A/N: I have decided to add some dialogue as Damien. This will not always occur within this book, but I feel as it will help you as the reader, understand him and the story more. Anyways. Here goes nothing.

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[Damien's POV]

I woke up feeling her body next to me, lending me her warmth as our nude limbs were entangled. How many mornings had I woken up like this? Her legs over mine, my legs over hers, her head resting on my chest, or my head resting upon her bosom. How many nights had we fallen into bed, loving each other with our bodies and falling asleep both sated and satisfied? For four of the five years we had been together, I had awoken or gone to sleep to the same scenario, over and over. Never tiring of it. But in the last two years, along with the happiness, there was a lingering sense of guilt that had taken residence deep in my subconscious. There were times in the last two years, as I made love to Rachel, that Leilani's face flashed through my mind. Though rare, they happened, and made me feel such bone deep guilt for my imagined betrayal on Rachel.

Then of course there were the times I was alone in my office, with my thoughts as my only companion. Rachel off for the day, visiting her parents or friends. During those times, the guilt would become overwhelming. It was when it was quiet, that the power of the mate bond allowed Leilani to seep into my thoughts. Becoming my secret obsession. It made me livid, that I could not control my thoughts, that the Moon Goddess had tried to take my chosen future away from me. I had chosen Rachel, and that was it. Not that there was anything wrong with Leilani. She had grown into a beautiful self-possessed woman. One that any Lycan would be worthy of, and had I never met Rachel, I would've been proud to have by my side. But my chosen fate had intervened, and Rachel had arrived in my life. I could never, and would never regret my decision. But I did regret having to hurt Leilani. She had never done anything wrong, and deserved to be loved. And I hope she will find herself a Lycan whom has lost their mate, or a human to give her the love I couldn't. She was beautiful and destined for greatness, and I knew one day she would find the same happiness that I had with Rachel.

I still remember the day Rachel came waltzing into my life like a sprite from the forest. I had watched her unfold her small legs from the back seat of her parents' car when they had arrived the year I turned 16, and my father began grooming me as the future Alpha. Her long silver blonde hair shined brightly in the sun, and her eyes as blue as the ocean. She had been 16 as well at the time, and had lost her destined mate along with countless other packmates to a rogue attack months prior to her family's arrival and acceptance into the Moon Meadow Pack. I had instantly fallen in love with her aurora and loving nature. Her history, and the terrible events she had endured instinctually caused me to become protective of her. It was then, I had fallen in love for the first time in my life. She held me enthralled from the moment I set my eyes on her, until this very day. We began our romance then, and our love blossomed and fluorished as the years passed. There was not a day that I questioned my love for her. Not a day that I thanked her for choosing me.

I felt Rachel stirring to life beside me, and I peered down at her face. I saw as her lips twitched upwards into a small smile. Her eyes slowly opening and peering back at mine. I got lost in the blue of her eyes, and smiled down in return.

"Morning love." She said, as she stretched like a contented kitten.

"Morning to you, my heart. Did you sleep well?"

"Very well, for the time you allowed me to sleep." She stated with a sly smile resting on her lips.

I enveloped her body in a full body hug, and used my body to pin her back to the bed. Nuzzling her neck, inhaling her beautiful scent.

"Damien, stop." she said giggling "I need to use the bathroom."

"Fine, but tonight you will be mine again."

"Always, and forever." she stated as she got up from the bed.

I watched as she sauntered naked to our bathroom. Her petite feet lightly leaving a trail of footsteps in the lush beige carpet. Closing the door behind her, I heard the water turn on in the shower. I contemplated for a second on joining her, but decided against it. I needed to get up and dressed. I really didn't have time to shower, as I had so much work to do, in regards to the pack. I got up and put on the jeans I had worn yesterday, with a plain black v-neck shirt that I retrieved from my dresser. Once dressed, I knocked on the bathroom door, and let Rachel know I was leaving for the day. After hearing her say okay, and love you, I left the room and headed to my office downstairs.

As I stepped down the final step on the stairs leading to the Eastern wing of the house that the bedroom I shared with Rachel was located, I saw Leilani. She was midway down the staircase that led to the Western wing, that was directly across of the stairway I was currently occupying. She lifted her grey eyes to me, and quickly averted them back to the floor. She hurriedly descended the remaining stairs and basically sprinted out the front door before I even had a chance to talk to her. I had noticed that she seemed to have lost some weight, but other than that, she appeared to have taken my rejection of her well. I kept an eye on her in the beginning, when we had discovered the Moon Goddess had chosen us as mates. At first, I had been concerned for that she would suffer. But that concern quickly vanished, once I saw her still smiling and carrying on as if the discovery had never taken place. Only once in awhile had I seen glimpses of sadness in her eyes when she saw Rachel and I together. But it was fleeting.

I opened my office door, and immediately sat in my soft brown leather executive's chair behind my solid mahogany desk. There were treaties I needed to sign, endless paperwork, and rogue encroachment into our territory that I needed to deal with. Rogues threat was an ongoing issue that every generation of Alphas had to deal with. Most were easily dealt with and benign in nature. However, over the last few years, my territory had been sporadically attacked by more aggressive rogues my pack had never encountered before. These Lycan rogues seemed to be more vicious, almost rabid in their attacks. We had lost a few fighters eradicating the few that had encroached into our territory. But their numbers had increased incrementally with each new attack that occurred every few months.

I can still envision the first time I had seen these rogues. In their wolf form, it appeared as if they had a form of mange causing most of their fur to have fallen out. Only a light sprinkling of fur, or patches shattered here or there on their bodies. Their saliva foaming at the mouth, and their dead eyes. It is said that the eyes are the portal to the soul, and if that is the case, these creatures had long since lost theirs. It was as if their soul was consumed in utter darkness leaving only death in their wake. Their human side fared just as bad as their wolf side. They were emaciated, with thinning scalps, and scaly grey ashen skin. There was only one word I could conjure when seeing them, grotesque. Even I, as an Alpha, shivered at how horrifying they were. I had been questioning other Alphas in neighboring packs if they had heard about mysterious new diseases that were affecting our kind. Or any other causes that would give us clues as to what ailments these rogues were afflicted with. Whatever it was. it caused Rabies like symptoms, but heightened. So far, answers remained undiscovered, and none of the surrounding pack Alphas hadn't a clue. The only solution thus far, was to prepare for battle and be proactive in security around the perimeters of our territory. Since the attacks began, I implemented 24 hour security of our borders, and had increased the number of warriors patrolling them.

I had just followed a lead to a potential answer, but had hit a brick wall, yet again. I leaned back in my chair, closed my eyes, and used my hand to scrub it over my face in frustration. It was always the same, over and over again. I would think the lead would instruct me to the answer, only to come up just short and waste another day of my time.

I slowly opened my eyes, and peered out the window located directly behind my desk. From here, I could see almost the entire front of the pack house. I watched as mates ushered their young children off to school. I watched as future warriors continued their training in war tactics out front. As I watched the trainees complete a drill I remembered doing myself years ago, I saw a lone figure walking with their back towards me, heading into the outlining trees of the forest. I knew it was a woman or girl from the shape of their body as they walked, slightly intrigued with where they were heading. It wasn't until I saw them slowly turn their head and look around, as if making sure their where-abouts remained unnoticed, that I realized it was Leilani. She turned her eyes and directly looked up into my office window. With the dark screen, there was no way, even with her Lycan sight, could she see me as I watched her. It was then that I became privy of the sheer desolation in her eyes. The gut-wrenching look of utter sadness and lost hope as she looked up at my window before turning back around and continuing on into the forest. It was then, that I realized how naive I must have been in thinking she had carried on with her life in happiness. She never really had, had she?