Raymond's Shifting Incident

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

POV: Damon

I was tossing my dark athletic bag into the back trunk of my car in the afternoon sun, getting ready to head back to the arena for our team film review session, when a sharp, terrified scream echoed straight across the quiet street from Raina’s front yard. I froze instantly on my driveway, dropping the bag onto the pavement without caring where it landed, and my inner wolf surged forward in my chest with an intense, overwhelming urge to protect my blood. I sprinted across the asphalt road in full strides, ignoring the traffic completely, and I threw my shoulder right against the latch of her front garden gate, crashing through the barrier without stopping for a single second to ask for permission.

I rounded the corner of the brick porch and saw four-year-old Raymond lying on the green grass near the fence line, rolling on his side while crying hysterically and gripping his stomach with both of his little hands, his small chest heaving violently with fast, erratic breaths. His eyes were glowing a faint, unstable gold color, and his skin was burning hot to the touch because his young body was experiencing its very first unexpected wolf surge, pushing pure Alpha energy through his tiny veins long before his bones were mature enough to handle the transition.

Raina was down on her knees right beside him in total panic, her hands shaking as she pulled at his shoulders and wiped the tears off his face, but because she had no inner wolf of her own to draw strength from, she had no way to project the soothing pack frequency needed to calm down a child's raging inner spirit.

"Raymond, look at Mommy, please try to breathe with me, baby!" Raina pleaded, her voice breaking with raw terror as she tried to pull his shaking body up into her lap, but the surging wolf energy inside the boy made his small muscles lock up tight, causing him to cry out in pure physical distress.

"Get out of the way, Raina!" I shouted, dropping to my knees right beside them on the grass before she could even turn her head to process my voice.

"Damon, don't touch him!" Raina yelled, reaching out to push my arm away from her son, but the moment my hand made contact with Raymond’s back, a wave of intense heat passed between us, making my own wolf roar with fierce, instinctual protectiveness.

"He is having a wolf surge, Raina, and you cannot fix this with regular words because his inner spirit is panicking!" I said, speaking fast and firm while I gently lifted Raymond off the grass, pulling his tiny, rigid frame tight against my chest so his heart was resting right over mine.

"What is happening to him, Damon? Please, what is wrong with my boy?" Raina cried out, dropping her hands onto my shoulders as her eyes filled with tears, completely forgetting her anger and hatred toward me in the face of her child's suffering.

"His wolf spirit is waking up too early because he carries my strong bloodline, and if we don't calm his energy down right now, his heart rate will spike too high," I explained, wrapping my arms completely around Raymond's trembling back to keep him safe and secure in my grip.

I took a deep, steady breath, closing my eyes for a brief second, and I purposely opened up my inner wolf bond, releasing a thick, warm wave of soothing Alpha aura directly into the air around us. I kept my voice extremely low and steady, pressing my cheek against Raymond's forehead while I projected absolute calm and safety straight into his racing mind, using the exact frequency a father wolf uses to shield his pups from harm.

"You're okay, Raymond, Daddy has got you right now," I whispered continuously against his hair, rubbing smooth, firm circles over his back while my chest vibrated with a steady, deep humming hum that only a young wolf could feel, "Just listen to my voice, son, let your wolf rest, you are completely safe with me."

Slowly, the violent shaking in Raymond's small frame began to subside, his tight muscles relaxed against my shirt, and the harsh golden glow in his eyes faded away completely, returning his eyes to their usual bright, curious state. He let out a long, shuddering breath, burying his small face right into the collar of my shirt, and he wrapped both of his tiny arms around my neck, holding onto me tightly while he sobbed softly against my shoulder from pure exhaustion.

"That's it, big guy, just rest now," I murmured softly, patting his back with total tenderness while tears filled my own eyes, holding my son in my arms for the very first time in my entire life and feeling a surge of pride so deep it made my hands tremble.

Raina sat frozen on the grass right beside us, her face pale as she watched Raymond clinging to my shirt, and the intense mix of relief and pure bitterness in her eyes was so thick I could feel it radiating off her body. She hated every single second of what had just happened, hating the plain fact that her own strength hadn't been enough to save her child in that moment, and hating how instantly Raymond had responded to my wolf aura when she had spent ten minutes trying to soothe him on her own.

"Give him to me, Damon," Raina said, her voice barely above a quiet whisper, holding her arms out toward our son while she tried to keep her hands from shaking in front of my face.

"Raina, let him rest for just one minute, his heart is still settling down from the strain," I said gently, looking up at her face with total sincerity without trying to argue or act superior.

"I said give me my son, Damon!" Raina repeated, her voice turning sharp as she reached forward and gently pulled Raymond out of my arms, gathering his tired body into her lap and holding him tight against her shoulder.

"Mommy, the tall mister made the fire in my chest go away," Raymond mumbled sleepily into her neck, his eyelids dropping heavy as the exhaustion from the surge finally took over his tiny body.

Raina closed her eyes tight, pressing her forehead against Raymond's hair while she rocked him back and forth on the grass, refusing to look at me even though I was still kneeling right in front of her on the lawn.

"You need to leave now, Damon," Raina said, her tone cold and completely flat as she opened her eyes to stare directly into mine, refusing to offer a single word of thanks for what I had just done for our boy.

"Raina, he might have another small surge later tonight when he goes to sleep, so you need to keep a close eye on his breathing," I said, standing up slowly from the grass while I looked down at them, "If his skin gets hot again or his eyes start glowing gold, call me immediately, because I am right across the street and I can be here in five seconds."

"I have my own doctors, and I don't need your help to take care of my children," Raina said, lifting Raymond up into her arms and standing up from the grass with difficulty, turning her back on me to walk slowly toward her front porch without looking back once, leaving me standing alone near the broken garden gate while my wolf howled in deep sadness over being pushed away again.