the dark days (book one of the darkness saga)

Chapter 24 - Brothers

Chapter 24 - Brothers

Xavier POV

- 8 years ago -

“You can’t honestly be thinking of leaving?” I watched Dameon pace restlessly back and forth in his room. “You have to at least say goodbye to Alex.”

He stops pacing at the foot of his bed and sits down. “I don’t have the heart to say goodbye.”

“Then don’t leave.” I approached Dameon and sat beside him.

“I have to man, I can’t control my wolf. When I found out Lexie's dad beats her I almost ended his life.” Dameon buries his head in his hands.

"My best friend lives through hell everyday; and here I am, too self absorbed to notice. All those years, man."

After Dameon found out he was a werewolf he turned to me for support and answers. Dameon didn’t grow up knowing he was a werewolf. He just always attributed his raging emotions as teenage angst. His human mom apparently never told him about his werewolf dad, who as it turns out was also the Alpha of the Blood Moon Pack. She didn't understand the responsibilities of being Alpha, why he almost always chooses the pack over her and Dameon. So she left him and decided to raise Dameon as a human. Or at least she tried to until he turned 16, when his werewolf biology prevailed.

When Dameon first started to change, he clammed up socially. He was scared of what he was becoming—he hurt other kids without meaning to, and found that he couldn't control his anger. To top it off, he started hearing voices in his head.

It wasn't until he talked back to the voice that he found out that the voice in his head was actually his dad's. Their mind-link brought back his dad into his life.

It was different for me though. I'm the proud son of the Alpha of the Crescent Moon Pack, groomed since birth to be his heir. I was raised a werewolf, and I always had my parents' guidance on how to control my wolf. One of the things I was taught early was how to tell if a person is one of your kind.

I knew what Dameon was that very first day I saw him walking with Alex to school. It's why I didn't mind when he insisted to be friends with me and Alex.

I told my dad about him, and he told me not to tell him anything yet. If I told him what he was, he might not understand and that might drive him away. He has to find out on his own, and be there for him when he turns. A lot of our young brethren who turned without guidance end up being hunted by the humans.

So dad and I have always treated Dameon like he was my brother. Through the years we have helped him control his emotions, his temper, her urges. His wolf.

Recently, I witnessed his first shift. And I joined him on his first run.

I explained to him that shifting to wolf form was a werewolf's way to manage rage. It's the release we need to keep ourselves centered, and ultimately how we are able to maintain being accepted into human society.

His possessiveness towards Alex also grew stronger. He couldn’t stand it if Alex got hurt. He could never watch her Karate matches. At the same time, he was also afraid that he might accidentally release his rage at her, so he tried to keep his nose out of her business. Which placed me in the unusual position on having to always update him on how she's doing.

We grew up always thinking that Alex was just plain old clumsy. She always had cuts and bruises, and always blamed falling off the swing or monkey bars in the playground. Until we grew up, and the cuts and bruises would still be there—and we don't play in the playground anymore. She had other innocuous reasons of course, but you can only blame falling off the stairs so much before it begins to look obvious that you're hiding why you get your injuries. I didn't need to look further than seeing the sadness in her eyes to know something was wrong.

My parents also noticed it, especially Dad, his Alpha senses allow him to detect when someone is in danger. Useful when a pack member is being hunted by the humans, and just as useful in finding out that your son's best friend is being beaten up. I questioned Dad; Why we couldn't we just intervene? Why can't we just take her away?

We had our own set of laws, and as werewolves we weren't allowed to just interfere with human laws.

So instead my parents would always invite Alex over for dinner after school. They would drive her home very late. She would be invited to stay over most weekends. Her mom was excited that Alex was friends with me and was always eager to have Alex stay over on weekends.

Seated at the foot of his bed, Dameon and I basked in the silence. I could see that he too, was remembering our history together as friends. We were both digesting the fact that once he leaves, all of it will be put behind us and each of us will be leading our own lives. He will have his own Pack to take care of, and I will have mine.

I was first to break the silence.

I nudged his elbow with mine. "It's so not true that you didn't do anything to help Alex. There's that one time we tired to take her away.”

“Yeah, and we almost lost her because of that stupid stunt.” Dameon shook his head as if it happened yesterday.

16 years old -

Werewolf or human, one of the rites of passage to adulthood at 16 was getting your driver's license. Dameon and I got ours together on my birthday, and we decided to surprise Alex by picking her up at their house. She never liked it when we surprise her. And that day we found out why.

We arrived at their house with her dad chasing her across the lawn. She was in tears and had a fresh cut above her lip. When her dad caught up with her he grabbed her arm roughly, he was about to drag her back to the house but quickly let go as soon as he saw us.

Dameon jumped down even before I could stop the car. He shoved her dad's chest so hard that he was thrown across the lawn hitting their front steps. He was about to charge after him, but before he could do any more damage I told him to leave him and bring Alex to my car so we can take her away.

So we grabbed Alex and decided to ask help from my parents. Mom called Social Services, but Alex wouldn’t say anything. Authorities went to their house and interviewed her mom but she just lied through her teeth.

Alex was shaken by the whole thing. My mom had the guest room readied for her and she stayed at our house for the weekend.

Come Monday morning, Alex's mom was at our door. With her fake smile and mild demeanor, she calmly threatened us that any further "unwelcome interventions" to their family's private affairs will force them to move far away—and they didn't want to uproot Alex just like that because then she might never see her friends again.

My mom wouldn't take any of this, she was ready to argue with her on Alex's behalf. But dad held her back; he kept mom from going to the front door. He knew that it's an argument we can't win until Alex herself could bring herself to admit that her dad was beating her up.

I carried Alex's bags as I brought her to her mom's car, and I couldn't help but be taken aback at the wicked smile that she flashed before she drove away and took Alex home.

We didn’t see Alex in school for a few days after that. We let it pass, fearing that her mom will stay true to her threat; but after a week with Alex not showing up we started to worry.

Dameon and I went to her house to investigate. I drove slower as we got near and even had Dameon as lookout, but it was all for nothing. Because when we got there, their house was empty. Their things were all gone.

Another week passed in school, and Dameon and I just avoided the topic. Talking about it meant that we may have to accept that we won't ever see her again, like her mom promised. We were also scared for our friend and felt helpless that we couldn't do anything about it.

Dad asked the pack to look for Alex and their family, but it was like they just evaporated into thin air.

It was about a month that we were all worried sick like this, until out of nowhere, Alex just walks back into school like nothing happened. She doesn’t remember where they went, she doesn’t remember staying over at my house for a weekend, she doesn’t even remember us taking her that morning we found her at her dad's mercy.

Dameon and I vowed to watch over Alex more closely since then, but we kept our distance from her parents. Were they scaring her into lying or did they do something else to make her forget? Whatever it was, Dameon and I knew that we didn't want her to have to go through any of that.

And I was scared they will take her away again.

18 years old -

Still at the foot of his bed, we were both staring at our feet, individually remembering how we tried to save her.

I nudged his elbows with mine again. “If I can’t convince you to stay, can you at least say goodbye?”

“And say what?” Dameon looks at me incredulously.

“The truth.”