Elena’s POV
DAMIEN – The moment trouble starts, you contact me immediately.
I’ve already secured a backup vehicle just in case we need it.
ME- I will, but focus on those children right now.
That’s exactly where I need you to be.
DAMIEN – And I need you alive and unharmed. I refuse to lose you too. Promise me?
ME – Fine. I’ll stay cautious. I’ll remain safe. And I’ll reach out if anything goes wrong. I’ll contact you later with an update about my mother’s condition.
DAMIEN – Good. I’m confident she’ll be okay. I love you.
ME – I love you too.
I remained seated, waiting with growing impatience for my mother’s return, though I had no idea where she’d gone or when she might be back.
My fingers found my phone, scrolling through meaningless updates as my anxiety climbed with each passing minute in that sterile room.
Eventually I couldn’t sit still anymore. I stood and began walking back and forth before moving toward the window to peer outside.
The view was completely deserted. That fact alone unsettled me deeply. But there was something else disturbing about what I saw. Every yard visible from my vantage point looked abandoned, with grass growing wild and untended, as if the residents had simply vanished without warning.
I found myself wondering if that’s exactly what had happened.
Perhaps Marcus had become too controlling for the pack members to tolerate, driving them all away.
The possibility made perfect sense. Nobody could endure living under the thumb of such a domineering and unreasonable Alpha indefinitely.
These same people had shown complete loyalty to Marcus when I’d lived here before. He would have needed to make some seriously destructive changes to push his entire
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pack to abandon their homes.
After waiting far longer than seemed reasonable, I turned my attention back to the hospital bed.
I approached the nightstand and picked up the medical file the nurse had been consulting earlier. Opening it revealed completely blank pages. Not a single notation anywhere. Certainly nothing documenting any tests being performed on my
I pulled out my phone and headed for the door immediately.
“Hello.” Damien’s voice came through almost before the first ring finished.
mother.
“This whole thing is a trap. They directed me to some random room and claimed she
was having tests done. This isn’t even her room.” I explained.
“Get out of there right now.” His voice was sharp with urgency.
“I’m leaving.” I confirmed.
“Call me the second you’re in your car.” He instructed as I pushed through the hospital’s front entrance.
“That’s not going to be possible.” I said, stopping dead in my tracks.
“Why the hell not?” He demanded. I stood frozen just outside the hospital doors, staring at Marcus who was casually leaning against my vehicle.
“What exactly do you think you’re doing, Marcus?” I called out.
“Well, I figured if you were actually alive, this would be my only shot at getting you back here.” He replied with that familiar arrogant tone.
“Where is my mother?” I demanded.
“She’s at the packhouse. Our doctor is taking care of her there.” He answered.
“She’s genuinely ill?” I pressed.
“She is.” He confirmed.
“Where did everyone go?” I asked, gesturing at the empty streets.
“They’re in hiding.” He said matter–of–factly.
“Why would they need to hide?” I asked.
“This entire place needs to appear completely deserted. Abandoned. Just in case
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military forces decide to investigate.” He explained.
“Military forces.” I repeated flatly.
“They’ve begun identifying werewolf communities. And I knew you’d ended with
up one of them somewhere. I needed to bring you back here before you got yourself killed with whatever pack you joined.” He said.
“Don’t you dare pretend you suddenly care about my wellbeing.” I snapped.
“I never stopped caring about you. And I never believed you were actually dead. I simply understood that you desperately wanted to escape from me. But everything’s about to change now.” He said with cold certainty..
“I rejected you completely.” I reminded him.
“I’m aware. And you’ve clearly joined another pack. I can detect their scent all over you. But now that you’re here again, you won’t be leaving.” He said, and that familiar cruel smile began spreading across his features.
I glanced down at my phone screen and realized Damien was still connected to our call, listening to every word of this confrontation.
Right now, military threats were the least of Marcus’s concerns. I knew with absolute certainty that Damien was already headed this way.
Marcus stepped closer to me, his eyes gleaming with the same possessive intensity I remembered too well. The empty hospital parking lot suddenly felt like a cage, with nowhere to run and no one around to witness whatever he planned to do next.
“You made a mistake coming back here, even for your mother,” he continued, his voice dropping to that low, threatening tone that used to make my skin crawl. “Because now I have exactly what I’ve been waiting for all this time.”
I kept my phone pressed to my ear, knowing Damien could hear every threatening word. Marcus might think he had the upper hand, but he had no idea what kind of force was already racing toward us. I knew Damien wouldn’t let anyone take me away from him, especially not the Alpha who had made my life a nightmare before.
The wind picked up around us, carrying the scent of an approaching storm, and I wondered if it was natural weather or something much more dangerous heading our
way.
90 Chapter 90 Ghosts Still Breathe
