Kai's POV
I hadn't been able to shake off the memories of Elaine wandering in the woods by that time, and usually, I'd say that she was trying to find me, but she wasn't. She wasn't even following my footprints… more like she didn't even know her feet were carrying her.
Not that Damien knew better or so, but maybe if he had an idea, he could come up with a better guess than I would, especially since he was able to distinguish the actual scent it was. I closed my research book and grabbed my coat to get my answers.
Arriving at Damien's lavish mansion, despite the aesthetics of this place, I placed a careful knock on the door but got nothing. I tried it a few more times but got no response, so I listened carefully to know if he was around but didn't want to see me.
Silence. Glancing over at my wristwatch to check the time, I sat on the staircase of the entrance of his home and opted to wait for him until he arrived. Perhaps that was all I could do for her since I wouldn't be so close to her—to protect her from afar.
"What do I owe a visit this early in the morning?" Damien's voice snapped my thoughts back into reality.
"Good morning, Damien," I greeted him with an edge of seriousness in my tone.
"What do you want?"
"Something happened that night when we were fighting in the woods. It was beyond the scent we caught, and I'm not sure. I came to see if you could help," I tried to go straight to the point.
After taking his time to examine me from head to toe, maybe to know if I were lying to him or not, he just let out a sigh.
"I'll assume that the subject needs a bit of privacy, so come in," he said, walking past me to his door. He just had to grow his fangs long enough, insert them into the lock, then open the door.
I wouldn't lie; the interior of his home took my mind back to the days I had my former glory intact. When I was not just the feared Lycan because of my size or abilities, but also because of what I had to show off in the past.
I was so lost in thought that I didn't even know when Damien was standing in front of me with a glass of red wine. The smile on his face was plainly there to mock me somehow because he knew what he had reminded me of.
"Let's just say that if everything goes well, you'd be sure to know your place—between returning to your former state before the curse and dying more useless with everything taken away from you."
"About that night," I changed the topic with an unreadable expression on my face.
"Do have a seat," he offered again.
I did as instructed. I sat across from him at the table separating us while he moved the glass of wine he had poured out for me closer to me. His gesture was indeed nice, but a big part of me would over-pick the silly part of Damien over the one trying to be nice.
"It's not blood if that's what you think it is," he said in defense when he noticed the type of look I gave him.
"I know."
"The scent was a very peculiar scent, and I'm not even sure when last I caught such a scent," he sighed.
"Why wasn't I able to decipher what it was?" I asked, a bit worried.
"Chill, man. It's not a function of you or your curse depriving you of your abilities as a Lycan. I couldn't tell exactly what it was either," he admitted, resting in his chair as though he had just understood the weight of what happened that night.
"Could it be that it had the scent of many others on it?"
"Maybe."
"Well, the scent is the minor part of the story. After you left, I spotted Elaine in the woods, and she was in a bad state. It was as though she had been hypnotized and was moving without any sense of direction… it looked like a spell. And I wouldn't say that confidently because as far as I remember, the fae chose another world for themselves," I explained in a not-so-rushed tone.
"Maybe she was just sleepwalking… I mean, she's human, and humans do a lot of incredible things that are cringe, don't you agree?"
"I do, but I know Elaine. She doesn't sleepwalk. Something brought her out that night, but whoever hypnotized her took advantage of it to do what they did to her," I drew a bit closer to him, making him know how much I needed him to understand where I was driving at.
"I think I know where you're going with this," he sighed after a brief silence between us. "Maybe it's not just the three of us in the picture we can physically see now. Maybe there's another out there, right?"
"The one whom I don't even dream of it to be," I said through gritted teeth.
The fact that Damien still found the situation somewhat funny pissed me off. Though the sound of his chuckle held more emotions than one that would make me want to snap his head off from his entire body, I just wished he'd know that we were talking about Elaine and not just the creature. Why her, and why now?
"Trust me when I say that I'd never have given her so much credit for attracting not just creatures but the kind of personalities she attracts," he admitted to himself, making me roll my eyes in slight irritation.
"This is not a moment to sing her praise, Damien!" I hissed. "She was hypnotized the other night, and heaven knows what or where she would have ended up if I hadn't sighted her in time. She needs to be protected until we figure out what is happening and whom that scent belongs to."
"Why do you believe that the scent is connected to her hypnosis?"
"Because it started to fade the moment she started to gain control of herself again," I told him while getting up on my feet.
"That means they might be really connected," he agreed in a serious tone.
"All I'm asking of you is that you keep her safe until we're able to solve this mess, okay?"
"It's a promise, Kai. I want her as much as you do, and I'd keep her safe, not because you asked."
I felt a pang in my chest when his words left his mouth. I was both jealous and mad at myself for being incapable when it came to her, but all the same, her safety was my priority, even if it meant being far away from her.
"I'd be taking my leave now. Please let me know if any issue of emergency comes up or if you figure something out," I asked politely, while he nodded in response.
I left the premises of his home with a second agenda in mind. I knew that Elaine was very special and that if not for my curse, she could be my mate, but I didn't know what moved out of the ordinary for it to be so. I decided to dig up her history and find out the truth about her existence—at least to help me know what I should and shouldn't expect from her, including the case of my redemption.
Sitting close to the pond where I always ended up during the days I felt utterly down, I laid my research books on the floor and started my work.
The serenity and calmness of my surroundings made it impossible not to focus. It also made it impossible not to hear something when it happened, but something, or someone just seemed to break that off now.
I could only catch a glimpse of the dark cloth he had on before he vanished into thin air. I stood on instinct, triggering all my senses to be at their most active state. However, I didn't hear a thing, I couldn't even catch a scent or see his footprints. The only thing I saw was a small piece of paper in the middle of my opened book.
How did it even get there without me knowing? How did he come up that close without me figuring it out? At the very least, I should have seen whoever left the paper, but I didn't, which made everything look more dangerous than it was. If that figure was capable of harming Elaine, then there might be very little or nothing I could do to save her.
Studying my surroundings before picking it up to be sure I was alone, I read the words written on it above a whisper.
'I'd send her back if I were you.'