Eclipsed Hearts

Restless Night

[Ian]

After the Damson woman left, I followed her, just like I had when she left the restaurant. If she’d driven, then I wouldn’t have to worry about her so much, but she was walking like the confident idіot she was. It was like she didn’t realize how dangerous that was in this town.

It might not be a huge city with a high crime rate, but with that asshole werewolf running around, it wasn’t safe for humans to be out on their own, no matter how much of a killer they themselves were. She was tempting fate every time she walked somewhere in the dark.

Once she was safely in her motel room, I headed back to the shack where I set up our ‘home base’. It was something I bought when I moved to town as a means of having some privacy. It wasn’t decorated, but one of the back bedrooms had a comfortable bed and some mementos from my family.

Though I had a house, I needed a place away from everyone else. Some place where I could feel without being a burden on them. This was my place. And now, it would have memories of her in it. Another thing to mourn.

It wouldn’t take long to log the information I’d gotten from my network of spies in town. A few of them approached me at the bar. There were never really any set meets. When they saw me, they let me know. If there was something that couldn’t wait, then they would reach out to me through messaging apps.

I sighed heavily, my fingers gliding over the laptop’s keyboard as I finished and started closing it down. I could sleep here tonight, but they expected me home. If I wasn’t home soon, Jaden and Fern would worry.

As soon as I could close the laptop, I did and put it into my bag. There was power in the building, but I generally kept things off. The whole place looked more accessible than it was. The dimmed windows had a film on them so that they wouldn’t be broken easily. Double-keyed deadbolts secured the doors and reinforced doorways helped. I considered this place my home away from home, and I wouldn't allow anyone to break into it.

It took very little time to get out to my actual home. The positive about not going home until the middle of the night was that I would see if someone was following me easily, and I didn’t have to worry about other traffic.

As I pulled into the driveway of my house, a wave of relief washed over me. The familiar sight of the cozy two-story brought a sense of comfort that I desperately needed after a long night of being stuck with that Damson woman.

It was a six bedroom, three bathroom, house with a large kitchen, dining room, and family room. Exactly what we needed for how many people were living there. It was a little tight, but everyone felt safe.

Entering through the front door, the warm glow of soft lamplight greeted me, casting gentle shadows across the wooden floors. The scent of freshly brewed coffee wafted through the air, courtesy of Jaden’s late-night caffeine addiction. He had always been a night owl, finding solace in the quiet stillness that cloaked our home during these hours.

Making my way to the kitchen, I found him nursing a cup. While sitting at the table, he flipped through the pages of a magazine with his feet perched on the chair. Jaden smiled up at me as I came in and pointed at the oven.

“Dinner’s in there. How’d it go?”

I sighed and shook my head, then went to the oven, turning it off before pulling the warm plate out and taking the foil off. It didn’t look great, but I knew Jaden worked hard on it and I would eat it.

This was a big part of why I had the waitress at the restaurant bring me a burger in the parking lot. I saved her from some asshole passing through town a few weeks ago who hung out until she left work to shoot his shot. She was more than willing to help me out from time to time.

Grabbing a fork, I sat at the table and started spearing the vegetables and some of the meat onto a fork. Jaden was looking at me hopefully as I put the forkful in my mouth. It wasn’t bad, so I smiled as I chewed it up.

He bounced a little, then got up and got me a beer. Jaden set it down on the table and hugged me. I praised him as he made his way back to his chair and perched there again. He was getting better. Thank the goddess for that.

After finishing my meal, I leaned back in my chair, the weariness of the night hanging heavy on my shoulders. Jaden sat across from me, his eyes filled with concern. He knew me well enough to know that something was bothering me, despite my attempts to hide it. I couldn’t keep it from him for long.

“Tell me,” he urged softly, his voice laced with genuine care. “What happened tonight?”

“They sent a Damson to hunt with me. A woman.”

Jaden recoiled. His arms wrapped around his knees and he looked away from me. I could see a tear swelling in the corner of his eye.

Getting up, I picked him up and cradled him in my arms. Jaden rested his head against my shoulder. His dark brown hair tickled at my chin, but I ignored it, rubbing my cheek against the top of his head.

“She’s not going to hurt you or Fern or any of the kids, I promise. If she finds out about us, I’ll kill her myself,” I whispered and kissed the top of his head.

“What if you don’t know she found out? What if she tells her clan and they attack?” he asked in a strained voice.

“I can make sure she dies while we’re hunting, then. I’ll make sure she doesn’t survive this fight. Once this werewolf is dead, I can take her out and tell her family that she died in the fight. Don’t worry. I won’t trust a hunter. Our pack will be safe. Don’t cry.”

Jaden sniffled and nuzzled into my chest, his sobs gradually subsiding. I carefully put him down and pulled out a clean handkerchief from my pocket, gently dabbing his wet cheeks. He looked up at me, his big brown eyes still glistening with tears.

“I’m a pathetic Gamma, aren’t I?” he whispered.

“No. I couldn’t ask for a better Gamma. I love you, Jay. You’re my pack, my friend, and my biggest supporter. Are you feeling better? I can wash my dish and we can go cuddle with Fern.”

“She’s going to get mad at us for waking her up,” Jaden chuckled.

His sister never enjoyed being woken up, but I knew she would want to take care of him if he was having a hard time. Fern was a strong girl and very protective of others. Her twin brother was the most important person in her life.

“It’s her job to support her Alpha and Gamma as the Beta of the pack. Finish your drink and I’ll wash up.”

Jaden took a deep breath and nodded, wiping away the remaining tears from his cheeks. The hunters really did a number on him. He was just a kid when they nearly wiped out our pack.

It was ten years ago that they attacked us.

In most packs, the three strongest fighters won the roles of Alpha, Beta, and Gamma. There weren’t enough of us for that to matter. Out of a pack of a couple hundred, only fifteen survived the attack.

Only me and the twelve kids I protected that night, plus Fern and Jaden. I wasn’t anywhere near the strongest fighter in our pack. Of the five kids in my family, I was the weakest. That was why I was to watch over a group of children who were hidden. The smallest of the children.

My father wasn’t the Alpha in our pack, but he was a top fighter. He was also soft-hearted. He found a wounded hunter and took him home to care for him. I know he was hoping to change the guy’s mind about werewolves, but all he did was reveal the location of our pack.

It was my father who killed our pack and I would do everything in my power to make up for that fact.

With everything cleaned up, we went to the bedroom. I sent Jaden along while I went to peek in on the other kids. The youngest one was eleven. Jaden and Fern were twins and were nineteen.

We weren’t a real pack. A real pack required at least fifteen adult members and three powerful dominants, but we weren’t really a rogue family, either. None of them were my relatives, but I didn’t know where to find their families in other packs. No matter how much I wanted to get all those kids somewhere safe, I didn’t have the means or the knowledge. I was just twenty myself when it happened.

After making sure the kids were sleeping, I went to our room and laid down with Jaden and Fern. All the kids used to sleep with me, but most went into shared bedrooms as they got older. Only Fern and Jaden stayed. They hated being away from each other and they enjoyed being close to me.

I saved them when I went out to check if the hunters were gone. Those fuсking Damsons killed their entire family in front of them. The attackers tied the twins up inside of sacks and hung them from the tree outside their house. The hunters left them to die in those bags.

It didn’t matter that Mari Damson was my mate. I would never accept a monster like her around my little pack. I felt disgusted that the goddess paired me with someone like her. Now I had to hunt that asshole wolf with her as well.

At least she would be of some use before I ended her life.