Damon threw occasional glances at Alexia from the rearview mirror. Ryan was driving his car as always and Damon sat in the other seat at the front. Malia sat between Richard and Alexia.
She had refused to let anyone treat or even touch her wound. She had totally left it untreated and untouched. Damon felt that she was being too stubborn. If she accepted his help then he could help her treat the wound. But of course, she had acted all stubborn and refused to let anyone touch her wound.
Damon had suggested to everyone that they spend the night at the house Malia and Richard were staying for their time in Greenville.
Alexia had tried to protest at first but Damon sensed that she didn't want to be separated from Malia. He knew she was going to give in and he was right at the end.
There was tension— the kind of tension that was very heavy and thick— in the air. Nobody spoke. Malia seemed to emit an aura of anger and confusion. Damon was guessing the anger was towards Richard and Richard knew it because he couldn't even utter a word.
Damon had a coexisting battle with Alexia, despite the fact that she was supposed to be his second mate. Richard had gotten himself in trouble with his mate. Ryan was the only fine person in the car as he carefreely drove to the address Richard had given him.
Alexia did everything so hers and Damon's eyes wouldn't meet. She kept staring out the window and remained mute. At one point, she squeezed her face in pain and Damon caught it. Her injury was affecting her but he said nothing. He remained silent.
They soon pulled over before a house surrounded by white fence. Ryan killed the engine and got out of the car. The others did the same. Damon got out last as he was watching over all of them.
He waited for Richard to lead the way into the house. Richard did. He let them into his home and Ryan got himself comfortable on the couch.
"There are three rooms in the house. Alexia can take one room, Damon and Ryan can share one room while Malia and I already have one room to ourselves," Richard explained.
Malia only gave him a glare. Richard knew deep down that he messed up big time. Alexia only nodded and waited for Malia to lead her to her room. Damon and Ryan were led by Richard to theirs.
The room was large enough for one person to call it a big enough room. It was painted a pale cream like the rest of the house. The bed could be shared by Ryan and him but he didn't think he was going to have enough sleep.
"This is good enough, I'll leave you both to freshen up," Richard announced.
He was about to go when Damon and Ryan put their hands on his shoulder at the same time. It was a sign of support and encouragement.
"You'll be fine man. Just go face her and end it once," Ryan advised.
Richard only nodded and left the room.
"I'll freshen up first and you can have the room to yourself," Damon declared before dashing into the bathroom.
When he was done, he changed into the clothes that were provided in the wardrobe. A pair of white shorts and a shirt. He also saw a white flip flop which he slipped his legs into. Then he walked out of the room. Ryan was more than happy to have the room to himself. Damon chuckled as he walked out of the room.
He was heading to the living room when he heard Malia's harsh voice. He paused. It had not been his initial plan to overhear their conversation but he couldn't help it.
"Don't touch me! I don't even know who or what you are anymore!" Malia snapped.
Damon flinched at her tone but he remained where he was. He didn't have to try so hard in listening since he was a werewolf. He wasn't just any werewolf but the Alpha. His hearing ability was stronger and sharper than any of the other werewolves.
"I'm sorry baby, I did—" Richard was saying before he got cut off.
"Don't call me baby! I'm not your baby! You don't have the right to call me baby!" She yelled.
"Malia, don't do this to me, please. I love you, I truly do," Richard pleaded. There was pain in his voice.
"Lies! If you truly did then you wouldn't have kept your secret from me. You would have told me everything," Malia counterattacked with words.
"I wanted to tell you. I truly did," Richard pleaded.
"Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you?" She demanded.
Richard hesitated. It took him a while to speak. Damon could imagine the tension in the room. He could imagine Malia's hands were folded as she glared at him while Richard avoided her eyes.
"I was scared of losing you," Richard said and walked out of the room to the living room.
Damon followed him there and met Richard seated on the sofa. His head was buried in his hands and his body shook. He was crying. He was hurt. Damon couldn't stand seeing his friend in that condition.
He turned and went to knock at Malia's room. She opened slightly and was surprised to see Damon standing there.
"Can I have a word with you?" Damon asked.
She furrowed her brows, as if contemplating whether to have the conversation or not. She finally nodded and allowed him in.
"Since you know of our existence and you're somehow connected to the prophecy, there's no harm in you knowing this," Damon began.
"Werewolves are blessed with mates once in a lifetime by the moon goddess. The kind of connection a werewolf has with his mate is beyond your imagination. Mates can sense each other in danger. They can sense each other's pain. They can help each other build and they can help each other for a lifetime." Damon explained.
"Just one mate? What if something happened to one of them? Will the other die?" Malia asked.
"This depends on how strong the surviving Werewolf is. Some don't survive the pain, they are unable to live with it. Others find a way to keep going due to the hope of revenge or vengeance," Damon answered and paused. Then he continued.
"You see Richard over there, he chose you. This is the first time in centuries since the last time that a werewolf was granted a human mate. It's a rare phenomenon."
"So I'm the only human mate, as you call it?" Malia asked.
"Yes you are and you still have a long way to go, especially with the Odd Ones Out looking for you," Damon answered.
Malia squeezed her face at the sound of that name. The Odd Ones Out.
"This isn't the time to fight with your mate. He's devastated. I saw him crying on the sofa. He's heartbroken and alone, go heal his broken heart," Damon pushed her.
Malia said nothing. She remained silent. Damon saw this as his cue to leave. He had helped enough.
He went to sit with Richard. He had calmed himself down but his eyes were sore. His always glowing skin for the first time looked pale. He looked up at Damon and managed a smile.
"You don't need to look so pitiful Richard," Damon teased him and he couldn't help but laugh. Although, the laugh died down shortly.
"I can't live without Malia. She's my world. She's everything that I've got," Richard told Damon.
"I know and you have to protect her from those extinct wolves. I wonder how she's connected to all this. There was no human or anything about a phoenix in the prophecy," Damon pondered.
"Has there been prophecies before this or after?" Richard asked.
"That I can't say." Damon shrugged.
"What if the prophecy isn't complete?" Richard asked.
"What do you mean not complete? If it isn't complete then it won't work in everybody's favor," Damon answered.
"I'm not saying someone kept a piece of the information away on purpose. It's been so long. What if they're forgetting something not told? Or maybe an additional prophecy was added to help guide this one," Richard suggested.
Damon remained quiet as he thought of the implications of Richard's words. It could be true. There could be more to the prophecy. Zedicus couldn't possibly know everything. He could be forgetting something. There could be a detail he forgot to mention and felt irrelevant. What if that detail had things concerning Malia and her phoenix which Alexia had mentioned?
Damon was starting to realise that the game wasn't being played fairly because they hardly even knew what was going on and how things were connected to one another.
"Richard, if you're right about this; then how do we go searching for the missing piece of a prophecy from a thousand years ago?" Damon asked the dying question.