Damon: The A'rouk Brothers: A BBW Paranornal Read online

  “Are you sure?” There had been a rumor that one had been lost during the alien-human war and was some place on the Earth. He had searched for it more than once.

  Dante merely raised an eyebrow a habit he seemed to have adopted recently.

  “If you’re not interested.” He turned his back preparing to leave.

  “I didn’t say that.”

  A smile tugged at his lips, he made sure it was gone before he turned back around.

  “You can’t go like that.”

  No he couldn’t he should have been sleeping or resting, but he had gotten up in the middle of the night and started working. He felt driven to figure this out before any of his brothers met their mates before he met his mate.

  The Darkness DNA held a curse and any who possessed the DNA was under it whether they liked it or not. The Darkness was the evil that infested the galaxy, terrorizing planets and killing women and children. The curse was a simple one. The minute a cursed male laid his eyes on the female who was to be his mate, The Darkness would come after him to collect his soul. To add one more male to the kingdom of Darkness and to send one more female to hell.

  Mick had been the first to find his mate. The two of them together had battled The Darkness as well as other forces that had come against them. Somehow they had survived, but no one knew how. They didn’t even know.

  Damon willed himself to his room to change his clothes. He grabbed a pair of dark jeans and a white mesh tee and paired them with hiking boots. A quick look in the mirror told him that his hair was free, but he would be in the mountains no humans to scare with it. He decided not to color his eyes for the same reason no one would see them. He located Dante in the living room and willed himself there.

  On one side of his living room were large see-through doors that showed the beauty of a waterfall flowing into a lake that surrounded his property. In the back of his property, he had another waterfall as well as a pool. He had been drawn to water since he was a small child. At least the Scientists had given him that. On the other wall was a beautiful undersea mural. The fish and plant life were vivid and in the corner was an outline of a female. She was thick and curvaceous, but that was all you could see. He had no idea who she was and had only recently added her.

  “I’m ready.”

  Dante passed him the coordinates of the mountain and the general area of where he thought the flower was.

  “Aren’t you coming?”

  “No, I have other things to do. Besides, you’re the one who wants this not me.”

  Damon’s brows lifted and his lips turned down a little. Was it him or did his brother seem to edge around the question? Maybe he was wrong; he’d been frustrated and feeling out of sorts the last couple of months, so maybe he was reading things into his brother’s actions.

  “When you find the flower you’ll want to bring it back here but trust me you can’t. Look for the cave that’s the only place you’ll have protection. Work fast because it won’t last for long.”

  Dante’s head snapped up before he shook whatever happened to him off.

  “Why does everybody think they can break the rules and I won’t retaliate?” He disappeared before Damon could reply.

  That’s how he came to be out in the blazing sun using his symphor as a machete to cut through the thick undergrowth. There were beads of sweat steadily making their way down his face and back as he looked for the precious flower. He would be able to help so many with…

  He stopped and listened. For a moment he thought he heard a soft moan on the air. It was quiet now, but he turned a little to the right going in the direction the wind originated from. He stopped when the smell of blood assaulted his nose. It was several hours old. The healer in him began to sort through the different scents in the air trying to hone in on where the smell was coming from.

  He walked paying closer attention to his surroundings. His symphor was now held at the readiness in case he needed to defend himself. Up ahead he saw a huge boulder with dried blood on it. The blood looked like it had been there for days, but he was sure it was because of the heat. The smell said it was only hours old. He moved following the path of crushed leaves and broken grass. Whoever had been here crawled off they didn’t walk.

  There was a muffled sound of fear and pain that had him stopping in front of a thick group of trees.

  He dropped to his knees and waited until the sound stopped. Someone had probably shoved a hand in their mouth to keep from making a noise.

  “Hi,” his voice dropped becoming soft and soothing. “My name is Damon, and I’m a healer. I noticed that not too far away was a pool of blood. It looked like someone hit that boulder hard. I’m up here looking for a rare flower, but I can’t move on knowing someone is hurt, and I didn’t offer to help them.”

  That wasn’t the total truth. He had hurt many people mostly those trying to take his head or his brother’s. He never stopped to heal them, kill them, but not heal them. That scene with the boulder and the obvious effort the victim had put into getting away touched him. He had seen too many people lie still and admit defeat or try to kill him in the last minute. Whoever was hiding from him had done everything they could to save their life. In the end, it wouldn’t be enough. There was no way they could survive the scene he saw without a physician and he was the best in the galaxies.

  “I’m going to come in just to assess the situation. Maybe you don’t need a doctor, and I’ll be on my way looking for my rare flower.”

  Another moan slipped from whoever was in the trees it was soft and wrapped around his groin. He shook his head even if it was a female back there he wasn’t the kind to get off on pain. Why would it be a female? His lips curled up into a frown at the thought of someone hurting a female for fun and games.

  He pushed back some of the undergrowth and started to make his way through. This place felt like it hadn’t been touched for hundreds of years. It felt like it had been deserted during the war and no one ever came back. Things hadn’t been pretty back then, but to some degree, they were worse now. The line between the haves and the have-nots was thicker easier to see. Poverty was rampant, and so was sickness.

  There was nothing he could do about that now he needed to find his patient. He could hear whoever was in here moving back, but he didn’t change his pace.

  “The flower I’m looking for is blood red with a dark blue center. Have you seen it?”

  “No.”

  The female voice wrapped around him waking him up physically in a way no one had ever done before. He took his symphor and cut away the last of the undergrowth separating them. He needed to see her.

  He took one look at her. Someone help him.

  Chapter Three

  He had found her, his mate. He never understood when Mick almost went ballistic the minute he saw Jaz, but now he understood. There was a part of him that wanted to tackle her, hold her and never let her go. He might have been that crazy with happiness and fear if she wasn’t dying. He could see her systems shutting down.

  She was looking at him with big hazel eyes as he stretched his hand out towards her. Her body flinched fear warring with wonder in her eyes as she looked at him.

  “I told you my name,” he whispered. “You never told me yours.”

  She ducked when he started talking and placed her hands around herself as if she expected the sound of his voice to hurt.

  “River, my name is River. I…” her voice wavered before going silent. She stuck her tongue out and licked her lips slowly turning her head looking for an escape route.

  “You what?”

  “I had an accident.”

  He nodded his head. “You what? Threw yourself on that boulder and when you didn’t kill yourself you crawled off?”

  She shut down on him. Her shoulders came up in her defense, and her hands began to push her body back painfully.

  He sucked in a big breath of air calming himself down. “Accept my apology River; that was uncalled for.”

  She nod
ded but still wasn’t meeting his eyes.

  He took another deep breath to control the murderous feelings going through his body. This was no accident, someone had tried to kill her. He’d know more once he convinced her to allow him to do an exam. Whatever happened she was in danger, and it was his responsibility, his duty, hell his joy to protect her.

  “River,” his hand slid slowly into the pocket of his jeans. “This is my scanner.” He pulled it out and showed it to her. “With this, I can get a good idea of what’s happening internally, and then I’ll know how to fix it.”

  “You want to help me?” She didn’t mean to sound doubtful, but she couldn’t remember the last time someone actively offered her help, and it was only hours since someone tried to kill her.

  “That’s what I do. I help people.” Did he need to tell her he also killed people? That whoever had the audacity to place his hands on her would pay. Was he obligated to tell her that he wanted to take care of her for the rest of his life? Should he say that it was The Created way? It was so much more than that it was his way. The healer in him was wrestling with the male when it came to her. Maybe he should simply smile.

  “That’s nice, helping people I mean.”

  “Does that mean I can scan you?”

  She gave a brief nod of her head but stayed silent. He lifted the scanner then pointed it at her. There was a soft noise as it emitted a small beam of light touching her body as it slowly covered her.

  Her eyes met his when he finally pulled the scanner away to read all the information it was showing him.

  “That boulder wasn’t very nice to your body. I’m pretty impressed that you were able to move at all.”

  So was she. When she finally made it to the trees to hide her strength left her. She fell asleep and didn’t wake until she heard a soft swish in the grass. When she saw him crawl into her hiding place without rustling a leaf she knew that the swish had been a warning for her so she would know someone was close. That was how she knew it wasn’t Sloan even before he spoke.

  “How much longer do I have?”

  “According to my scanner, not long. So I think we should operate on you and prove the scanner wrong.”

  “Do you have a hover?” She hadn’t heard one.

  “No hover. What we need is a cave. I know there is one near here.”

  She licked her lips again; her throat was parched, and she’d give a lot for some water. Unfortunately, she had pictures of the water coming out of her body like a sieve.

  “No water until I patch you up.”

  She nodded her head not that it mattered. There was no doctor that could cure what was broken inside of her.

  “What good will a cave do?” Was he taking her there to die? It wasn’t a bad idea better than doing it in the open.

  “That’s where I will be able to heal you.” He saw the doubtful look on her face and chose not to stress the point. He would be doubtful too if his brother hadn’t gone to the trouble of telling him to take his flower to the cave when he found her. Dante had an interesting sense of humor.

  “Stay right here I’ll be back.” If looks could kill, he’d be dead. Yeah maybe he had an interesting sense of humor too.

  He turned to leave then turned back and placed a shield around her; nothing would be able to get to her. She wouldn’t be able to leave either, but she wasn’t in any condition to move. He followed his instincts there was a path that was easy to walk. Someone had been through here not that long ago. About two miles up he found a cave, a quick look inside verified it was empty. More importantly, it held what he would need to heal his mate.

  He felt a flash of shame for a minute after silently accusing Dante of not caring about the family. Then he got over it. He knew Dante cared he just needed to share more. He turned around making his way quickly down the slight incline to his mate. She wasn’t going to last much longer without him to heal her.

  “River?” He stepped into the shield kneeling beside her.

  Her eyes didn’t open but her lips tilted up just a bit. “You came back.” Her voice was a little slurred.

  “I came back.” He took her in his arms lifting and carrying her carefully.

  “Put me down; I’m too big for you to carry.”

  “No, you’re not.”

  “You’ll hurt your back.” She rested her head on his shoulder before she sighed peacefully. “I dreamed about you.”

  “What were we doing?”

  “Kissing.”

  He almost stumbled at the picture that popped into his head. Her brown cheeks flushed making him wish he could touch them.

  “We will do that after your well.”

  “Nobody wants a big woman. The new health craze, eat synthetic food and lose weight. Pretty is skinny.”

  “I’ll never feed you synthetic food.” He looked down she had passed out. “You’re beautiful River one day I’ll say that, and you’ll believe me.”

  He walked the rest of the way to the cave listening to his heartbeat that tried to tell him to hurry, or he would lose his mate. If he jarred her, the bone close to her heart would pierce it. All he could do was use his healing ability to keep her heart beating while he walked.

  The cave was dark and cool. Fortunately, his brother remembered to place a couple of lights inside so he could see perfectly. There was an operating table as well as a medbed. He would need both, but first, he needed to set up a sterile field. There was a manual one they used on battlefields waiting for him. He placed it carefully then hit a sequence of buttons that had it unfolding and sterilizing the air within its confines.

  A move of his hand stripped River before he placed her in a gown. He also changed his clothes to scrubs that would allow him room to move. Then he sterilized both of them before he carried her into the field and laid her on the bed. He was operating in the field on his mate. What had his life come to? Dante said to hurry he didn’t have much time.

  Standing over her, he placed his hands on her abdomen and closed his eyes. His body fell away as he entered hers. She was more damaged on the inside than he thought. It looked like someone had taken a sharp instrument to her organs and cut them repeatedly several times. There was also the damage from the fall. One of her ribs had broken and was puncturing her heart. He would have to open her up to fix that. He withdrew reaching for his instruments. He pulled out his Lasurg it would make the thinnest incision possible over her chest allowing him to pull back enough skin, bone, and muscle to reach her heart.

  He stopped and reached for his detachment. This is what he used when he operated and cared for his brothers. He needed to make the best possible decisions without letting his feelings get in the way. He made two incisions before he reached down and cracked her chest. Just another patient he lied to himself. The rib was easy he was able to carefully maneuver it back in place, and then use another tool to begin to mend it. Her heart, as well as all the other damage, was a different story.

  He pulled out a small tool that would crawl through her body and look for blood vessels that were leaking it would mend the leaks and alert him of any it could not seal. Once that was done, he allowed his body to fall away as he once again entered her. He moved to the damage done by the fall repairing muscle as well as touching her heart and repairing the puncture. She had several broken bones that he tended to. How had she moved?

  He went through her body and found damage on the soles of her feet. It looked as if she were internally beaten by a laser whip. What could inflict this damage? His body became a beacon of light that started the healing process on whatever organ he touched. He spent a lot of time on her liver and lungs. It looked like those organs had repeatedly been beaten. He flowed through her body until he reached her reproductive organs. Someone meant to make it impossible for her ever to conceive a child.

  He spent extra time putting her back together. It would be her choice if she ever chose to have a child, but he wanted her to have that choice. Once done he kept moving downward. There were still her feet,
and he was sure he would find more damage. He could feel his strength waning, but he knew it all had to be done now. There was no telling how much time he had left before The Darkness found him.

  If he was sure of one thing, it was that it would come to collect his soul. When he was sure that he would fail he felt his brothers pour into him giving him the energy he needed to finish the job. He sent them each a thank you as he left her body and sealed her chest back together. She was going to have a faint line where he cut her. There were some parts of the body that held onto bruising. The chest was one of them.

  He might die, but River would live. He moved her to the medbed and sealed it imputing instructions for her care. He fell into the bed that was laid out next to it and allowed his eyes to close.

  Chapter Four

  He pulled his symphor to him without opening his eyes. With a flick of his wrist, it sailed across the cave. He could hear it slicing through the air before he heard the hard sound of it digging deep into a chest. Then there was a gasp as if the minion it killed couldn’t believe what was happening before his body fell to the ground with a loud thump. His symphor was back, and he sent it sailing through the air at another victim before a field surrounded him.

  His eyes opened allowing him to see and feel the heaviness of the shadows around him. His symphor hung in the air caught in the same containment field that held him captive. A containment field, he felt the need to gnash his teeth. He learned to break out of this type of shield when he was three, but now he was caught and unable to move. That was enough to let him know that whoever crept around in the shadows belonged to The Darkness.

  They had come to claim his soul. How had they even known he met his mate? His beautiful mate who was asleep in the medbed. He tried harder to free himself knowing it was useless even as fear something he didn’t feel as a Created flooded him. What would they do to River?