The Word That Changed Everything
1977 Words
Chapter 2 — The Word That Changed Everything
For several seconds, Maya couldn't breathe.
The word hung between them.
Mate.
She stared at Damon.
He stared back.
Neither of them moved.
The hallway suddenly felt colder.
"What did you just call me?"
Damon's expression changed.
Whatever confidence he normally carried had disappeared.
"Nothing."
Maya frowned.
"No. You said something."
"I said nothing."
"You said—"
"I know what I said."
His voice was sharper this time.
Maya took a step toward him.
"Then explain it."
Damon looked toward the staircase.
The growl came again.
Low.
Deep.
Close.
Maya's stomach tightened.
"What was that?"
Damon didn't answer.
"Damon?"
"Go back into your room."
"What?"
"Now."
Maya stared at him.
"You can't just stand there looking terrified and tell me to go to bed."
"I'm not terrified."
"Then what are you?"
Damon's jaw tightened.
"Concerned."
"About what?"
"About you."
Maya laughed nervously.
"That's convenient."
Damon's eyes flashed silver again.
Maya stopped laughing.
She had seen it.
There was no doubt this time.
His eyes had changed.
"Damon..."
"Don't."
"What happened to your eyes?"
He looked away.
"Nothing."
"I saw them."
"You didn't."
"I did."
Damon stepped closer.
His voice became quiet.
"Maya, listen to me carefully."
She instinctively stepped back.
"Go into your room. Lock the door. Don't come out until morning."
"Why?"
"Because something is inside this house."
Maya's heart pounded.
"What?"
Damon looked toward the darkness below.
"I don't know."
The answer frightened her more than anything else.
"You don't know?"
"No."
Another growl echoed.
This time, it sounded much closer.
Maya grabbed the railing.
"Damon, what is that?"
He moved in front of her.
"Stay behind me."
"I'm not hiding behind you."
"Please."
The word stopped her.
Damon Blackwood didn't look like the arrogant boy she'd met at school anymore.
He looked scared.
Not for himself.
For her.
Suddenly, the lights downstairs flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then went out.
Maya gasped.
The entire mansion disappeared into darkness.
"Damon?"
"I'm here."
She heard him moving.
Then something crashed downstairs.
Maya jumped.
"What was that?"
"I don't know."
Damon reached for her hand.
The moment his fingers touched hers, something strange happened.
Heat rushed through Maya's body.
Her mark burned.
Damon pulled his hand away as though he'd been shocked.
Maya looked at him.
He looked at her.
"What was that?"
"I don't know."
"You felt it."
Damon didn't answer.
"You felt it too."
"I know."
The lights suddenly returned.
The hallway was empty.
The staircase was empty.
Nothing appeared to be wrong.
Maya slowly released the breath she had been holding.
Damon walked toward the stairs.
"Stay here."
"No."
He turned.
"Maya."
"I'm coming with you."
"You don't understand."
"Then explain it."
"I can't."
"Why?"
"Because if I tell you everything, you won't believe me."
Maya folded her arms.
"Try me."
Damon stared at her for several seconds.
Then he walked downstairs.
Maya followed.
---
The house was silent.
Too silent.
They reached the entrance hall.
Nothing had been disturbed.
The furniture was untouched.
The chandelier was still hanging perfectly from the ceiling.
Maya looked around.
"Maybe it was an animal."
Damon shook his head.
"There aren't animals in this part of the house."
"Maybe something got in."
"Impossible."
"Why?"
He didn't answer.
Maya noticed something on the floor.
A small piece of black material.
She picked it up.
"What is this?"
Damon immediately took it from her.
His expression changed.
"Where did you find this?"
"Right there."
He stared at it.
"What?"
Damon closed his fist around it.
"Nothing."
"You keep saying that."
"Because there's nothing you need to know."
Maya stepped closer.
"You know something."
Damon looked at her.
"I know enough to tell you that you need to stay away from this."
"From what?"
"Everything."
He walked toward the stairs.
Maya followed.
"You can't keep doing this."
"Doing what?"
"Talking like I'm stupid."
"I don't think you're stupid."
"Then stop treating me like I am."
Damon stopped.
For the first time, his expression softened.
"I don't think you're stupid, Maya."
"Then what?"
His voice dropped.
"I think you're in danger."
Maya's anger disappeared.
"Why?"
Damon looked at the mark on her collarbone.
"Because of that."
Maya touched it.
"My birthmark?"
"That's not a birthmark."
She stared at him.
"What do you mean?"
Before Damon could answer, a voice came from behind them.
"Damon."
They both turned.
Richard stood at the bottom of the staircase.
He was wearing a dark robe and holding a flashlight.
His eyes moved from Damon to Maya.
Then to the mark on Maya's collarbone.
For a moment, something like fear crossed his face.
Maya noticed.
"You know what it is."
Richard became very still.
"Know what?"
"My mark."
Silence.
Damon looked at his father.
"Dad."
Richard's expression hardened.
"Go upstairs, Maya."
Maya shook her head.
"No."
Richard frowned.
"I said go upstairs."
"And I asked you what this is."
"You've had a long day."
"That doesn't answer my question."
Richard looked at Damon.
Damon looked away.
Maya suddenly understood.
They were hiding something.
Both of them.
And whatever it was had something to do with her.
---
Maya didn't sleep.
She sat on her bed with her knees pulled toward her chest, staring at the moon through the window.
Her mind replayed the evening again and again.
Damon's silver eyes.
The growl.
The mysterious black material.
Richard's reaction.
And that single word.
Mate.
She grabbed her phone.
She searched the word.
At first, the results were useless.
Animals.
Marriage.
Relationships.
Fantasy stories.
She almost closed the browser.
Then she remembered the strange way Damon had reacted.
She searched again.
"Mate meaning werewolf."
Her screen filled with results.
Maya stared.
Werewolves.
Alpha.
Luna.
Pack.
Mate bond.
She laughed under her breath.
"This is ridiculous."
She kept scrolling.
Most of the pages looked like fiction.
Until she found an old forum post.
THE MATE BOND IS NOT A MYTH.
Maya's smile disappeared.
She read.
According to the post, werewolves could recognize a person destined to be their mate through scent, instinct, and a supernatural bond.
The bond could happen instantly.
Sometimes before either person understood what was happening.
Maya stared at the screen.
"No."
She closed it.
Then reopened it.
She searched for Blackwood.
Nothing.
She searched for Damon Blackwood.
Nothing.
She threw her phone onto the bed.
"This is insane."
A soft sound came from her window.
Maya froze.
Scratch.
Scratch.
Scratch.
She slowly turned.
Something was outside.
Her bedroom was on the second floor.
There was no balcony.
No tree close enough to reach the window.
Another scratch.
Maya approached the curtains.
She hesitated.
Then pulled them open.
Nothing.
Only darkness.
She exhaled.
"Get a grip, Maya."
She turned.
Her phone was glowing.
A message had arrived.
Unknown number.
You don't belong in the Blackwood house.
Maya stared.
Another message appeared.
Leave before they find out what you are.
Her hands went cold.
She typed:
Who is this?
The message showed as delivered.
No response.
Then her phone buzzed again.
Ask your mother about the night you were born.
Maya stopped breathing.
Her mother.
The night she was born.
Why would a stranger know anything about that?
She rushed out of her bedroom.
---
She found Elena in the kitchen.
Her mother was sitting at the table with a cup of tea.
"Mum."
Elena looked up.
"What happened?"
"Did you ever lie to me about the night I was born?"
The cup stopped halfway to Elena's mouth.
Maya noticed.
Her mother slowly placed it on the table.
"Why would you ask that?"
"Just answer me."
"Maya..."
"Please."
Elena looked away.
"Where did this come from?"
"Someone sent me a message."
"What message?"
Maya handed her the phone.
Elena read it.
The color drained from her face.
Maya's heart began pounding.
"You know who sent this."
"No."
"You do."
"I don't."
"Mum."
Elena stood.
"We need to talk."
"About what?"
"Not here."
"Why not?"
"Because Richard might hear us."
Maya stared at her.
"What is going on?"
Elena grabbed her hand.
"Come with me."
---
They entered a small study at the far end of the house.
Elena locked the door.
Maya watched her nervously.
"You've been hiding something from me."
"I was protecting you."
"From what?"
Elena sat down.
Her hands were shaking.
"When you were born, there was an accident."
"What kind of accident?"
"Your father and I were driving home from the hospital."
Maya frowned.
"My father?"
"Yes."
She had barely spoken about him since his death.
"What happened?"
"We were followed."
"By who?"
"I don't know."
Elena looked toward the locked door.
"But they weren't normal people."
Maya's skin prickled.
"What do you mean?"
"They were hunting us."
"Why?"
Elena looked directly at her.
"Because of you."
Maya's mouth went dry.
"Me?"
"You were born with something they wanted."
"What?"
Elena hesitated.
"I don't know exactly."
"You don't know?"
"I knew enough to run."
Maya stared at her mother.
"Why did you never tell me?"
"Because every time I thought we were safe, they found us again."
"And now?"
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
"I thought Richard could protect us."
Maya's heart dropped.
"Richard knows?"
Elena nodded.
"How much?"
"Everything."
Maya stepped backward.
"And Damon?"
Elena didn't answer.
"Mum."
"He knows some of it."
Maya suddenly understood why Damon had looked at her that way.
Why he had been shocked when he first saw her.
Why he couldn't stop staring at her mark.
She touched her collarbone.
"What am I?"
Elena looked at her daughter.
"I don't know."
A voice came from behind the door.
"I do."
Maya froze.
Damon.
Elena stood quickly.
The door opened.
Damon stepped inside.
His expression was serious.
"You shouldn't be here," Elena whispered.
"I heard everything."
Maya turned toward him.
"Then tell me."
Damon looked at her.
"I can't."
"Why?"
"Because my father hasn't told me the entire truth either."
Maya laughed bitterly.
"So nobody knows anything?"
Damon stepped closer.
"I know one thing."
"What?"
He looked directly into her eyes.
"When I saw you for the first time, I knew you weren't ordinary."
Maya's heart pounded.
"And tonight?"
Damon hesitated.
"I felt the bond."
Maya swallowed.
"What bond?"
He looked away.
"The mate bond."
Silence filled the room.
Maya stared at him.
"You really believe you're a werewolf?"
Damon's eyes changed.
Silver.
Completely silver.
Maya stepped backward.
Damon's voice became almost a whisper.
"I don't believe it."
He looked at her.
"I know it."
Maya couldn't speak.
Then a loud crash came from somewhere outside.
Richard shouted from downstairs.
"DAMON!"
Damon immediately turned toward the door.
Another sound followed.
A howl.
Not human.
Not animal.
Something in between.
Damon's entire posture changed.
His eyes flashed silver.
His jaw tightened.
"Maya, stay with your mother."
"What's happening?"
Damon opened the door.
"Someone found us."
"Who?"
He looked back at her.
"The people who have been searching for you."
Then he disappeared down the hallway.
Maya ran after him.
"Damon!"
He stopped at the staircase.
For one second, he looked back.
And Maya saw something she had never seen before.
Fear.
Real fear.
Not for himself.
For her.
Then the front doors exploded inward.
Glass shattered across the entrance hall.
A dark figure stepped through the smoke.
And a deep voice echoed through the mansion.
"Give us the girl."
Maya's blood ran cold.
Damon moved in front of her.
"No."
The stranger laughed.
"Then we'll take her from you."
Damon's eyes burned silver.
His voice dropped into a growl.
"Try."
Maya stared at him.
The boy she'd met only days ago was standing between her and a stranger who wanted her.
And for the first time, Maya realized something terrifying.
The Blackwood family hadn't brought her into their home by accident.
They had been waiting for her.
And whatever she was...
Someone was willing to kill to get her.
TO BE CONTINUED...
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD