Damiano

I wiped the water from the shower as I stepped out of the bathroom. Standing in front of the mirror, I took a moment to look at my reflection before wearing the enchanted ring that the witch, Claudia had given me. My eyes travelled down my reflection as I looked at the scars that ran down the length of my body, each a reminder of the fact that I was weak- too weak to protect those whom I had deemed dear. The scars brought back memories- memories of him, memories of them leaving, memories that I didn't want to recall ever again, memories that managed to haunt me even though several years had passed.

That's what the ring was for. It was like a superficial band-aid to the mental wounds that never healed, a façade that I was the ruthless, powerful alpha that the world labelled me as.

A façade that I was strong.

A façade that I was normal.

Claudia was a witch who had trespassed into my pack territory ten years ago, recently after I had become the new alpha of the Moonstone pack. She had been thrown out by her coven for having a child before she had found her destined mate, something that was a crime in the coven she belonged to. I initially let her stay in the pack until she had figured out what she wanted to do next. But when I saw the power that she possessed, I offered her a position as the witch in my pack. She worked the boundary spells which eased the shifts of the patrol guards and performed spells for me. Claudia was the closest thing to a friend that I had ever had and the best thing about her was that she wasn't too intrusive or didn't ask too many questions. For instance, when I requested her to make me the ring, she merely made one for me without asking me why I needed it in the first place. The ring had been enchanted in a spell that created an illusion around the person wearing it. It covered any marks or blemishes on the wearer's skin and gave it a smooth appearance, kind of like a magical concealer. Even though my family consisted of my siblings and my grandmother, none of them had ever seen the scars nor did they know how I had gotten them in the first place.

"Dee, me attack you!" cried my baby sister, Claire before launching herself at me, disrupting my downward spiral of negative thoughts. This was a game that Claire had been playing with me since she was two. Claire wasn't related to me by blood. Her mother was a family friend of mine and had been on the run for a while. She had arranged for me to be Claire's legal guardian in case something happened to her. Thus, when she passed away three years ago, I automatically got custody of Claire. She had been distraught over her mother's death and I had told her how she was a strong girl cause she had the soul of a wolf. From that day on, she'd try to prove her strength to me in this way every single day. She never succeeded but she didn't lose heart or give up. That's something I truly admired about her. I could see that she would grow up to be a strong werewolf. She could never pronounce my name and so had settled with calling me 'Dee'. It never offended me though, seeing as she was the first person ever to give me a nickname.

"And I caught you, Claire," I replied, picking her up and spinning her as she squealed and laughed. "Now, why don't you sit here for a second whilst I get dressed?" I asked her, "and then we could have breakfast. I told Trent to make pancakes today." "Pancakes, yay!" she shouted in glee, jumping in my arms to land a kiss to my cheek before waiting patiently whilst I got ready for the day.

Seated at the breakfast table, Claire and I were interrupted by my beta, Lance. He assumed the title of Beta when I became alpha. We had been working together ever since and had grown quite fond of each other, fond enough for us to drop the honorifics when we weren't amidst other pack members. "Damiano," he said, walking up to me and casually slapping my shoulder, "I need to tell you something. In private, please." I told Claire to finish her breakfast and walked into the study with Lance.

"I found my mate," he said, once we were in the study. "That's awesome, man!" I said, hugging him. I was truly happy for him, finding your mate meant a lot in our community. "Her name's Mira and we're going on a date this afternoon," he continued. Mates were a sore topic for me and Lance knew the reason behind it.

"You should try to look for her," he said, sensing the shift in my mood. "Trust me, she's better off without me," I said darkly. "She's your mate, Damiano," he reasoned. "Trust me, I'm doing her a favor by staying away, Lance," I replied, "she doesn't deserve to be with someone who's cursed." "When are you going to realize that you're not cursed, Damiano?" Lance argued. "He wouldn't beat me if I wasn't cursed, 'she' wouldn't leave me if I wasn't cursed. I have his blood running through my veins, Lance. Who is to say that I wouldn't become 'him'? I'd be worse off than him. The Goddess cursed me, Lance. I'm literally a-" "That's enough!" Lance bellowed, storming out of the study, slamming the door behind him. I sank down into a chair and clutched the pendant on my neck as my mind flooded with the memories of the happiest day of my life- the day I met her.

I met her ten years ago at the lake. I was 16 at that time. The lake was my peaceful place. It was the closest thing to happiness for me. The lake was not located in my pack but rather in the unclaimed territory between the trinity packs- Moonstone, Dark Moon and New Moon, a fact that offered me great solace during the rule of the former alpha of my pack. The lake was surrounded by dense thickets which hid the lake from public view. The lake had been my safe place, my happy place. It had witnessed all those times when I had lost all hope, all courage. It had been a witness to my tears, my pain. However, that day, the lake became witness to the happiest moment of my entire life- the day I met the one who was made for me.

I had defeated the former alpha and had been crowned alpha of the pack. A multitude of emotions were flooding within me and I had gone to the lake to calm myself. However, as I neared the lake, I heard sniffles coming from that very direction and the sound kept increasing as I grew closer. And that's when I saw her.

A small girl, seemingly nine or ten years old, curled up against a tree, her white dress now stained with mud and her face tucked into her knees as she cried. I tried walking away from her but as it seemed like the sound of her cries had somehow frozen me to the spot. It was as though something inside of me couldn't leave without ensuring that she was fine. "She doesn't smell like she's shifted so she won't recognize us anyway," my wolf reminded me, more affected by her tears than I was. I pushed him to the back of my mind, refusing to confront her. I stood there, hidden behind a bush, watching her as the sound of her sobs filled the air.

The sudden sound of leaves being crunched under someone's feet made her look up, startled for a moment before she assumed a defensive stance. It was now that I realized that I had been mistaken. Her small form had made me perceive her as a ten-year-old. Now that I could see her properly, I realized that she was my age, probably a year or so younger than me but definitely in her teens. Her raven hair was disheveled and her eyes were puffy from crying but she somehow looked pretty.

"Shaayna! What on earth are you doing here?" called out a boy, walking up to her. Seeing the boy, she seemed to relax, an action that didn't sit too well with my wolf. She didn't say anything to him, merely resuming her previous position near the lake.

"I miss them too," the boy said, seating himself next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder as she leaned into him.

"I still can't wrap my head around the fact that they're gone, Sean. I woke up today and tried looking for them all over the house before recalling that I had lost them forever," she replied as she fought back her tears.

"Let it out, Shaayna," the boy said to her, holding her as she cried.

"My parents love you like their own. Just like yours loved me. So, if you ever feel like you have nobody, give them a call or come visit us. And Shaayna, always remember, you are their child. You will always carry a part of them with you," he said, consoling her as a small smile managed to creep onto her face, making me smile too.

"Now, let's get you out of here before Gramps finds out," said the boy, helping her to stand up, "another thing- if you ever feel like coming out here again, have someone accompany you. This is unclaimed land between the trinity packs- not the safest place to be, you know."

She nodded her head in understanding as they walked away together. I waited for them to leave, before shifting into my wolf and running back to my pack. My restlessness had long settled, the knowledge that I had finally met my mate helped ease it.

I came out of the hiding spot once they had left. A shiny object on the ground caught my attention. It was a pendant, my mate's scent all over it. I picked it up, noting how ironic it looked resting on my palm. Attached to the thin metal chain was an average sized crystal. Though it appeared white at first, I realized on closer inspection that the color of the crystal changed to black when light hit it at a particular angle.

Pocketing it, I returned home, fully intent on looking for her the next day. After all, I had her pendant! As I sat on the bed, thinking of my mate, smiling to myself, the lights in the room went out, leaving me in the abyss of darkness.

Darkness was something that I was afraid of. I wasn't scared of the darkness itself to be honest, it was what followed the darkness that made me shiver in horror. Every time the darkness came, it would leave me with more wounds and gashes the next day- my scars were proof of that.

I scrambled through the room, trying to find a candle or at least some source of light, 'his' voice ringing in my ears, taunting me of all the ways I would be punished, of all the ways in which he would wring his sadistic pleasure from me.

A cold hand touched my shoulder, making me flinch in fear, my wolf coming forth as he pushed his elongated claws into the person who had dared to harm us. He was fighting to keep us safe. He wouldn't let anybody harm us anymore, we were not weak anymore. 'His' voice kept ringing through my ears and no matter how hard I tried to stop it; the ringing never ceased.

As the light came back on, I looked at the body on the floor. To my horror, it wasn't 'his' body that lay on the floor but Lance's. I screamed for help, applying pressure to his wound as he gurgled blood. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," I kept chanting over and over again. Soon, the medics came into the room and Lance was patched up and I apologized to him over and over again whilst he reassured me that he was fine.

But it was at this moment that a thought struck me. The thought of my mate. If she were to be with me, there would inevitably be a time when it would be her instead of Lance. The image of my mate lying in my arms, gurgling her own blood sent chills down my spine. I couldn't do that to her. I needed to keep her safe. She needed to get as far away from me as possible. "She'll be better off without me," I reasoned with myself.

However, when I went to sleep that night, my mind flooded with the thoughts of her.

"Her name's Shaayna," I whispered to myself, the image of her smiling face lulling me to sleep.