Chapter 199 Damian's POV

Chapter 199 Damian's POV


I sat in my office the next morning, staring at patient files without actually seeing them.

Was I using Kira as a replacement for something I couldn't have?

The thought made me sick.

Kira deserved better than being someone's second choice. She'd already been abandoned, tortured, treated as less than human for fifteen years.

I couldn't do that to her. Couldn't risk hurting her if these feelings weren't genuine.

But they felt genuine. When I was with her, I didn't think about Elara, I thought about Kira, her strength, her humor, her resilience. The way she challenged me made me want to be better.

Was that love? Or just admiration?

I didn't know and not knowing terrified me.

A knock at the door interrupted my spiral of doubt.

"Come in."

Elara entered, looking tired but determined. "I need to tell you something. Dr. Chen called me this morning."

I sat up straighter. "Is she okay?"

"She says she is. She wants me to come for another consultation session. Says it is important we continue the therapy."

"After what happened at her house? With her husband?"

"I know it seems strange but she insisted it was safe. That Fred is away on business for the week. That she has time to meet without him knowing."

"Elara, I don't like this. It could be a trap. Fred could be using her to lure you-"

"I thought about that, but she sounded genuine. Desperate, even like she needs to talk to someone who knows the truth."

"Then I should come with you for safety."

Before Elara could respond, Kaden appeared in the doorway. "No. I'm going with her, you are needed here to coordinate the search for the missing children."

"Kaden-"

"That's not a request, Damian. It's an order from your Alpha." 

His tone was firm but not unkind. "The pack needs you here. Elara will be safe with me."

I wanted to argue but he was right, the missing children were the priority. And I was one of the few people with medical expertise to examine evidence if we found anything.

"Fine but call me if anything seems wrong. Anything at all."

"We will, I promise." 

Elara touched my shoulder. "Thank you for caring about me and about Dr. Chen."

They left together, and I returned to my work with a sense of unease I couldn't shake.

An hour later, Kira appeared at my door. "Your office is a disaster. When was the last time you cleaned here?"

I looked around and she was right, papers everywhere. Coffee cups, medical journals stacked haphazardly.

"I have been busy."

"Too busy for basic hygiene apparently." She started gathering trash. "Come on. I'm helping whether you want it or not."

"Kira, you don't have to-"

"I know. I want to."

We worked in companionable silence. Her organizing papers, me filing patient records. It was comfortable and comfortable.

"About last night," I started.

"Don't." She held up a hand.

"Don't overthink it, don't analyze it, don't talk yourself out of it."

"I just want to make sure-"

"That you are not using me as an Elara replacement? I already thought of that. And here's why I decided I don't care."

"What?"

"I spent fifteen years in a cave being tortured. Fifteen years where no one showed me kindness or affection. If you are using me as a replacement, at least I'm being used for something good.” 

“At least I'm feeling wanted and cared for." 

She set down the stack of papers. "So whatever your reasons, whatever your doubts, I'm choosing to accept what you're offering. Because it is better than being alone."

"That's not a terrible reason to be with someone."

"Maybe but it is my choice and you don't get to make it for me by pushing me away to protect me."

She was right. I was trying to make decisions for her. Treating her like she couldn't handle complicated emotions.

"Okay. No more overthinking, no more second-guessing we just... see where this goes."

"Exactly."

We continued cleaning, the tension between us easing.

Then Kara appeared in the doorway, looking pale. Swaying slightly Adrian in her arms, fussing.

"Kara?" Kira jumped up immediately. "Are you okay?"

"I don't feel well dizzy nauseous." 

She stumbled. "Can you take Adrian? I need to-"

She collapsed.

I caught her before she hit the ground, carefully lowering her to the floor. Kira took Adrian, who started crying.

"Kara! Kara, can you hear me?" 

I checked her pulse, rapid, weak, her skin was clammy and hot.

"What is wrong with her?" Kira asked, rocking Adrian to try to calm him.

"I don't know, help me get her onto the exam table."

We moved her carefully. I started a full examination, temperature elevated. Blood pressure low, pupils responsive but sluggish.

"She is really sick but I can't tell her what yet." 

I started an IV line. "I need to run blood tests. See what we are dealing with."

Kira paced with Adrian, both of them watching anxiously as I worked.

Twenty minutes later, I had preliminary results. "It is an infection, severe and spreading fast. I need to start antibiotics immediately."

"Will she be okay?"

"I don't know If we caught it early enough, yes. If not-" I didn't finish the sentence.

I administered medication and monitored Kara's vitals. Slowly, her condition stabilized. Not improving, but not getting worse.

"She needs to stay here under observation at least overnight."

"I will stay with her," Kira said immediately.

"What about Adrian?"

"I will watch both of them, you focus on Kara."

We worked together monitoring Kara. Kira caring for Adrian hours passed then Marcus burst through the door. His face was ashen.

"Damian. Kira, you need to come now."

"What is it?"

"The missing children we found."

Hope surged through me. "Where? Are they okay?"

Marcus's expression told me everything. "No. They are not okay. They are... they're dead. All three of them."

The world tilted. "What?"

"We found their bodies in the forest. About five miles from pack territory. They've been dead for at least twelve hours."

Kira made a sound like she'd been punched. "No. No, those poor babies."

"The parents?" I asked.

"Devastated. We're bringing the bodies back now. I need you to examine them. Determine cause of death."

I looked at Kara, unconscious on the exam table.

"I'll stay with her," Kira said. "And Adrian. You go. Those children need you."

I grabbed my medical bag and followed Marcus.

We reached the recovery site just as they were loading small, covered forms onto stretchers. Three of them are so small so still.

The parents were there, all of them screaming. Crying collapsing with grief.

I had seen death before and treated countless casualties. But the children murdered were different.

Kira arrived minutes later, having asked another nurse to watch Kara and Adrian. She stood beside me, taking in the scene.

The wailing parents, the covered bodies. The warriors standing with bowed heads.

"Who would do this?" She whispered. "Who would kill children?"

"I don't know but I'm going to find out."

She looked at me, her eyes hard with determination. "We're going to find out. Together. And when we do, when we find whoever did this"

"We will make them pay, we will make them suffer."

"No." She shook her head.

"We will make them wish they had never been born. We will make death seem like mercy compared to what we will do to them."

I'd never heard her sound so cold. So absolutely certain of violence.