**Chapter 93 : "What is wrong with me?"**

**Chapter 93 : "What is wrong with me?"**
Once the others were gone, Luna Ember got Alora off the floor, and they made their way to Alora’s suite. Ember held Alora all the way to her bed and didn’t let go even after they were sitting on the bed. Alora’s cries had quieted to silent tears by the time they got to the suite. Alora continued to cling to Luna Ember.

The warmth of Luna Ember’s returned embrace was healing something inside her she didn’t know needed healing. Alora felt like she should have known what was happening to herself. She blamed herself for not being aware of how close to the breaking point she had been. Alora felt embarrassed about breaking down in front of everyone suddenly.

“Whatever dark thoughts are swirling around in that head of yours can take a hike.” Luna Ember said suddenly. Causing Alora to look at her in surprise. “You are not to blame yourself for breaking, sweet girl. You have every reason to experience a panic attack.” Luna Ember raised her hand and gently cupped Alora’s cheek. Her brow was furrowed but her eyes radiated warmth. “You are so much stronger than you give yourself credit for.”

Alora’s eyes were teary and her lips trembled with the effort she was putting in not to cry again. “I don’t feel strong right now.” Alora whispered huskily. “I feel…broken.”

Luna Ember’s heart squeezed painfully hearing Alora’s words. ‘This pup has been through too much. Far too much.’ Ember said to her wolf Gaia.

‘A body is much easier to heal than a heart or mind.’ Gaia responded, in an ageless, pleasant sounding, wisdom-filled voice. ‘It will take much time, but she is not beyond reach. With our son’s claim of her, he has made her our daughter. A daughter accepted by our mate. With time and care, we can heal this pup.’

Gaia’s soul, like her mates, like Alora and Damien’s, was old. Ember had been drawn to the healing arts from birth, because she was and always had been, a healer. What Ember did to heal her patients came from more than just modern medical knowledge. She had a gift for it, and energy she was able to pour from her body into that of her patients.

Even with her skills in modern medicine combined with her healing abilities, there were times when a patient was too hurt to bring back. There were also times when the injury was just too deep to repair without scaring. They were extremely rare circumstances, but they still happened.

Alora’s pain wasn’t physical. It was mental and emotional pain. Even as she poured her energy into Alora, she knew fully healing Alora was going to take a lot of time and understanding.

‘I don’t like to hate. Hate feels like a poison to the soul. But I can’t help but hate those despicable people for everything they’ve put this pup through.’ Ember told her wolf emotionally.

‘Hate can be a poison to the soul.’ Gaia said softly. ‘But I believe the Goddess would forgive us this transgression just in this instance.’

West Coast Elite Alpha Training University

Damien stood silently in front of the balcony window of his sitting room. The sun was nearly set, the sky a blending of dark pink, blue, and purple. You could already faintly see the moon and several stars.

But Damien wasn’t really looking at the beauty of dusk, gradually becoming twilight. His phone was still in his hand, the screen dark. He’d come from the shower when he heard it ringing from the table in the sitting room. With one towel wrapped around his waist and another being used to dry his hair, he’d answered the phone.

His hand tightened around his phone as he replayed the call through his mind. His brother’s panicked voice when describing Alora’s condition had been bad enough. The sound of Alora’s gasping for breath and her cries later, were going to absolutely haunt him.

Damien’s heart squeezed painfully and his breathing roughened. Damien raised a fist and placed it against the window before resting his forehead on it. Eyes closed Damien forced himself to steady his breathing and calm his emotions.

Zane, inside their space, was sitting perfectly still under their tree. His eyes dark with emotion as he stared silently off into the distance. Like Damien, Zane wasn’t registering what he was seeing. He was processing his emotions and exercising centuries of discipline.

Generally, a reincarnated wolf’s memories of their previous life were locked away until the humanoid form they were born to reached puberty. However, souls that have been reincarnated repeatedly, begin to retain a sense of the previous lives into their next one.

Wolves that retained that sense commonly matured early both mentally and emotionally. With Zane’s soul being as old as it was, Damien was one of those who matured early. Even from the cradle Damien never acted like all the other pups.

“Only a couple more days left.” Damien said aloud, needing to hear it. “Just a couple more days and then we can go home.”

‘We have already waited this long.’ Zane said, his voice rough with restraint. ‘I can tolerate these couple of days. Only for these next couple of days, no more than that.’

Damien let out a harsh laugh. “I would not tolerate any more than these next couple of days either.” He took a deep breath in, as he let it out, he said, “I am so tired of being separated from Alora.”

If he had been home, he would have been the one to hold Alora together as she broke. That thought brought a memory that had been the root of many nightmares. Nightmares where he hadn’t been in time to stop Alora from using the knife. He’d wake up those nights in a cold sweat either shouting a denial or calling out Alora’s name.

His dreams of Alora were not always nightmares. As of two years ago, the dreams had started to change. At first, they had started off innocently enough. He’d be startled awake after dreaming of a modest kiss. Then gradually they became more explicit, and he’d wake from the dreams later and later.

Damien pushed himself away from the window and started pacing his sitting room. He needed to calm down before he called Alora. He didn’t want her to hear his distress through the phone later. That was if she answered later when he called. A severe panic attack of the magnitude she just had could drain a body of all its energy.

Most likely she would be asleep later. He felt a moment of disappointment, but it was quickly dispelled. If he couldn’t talk to her tonight, he would just have to wake up early to call her in the morning. Then he thought of Alora sleep rumpled and sounding husky voiced while calling out a good morning to him.

Damien looked down at the tent he now had in his towel and felt a flush of shame stain his cheeks. He placed one hand on a hip and used the other to cover his face. “I am such an inconsiderate asshole. What the hell is wrong with me?”