“No, that’s not going to happen.” She shook her head. “You must have another think coming if you think I’m going to sleep in bed with you…I would rather sleep under the bed or in the dungeon.”
“Really?” He raised an eyebrow in question. “Because I’ll take you back to the dungeon if that’s what you desire.” Her eyes widened in fear; not giving a reply, she rushed to the bed, getting under the covers and shutting her eyes tight. “Better.”
“Don’t just lay close to me,” she muttered, moving closer to the edge of the bed.
“You sure you don’t want me close to you?” He laughed at her curled-up form. “The night is cold. I could provide you with some body heat if you want, keep you warm and—”
“No, thank you!”
The night was the longest Damien had ever experienced. Delphine had fallen asleep even before he got under the covers. This surprised Damien because she had made it clear that she didn’t trust him, yet she was able to sleep so peacefully. He had stayed up for hours, staring at the darkness above before sleep approached. But still, he was awoken by a kick to his ribs; Delphine was currently fighting in her dream and was kicking everything away.
Damien frowned, going closer. “Bluey?” He called, but she paid no attention to him; it was obvious that she was having a bad dream. “Bluey!” He called again, a bit alarmed this time. He gripped her shoulders, trying to wake her up.
She was drenched in her own sweat, which Damien found strange because the room was at a cool temperature. “Mum,” he heard her whisper. “Please don’t go. Mum!” Her eyes flew open.
“Hey, it’s just a dream, alright.” Damien didn’t know what to do; he had never been faced with a situation like that before. “Please wake up.” He gathered her in his arms, rocking her gently. “Hey, you’re alright, you just had a bad dream, okay? You are going to be fine.” For a moment, they stayed like that while he rocked her slowly till she had calmed down.
Damien wasn’t expecting the aggressive push Delphine gave him, just when he thought she was already asleep. “I told you not to touch me!” She scrambled away. “Why were your hands on me?”
He scoffed in disbelief. “I was trying to—”
“I don’t care.” She moved back to her former position, under the covers. Pulling them up to her chin, she rolled to her side. “You really shouldn’t touch women without their permission.”
“Are you kidding me?” he muttered after a few minutes of silence. “I asked the goddess for a mate…she gave me a crackhead. Great, just great.”
~
“Luca!” Vivian approached the Beta while he was training the trainees, who were training to be the new addition to the warriors. “I need to speak with you.” She turned to the trainees who had been listening to Luca.
“Okay. I don’t want to speak to you, though,” he said, not paying her any attention, as he kept reading from the book he held in his hands. “If you can take two steps away from me, I don’t want you close to me.” She ignored what he had said and instead took a step closer.
“Who is Damien seeing?” She questioned.
“What?”
Vivian sighed. “I went to Damien’s room last night and there was someone in there with him.”
“Oh-kay,” he said slowly. “Guys, how about you go practice in the field? When I’m done here, I’ll call you back.” They nodded, happy to be free from Luca’s lecture, they hurried away. “Now Vivian, you should be careful of what you say around here, you’re Damien’s… Forget that. How should I know who Damien was with last night? Unlike you, Vivian, I was in my room sleeping last night, while you chose to go—
“Damien is my boyfriend and I can see him whenever I want. I know him more than anyone and know what he feels for me.”
“Then why are you here? If you know so much about him, why are you asking me questions you should already have the answer to?”
She placed her palms on her waist. She wasn’t surprised by this as she had always expected things like this from Luca. The two had never gotten along; ever since they were little, it was always the two of them fighting. “I know you don’t approve of our relationship but I don’t care. But one day I’m going to be the future Luna and there’s nothing you can do about that.”
“Listen, Vivian,” he dropped his book and faced her. “I’m going to try my best and be nice to you, so here is the truth. You are not Damien’s mate, you are not going to be the future Luna of the pack and you already know that, so stop deceiving yourself, it’s sad.” A day ago, Luca wasn’t sure about what he had just said. In fact, whenever he knelt to pray, one point he never forgot to ask was that Vivian doesn’t end up as Damien’s mate. Now that he knew who Damien’s mate was and it wasn’t Vivian, he was happy.
She was offended by his words, but it wasn’t the first time that she was hearing it. “When I become Luna, the first thing I’ll do is rip you off your position as the pack’s Beta and I’ll give it to the one you hate the most, just to spite you.”
“Yeah, things don’t work like that.” He turned to get his book while Vivian stormed away. But he wasn’t interested in the book anymore, rather at what Vivian just said. “She must be referring to Bluey.” A smirk grew on his face. “Damien, that rabbit, can’t keep his hands off his mate.”
Vivian’s next destination was the palace. She needed to see Damien or she felt she would go crazy. Sneaking past the guards at the entrance, because no lady was allowed to see Damien unless it was his mate, a friend, or was coming over for an important talk. She rushed up the stairs to Damien’s room, when she ran into a teenage girl.
“Who are you and what are you doing in the palace?” Vivian eyed Delphine. She had never seen her before and since Delphine wasn’t dressed as a maid, it meant to her that she was of some importance. “Are you a friend of Da—wait a minute, who did you say you are again?”
Delphine knew this was Damien’s girlfriend, she recognized the voice as that of the lady from the previous night. “I did not introduce myself to you earlier.” She crossed her arm before her. Though Vivian was taller, Delphine still eyed her, trying to look a bit intimidating, but by the look on Vivian’s face, it was obvious that it wasn’t working.
“Are you the girl that was in Damien’s room last night? You’re the one, right?” Her tone changed to angry and fierce at the last word. She walked up to her, gripping Delphine by the elbow. “Bitch, what were you doing with my boyfriend?”
“Your boyfriend?” Delphine asked in a panicked voice, trying to free her hand from Vivian’s hold, but Vivian, who was a trained werewolf, was much stronger. “Let go of my hand, you crazy woman!”
“What’s going on—Vivian?” Damien had been bringing Delphine fresh clothes. He had gone to his room, but she wasn’t there, and then he had heard the voices. “What are you doing here?” He looked from an angry Vivian to a frustrated-looking Delphine. “Bluey, are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Tell your girlfriend to let go of my hand, or I may be forced to bring damage to her pretty face.” Delphine’s words provoked Vivian.
“Bitch—”
“Vivian, that’s enough, let go of her now!” Damien commanded, Vivian obeyed the moment she heard the Alpha’s voice. “Go back, I’ll come see you later this evening.”
“You raise your voice at me? And you’re sending me away because of her?” She pointed at Delphine, who was rubbing her elbows, now free of Vivian’s grip. “Who is she to you? She’s the one in your room last night?
“Yes. Vivian, there is something I wanted to tell you, but seriously, I didn’t want to do it this way… I was hoping we could have a more mature talk. She…” He looked a bit reluctant to speak and he looked at Bluey. “She’s my mate.”
Vivian gave off no reaction and Damien wondered if she had heard what he said. He was about to speak, but she spoke up first. “Her, this thing—”
“Don’t call her that, Vivian.”
“She’s your mate? Like your mate? Is this a joke you and Luca are pulling on me?” She rushed to Damien, throwing her arms around him. “Did I do something? I’m sorry.”
“Vivian, you didn’t do anything. Listen, how about we discuss this later?”
“Discuss later? What else do you want to say to me? You’re breaking up with me to be with her.”
“He’s not going to be with him,” Delphine spoke up after watching the two for a while. “In fact, he’s not going to break up with you because I’m going to be leaving soon. So, you can keep your boyfriend to yourself.”
“Don’t listen to anything she says,” Damien told Vivian. “She hit her head somewhere.”