Ghosts From The Past

CHAPTER NINE

POV: Damon

I stood completely frozen in the middle of the hallway as the office door closed right in my face, and my entire body was trembling so hard I could barely keep my feet planted on the floor, because the girl I had spent five long years mourning was standing right there in front of me alive and well. My inner wolf, who had been completely quiet and unresponsive for five straight years, suddenly woke up in my chest with a furious, overwhelming surge of energy, growling and howling frantically as he recognized our true mate instantly through the air. I stared at the wood paneling of the door, and my mind was racing through every single memory of that horrible night five years ago, remembering the blood on the cabin floor, the broken chairs, and the quiet satisfaction on my father's face when he told me he had gotten rid of the problem.

The math hit my head like a physical blow as I pictured the young boy and girl standing beside her legs, and my heart slammed against my ribs while tears rushed up into my eyes.

"She was pregnant when she disappeared," I whispered to myself, pressing my hand against the wall to steady my shaking legs while my breathing came fast and shallow, "She was carrying my children that night, and she survived everything."

I reached out with a trembling hand toward the door handle, desperate to open it and step inside so I could look at Raina's face again and ask her how she had managed to stay alive, but before my fingers could touch the metal, the door swung open again and Reign stepped out into the hallway alone. He pulled the door shut behind his back, locking his arms across his chest while he glared directly into my eyes with a warning look that made my wolf growl defensively.

"You need to step back from this door right now, Damon," Reign said, keeping his voice completely steady and low so it wouldn't carry into the private room behind him.

"Get out of my way," I said, taking a step closer to him while my fists clenched tightly at my sides, "That is my fated mate inside that room, and those are my children standing beside her, so you have no right to keep me away from them."

"I have every right in the world to stand right here," Reign replied without flinching, stepping right into my path to block the door completely, "Raina is my business partner, and those kids don't know who you are, so if you take another step toward this door, I will call the building security guards to remove you from the floor."

"I don't care about security guards," I yelled, letting my voice rise in frustration while tears finally spilled over my cheeks, "I spent five years believing my father had her murdered in the woods, I spent five years living in pure hell because I thought I failed her, and now she is standing ten feet away from me!"

"Then maybe you should have thought about that five years ago before you publicly rejected her and let your father's guards chase her out of the pack territory," Reign said, his tone turning cold and sharp as he looked down at me with pure contempt.

"I didn't send those guards!" I shouted, shaking my head frantically while I tried to explain, "I swear to you on my wolf that I had no idea my father sent men to that cabin, I went out there to protect her, and when I saw the blood on the floor, my father lied straight to my face and told me she was dead!"

"It doesn't matter what you knew or didn't know back then, Damon, because the past is done," Reign said, reaching into his suit pocket and pulling out a small stack of papers to adjust them in his hands, "Raina is not that scared, helpless girl anymore, she is the primary owner of the rival hockey franchise, and she is here to do business, not to listen to your excuses."

Before I could answer him, the door clicked open for a second time, and Raina stepped out into the hallway holding a signed file folder in her hands, looking completely calm and composed despite the chaotic scene in front of her. She glanced at Reign, then turned her eyes toward me, treating me like a total stranger who meant nothing to her while she held her head high.

"Is there a problem out here, Reign?" Raina asked, keeping her tone completely flat and professional while she ignored the tears on my face.

"No problem at all, Raina," Reign said, stepping aside so she could walk past us toward the elevators where the twins were waiting with a female assistant, "Mr. Frost was just leaving the floor."

"Raina, please," I choked out, taking a small step toward her with my hands open in front of me, "Please just speak to me for five minutes in private, I need to know that you and the children are okay, and I need you to know that I never wanted any of this to happen to you."

Raina stopped walking and turned around slowly to face me, and her expression was so cold and distant that it hurt worse than a physical strike across my chest.

"Mr. Frost, as the new owner of the rival franchise, I suggest you save your energy for the hockey rink," Raina said, looking straight into my eyes without a single flicker of warmth or emotion, "Our teams will be competing directly for the league championship this season, so any further communication between us can go through our legal team."

"Raina, don't do this," I whispered, my voice breaking as I watched her turn her back on me once again, "They carry my exact eyes, you know they are my children, so please let me be a father to them."

"My children already have everything they need, and they do not need a father who abandoned their mother to save his own title," Raina said, taking Ruth and Raymond by their hands as the elevator doors opened in front of them, "Have a good afternoon, Captain Frost."

She stepped into the elevator with Reign and the twins, and the metallic doors slowly slid shut between us, cutting off my view of her face and leaving me standing completely alone in the quiet hallway. My entire body felt weak and heavy as the cold truth crashed down on my mind, because for five years my father had let me live in misery, letting me believe I was responsible for my mate's death while he hid the truth from me.

I leaned my back against the wall, dropping down until my knees hit the floor, and I stared at the empty elevator doors while my wolf growled in absolute fury deep in my chest.

"He lied to me," I whispered through my gritted teeth, wiping the tears from my cheeks while my hands shook with pure rage, "My father lied to me about everything."