DAMON'S POV
"How do you feel today?" I ask Morgana once she opens her eyes. She startles in surprise as she stares at me wide eyed. I know it's creepy but I stayed next to her bed all night.
"I feel the same." She answers simply giving me a weird look. There's still hate in her eyes when she looks at me. I wish I could replace the hate with something else, a different feeling.
"How's your head?" I ask her.
"You don't have to pretend to care anymore. I'm not dead so you don't have to feel guilty for what your brother did." Morgana says turning her gaze away from me.
"I'm not pretending. I-"
"Damon!" Ryder suddenly barges into my room making me cut my sentence short. I look at him with surprise and dash towards him. He shouldn't be back so soon. They only left for the search yesterday.
"What are you doing here Ryder? What happened?" I ask him with worry. He sweaty and he looks like he's been running a marathon.
"It's Reece." He mention's Reece's name and my eyes nearly pop out of their sockets. A million thoughts run through my mind at the mention of his name. Is he dead? Was he able to escape? Did they find him?
"What about Reece Ryder?" I ask him impatiently.
"Colton and I found him in an abandoned cave. Drained of blood. Nearly dead." He says quickly to me.
"What!?" I ask Ryder in shock. "Is he dead?"
"No. I carried him back here. He's not dead but he lost a lot of blood. He's unconscious right now." Ryder explains.
"Where is he? Take me to him." I demand and Ryder nods at me as he leads to Reece. I glance at Morgana one last time before leaving my room. She and I haven't been able to have a normal conversation even once. She's either calling me a monster or we're getting interrupted.
Ryder leads me to Reece's room and my face falls when I see him lying almost dead on his bed. His body has lost all its color and his face is covered in bruises.
"What the hell did they do to him?" I ask under my breath as I move closer to his bed.
"Colton and I suspect they tortured him. To try and get the secret to our strength out of him. Colton believes he told them our secret and that's why the vampires left him there. They probably thought he was dead and left to a new hide out in a hurry." Ryder explains.
"I should have never listened to the vampire lord's warning. He would have killed Reece anyways. If I had continued tracking him then, we would have probably already found him by now." I say in frustration as I pace around the room.
"This is no time for regrets brothers." Ryder says to me putting a hand on my shoulder.
"Where is Colton anyways?" I ask Ryder.
"He stayed back. He thought Reece betrayed us and didn't want to compromise the mission. But I had to bring him back. I couldn't let him die. And Damon, I don't believe for one second that Reece betrayed us. He was too loyal to you. He would never do something like that." Ryder explains.
"Did Colton continue the search all alone? That's dangerous. It's almost night fall and the vampires are stronger at night. He's in danger." I say worrying about my brother's safety.
"He has the serum in his system." Ryder states.
"Colton is strong, there's no doubt about that. But if too many vampires come at him at once, he won't stand a chance even if he has the serum in his system. We were able to win the war three years ago because we fought together. Our union is what made us strong. But Colton is out there all on his own. He's in danger.
"Colton is smart Damon. He won't let himself get captured. I'll go back for him first thing tomorrow." Ryder says to me trying to assure me but I can't help but have a bad feeling. I feel like something is about to go terribly wrong.
Ever since the vampires came back, I feel like I haven't been making the right decisions as an alpha. We haven't made any progress whatsoever and the vampires keep winning. And I can't help but feel guilty about it.
"Fist thing tomorrow." I repeat to Ryder. We both leave Reece alone in the room so he can get some rest. Ryder goes to his room while I go back to Morgana.
I get into my room and slam the door behind me. I exhale deeply as I contemplate on all the things that could go wrong with Colton being all alone in the woods. I try to convince myself that he's the Beta for crying out loud. He has the serum in his system and he's a good soldier. He'll survive.
I contemplate on whether I should go after him or not. But going after Colton will mean leaving Morgana here all alone again and I just can't bring myself to do that.
As I contemplate, I come to a decision. I'll leave her with Ryder. Ryder is basically harmless to humans. He has compassion for them. I can let him take care of Morgana in my absence.
"What happened?" Morgana suddenly asks from the bed.
I glance towards her and stop my pacing. I walk closer to the bed and take a seat beside her. I can't tell if she's asking out of curiosity or if she really cares but I answer her anyways.
"Ryder brought Reece back. The vampires drained him of his blood and abandoned him thinking he was dead. Colton is still out there searching for the vampires. He's all alone." I explain to her and she gives me a blank look.
I know she doesn't give a fuck about Reece or Colton.
"You have a secret, don't you?" She suddenly asks.
"What do you mean?" I question her.
"The vampires almost killed Reece. He was an important prisoner and the only thing they had to hold against you. If they tried to kill him that means they got something out of him and he became useless to them. Something that could help them defeat you." Morgana states as she looks me in the eyes.
"How long have you suspected I had a secret?" I simply ask her.
"Anyone with a brain would suspect you. You defeated the vampires too easily in the war. You must have done something to achieve your victory, and now, the vampires know what it is." She explains nonchalantly. Her voice is starting to sound better, stronger.
"I'm leaving. To find Colton. He's out there all alone and he needs backup." I state getting a reaction out of her. She looks at me with fear in her eyes. She might not say it out loud but I know she doesn't want me to go. She's starting to feel safe around me even though she won't admit it yet.
She knows I'm the only thing stopping the other werewolves from hurting her.
"Ryder will look after you for as long as I'm gone. You'll be safe with him." I say trying to assure her.
She frowns and turns her head away from me. I feel bad leaving her here but I can't abandon my brother. I have to make sure he's safe.