinker, who refused to admit he had a problem. He told her over and over he was a social drinker. He drank way too much way too often, though, and often times alone, which shot the ‘social’ part all to hell.

  He wasn’t ever physically abusive, but he had occasionally lashed out at her verbally while intoxicated. After a little more than a year of trying to make it work, pleading with him to not drink so much, and being called several foul names then apologized to the following day, Mindy finally found the courage to break up with him. To her surprise, he walked away without any backlash.

  There was absolutely no way she would allow herself to be in a relationship like that again.

  Shortly after her break-up, she began her new job at The Canteen, and then met Jordan. Was he Mr. Right, or was he completely wrong? She’d felt a strong attraction to him when she first laid eyes on him.

  It seemed like the only thing that could provide a distraction for Mindy’s thoughts about Jordan was her being busy at work. It had gotten so busy she barely had time to think at all. She was working extra hours to help cover her vacationing co-workers, too.

  The night she was working as the hostess, she had a long line of people to get checked in.

  “Welcome to The Canteen, how many?” she asked without lifting her head. She was busy crossing out the name of the couple that had just been seated.

  “One. And I need to talk to you,” Maverick said.

  Her head lifted with widened eyes. “You’re …”

  “Maverick. Yeah, I was in here with my friends about a week ago.”

  She craned her neck and looked at the door before returning her gaze to him. “Are they going to be joining you tonight?”

  “Nope. I’m all alone.” He looked to his left, then to his right before leaning down closer to her face. “But I really need to talk to you when you get a chance. It’s about Jordan,” Maverick whispered.

  She could feel her heart beginning to beat faster. Maverick’s voice sounded like something might be wrong. “Is he okay? Did something happen to him?”

  “Do you have a break? Maybe I can hang out and you can stop by my table or something. I’d rather not talk about it here.”

  “Yeah. Okay. I’m not sure why I need to hear about Jordan or what’s going on. But you’re worrying me. I go on break in about fifteen minutes so I’ll stop by.”

  Maverick was seated and placed his order a few minutes before Mindy made her way to his high-top table in the bar area. She climbed up onto the stool and sat waiting to hear what was so important.

  Chapter 18

  Damian was roused from his sleep by his mate’s cool snout nudging at his cheek. His stark blue eyes opened and immediately connected with hers. She growled.

  “Good morning to you, too, my love.” He smiled. Damian glanced over at the IV bag and saw it had been completely drained. “Are you hungry?”

  There was no reply. Her eyes slowly closed, then opened.

  “Trinity says you have to eat some protein. I’ll go get you something small. A rabbit. We can share it. Does that sound good?” he asked.

  Her eyes shifted down to his beautifully sculpted, tattooed arm. It was as if she was assessing her mate in his human form. She scanned back up to his beautiful face and stared.

  “I need to stop by the hospital this morning, too. I need to see Jordan, my Beta, before he leaves with his parents. I’ll go get us something to eat first.” He reached out and stroked her fur from her head to her neck. “Trinity will be here, so you won’t be alone. And I won’t be gone for very long. I promise.”

  Damian rose from the bed, kissed her on the side of her face, and then turned to leave. He nearly ran Trinity over as he rushed through the doorway.

  “Where’s the fire?” Trinity asked.

  “I’m going to hunt for a rabbit. We’re going to share it before I go see Jordan.”

  “That’s great news. Then I’ll examine her now while you’re gone.”

  Damian returned with the rabbit and quickly cut a few bites off and set them on a plate, then made his way in to feed his mate. While she was chewing, Trinity came in and provided her quick health update. Everything was the same for the most part. Once his mate’s Wolf finished eating, Damian let her know he would be back shortly, as he was
going to see Jordan.

  “You’re not going to believe this,” Maverick said when he saw Damian walking down the hall toward him.

  “Well, if it isn’t my long-lost friend. Where’d you go yesterday?”

  “I decided I had to do something for Jordan. Something to cheer him up. I knew it was a long shot, but she came.”

  “Who? What are you talking about?”

  “Mindy. She’s here. She’s in with Jordan now. I went to The Canteen last night in hopes that she’d be working, and she was. She asked about you guys and I told her Jordan stopped drinking after that night, and what a really good guy he was. Then I told her Jordan had been shot and was in the hospital. I may have lied a little and told her he might not live.”

  Damian shook his head. “That’s pretty fucked up that you lied to her.”

  “Yeah, well, I knew since he’d called her name so much when he was out of it, I needed her to come see him. She may not have come if I hadn’t told her that.”

  “Maybe not, but to lie to her? That’s not cool. It could backfire. Then what?”

  “I wasn’t worrying about that. And if it happens, I guess I’ll have to deal with it then. She seemed like she was pretty concerned when I was talking to her. And she came. She’s been in with him for about thirty minutes. By the way, how’s your mate doing? Is she getting any better?”

  “She ate a few bites of rabbit this morning before I left. Trinity said she needs more protein to get strong enough to shift.”

  Maverick waggled his eyebrows and laughed.

  “You sick bastard,” Damian said, then laughed and punched Maverick in the arm. “The IV doesn’t provide the proper nutrients. She needs to eat more raw meat.”