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The movement of a chair woke Eliana up from her deep slumber. She slowly opened her eyes only to shut them tight again, groaning in pain. Her head was throbbing, and when she went to feel what hurt so much, she blinked, surprised to feel a fabric like a bandage wrapped around her head. Usually, a vampire would heal faster than a human, but her not feeding on blood also took that ability away.
Confused, she opened her eyes again and immediately was bewildered by the good-looking man with forest green eyes sitting next to her bed looking attentively at her. Not believing what she saw, she rubbed her eyes with the back of her hands. It couldn't be the stranger with those gorgeous eyes which had haunted her dreams. Staring back at him and furrowing her brows, her memories gradually returned.
Panicking, she hastily sat up and pressed her body toward the wall to create more distance between her and the stranger. Although she had thought of him continuously, it all was in her head, and she never imagined seeing him again. This situation was too scary and overwhelming for her.
Damien didn't move so as not to scare her further and tried to soothe her with his calming voice. "I didn't introduce myself last time. My name is Damien. Don't be afraid, you are safe, and nobody will harm you here. You should rest more - I hit you harder than I wanted. I apologize."
'What is he talking about? Where did he come from?' Eliana looked at him, puzzled, and held her head with one hand. "Ah, my head. You – you – What are you doing here? What happened? And where did you bring me?" It was hard to concentrate on anything other than Eliana's pain.
"I will answer all your questions once you have rested enough, and for now, you needn't worry about anything." His eyes showed concern, and his words seemed genuine, making her relax. How he looked at her and his handsome face captivated Eliana once more, putting her in a trance.
Unbeknownst to her, she was not the only one affected because Damien was dazed too, staring at her beautiful face and her ocean-blue eyes. It felt surreal to him to have her nearby. Pulling both back to reality, he got up, saying, "I will leave you to sleep comfortably.", and left the room.
Feeling dizzy and in too much pain, Eliana laid back in bed and decided to trust him. After getting the much-needed rest, Eliana felt much better. She stood up and quietly wandered around the house to find her whereabouts. The door to the room next to hers was open, and she could see it was a bathroom. Thinking that it would be alright for her to use it, she went inside to refreshen herself.
After a few minutes, she returned and continued exploring the house. She followed the long hallway with several doors on both sides until she reached the staircase. The house was quite big. Like a cat, she descended the stairs and was greeted by the main entrance at the end of the stairs. To her right, she could see the reception room furnished with comfortable chairs and sofas, a fireplace, and a piano. The dining room was to her left and contained a large table, chairs, and a sideboard. It all looked luxurious and inviting. Eliana had never been to such a high-end house and was taken aback by all the glamour.
Standing in front of the entrance door, it was evident that this was her chance to leave. But her curiosity was stronger than her fear and pulled her toward the clattering noise of utensils from the kitchen where Damien was busy chopping some vegetables and had his back turned toward Eliana.
His hearing was extraordinary as a werewolf, so he knew she had been walking around the house. He wanted to find out what she would do, so he let her be and was positively surprised that she didn't take off at the first opportunity. "Good, you are awake." He turned his head over his shoulder and smiled at her. "Why don't you take a seat? Dinner is almost ready."
Eliana flinched at him unexpectedly speaking to her but sat down. It was odd that she trusted him, although she had only met him several times. It felt like she had known him forever, and her gut told her he would protect her no matter what.
"How are you feeling?" He tried to have a little small talk before getting into serious matters and was still occupied preparing dinner. His long wavy hair was collected in a bun, and he wore a black tunic with light brown pants. Although it looked like he was at ease, his heart was racing, knowing she was watching him from behind.
"I feel much better, thank you. It smells delicious. Do you cook often?"
"Honestly, I don't cook. There is exactly one dish that I can do, and that is what you will be getting tonight. It's a traditional stew from my hometown." He said while trying the liquid with a spoon brooding in a pot.
"Damien, was it?" he nodded to her question without looking at her, "Where is your hometown? Where are we? Why are you here? And why did you help me?" He chuckled at all her questions and could understand that she needed an explanation.
"I thought we could wait until dinner for the questioning, but I can see you are not a patient woman. – My hometown is Agora's capital Lothaire, and this is, in fact, my house, or rather it is a safehouse we use from time to time in the fancier part of Laros. As you know, werewolves are not welcome in Paxos, meaning we must conduct our business here secretly."
Knowing that the food would take some more time to cook, he placed two glasses of water on the kitchen table where Eliana sat and placed himself in the chair around the table corner.
"Regarding me being here and helping you, we kept tabs on you two girls after all the death we caused during the town fair. We didn't aim to hurt innocent people and were sorry for the trouble we created for you. Hence, I knew what was happening and came to rescue you." Damien was proud of his lies. Since the honest answer would scare her away, he devised several excuses.
Eliana's forehead wrinkled as she couldn't put the pieces together. They had only met once, and that was six months ago. Why would he care about her so much to stay informed about her?
"Why did you not help before? Why didn't you ever contact us if you cared so much?"
"With time, you will understand why we couldn't interfere before, but I swear to you that I only mean well and –"
"You mean well? Haha, and why should I believe you? The last time I trusted you, you killed 30 humans, and you also killed those two werewolves I wanted to save. Now that I think about it, you also were the one to hit me hard enough to make me faint!" her tone became a little angry and frustrated. She wasn't sure where all these emotions came from, but probably, she had bottled them up for the past months and needed to get them out of her system. In addition, Damien was the one responsible for her current dilemmas and, as such, the right recipient for her hostile demeanor.
The conversation didn't go as he had anticipated, and Damien became insecure. "I can explain if you let me." Eliana looked at him for a long time trying to read his motives but then decided that she wanted to be left in peace and not get more involved.
"Look, my best friend is probably worried sick about me because I was supposed to be home by now. I feel much better and am thankful to you for letting me rest. But I should be going before this gets more complicated. Being near you has only brought me inconvenience."
Damien couldn't help but get annoyed at her. The situation was everything but convenient for him. He was the heir to Agora, was supposed to be at home taking care of business, just assaulted two vampires, which could bring him retribution, and did not like the fact that his mate turned out to be a human – and she thinks it was bothersome for her.