12 — Secrets Beneath the Skin

Damon’s POV

Her skin was cold even while I was causing her heat with my arms. The silver light which had spurted out of her a few moments ago still shone dimly in my hands, buzzing under my flesh like lightning in a bottle.

I didn't stop to think. I took her down the pack house without paying any attention to the shocked glances and murmurs that ensued. Wolves knelt down at my feet, but they were talking in high tones.

“The omega. The Alpha's omega. What is she?”

The herb-filled dark den of the healer. He stood with startled eyes, almost to drop the bowl in his hands.

"Alpha--"

"Help her," I snapped. My voice was not as smooth as I wanted it.

He cleared a table instantly. I put Aria to rest, her hair falling over the furs, her breath shallow and regular. The light behind her skin was throbbing with each breath.

The healer laid his hand on her wrist and closed his eyes as he mumbled an ancient chant. His brow furrowed.

"What is it?" I demanded.

He hesitated. “Her pulse has been constant, but her strength... Alpha, it's not natural. Her blood is magic, old, ancient magic.”

My stomach tightened. "You're saying she's a witch?"

He shook his head. "No. Not witchcraft. Something older. Her lineage isn't pure omega. The power in her has been dormant… up until this night.”

I looked down and could not believe that her skin was so radiant. "Can it harm her?"

“Yes, it can unless she learns how to control it. However, at this moment... it is saving her.”

Protecting her. The words struck deep.

I was left there long after the healer had gone. There was a taut quiet there, broken only by her weak hacking breaths. I felt a kind of fear, such as I had not felt in many years--not of the pack but of her.

It was with a little noise, a sigh, a breath, that she finally woke up. "Where... am I?"

Her voice was faint but alive. I leaned closer. "You're safe."

She opened her eyes, bright silver still glittering in them. As soon as she looked at me she stiffened, sitting up. "What happened?"

"You tell me." My voice was cold, but my wolf was roaming in the depths. “You unleashed power as I have never seen. The healer tells you that it is not what you think your bloodline is.”

Her gaze darted away. "He's wrong."

"Is he?" I stepped closer. "Because I saw it, Aria. You almost swept the whole training field.

"I didn't mean to…"

"That's not the point." I heaved a slow sigh and struggled to control myself. “I have to know whether you are dangerous--to the pack or to yourself.”

She swallowed hard. "I'm not a threat. I swear it."

"Then what are you?"

Her lips trembled. I thought she would say somthing at one moment. “I do not know,” she said, “even in a case I did know, you would not trust me.”

Lies…or fear. Either way, my wolf bristled.

“You are to stay near me,” I said, low-pitched, “until I know.”

Her head snapped up. "What?"

"You heard me."

"I don't need a guard."

"This isn't a request." My tone was final. “You were glowing like a goddess. Half the pack saw you. Whispers are spreading. You will remain in my sight until I understand what caused it.”

She glared, defiant. “Again, you are treating me like a prisoner.”

“No,” I said and walked towards him. "I'm keeping you alive."

Her breath hitched. I could touch her heartbeat…wild, wild. “You think I can not protect myself?”

“You almost burned yourself from the inside out.” My voice dropped. "So no, I don't."

She looked at me, with her lips open, and her feelings in conflict. Anger. Fear. And something other-- something dangerous.

“Take some rest,” I told her. "Training resumes tomorrow. With me."

Her eyes widened. "With you?"

If you are staying in my pack, you will have to learn control. “Whatever it is, it will not be the ruler of you.”

On the following morning, I stood by the clearing. With arms crossed, her chin high, she came reluctantly.

“I am not fighting with you,” She said.

“Then you will stand there till you do,” I said evenly.

She muttered therewith and stood into position. I walked around her, straightening her feet. "Too wide. You find the balance of your core.”

"I am balanced," she shot back.

I disregarded her and followed her, leading her. Energy jumped between us the moment my hand touched hers. She froze. I was able to hear her heartbeat, it was rapid and irregular.

"Focus," I said, my voice low. “Once you lose concentration in a battle, you lose life.

Her head swivelled about, just a few inches away. "Then stop distracting me."

Her sentences were very acute, and her voice shook.

Nor did either of us move awhile. I was embraced by her scent, so gentle and wild. My wolf strained at my reins and wanted me to draw nearer. I stepped back instead.

"That's enough for today."

She didn't argue. Looked at me just now--then with anger flickering with something I did not know what--and went.

That night, I couldn't sleep.

It would not be forgotten that she was under the moonlight. That beauty and terror in her was a secret that I could not overlook.

My legs led me to her door without my intending it. I stood there, listening. Her breath was low, monotonous. She was asleep.

I barely forced the door open. The moonlight had flooded over her face, and for a moment, I had lost to breathe. She looked fragile. Peaceful. Not the girl who had been on the point of making a mayhem of things an hour earlier.

The mate mark was faintly shining upon her neck--my mark. It had not yet been accepted by her, but it was there, beating with mine.

I should have left. But I didn't.

Something--about the manner in which she had looked at me when she told me you would not believe me--stuck under my skin.

I'd seen power before. I had battled witches, wolves, creatures of the black. But Aria was different. Whatever was inside her was not to kill--it was to wake.

And according to what I thought, that was just the beginning of that awakening.

I went nearer and hissed softly, in the ears of the moon alone. "Whatever you're hiding, omega... I'll find it."

Her fingers were trembling, as though she had heard me.

I hung about a little longer and walked off.

But, as I shut the door I knew the truth I had been struggling against since I had found her that night:

Luckily, it was no more her duty to protect her.

It was instinct.

And for an Alpha like me...

That was dangerous.