0088
Dane
"You said...."
"I know Dane. I know exactly what I said." Damien snaps back at me. A deep frown etched into his face. "He has never wanted to shift back. I didn't think it was even possible. Do you know how hard it was for me?" "What do you mean?" Raven asks
"I told you that it wasn't easy. That the process took time. I would find I had shifted in my sleep. Waking up in Lycan form in the middle of the corn field. It's not easy to just shift back. Not once you see yourself as a monster." "Just full of secrets aren't you!" Jenson mutters as he shoves Damien out the way.
Dropping down to the floor, he pulls Jess's lifeless body into his arms. I could see from his face that he was broken. The last true loss he had experienced was our parents. Anything in between then and now had never bothered him.
'We will need to keep an eye on him.' Aero rumbles.
'Agree.' I mutter back.
'Maybe this is what he needs.' Aero adds
'What are you talking about?'
'He has only ever cared about himself his entire life.'
'That's a bit harsh. How would you feel if Neah.....' Shit, Neah. I link some of the guards and ask them to station themselves around the house.
"Let's say he has got out." Though it wouldn't have been like he could just walk out. "How did he shift?" I ask Damien
"I don't know. He hasn't been in human form for over a year. And like I said, he has never wanted to shift back. Trust me, I tried to help him. Mallory did to you. He has never wanted it. The only thing I can think of is that he has actually been shifting for some time. That he has just kept it quiet."
'Dane,' Klaus's voice fills my head. 'He's gone.'
'What?'
'He isn't here and according to Roan, he did indeed shift to human form.'
'How the fuck did he get out?' I snap.
The Rogue had been chained to a wall.
If he had shifted, he would have been able to slip the chains, that I could understan.
But the cell was still locked.
The only way out would be if someone had physically let him out.
Not to mention he wouldn't just be able to walk out of there. I had seen what Neah had done to his leg.
'If we are to believe Roan then he is also saying Jess was the one who helped Salem get out.'
I glance over at a silent Jenson. He is stroking Jess's red hair. Why would she have helped Salem? It made no sense when she loved Neah. She stood against the woman who had changed her to help Neah.
"I'm right, aren't I?" Damien asks. "I can tell by your face and I know what I smell. I am right."
"Is he?" Raven demands. "Has Salem got out? Has he shifted? Is he out there, walking around in the pack like he belongs here?"
"Yes."
"No." Damien interrupts me. "He wouldn't be that stupid. He would hunch down somewhere. Somewhere he could hide in plain sight, watching, waiting. And he will work better, making sure his scent is spread around the entire pack."
"This is your fault!" Jenson growls from the floor. "You, he came here because of you. You better sleep with one eye open, Lycan."
Damien doesn't respond. He is quiet, mulling over what has happened and not in the least bit bothered about my brother's threat.
'You are hiding something.' Raven mutters through mindlink. I look over to her to see her arms folded across her chest as she stares at me 'I know you Dane, there is something you are not saying.'
'According to Roan. Jess let him out.'
"WHAT?!" She shouts out instead of keeping the conversation between us
Everyone's eyes turn to her and she drops her gaze.
"What's going on?" Damien asks, moving toward my sister.
"Sorry." Raven mumbles.
"Look, I don't know if it's true. All we have to go on is what Roan is saying and he isn't exactly the most truthful person."
"He saw him shift?" Damien frowns
"And he saw who let him out. Which I'm taking with a pinch of salt!"
"Let me guess. She did." He points to Jess. "I can't scent anyone else on her."
"No!" Jenson snaps. "She wouldn't do something like that. She wouldn't put her own life in danger! She just turned sixteen."
"Maybe, maybe not. She was probably lured into freeing him." Damien shrugs his shoulders
"Is this where you tell us that he has some sort of ability to attract people?" I ask
"How do you think they killed people in that town so easily? None of the humans left. Bodies started turning up in all places. Most people would leave if that started happening, but they stayed. The humans practically walked to their death. It was only once the town was wiped out that I started bringing them food." Damien shakes his head but his eyes are on my sister.
"But she would have had to have been down there already."
"Stop talking about her! JUST STOP!" Jenson yells out. "She is still here."
Raven hobbles over to him using the crutches. "Jenson, I'm really sorry, but she's gone. We can't bring her back."
Jenson growls at Raven and pushes her over. Sweeping up Jess's bloody body, he holds her to his chest. He charges out of the hospital as Damien helps Raven get back on her feet.
"We should go after him." She whimpers, her face creases up from the pain in her leg.
"He needs space. He has just lost his mate."
"But he...."
"Raven, give him space."
"You can't do anything for him." Damien speaks softly to her. "This is something he has to deal with."
She slowly nods her head as he wraps an arm around her shoulders. I see her shrug him off with a frown.
"What does he look like in human form?" I ask. I had never had a chance to meet Salem before he rejected my sister.
"Well, I don't know now. He used to have chestnut eyes, but those eyes that I saw were like black holes." Raven whispers. "His hair matched his eyes." A smile creeps up on her lips as she recalls him. "A tattoo on his neck." Damien adds
"Like yours?"
He nods. "A family thing."
"About six feet tall. A wide smile."
Damien growls as she continues to describe him to us.
Again as he tries to reach for her shoulder she moves out of the way.
The latest bit of news about luring humans to their death had clearly upset her.
Sending out a link to the entire pack.
I remind them that the only guests we have in the pack are Damien and Mallory.
Anyone else was to be taken out on sight.
"Stay in the house, Raven."
"You think he will come for me again?"
"I don't know, but this way, I know where you are."
She nods her head, glancing back at the pool of blood where Jess had been. "Do you want me to tell Neah?"
"No, that should come from me."
Raven hobbles out of the hospital, Damien closely following her. She was already snapping at him to stay away from her. They were having a much rockier start to their bond than what Neah and I had.
I hang back, not wanting to get caught up in their issues.
Cleaning up the blood, I try to decide how I was going to break the news to Neah. The twins were already taking their toll on her and this news might just be the thing that tips her over.
By the time I make it back to the packhouse. Damien and Raven are having a full on argument, right in the foyer.
I side step around them, following my mates scent to the kitchen. She rolls her beautiful blue eyes at me as she stuffs toast in her mouth. When she sees my face, she lowers the toast and scowls. "Why is there blood on you?" "He got out."
"Roan?"
I shake my head.
"How?"
I tell her our theory. Still not mentioning Jess.
"I can find him." she mutters, brushing the crumbs from her hands.
"No. He will be smarter this time. Damien is certain of it."
She shuffles on the chair, her brow knitting together. "How did he get out? He can barely walk, if he can even walk at all."
"We have reason to believe Jess let him out."
"No. She wouldn't... she...." She trails off as her blue eyes find mine. "She's dead isn't she?"