Chapter 13: Dual Nature
1178words
I woke to sunlight streaming through unfamiliar curtains and the solid warmth of Damian's body curved protectively around mine. For a moment, I lay still, cataloging the changes in my body. Everything felt different—sharper, more intense. The soft cotton sheets against my skin. The mingled scents of Damian's cologne and his natural musk. The sound of his steady heartbeat against my back.
Most disturbing was how right it felt to be here with him, as if my body had made decisions my mind was still questioning.
I shifted slightly, and immediately his arm tightened around my waist.
"You're awake," he murmured, his breath warm against my neck.
"How long was I out?"
"Nearly eighteen hours." His hand moved to my forehead, checking for fever. "How do you feel?"
I considered the question carefully. "Different. Like someone rewired all my senses."
"That's normal after a claiming bite. Your body is adjusting."
I turned to face him, struck by how vulnerable he looked with sleep-tousled hair and stubble darkening his jaw. This was a side of Damian Thorne the world never saw—the powerful alpha in an unguarded moment.
"You promised me the truth," I said. "All of it."
He propped himself on one elbow, blue eyes serious. "Ask me anything."
"What am I becoming?"
"Something unique. The blood moon is accelerating changes that would normally take years." His fingers traced the claiming bite on my neck, sending shivers down my spine. "Your dual heritage makes it unpredictable."
"Will I... transform? Like you?"
"I don't know." His honesty was refreshing after so many half-truths. "No one with your particular bloodline has ever undergone the awakening process."
I sat up, needing distance from his touch to think clearly. "Tell me about my mother. The real story."
Pain flickered across his features. "Sophia was extraordinary. Like you, she carried both bloodlines, though her wolf blood was stronger. We met during a blood moon cycle twenty-six years ago."
"Were you in love with her?"
"I desired her," he said carefully. "For what she was, what she represented. But love?" He shook his head. "What I feel for you is... different."
"And Victor?"
Damian's expression darkened. "Victor was obsessed with her. When she chose your father instead of completing the ritual, he couldn't accept it."
"So he killed her."
"Yes." Damian's voice was tight with old anger. "I tried to stop him, but I arrived too late. By then, Robert had already taken you and disappeared."
I processed this, connecting it with what I'd learned from my father. "And when you found me again? Was it just about the pact?"
"Initially." His honesty surprised me. "I tracked you for what you represented—the chance to complete what your mother couldn't. But then I met you." His eyes held mine. "Stubborn, brilliant, fearless you. And everything changed."
"Yet you still manipulated me. Pursued me under false pretenses."
"I did." He didn't try to deny it. "But I never lied about wanting you. About what grew between us."
The bond between us hummed with truth—I could feel his sincerity through our connection, along with deeper emotions he was struggling to express.
"Show me," I said suddenly.
"Show you what?"
"What I am now. What's happening to me." I held up my hands, which had been tingling strangely since I woke. "I can feel something changing."
Damian hesitated, then nodded. He rose from the bed and crossed to a tall mirror in the corner, gesturing for me to join him. I stood before it, shocked by my reflection.
My eyes, normally brown, now held flecks of amber that caught the light. My skin seemed to glow from within, and when I pushed back my hair, the claiming bite on my neck had healed to a silvery mark that resembled the three-spiral symbol.
"Look deeper," Damian urged, standing behind me. "Feel what's inside you now."
I closed my eyes, focusing inward as his hands settled on my shoulders. Something stirred in response—a presence that was both foreign and familiar, wild yet controlled. Not fully wolf, not fully human, but something in between.
When I opened my eyes again, they glowed amber in the mirror.
"That's your wolf," Damian said softly. "Awakening."
"Will I lose myself?" Fear crept into my voice. "Become something else entirely?"
"No." His arms encircled me from behind, steadying. "The wolf becomes part of you, not your replacement. You'll be stronger, faster, more attuned to your instincts. But still Elena."
I leaned back against him, drawing comfort from his solid presence. Through our bond, I could feel his concern, his protectiveness, and something deeper—a fierce, possessive love that both frightened and thrilled me.
"The blood moon is in five days," I said. "What happens if I don't choose?"
His arms tightened slightly. "The pact dissolves. We lose the enhanced powers it grants us."
"And if I choose you?"
"My power doubles. Victor and Jackson would be forced to submit or leave the territory."
"Creating an imbalance," I murmured, remembering what I'd read. "Like what happened with my mother."
"Yes." His honesty was stark. "Power corrupts, Elena. Even me."
I turned in his arms, studying his face. "Then why pursue this at all? Why not just let the pact dissolve?"
"Because Victor would never accept that outcome. He'd rather see us all dead." His jaw tightened. "And because the pact has sustained us for centuries. Without it, we're vulnerable."
"To hunters," I realized. "Like my father."
"Like your father," he confirmed. "Who, by the way, has been calling the house every hour since dawn."
The mention of my father brought reality crashing back. I stepped away from Damian, needing space to think clearly. "I should talk to him."
"He won't understand what's happening to you."
"Maybe not. But he's still my father." I moved toward the bathroom, then paused. "Damian, there's something else. In the mirror, my eyes—they looked like Victor's."
Concern flashed across his face. "His blood bond is still active, competing with mine. Until the blood moon, you'll feel the pull of both."
"And Jackson? Where does he fit in all this?"
"Jackson wants balance maintained. He believes if you choose him, neither Victor nor I would gain too much power."
I considered this as I gathered fresh clothes. "Is he right?"
Damian's expression was unreadable. "Perhaps. But ask yourself this—does Jackson want you, or merely what you represent?"
The question lingered as I showered and dressed, my mind racing with all I'd learned. By the time I emerged, Damian had left a note saying he'd gone to strengthen the estate's security.
I was heading downstairs when a wave of dizziness hit me. I gripped the banister as foreign emotions flooded through me—rage, hunger, anticipation. Not my feelings. Not Damian's either.
Victor. The blood bond letting me feel his emotions.
And what I felt chilled me to the bone. He wasn't alone. He had found my father, and his intentions were anything but peaceful.
