War For Our Mate.

Damon's POV

"I told you, I begged you to chase after her immediately, but you felt she wouldn't be happy about it!" Dax complained as he sat at the edge of the couch, worry and concern on his face.

"If only you did as I had told you, all of this wouldn't have happened. We wouldn't have lost Rhea," he added, making me snap at him.

"That's enough!"

He had kept on ranting since we returned to the study. He just wouldn't stop, and it made me more anxious than I already was. It made me sick too. I kept regretting without thinking of a solution.

I kept pacing around the study, biting my lower lip and thinking of where she might have been taken or who had taken her, but nothing was coming to me.

Instead, I kept seeing the fragments of the past—sharp and vivid—they slammed into my head without resisting.

How she had been taken away in our past lives. How she had cried that night before she died. The pain it sent, the anger that raged on. Our end. It all came flashing back.

I shook my head, trying to stop it when, finally, a knock came at the door, halting the troubling whispers of losing her again in my head.

Our eyes turned toward the door.

"Come in."

It opened, and the head of guards, Elliot, walked into the study. He bowed his head as he greeted each of us.

"Enough with the pleasantries, Elliot. Any news so far?" I asked through gritted teeth as I stared at him from where I stood.

He hesitated, fear written all over his face as he took one step backward. "Nothing, My Alpha."

My hands clenched tightly. "Then why the hell are you back?" I barked in fury, making him flinch involuntarily.

"You are not to return here until you find My Luna. Is that clear?" I walked toward him when he didn't respond, his body trembling under my gaze.

"I asked… is that clear?"

"Yes… Yes, Alpha Damon," he quivered as he responded.

Without another word, he turned around and left the study.

My head felt a bit dizzy after he left. A sharp pain stabbed through my chest too. I clutched my chest tightly in response. When my brothers saw this, they rushed over to me in worry.

"Are you okay, Damon?" Draven inquired, but I could only shake my head in response.

"Here, take a seat to cool off. I'm sure they'll find her," Dax, who had been blaming me, suddenly grew softer.

I appreciated the fact that no matter what, we always cared about each other. But there were no doubts that it was going to come to an end soon because of Rhea.

I rested my head against the table, trying to shut the troubling thoughts out. But just as I shut my eyes, it came again. This time, it felt more real and clear, like it was happening again with Rhea.

---

"No!! Madeline (Rhea)!!" I cried as I watched the sword, tinted with wolfsbane and oak ash, pierce through her chest.

She growled in pain, her eyes bulging as she fell to the ground. In anger, I charged toward the person who had killed her. I didn't hesitate to use my claws to slam through his chest. Once he was down, I rushed to Madeline, carrying her into my arms as I cried and begged her to hold on tight. But it was too late.

With one last tear rolling from her eyes, she plunged into darkness. My growl grew louder than at any other time as I held her bloodied body in my arms. I begged the Moon Goddess to bring her back, to end the suffering, but it was impossible.

According to her, it was our fate to change.

Just as I kept raging over her death, the Rogue Alpha, Marcus, surfaced with a smug grin across his face.

"I told you, didn't I? You can never change her fate!"

---

I snapped back to reality, my eyes bulging in fear and terror as I stormed up from the chair, startling my brothers who were in the room with me.

"Is there a problem?" Draven asked the moment he rushed toward me.

I panted, the last scene replaying in my mind. And just then, it hit me.

"I know where Rhea is," I divulged, my hand shaking with rage and fire.

"Don't tell me…" Draven gasped. "The Rogue again."

Dax, voice deep and rigid, declared, "Then we go to war for our mate."