Wilde

"23"

At first, I felt pain. But only for a second. After that, I felt almost energized. And suddenly, I shoot lightning at the witch. She then teleports and disappears, no where to be seen. I fall to the ground with two things on my mind: Marlee and how I'm gonna beat the living shit outta Axel. I feel the tears coming up to my eyes. She listened to him, she's been compelled to obey him. And, she called him her mate. My chest hurts, I'm physically hurt from this. She's gone, physically and mentally.

"Damon, are you okay?" I hear Jake ask me.

I open my mouth but nothing comes out, so I just shake my head.

"Damon I'm so sorry, if I was only more aware of Cole." Dustin says.

"It's not your fault Dustin," I say, "it's mine."

"What do you mean?" Lizzie asked.

"Maybe if she had a roommate she wouldn't have gotten close to Cole. Maybe if I was more trusting she would've kept her guard up more from not being distracted by her untrusting mate. Maybe if I didn't agree to letting her Coke to college, she would still be with me, here, safe. And I know that coming to college made her happy, but I rather have her safe and miserable, then happy and in danger. I should've stayed with that feeling. But she's my mate, I wanted her to be happy, even if that meant making me unhappy. And now look where we are, she's gone." I said as I cried.

"Dude listen, this isn't your fault, nor is it Marlee's or anyone else's but Cole and Axel. The good guys always prevail, like the movies show. Evil never wins." Jake told me.

"But this isn't a movie Jake! Our lives aren't perfect like the movies, we aren't perfect people like the movies! Our families aren't picture perfect, the events in our lives aren't even close to normal! We aren't living in a movie Jake! We're living in the real world! So yeah, the good guys win in the movies. But in real life? It's all about choices. Every single choice you make, no matter how small, has some impact on your life. And you don't realize the outcome of taking a different path would've changed the situation you currently face, until, you are, in fact, in the situation when it is too late." I tell him tears flooding down my face.

"Listen to me Damon. You cannot think like this, you can't give into all this bad stuff happening. When you give into darkness, that's what you'll get. But if you hold onto a small glimmer of light, there will always be a chance of reaching it. That light we have is us. Me, Lizzie, and you. You have some ability inside you too Damon, and it's not just this power you have. It's your bond with Marlee, the love you have for her. Now, we can keep sitting her talking about our feelings and how we've made some mistakes that we can't take back, or, we can take action. Head back to pack house and come up with a plan." Jake tells me.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I think about what he has said. He's right, I can't be cynical, I realize that is not what the pack needs. They need me to be strong in the absence of their Luna. But there is one thing he is wrong about: the light in my life. Yeah, Jake is important to me and so is this mate bond. But isn't the bond that's my light, it's the mate. Marlee is what makes me smile everyday. So right now, yeah I have lost the light and there is only darkness, but that doesn't mean I give up without my light. You don't just stop and stand in darkness when it's all around you. No: you run towards the light, your light.

I open my eyes and exhale at the exact simultaneously. I stand up and look at Jake.

"First things first, we need to get back to the pack and figure out what the hell I am." I tell him.

Jake is about to speak but Lizzie interrupts him. "Electrica lupus." She simply says.

We both turn our attention to her and give her the same confused look.