The Tragic Mate

Untitled Episode

After the pudding was demolished, Seth updated him on his call to Damon.

"Are you sure that it was wise to bring him into this?" Drew looked worried. He only knew of Damon by reputation. He knew that Damon had been friends with Seth when they were younger, and he had certainly heard stories about him from others in the pack. He remembered his father mentioning something that Seth and Damon had got into serious trouble over before.

"Who's Damon?" Mystery wanted to know.

Seth sighed. "Damon was the son of my father's first Beta. He was killed in a raid by some rogues, but it later transpired that the rogues who killed him actually targeted the pack because of him, after Damon's father attacked one of their women. The details were sketchy but, apparently, he violently attacked her and left her badly disfigured. Nobody ever bothered to find out why he attacked this rogue. In fact, I think he was just branded a psychopath and no investigation occurred. Maybe that was the case, but that group of rogues were well known for their unprovoked and gratuitous savagery. There was a massive scandal and Damon's mother lost the will to live when she lost her mate." He sighed again.

"Wow!" Tempest was gripped. Stuff of drama and tragedy. "So what happened to Damon?"

"He was taken in by his mother's sister, but her mate was a mean drunk and Damon was used as a punch bag as well as learning the 'family business'. His uncle was a warrior until he got caught counterfeiting and I think there were rumors about spying, but nothing was ever proven, plus he was clever enough to never get into trouble for anything else. Damon told me about some of the stuff he got up to. He had a miserable childhood. The elders wanted to kick out the whole family but never had any proof, so they threw the book at Damon every time he got into the smallest trouble."

"Did he settle down?" Mystery asked.

Seth scratched the back of his head. "Yes and no." To anyone who wasn't close to him - well, pretty much nobody was close to him actually - he was cold, amoral and lacked basic interpersonal skills. Bell changed a lot for him. Damon and I were always tight, but after one particular scrape, I promised my father that I would stop getting into trouble with Damon. Once I met Bell, it was an easy achievement because Damon would have done anything for her. To him, she was like a goddess, the most magical, delicate piece of perfection, and Bell really liked him."

"That must have been awkward between the two of you." Tempest's eyebrows were raised.

"It really wasn't." She was like a little sister to him. Maybe he was in love with her romantically, but she triggered the strongest protective instincts in him. He only ever encouraged us to be together and made it possible for us to see each other. He did her chores for her to let us be together. I think what drew him to her was her purity and innocence. Bell saw him. She saw past his exterior defenses. She's like that with people. She saw the best in him, and he was like a starving kitten, lapping up the fact that nothing he did or said changed how she saw him. She liked him and never judged him. That was something that he never had in his life." There was such a depth of sadness in his eyes.

"I understand that." Mystery said simply to Seth.

He nodded at her. "Yes, I imagine that you would understand that better than I. You are so similar to Bell like that. I suppose if you have been battered by life to the extent that you have, then it makes sense that you would be able to see it in others. I'd take away every hurt that you have experienced in life if I could, but to be able to see people the way that you do is a gift."

Drew squeezed Mystery around the waist, sending his love down their link. Seth looked on enviously.

"Anyway, I've involved Damon because there was something about the Alpha that struck a chord and I have no idea what, but I've sent Damon after Bell's younger brother. If there is anything to know, it will be her family that tells us. I can't be trusted to talk to that man and Damon can be relied on to find out what is needed by whatever means necessary. I'll happily sacrifice my moral code by involving Damon. Damon will deliver the brother to me once he has located him."

Mystery shivered slightly at the darkness behind Seth's words. Seth hadn't been the respected Alpha that he was without being fully in touch with his savage nature, but it was scary and impressive to see.

Seth suddenly stood up, "You know if it is all the same to you, I am going to head back home. It's been intense. I'll be back tomorrow morning by 9am to see if Storm turns up. I think I'll take a run home." With that, he stripped off in front of them - leaving his clothes in a heap and Mystery shouting threats about knives cutting naked bits off wrinkly old men - and ran from the Pack House.

Seth changed into his wolf as soon as he was outside the pack house and set straight off into the tree-lined hills behind, running aimlessly. He relished the wind whipping around him, his feet surging along the forest floor, his recently well-fueled body eating up the miles as he climbed steadily. His nose picked up the surrounding scents, easing his tensions. Gradually relaxing into his wolf nature, all he was aware of was the present and the joy of being one with his beast in its natural surroundings. Forest animals darted away from him, skittering into the undergrowth with cries of alarm, satisfying his preyful lust, but he had no need to hunt, relishing stretching and pushing his body, aware that he was the most powerful animal around.

His full on run was suddenly halted as a foreign scent assaulted his nose. It was a fleeting scent, but he stopped and waited for the air to settle around him before he caught it again. His hackles rose, creating a ridge of fur along his whole back. This was fresh enough but perhaps an hour or so old. He recognised it as a shifter, but not of this pack. Intruder! His mind flashed a red alert, but he kept it to himself for now. He didn't sense the intruder was close by anymore, so he followed the trail backwards as far as he could until it ran out. He wanted to know where the intruder had gone to.

He didn't get very far before he couldn't pick up any scent. He followed the path for as long as he dared before worrying about not being able to pick up the scent that he had left behind him. All he could tell was that it was heading in the direction of the pack. Turning on his heels, he worked his way back to the original scent trail and followed it all the way back to the main road where it ended. Clearly, the intruder had arrived in a vehicle. The trail ran cold here.

Looking around and focusing his hearing all around him, he risked changing back to his human form in the open, crouched down and examined the tyre marks on the ground. It looked like a large vehicle, but nothing specialist and the tread was standard. There was no sign of any litter or any other clues that he could find. Still, better to be safe than sorry, he linked up with the head warrior and reported his findings. Whilst he waited for her to turn up to investigate, he wandered up and down the road looking for any clues.

Nothing. He found nothing at all. If it weren't for his senses and a chance run through this very area, then they would be none the wiser.

"How many other incursions like this have we had?" He eyeballed the warrior in front of him whose eyebrows rose at the command in Seth's tone."

"I don't know Alpha! Uh, Seth, uh..." The warrior stuttered.

"Well find out!" He ordered the young man.

"Of course. I'll report it and get back to you." He raced off and Seth sighed at what he knew was the end of the short-lived peace the pack had known over the past few weeks. He knew that Drew and Mystery were right. This was inevitable, but he also knew that he was the reason that it was coming to their doors so quickly and the guilt weighed heavily on him.