Chapter 3

Elana POV

Just hearing his name evokes something within me.  My whole body starts shaking, and I fear that I will not be able to choke back the panic attack that is rising to the surface of my brain.  I attempt to keep my face indifferent, but the growl that comes from Victor’s chest causes tears to streak down my face.  I am afraid, but not for me. 

I fear for Damon’s life.

Victor grips my arm so hard that his claws dig into my arm, and I shriek in pain.  Gabby whimpers at the sight of Victor manhandling me, and I realize I cannot shield her from what is happening.  He boxes me in with his arms.  My chest rises and falls quickly.  His blue eyes bore into mine, and he snarls dangerously close to my face.

“Am I misreading it, or do you worry about him…so much?” Victor hisses at me.

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” I whimper. Of course, I worry about him! Damon was my best friend growing up.  We were inseparable, but apparently, I was being “intimate” with Damon, and Victor didn’t like it.  Now, here we are five years later, having the same old argument.

Victor rolls his eyes and leans in closer to me.  The tingles of the mate bond are still there, and my body is going wild.  I am terrified and turned on all at the same time.

“Why would Damon return to the pack now?”  Victor demands to know.

How would I know?! I didn’t even know he dared to come back a moment ago! Actually, I didn’t think he would come back, ever.  Or at least I hoped he wouldn’t, not after what had happened.

Five years ago, two things happened. Victor became the Alpha, and his younger brother Damon left the pack. Both for the same reason: allegedly, Damon killed his father, the Alpha of the Midsummer pack.  Victor was furious over the loss of his father, and Damon ran.  It made him look guilty, and everyone assumed he killed our Alpha, his own father.

Even though the rest of the pack believed him to be guilty, I never did.  The Damon I knew would never take someone’s life, but he couldn’t prove that he didn’t do it. I had hoped that he would pop up one day at my doorstep, like when we were kids, and tell me it was nothing but a scary nightmare. But as the years passed by, my hope that he was innocent grew fainter.

“Answer me!” Victor growls, making me flinch.

“Why don’t you ask your little girlfriend over there? She obviously knows more than me!” I can’t help shiver at his Alpha aura, but I don’t want to back down.

 "What did you say to me?" Victor snarls, gripping my chin with his voice darker, “Are you seriously turning this on me?!”

Sweat is forming on my brow. Victor has never been violent with me before, but with the simple mention of Damon's name, he seems to have lost all control. Gabby is crying loudly in the back seat as she watches her father ascend on me. I grind my teeth together and glare into Victor's eyes.

“Step away from me," I warn him. "You are scaring our daughter."

Victor’s eyes flicker to our screaming child with an air of indifference, and it hurts worse than anything I have experienced before.  His eyes look over her with the same hatred that he holds for me.  His own flesh and blood.  I used to wonder how he could turn on Damon so easily, but now seeing him do it to our daughter, I don’t question it anymore.  Victor is not the man I thought he was, and maybe he never was.

Lara places her hand on his shoulder, and he finally backs away from me.  He runs a hand through his hair, and shrugs away from Lara’s touch.  The storm behind his eyes almost brings me to my knees, and for all the wrong reasons. "Tell him to stay away because if he returns, I WILL kill him this time."

“Tell him yourself,” I mutter under my breath. 

Victor pauses for a moment, but then storms away from me, and I let myself relax against the car. Lara puts on an innocent smile: “Come home, please. We will be waiting for you.”

Does that “we” include Damon now? I don’t even know if I want to see him because Victor will kill him if he dares to show up. I know. I mean, he nearly did five years ago.