the dark days (book one of the darkness saga)

Chapter 41 - Hunger

Chapter 41 - Hunger

Alex POV

- Present time -

I look at Xavier who is trying to cook a fish by the fire pit. My oversized hoodie fits him perfectly. Thankfully we found some old clothes and an old tent we stashed under one of the logs, from when we were teenagers. Xavier couldn't fit into his old t-shirt as it was meant for a much lankier teenager. So I opted to wear the old clothes and he got my over size hoodie. It fitted him like a glove.

The past two days have been a whirlwind of emotions. I know we need to start moving and get back to the others. Back to Dameon? But what does that really mean for me?

I've killed people. Does that mean Dameon was going to have me locked up? God knows I needed to be locked up. But would that even stop what I'm fated to do, if I can somehow create portals? Where do I go I from here? I mean seriously, where do I go? I don't think I'll be welcome back at Dameon's pack. Lola might not be the only one who figured me out. I also don't want to endanger anyone else.


I know what I have to do. I have to leave it all behind, and just be on my own. But would I have the strength? Would Xavier even let me go? And where do I go exactly? Am I really that better on my own, with demons and witches and god knows what else is after me? 

I stood up to approach the Xavier. Suddenly he stands up straight, eyes all alert. He looks out over the distance.

"Sorry to spring this on you love, but looks like our little getaway is going to be cut short." Xavier jokes as he jogs up next to me.

"What .. what do you mean? Is someone coming? Are we in danger?" I quickly turn around, trying to see beyond the tree line, waiting for demons to pop out. Suddenly the reality of the situation I was in hit me heads on.

"Well, not exactly"

"What do you mean?" Before I could even say anything else my name was being called behind me.

"Lexie!" My eyes widen as I hear Dameon's voice behind me. I slowly turn around.

Looking at him running towards us, everything in my being turns to fear. I couldn’t quite explain it. Dameon is what my life could have been, if only things were different. But now, now I was a danger to him.

"Dameon, please stop!" I raise my hand motioning him to stop moving. He abruptly stops a few feet from me. Confusion hits him as he looks at me, then at Xavier.

"What? Lexie you don’t know how worried..." I had to cut him off, before my heart gets the best of me.

"I'm so sorry about Lola. I know you'll want some form of justice for it. I understand and accept whatever it will be. But first please allow me to find answers about myself on my own. If I go back with you I'm just a danger to your pack. I'm a danger to the people you love and to those you are sworn to protect."

"Lexie, please don't tell me he put you up to this?" He points as Xavier. He's seething with jealousy at seeing that Xavier is wearing my hoodie. "What exactly has happened here?" He continues.

"None of your business." Xavier calmly replies. His eyes were on me the whole time, he puts his hand on the small of my back. He senses my anxieties and is trying to be comforting.

"Good to see you're back to your old self." Dameon declares, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"He didn't put me up to anything, Dameon. And please don’t start, not now.”

“Don't start?? What the f**k does that mean Lexie?” He take a step towards me. I take a step back and bump into Xavier's chest. He puts his hands on my shoulder and arm to keep me steady.

This only aggregated Dameon. “Let go of my mate.” he growls. His eyes turn amber and he bares his teeth, his canines start to extend.

“Seriously starting that now Dameon? Alex already said—” Xavier chimes in before Dameon cuts him off.

“Just because some Elder Witch absolves you from your sins doesn’t change what you did to her.”

“Dameon, it wasn’t him!”

“What the f**k Lexie? Don’t tell me you're falling for this s**t again?”

“I'm not falling for anything, Dameon. But this—us, and him, and me?” I point to him and me and Xavier and me, consecutively, “—might not be the best time to talk about it with demons looking for me.”

“What do you mean, you and Xavier? There is no you and Xavier anymore. Or what happened between us didn’t mean anything to you.”

“Dameon, not here.”

“Why not here? Why? Don’t f*****g tell me—” Dameon shakes his head as he understood. “—did something happen between you and him? Is this why you two have been enjoying a little retreat while I'm out there, dealing with the mess that you left? I just buried my captain, lied to her parents, lied to the humans, and worst of all, lied to my pack, just to keep your name out of it. To top it off, I got attacked by your mother. Who by the way, isn’t your mother. I try to find you, to pick up the falling pieces, all just to find you here, and you’ve been doing what, exactly?" Dameon reaches out to grab my arm but Xavier shoves his hand away.

My eyes widen. "What do you mean, mom isn’t my mom?"

Xavier, did he just say my mother isn't my mother? I say thru mind-link. Xavier nods in response.

“Are you f*****g with me right now? You have the gall to mind-link with him right now?"

“Tone down the temper, D. Stop cussing her.“ Xavier stands in front of me protectively.

“Really, X? You want to go there? Are you suddenly playing the good guy all of a sudden?”

“I'm not playing anything. You need to control your wolf.” Xavier signals me to step back using his hands behind his back. Dameon’s eyes are full-on wolf amber in color.

He's losing control of his wolf, i’ve seen this before. Xavier mind-links me.

“Dameon you might hate me right now but you need to control your wolf. Walk away now. We promise we won’t go anywhere. Shift, run, do something. But the longer you stay here with your judgment clouded with jealousy you're going lose control.”

“Why the f**k should I listen to you?”

“Because that fleeting voice in your head right now? The one that's making your wolf go crazy—I’ve heard that voice before. Alex doesn't mean to, but she has that effect on our kind. It’s what drove me to lose control."

It was hard for me to hear. Xavier finally put into words the thoughts that was consuming me. The guilt consumes me. I was doing this to Dameon. He's like this because of me. It's always been me.

Xavier, let me try to talk to him. I say by mind-link.

No, Alex. His wolf is rearing to come out. I can smell his anger, his rage. Don’t you see his eyes has completed changing? How his canines are already out? His fingernails are already claws and he doesn’t even realize it. He will be an out of control wolf. I won’t risk it. He steps backward to push me back further.

Then tell Max he can help us. I mind-link Xavier as I look at Max.

Dameon is his Alpha. He will never trust me, or turn on his Alpha. Xavier replies.

Dameon watches our slight movements the entire time. He finally speaks. “Lexie, tell me the truth. Did you sleep with him?”

I try to look him in the eye, but my head wouldn't turn. I couldn't look up. The guilt was consuming me too much.

That is all it took to bring Dameon to the edge. “You f*****g slept with my mate? I'm going to kill you!” Dameon growls, his body hunched forward.

“You mean MY mate, and my wife?” Xavier responds. I looked at Xavier in shock. Now was not really the time to have a pissing contest with Dameon.

As I try to stop Xavier from advancing, but suddenly Max is behind me. He whispers softly, "Stop, Alex. Whatever you do, do not get between them. It will just aggravate the matter. Alpha's are hella possessive with their mates. Especially after they have mated. This will never work out if either of them thinks you're siding with the other. So don't show either of them you're picking a side."

What Max said made sense. Tears streamed down my face, feeling the full burden of the guilt that what Ive done is causing this to the two men I love the most.

“Your mate, huh? Did she tell you what she was doing a few weeks ago? Just before you got to my territory?” Dameon’s eyes turned dark, he twitches his neck from side to side and lowers his body, ready to strike.

“Guys, please. This is my fault. Please don’t take it out on each other. Dameon, this isn’t you.“ I cry out.

“Why, Alexandra? You are mine. I know you felt the mate bond too. Every f*****g time I touched you, kissed you, and f****d you. You're mine, do you hear me? mine!!!”

Dameon sounded different. Never in his life has he ever called me Alexandra in full. He was never vengeful nor hateful. Max notices it too. He was horrified to be hearing this from his Alpha.

“Dameon, this isn’t you” I was surprised at Xavier’s response to what he heard. I imagined he'd be angry at finding out what happened between me and Dameon. But here he was, helping his friend from sinking into madness.

A woman's voice from out of nowhere spoke. “Alexandra, Alexandra, Alexandra what a fine mess you’ve made? I knew you would always come in-between these two.”

Was that mother?

I turn my head and watch a figure emerge from the tree line. It was my mother. Wait, NOT my mother.

“Mom?” I whisper in shock.

I just look at her dumbfounded. “I'm getting bored with how slow you people seem to understand things.“ with a flick of her fingers all three men were on the ground, writhing in pain.

“Mom, stop!” I scream.

“I'm doing this for you. All this three-way drama was exciting at first but it's had it's run. It's getting tiresome. Now be a good girl and just do what you were fated to do." She yawns as she steps closer and as she does the boys scream in agony. The boys were in awkward positions on the ground. Some invisible force is holding them immobile, stretching their bodies beyond their limits.

Xavier opens his eyes, searching for me. He's not able to turn his head. When he finds where I was with his peripheral, he speaks, “Run, Alex... get yourself... out of here... now! “ Xavier trembles in pain as the invisible force snaps his body back into the awkward position.

“Like what I said, I'm bored of this, The Dark Lord said not to force it out of you. But my patience is wearing thin. I've been waiting for an entire millennia! Surely you could see why I need to hurry things along.” With that, she tightens her hand into a fist, and her magic tightens its grip on the men. Xavier screams in agony as I hear a rib break. The sound of bones cracking fills the air, from Dameon then Max. All three men are screaming.

“Werewolves are so breakable. They were more powerful in their pure form, back when they were Lycans.” My mother sneers, obviously enjoying the pain she was inflicting.

Seeing her like that brought back memories. Of course she was used to this. She used to just stand and watch as my father beats me. I’ve always thought of her as a monster for not trying to save me. But now she just confirmed it by being—well, whatever she is now.

My vision darkens. I could no longer see the boys laying on the ground, the field, or the campsite. I could only see mother.

“I SAID STOP!” With that a cloud of dark smoke escapes my body, and with it I feel a burning sensation. Like my skin was ignited by fire. I scream from the pain. Or was it power? I scream louder, and the cloud gets thicker.

Within seconds the clouds surround mother. It circles around her.

“Yes! My Dark Lord, I finally did your bidding. I have unleashed Nephthys for you.”

Mother releases her magic on the boys. She falls on her knees, and appears to be somewhat paying respects to some ungodly force I cannot see.

End her! The voice whispers in my head. Hearing the voice say what I was thinking makes me smile, and the clouds consumes my mother accordingly to my wishes.

She screeches in pain. “My Lord! My Lord! No! No! “ she screams and screams. A flash of fire explodes within the cloud. The clouds lift, and only ashes fall on the ground.

I take a deep breath and close my eyes. I felt stronger from the life force I just absorbed.

“More.” I whisper. My focus zeroes in on an unconscious Max on the ground. I tilt my head and throw my hands to my sides, palms facing outward. Dark clouds escape my hands. The burning sensation is there again, but this time I enjoy it.

I was in a state of ecstasy, hungry for more power. I lick my lips then bite on my lower lip as the the clouds crawl towards max. It takes hold of him and lifts him off the ground. I was hungry for his life force. I could almost taste it on my lips.

My heart races as Max screams, I continue licking my lips, enjoying every second, tasting him lose his life.

Then without knowing it I was tackled to the ground. The cloud breaks, and Max falls to the ground.

Xavier was on me, pinning my hands over my head.

"Alexandra, come back to me." he calls out. A flicker of light makes me pause, but the hunger was much, much, stronger. With a tilt of my head Xavier flies off me and gets thrown across the field. I slowly stand up, enjoying how powerful I felt. Somehow I needed more.

I throw my hands out again, my skin burning once more. I stretch out my fingers to open my palms as far as it can go. Veins from my fingers up to my elbow start glowing from under my skin, glowing fire red.

Before the clouds can come out, Dameon calls my name. “Lexie!” Another flicker of light enters my vision.

Then Xavier calls out, "Alex!"

As I hear my name, the flickers of light combine in a big flash of light, breaking the darkness around me.

“Noo!” The voice whispers.

“No!” I scream after the voice. Dark clouds escape from all the pores of my skin, the burning from my arms become my entire body. The force of clouds shooting out of me knocks both men off their feet.

“Alex, come back!” I could hear Xavier and Dameon shout to me in sync.

With it, a huge thunder of light jolts me and I lose consciousness.