CHAPTER 5: TURNING POINTS

Damion heads straight for the front door with Sera trailing behind him.

“Hold up there, Damion. Where are you off to, son? It’s late,” Stephen asks, obviously confused.

“Miriam is back. She just landed. She’s upset and alone. I need to find her,” Damion replies.

“Now? Well, where is she?” Stephen asks. He looks to Sera for answers. But Sera only shrugs.

“I DON’T KNOW,” Damion yells, his voice filled with frustration and panic. He rushes out the front door without another word. Sera watches him leave then looks back to Stephen. There’s an awkward silence for a beat then-

“Well, what are you waiting for? Go with him!”

The last thing Sera wants to do is follow Damion around while he looks for his girlfriend. But Stephen is a powerful wolf – he demands respect. She can’t argue with him. Sera does as she’s told and reluctantly follows Damion into the dark driveway.

The drive in complete silence. Sera doesn’t know what to say. Damion’s thoughts are on Miriam. The dark trees whiz by as Damion drives a little too fast down the dark road. It’s obvious that he’s panicked. There’s no reason for Sera to be there.  

“Just drop me off at the nearest subway station. I’ll catch the last train to the border of my pack. I’ll find my way home from there,” Sera sighs, staring out the window. Damion nods, clearly pre-occupied with finding Miriam.

So it’s okay for me to be out in the night alone, but not Miriam? Sera thinks to herself. He really doesn’t care about me. Even in my wolf shape, it’s still a forty minute run to my packhouse from the station. It’s late and it’s dark. He doesn’t feel any protective instincts towards me at all. He’s perfectly fine with just dumping me off in the middle of the night alone.

 Suddenly, though, Damion slows down and pulls over. Sera looks around, confused. Are they already at the train station?

“I need you to come with me,” Damion says, staring straight ahead, his hands firmly on the steering wheel.

“What? Why? No,” Sera says, shaking her head. Her brief phone conversation with Miriam was more ‘Miriam’ than she ever planned on having. She didn’t want to meet the wolf that was replacing her.

“Yes. You have to come. She won’t believe me. But if you’re there, too. If you can  explain the situation…”

“Seriously? Are you kidding me?” Sera blurts out before he’s finished. She can feel herself losing her temper a bit, but who can blame her? This is too much. Does he know what’s he asking me to do? He wants me to help him get his girlfriend back?  “And what exactly should I say to her? That I’m just some maid?” Do you have any idea how that makes me feel?

Damion can feel her tension. He knows he’s asking a lot of her, but he needs her help. Miriam is really pissed at him. He doesn’t know if she’ll forgive him. “Please, Sera,” he says in a low voice.

Sera is trying to stay calm, but her emotions are getting the better of her. “I don’t care about your past, Damion. I get it. I know you love her. But why are you putting me in the middle of this? I don’t deserve this. I haven’t done anything wrong…”

           Damion hears her choking back tears. Sera quickly wipes her eyes with her sleeve. This isn’t right. Damion feels bad for her, but he has no choice; he keeps begging.

           “Please. I’ll…I pay you more. I’ll give you more money. Another five million? I can transfer it right now.”

           More money? Who does he think I am? This really set Sera off. She began breathing in large gulps. “I…don’t (gulp) care about your stupid (gulp) money.” She could barely get the words out. The tears were streaming down her face now. I only want you.

           “Okay, okay, I’m sorry,” Damion says. He wraps his arms around her and pulls her in close. “Sshhhh. Calm down. There you go. Deep breaths.” The scent of him calms her down instantly. She doesn’t want to look like a fool. She gets herself under control. He releases her and looks at her, pleading with his eyes. “It’s the last thing I’ll ever ask of you. I swear. Please, just do this one last thing for me.”

           The sapphire bracelet on her wrist catches the moonlight. It shines. She fondles it while she thinks back to the first time she saw him.  

--Three years ago, she and Dr. Merdock went to Sandstone Pack to visit a seriously ill puppy.--

           Those green eyes. Bam. He was gorgeous.

He’d walked towards her, his hand extended. “Dr. Merdock. I’m Damion. Pleasure to meet you. And you are?”

           He’d turned to her and flashed a smile. His dark hair fell over his brown and his green eyes shone. His smile was genuine. He was painfully handsome, with strong muscles that strained against his shirt. She knew he was the Alpha so she was a bit guarded. It was impossible not to notice his looks, though.

           She shook his hand and somehow managed to sputter out her name: “Sera.”

           She’d been expecting arrogance and conceit – she had enough experience with Alphas to know that’s the way most of them were. But not Damion. There was something different about Damion.

           She couldn’t quite place it at first. He thanked them for coming and then explained his intentions. He wanted a specialized medical facility at his pack’s hospital. She watched him speak, his eyes sparkled with excitement. His enthusiasm was contagious.

           “I know a lot of packs ignore medical science,” he’d said as they toured the hospital. “But just because we’re strong doesn’t mean we can’t use science. Am I right?” He turned to her and smiled that gorgeous smile. “We heal fast. Sure. Much faster than humans. But humans know a lot. About medicine. They’ve made some massive advancements. I think we could, too.”

           He explained what he envisioned. His voice was bright and hopeful. He was a visionary. Sera appreciated all of this. He was much more modest than most Alphas.

It was the cpups, though. That’s what really drew her in. They’d stopped in front of a window. The room inside was full of beds, and three young wolves were hooked up to IVs. He placed his hand on the window and sighed.

           “We lose too many young pups to diseases. Infections take them before their wolf is strong enough. I want to find a way to save them. Do you think?” He had turned to them, his face earnest. “Do you think modern medicine could help?”

           Sera’s heart had melted right then and there. She knew in that moment what made him different from the other Alphas – compassion.

           He had changed after the accident, yes. He was distraught. He pounded his legs and cursed. He cried out in anguish and blubbered like a child. He lashed out, too – angry at everyone, terrified he’d be a cripple forever. But that had only made her like him even more. He was vulnerable.

           So, she’d stayed with him. She nursed him back to health. She became his friend, his confidante. Then…his lover.

--Flash back end--

           The sapphires sparkled in the moonlight. He grabbed her hand and held it tightly. “Please, Sera. I promise. Last thing ever, cross my heart.”

           Sera nods. She’ll help him with this, and then she’ll go home and break free from him.

           He’s not the right one for me. I see that now. It’s time to let him go.