Damian’s POV: I tried so hard to ignore them But I couldn't stop myself, not when I had seen them so close to one another "Urgh, Elara" I grunted in frustration as I headed towards my dorm. By the time the sun had set I was too exhausted to move a finger, I was too angry to think about anything else that wasn't Elara... I lazily dragged myself through the morning classes, forcing myself to act like everything was fine like I hadn't seen the woman I loved with someone else, and not just anyone. Julian "Wow," Caspian said as I approached him. "What happened to you? You look like you were hit by a truck." "I guess it would have been better if I was" I muttered, slumping into the chair across from him. Caspian sighed "Really? The great Damian woke up feeling like a piece of Shi.." "Yes, I guess" I Sternly said and her sweet smell flooded my senses. Elara was nearby Caspian leaned forward, his voice low enough for me to hear him. "She's by the door, and let me guess You saw Juli
Elara's POV ~ "I don't need your protection and good night", I rolled my eyes, walking away but then he grabbed my wrist making me halt. "Stay behind me", Damien's hushed voice filled my ears, ushering me to stay behind me. I hesitated glancing around, the cold night was eerie and my eyes darted to red eyes lurking in the dark. My nose catches on to a whiff of scent. "ROGUES!", My heart pounded in my chest. It lunged toward me but Damien shielded me with his huge frame blocking me from the attack. I gasped, my heart hammering against my ribs as the wolf's claws sliced at the T-shirt Damien had on. Before I could catch up on what was happening, Damien's enormous wolf blocked my view. The two wolves lunged at each other at a fast speed, my knees going numb, my mind not processing what was going on anymore, I wanted to shout for help but my throat felt dry, I was opening my mouth but no words came out. The air was filled with clashing and tearing of flesh, the rogue was too fast
~ Julian’s POV ~ My heart hammered against my rib cage at the sight before me, the rogue almost sinking his fangs into Elara's wolf. I jumped right in front of her, unnoticed by the rogue; my claws dug into its stomach. The rogue let out a deafening cry, his golden fleck of eyes travelling down to Elara behind me as he sprinted, the blood trailing out of him. “Don't chase”, Elara's tiny voice whispered; my gaze darted towards her tear-stricken face. She must have had a shock. I hadn't realized I was growling, my wolf was just on the surface to shift and chase. The wage of war between me and the rogue ended so faster than I planned and that was because he had grown weak after taking it all on Damian. It took me every ounce of my self-consciousness to not touch her and carry her to the clinic. Her shoulder is dripping with blood, but her wolf is doing a great job healing her. I looked at the cranny of my eyes as she took a slow step toward Damian, who was sitting on the floor, his
~Elara's Pov~ It pained me to see him hurt, the way he dodged the attack and tried to protect me at the least of his safety…..every move, every attack lodged at him was like a saw painfully striking through my heart. If he had given me the least hope that he was still there, the Damina I had fallen in love with, Damina that showed me the way when I thought there wasn't the way. If he had received my hand the same way he did when my parent left me…maybe I wouldn't have restrained from receiving his hands as well. I hated that it broke me this much after rejecting him to the door extent of acting weak in Julian’s presence. I wished he wouldn't dare to raise the topic I would love not to cross paths with him. “Elara!!.....are you okay? I have been asking you the same questions since the moment we entered…..” Sabrina’s tense voice brought me out of my daze. I have been drifting to my thoughts since we got in that I couldn't give him the reaction she wanted. “Sorry…..! I think I need
~Damian’s Pov~ “What game are you playing, Damian? How would you lose control over there? When I asked you to try winning him over, I don't mean by you choking her to death…..You know right?” “Will you stop yelling, you are intruding on my thoughts?” I threw my head back as frustration slipped through, weakening my demeanour. “Like…. seriously? Do you ever think what might have gone wrong if I didn't force my way in there? Do you want to ruin this chance” “And yeah…..you are still yet to elaborate that plot you pulled yesterday night because right now I can't even see any difference between you and Julian!’ I had Caspian pull a nerve out of Julian. I wanted to see his reaction, and it worked. He thought he got the facts about Caspian; he thought Caspian was head over heels for Elera and just like I predicted, he took the bait, and I knew he would find it as an opportunity. He left this morning with the law excuse of being indisposed when I was well aware to deliver the
~Elara’s POV ~ I couldn’t shake the guilt that had planted itself in my chest since the night with the rogue. Damien had leapt in front of me, his wolf ripping into the beast without a moment’s hesitation, and all I’d done was follow Julian out. I’d convinced myself it was the right move—keeping Damien at a distance, not letting him believe I still cared. But I couldn’t shake the image of his bloody matted fur, his gray eyes staring into mine as he struggled to save me. It dined on me, a silent pang that I couldn’t repress no matter what I did. I’d spent that evening holed up in my room, pacing the frayed wooden floor, trying to understand what it all meant. The hostel was typically filled with chatter and laughter, but tonight, it was too quiet — too still. Then, a muffled shout pierced the silence, and the sound of hurried footsteps echoed up the stairwell. My stomach twisted. Something was wrong. I found a sweater dashed out of my room, my bare feet padding the cold floor, and
~Damian’s POV~ I knew the world around me was falling to pieces that night, broken shards scattering at my feet, and I could do nothing to prevent it. Tears burned at the back of my eyes, an emotion I hadn’t felt in years—ever since the moment in my last life when I’d put the barrel of a gun in my mouth and pulled the trigger, choking on the regret of what I had done to Elara. But now, in this second life, everything spiralled out of control: one disaster barreled into the next. First, I’d found Sabrina bleeding in the woods and carried her back, then run into Elara and met that cold, accusing look in her eyes. And then, just when I thought it couldn’t possibly get worse, it got worse. I’d been tending to Sabrina in her dorm room, my head still spinning from Elara’s clipped command outside—“Take her in.” The way she’d said it, like I meant nothing to her, hurt more than I was willing to admit to myself. I’d tried to explain, to make her understand I was not choosing Sabrina over
~Sabrina's POV-I had never been so angry in my life.Everything had gone perfectly, or at least it was supposed to. I’d worked out the details to perfection: having Damien bump into me in the woods, giving him a glimpse of the damsel in distress so he wouldn’t be able to look away, so he’d pick me up and put me on his back and see me in a way he hadn’t, wouldn’t, have done otherwise.I’d even let a trickle of blood run from my nose, just enough to sell the performance, knowing he would be too honorable to leave me there. It was my opportunity to draw him in, to remind him what he’d been missing all this time. And it had nearly worked — until Elara messed it all up.As I stretched vulnerable across my bed, playing dead, sucking breaths in thin and controlled, waiting for my body to feel relaxed enough to move. Damien had been so soft, tucking the blanket around me, fingers brushing my cheek. I felt it — the spark, the potential for more. Then I grabbed him, pulling him down, my heart
Sabrina’s POV~I walked up and down the grimy carpet of my hostel room, with anger rushing through my veins.Elara’s name seared in my mind.Her father’s crisis had propelled her to somehow manage to be the center of everyone’s attention—Damien’s, Caspian’s, and even Julian’s—and I hated her for it. I had gone to the hospital yesterday, thinking that I could be a supportive friend, one who showed her that I was there for her, even though I didn't care an inch. But before I could even get into her dad's ward, I’d spotted him—Damien, leaning on the hallway wall, his eyes pinning Elara with an intensity that had my stomach rolling. I had turned on my heel and walked out, my nails digging into my palms as I left. She stole everything, and I had had enough of playing nice.I was no longer stalking, but standing with my fingers curling the side of my desk, the mirror that leaned against five textbooks staring back at my reflection. My hair? Perfect. My makeup? Flawless; but it didn’t matter
Damien’s POV~I leaned against the cold hospital wall, my arms crossed, trying to still myself against the storm turning in my chest.I knew that Gideon would make it out okay, Mara’s expertise had brought him back from the edge and the fact we’d won should have made him feel lighter. But it didn’t. Elara’s decision to allow Julian’s healer, Torren, to go in first haunted me. Her hug, if it could even be called that after Mara’s victory stayed in my head. But now that cold distance, the way she avoided my eyes, hurt. It had been a reflection of the betrayal of my previous life when I killed her with my own hands.I balled my hands into fists as I struggled to keep my wolf at bay.I was haunted by the memory of that other life, Elara’s lifeless body the pool of blood beneath her and the warm gun in my hand. I’d awoken from that nightmare with a chance to rectify my sins. I’d promised to defend her, to compensate, and yet, here I was, standing outside of her world, watching her fade.
Elara’s POV~When his eyelids fluttered, and finally opened to reveal those hazel eyes so much like my own, joy surged within me. "Elara," he murmured, his voice course. A feeble grin strained his lips and hot, brimming tears pricked at my eyes.“Dad,” I gasped, my grip around his hand tightening almost as if I could force all of my strength into him. “You’re awake. You’re here.” My voice trembled, reflecting an awkward half-relief and the absurd, crushing gravity of everything I’d labored to alter in this reincarnated life. I’d lost him — and Mom — three days after my eighteenth birthday in my previous life. But here he was, alive, breathing, because I’d reincarnated back from death to rewrite my destiny.He grinned, but it was with much effort. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost, kiddo.” His sad little stab at humor shattered something inside me, and I laughed, the sound dissolving into a sob. I leaned my forehead to his hand, and let the tears drench his skin, while I trembled a
Elara's POV~The hospital room was silent except for the constant beep of the monitor keeping track of my father’s heartbeat. I sat next to his bed, my hand laid lightly on his, his skin warm but too pale still. Not that he was awake yet, but the doctors and Mara, had assured us he was healing. The poison was out, and the bullet wound healed by his werewolf ability and Mara’s expertise. I watched his chest rise and fall slowly, the relief fighting with the fear that wouldn’t just go. He’d been so close to death, and the thought of losing him — losing the father I’d struggled so hard to save in this new life — made my throat hard.I pulled the blanket up over him, wrapping it around his shoulders, my hands moving slowly and deliberately. Each second I spent here, taking care of him, was a mini triumph, a rebellion against the death that was attempting to steal him away from me. But as I smoothed the fabric, my mind wandered to Damien. I couldn’t stop thinking about him — his determinat
Julian's POV~The news of Elara’s father being shot came to me as a gift. The topic had come up in a pack meeting with a coworker of Gideon Jules', and I finally heard they needed a healer. I didn’t give a shit about Gideon, not really, but Elara—Elara was everything. If I could swoop in and be the hero and upstage Damien, I’d have her thanks, maybe even her heart. I called Healer Torren, a devoted servant of my family’s pack, and hurried to the hospital, my mind racing through the possibilities. And this was my chance to show I was better than Damien, to show Elara who she could trust.The look on Damien’s face, when I arrived with Torren, made every second of the rushed trip worth it. His eyes widened, then narrowed, his jaw tightening as he searched for the right response, for the right arrangement of words that conveyed that I’d gotten there before him. Elara’s gratitude, her gentle, soft “Thank you,” was music, and I squealed in the way Damien’s forced smile didn’t touch his eyes
Elara's POV~When Damien said he would get Mara, the legendary healer of the Vellex Pack, to save my father, I was filled with gratitude. They all knew of her — her miracles, her knack for yanking life from death’s clutches. But I had also heard that her temper was as ferocious as her ability, and that worried me. What if she refused to help? What if Damien doesn’t convince her in time? I was sitting in the waiting area of the hospital with my mother, her hands shaking in mine, filling the silence with sobs. The clock on the wall ticked down relentlessly; every blink of the second hand was a reminder of the doctor’s words: four hours. My father was in that theatre fighting for his life, and all I could do was wait, my heart battled with both hope and fear.The hospital hall was suffocating, the fluorescents too bright, the air heavy with antiseptic and despair. I replayed Damien’s words, the way he’d held me, the way he’d vowed he would save my father, his gray eyes blazing with deter
Damien's POV~The doctor's words, “Only four hours! — echoed in my ears as I fled the hospital, my heart racing with urgency.Elara’s pale, adorable, and broken face followed me everywhere, her grateful little wish that I would save her father pushing me to keep going. I needed to get to the healer, the only person in the Vellex Pack with the kind of power to pull Gideon from the edge. I hopped into the rented car, the engine coming to life underneath me as I raced toward pack lands, but the city had other plans. The roads were packed with traffic, car horns honking while I clenched the wheel so tight my knuckles were pale. I checked the dashboard clock — an hour had already passed. Time was running out, along with Gideon’s prospects.Panic raked at my ribs, my wolf snapping and growling under my flesh, screaming for me to go faster. I couldn’t sit here, locked up in this metal cage while Elara waited, relying on me. I had an impulse response, turning into a side street and parking in
Damians POV~I was shocked when Elara’s phone rang, destroying the fragile moment between us. One moment, we were standing in front of that ancient scroll, our eyes locked, her question — “What do you mean?” —hanging unanswered in the air. The next her face went pale as she picked up the phone, and her voice quivered with panic. “Mom? Is everything okay?” I looked at her speechless, as her expression fell apart, and her notebook fell from her hands to the floor. Before I had time to react, she said “I’ll be there” and ran out of the site.I didn’t think. All I did was run after her, my heart racing, my wolf demanding I run faster. The trees blurred past as I shoved my way past a collective sea of students and professors, my gaze fixated on Elara’s hurriedly retreating. She was already frantically flagging down a taxi near the edge of the site. I couldn’t let her leave alone—not like this, not when she looked so shaken. I bolted ahead, getting to her just as she opened the taxi door, g
Elara's POV~The bus ride to the archaeological site had been long and bumpy, the hum of the engine doing little to soothe the discomfort I felt in my chest since Damien’s outburst back on campus. I had stayed away from him and from Julian alike, sitting near the front and burying my nose in a book I hardly read. From time to time, I’d sense their stares — Damien’s and Julian’s playful, mocking — and I’d ignore them, taking in the blur of tree after tree outside the window. When we reached the site — a vast stretch of ancient ruins set amid a wooded valley.The professors gathered us into a clearing, where they explained the assignment in firm voices. We were to disperse throughout the site, examine the artifacts and relics strewn around the ancient stones, and write down everything we could about what we saw — their history, their use, and their importance.I embraced the assignment, thankful for a distraction. I’d selected this course for a reason, well before my reincarnation. The