Damian
“Dammy,” she called, using the nickname she had given me in our youthful days. Only she ever called me that, and hearing it now stirred emotions I thought were buried long ago with her death. The shadows of the forest seemed to respond to her call, weaving a surreal dance around us. My head spun with disbelief, my heart pounding in my chest.
Surely, I must be seeing double.
“Follow me, and we can be together again. Abandon this quest, and all our pains will vanish.” She whispered in a haunting melody, wrapping around me like a familiar yet distant echo. It was beyond strange to hear her lovely voice after all this year-six, to be precise.
“No, this can’t be happening, Ava; you can’t be here. You can’t be real because I saw you die,” I whispered to myself, my voice trembling, and I shook my head in disbelief as I tried to comprehend her impossible presence. I was beyond shocked. Why was she in the forest of darkness? I felt like I was losing my mind because there was no way she could be alive.
“But I am here, Damian. I’m real,” she insisted, smiling brightly, but her words sent shivers down my spine-not in a good way.
I stood there, mouth agape, feeling like insects could fly into my open mouth at any moment. My hands ran through my hair repeatedly as I struggled to process everything unfolding before me.
“No, no, you’re not real. This must be a dream. I’m just seeing things,” I stammered, my voice a shaky breath while she let out a loud laugh that sounded like a ghostly melody, filling the air.
“Oh, Damian, my love, death couldn’t keep me away from you,” she said, her voice hauntingly sweet as she approached me. Another chill ran down my spine as I took a hesitant step back.
My hand instinctively reached for the hilt of my silver dagger, my heart pounding in my chest. Inside my head, my wolf howled loudly, sensing the danger, and paced around in my head.
“She doesn’t smell human or wolf,” my wolf said, sniffing the air around us.
What could she be, then?” I asked, my brow furrowing with concern as I glanced at a grinning Ava.
“I have no idea, but we shouldn’t touch her just to be safe, as she could be dangerous,” my wolf replied, his tone wary and cautious.
He was right, and I intended to follow his instincts.
“You died, Ava, so now you’re just a memory-a ghost.” Ava’s expression shifted to that of irritation, her eyes gleaming with an otherworldly light.
“I found a way back to you, Damian, for us to be together again, forever, and you should be happy because of that.” She snarled, her ethereal fingers reaching out, but I stepped back, feeling a strange mixture of fear and longing.
“Good, Damian, make sure her skin doesn’t come into contact with yours. She can’t be real; nothing and no one in the forest of darkness is, and I suspect her to be a ghost emerging from the deepest part of our nightmare,” my wolf growled in warning. I clenched my jaw tightly, knowing he was right. The forest of darkness was known for using one’s worst fears and nightmares against them, and that’s why I was seeing Ava now.
“You are fake, so whatever trick you are trying to play pretending to be my dead mate won’t work on me. You are an imposter and a deception of this cursed forest.”
Ava’s sweet smile faltered, replaced by a dark intensity as she glared at me furiously. A tear slipped down her cheek, mirroring the moment she had taken her last breath, tugging at my heart. Could she be real? Could she be my Ava?
“You always doubted me, Damian. But I’m real, and I’m here for you. The way you’re acting right now is hurting me, and I don’t want to believe it’s because you don’t want to be with me anymore just to keep cheating on me with that bitch. I came here to give you a second chance, hoping you’ll be happy because I forgive you for what you did, and death will never keep us apart. But now you make me regret it.” She yelled, tears streaming down her face, and shadows danced around her, distorting her features into something more sinister. If she was fake, there was no way she would remember what had happened, right?
“I never cheated on you,” I whispered, my gaze locked on her, hoping she could feel and know that I was telling the truth. At this point, I didn’t care if she was a ghost. The longing for her touch battled with the rational knowledge that this couldn’t be the Ava I once knew. Her eyes, a shade I remembered well, glistened with an otherworldly light.
“I know, Damian. You love me too much to stoop so low, and that’s why I came back to be with you, so that we could be free from pain and stay together forever. Just follow me, and everything will be back to normal,” she urged, her words dripping with temptation, tugging at the threads of my resolve, threatening to unravel the purpose that brought me into this accursed forest.
What if she was real? I mean, she did sound real. I thought to myself as a conflict stirred within me, torn between listening to her for the sake of the love I once held for her and the realisation of the new mate given to me by the moon goddess and not to forget responsibilities to our daughter.
Would Ruby miss me if I didn’t return? Would I be happy being with Ava and neglecting our daughter? Come to think of it, Ava should know that our daughter is our first priority, and we can’t abandon her just to be together.
“I can’t,” I finally uttered, each word heavy with the weight of my decision. Ava’s sad eyes pleaded with me, her expression a mix of desperation and longing. As she stepped closer, a surge of determination welled up within me, and I instinctively took another step back, my body tensing with resolve.
“How can you say that? Don’t you love me anymore?” she asked, her voice trembling with emotion. I could see the pain etched in her features as she searched my eyes for a glimmer of reassurance. With each step she took, my heart grew heavier, torn between the love I once felt and the responsibility weighing on my shoulders.
“I’m not going with you, Ava, not because I don’t love you,” I explained, my voice steady despite the turmoil raging within me. “But because we can’t forsake the life that depends on us for care,”