A Second Chance Mate

Note: This series is a darker werewolf series not following the usual "plot" of fated mates. Also be aware of darker elements such a described violence and death. This also involves possible cheating depending on view point. -Damian- It had been quiet for a few months now. Spring was working hard to get ready for those summer months, and while people seemed to enjoy watching the flowers bloom and the longer days, things were still the same for me. Dark. Lonely. Nothingness. It had been like that for years. Ever since I lost my mate Amelia, my world had turned dark and cold. No warm summer air could reach the cold heart of mine, that was barely beating in my chest. How long had I not wanted to rip it out of me and go to my mate? Only the dream of revenge had kept me from doing so. The former council had taken her from me. We had barely turned eighteen and just found out we were each other’s mate. We had been crazy for each other the minute we had looked at the other. We couldn’t control ourselves and hadn’t cared about any ceremony, even though our family would kill us for marking each other without one, yet I had barely been allowed to hold her in my arms, before she had been taken from me. I had barely been alive, when I had heard of Valerio the true king, who wanted to reclaim his throne and pay back those who had taken his family from him. I hadn’t hesitated to join. I had nothing left anyway. I had lost Amelia together with my pack and family, and while I was desperate to join her on the other side, I couldn’t let her death and my family’s go unpunished. I had joined Valerio in his quest for the throne and gotten exactly what I wanted, but unfortunately, I had gotten more than I had wished for. Valerio saw a great potential in me and offered me to be his third in command. He put his trust and life in my hands. I hadn’t known what to do with it. At first, I wanted to tell him no, but my need for revenge had taken years, and soon I had gotten accustomed to life among him and his pack. I forgot my real mission, which was meeting Amelia on the other side, because suddenly people needed me alive. They needed me to be there to help and protect them. I constantly told myself I would walk away the next day, and end this once and for all, but it never happened. I continued to live. I continued to fight. Even now, I had come down for dinner, instead of telling Valerio it was time for me to leave, and for him to find someone else for the job. I sighed deeply, as I watched the people around the table. Valerio was sitting at the end, Octavia on his lap. She was rarely allowed to sit anywhere else, but she didn’t seem to mind. Sh*t, if I thought mine and Amelia’s story was crazy, it was nothing compared to theirs. On their left were Garrett and Lily. Lily only had one working hand when it came to eating. Garrett didn’t seem capable of letting go of her hand. It was only if she insisted she needed it. For example, when she needed to cut her food, he would let go, but he would immediately grab her hand again, when she was done. Their story had been crazy too. Lily was human and had been dying from cancer. It had been hell for Garret staying away from her. He had slowly turned into a ghost, forgetting to eat and sleep. He had gotten dangerously thin. Now it was hard to see him as anything else but happy. So healthy and alive because he had his mate at his side. He had been able to cure her from her cancer and, so far, it didn’t seem like it was going to return, but even though things seemed good, there was still something missing, or rather someone. We still hadn’t found James. He had completely disappeared. I didn’t blame him. I knew better than anyone here, the pain he felt. It was unbearable. It kept me up night and day. It made the food taste like ash and every day seemed the same. Grey and without meaning. If we never saw him again, I wouldn’t be surprised. Jane had been his everything and he hadn’t just lost her, but his baby too. He was without a doubt looking for his own death at the moment, but it hadn’t stopped us from looking for him. He was still a part of this pack, and we wanted him home with us. After dinner we all quickly went our separate ways. The happy couples went to spend some alone-time with each other and the rest of us … Chris was always going out, having s*x, drinking or fighting. He was like me, restless, always needed something to do. Evan … well, he was more secretive than me and quieter. It was rare we heard him speak, and I knew nothing at all about him, except he was smart as hell and a real tech genius. “Are you coming with me to search for James?” I asked Evan, as we came to the entrance hall. Chris was already on his way out of the door, going who knew where. He had come with us a few times, but it was clear he was itching for a bigger distraction. “Yes.” We walked outside in the half-dark evening, and down to the cars parked in the front. I sat in the driver’s seat and Evan in the passenger's. “Let’s head north tonight,” I said before backing out of the driveway and heading out once again to look for James. I knew we wouldn’t find him. He knew how to stay hidden, but it was better than walking around the hallways in the castle, drowning in my pain. At least this way I could distract myself. -Isabella- “We cannot let this continue!” the guy on the big poorly made podium shouted. “No!” people cheered. “We cannot have such a weak king on the throne. I mean, do you want a traitor as your queen?” “No!” The guy was good, I had to admit. He knew just how to hype everyone up and get them to agree with everything he was saying. It was a bit hard to see him from where I was standing. I was all the way in the back of the secret meeting place. I had heard about these meetings going on since the beginning of November, but this was the first time I had ever attended one. It was almost a bit scary being here, but these people would get me what I wanted so desperately. Revenge. “Even his pack is weak! It was easy for us to enter without even getting noticed. Do we want such weak people to rule over us?” “No!” I stayed quiet, as the people cheered and yelled. It wasn’t really the king I was interested in, even though the man had taken my father from me. He had been on the old council, but I had barely even known him. He had left my mother before I was even born. He could not let himself be dragged down by a human, even if she was his mate. No, he was a man with ambitions, and having a half-blood as his daughter was not something he was interested in. He didn’t even come help me when my mom died. It had been my brother who had taken care of me. Half-brother. His full-blooded son. It was not easy being a half-blood. You were never enough wolf and never enough human, but the wolves were always the cruelest to you, since the humans didn’t know what you really were. Some wolves found it fun to hunt us, just because they could. There were no laws protecting half-bloods because they weren’t wolf enough anyway, so why did they deserve protection? So, my brother had been the one protecting me and taking care of me, until he was too taken from me. Not by the king, but by a very trusted person of his. Damian Black. I gritted my teeth as I thought about him. I hated him more than anything, and I was going to make him pay! But I had to get to close to him first, and these people could help me do exactly that. They had been drawing more and more people to them over the past few months. Not enough to take the king down yet, but I had been told they had been close. They had almost taken down the traitor of a queen, and that in itself was a big achievement. It would probably be harder now to get close to both of them, but if they could do it once, who said they couldn’t do it again? “Wolves so angry. So hungry for blood.” I turned to my right, seeing a woman had appeared by my side. She wasn’t looking at the podium or at me, but at her hands. She was embroidering. A smile played on her lips, as she giggled slightly. “So hungry. The king is going to die,” she giggled. I crooked an eyebrow before looking around the place. Was she talking to me? No one else seemed to notice either of us. Maybe she was crazy? “You hate the king too?” “Me?” I said and pointed to myself. The woman finally looked at me. Her eyes were a beautiful green, but they seemed so … empty. It felt as if I was looking into my own. “Actually, it is not only the king but also one of his men I want to hurt. Damian Black.” The woman just smiled even bigger and laughed a little. While I really didn’t care much whether the king lived or died, I thought it best if it seemed like I wanted him dead too. I wasn’t sure who I could trust here, and the woman didn’t seem like she was … all there. “You want him dead?” I nodded. “It’s all I want," I said. “Good.” She started to walk away. I wasn’t sure if she wanted me to follow or not, but since everyone here was just hyping each other up instead of taking action, I thought to hell with it, and started to follow the strange woman.