Delphine had been having the best time of her life in the palace. No one knew who she was, not the maids or the guards, but Damien had given an instruction that she be respected and taken care of, and they had all taken that order seriously.
Damien, on the other hand, was handling the ceremony that was held for the return of his parents while trying to stay as far away from Delphine. The bond between them grew stronger every day, and from what Delphine had told him of her past, he now understood why she didn’t feel anything for him. A werewolf cannot mate if they haven’t taken their wolf form. Though they will have a mate, they would hold or feel nothing for them till they turn. That was the situation Damien was in and he didn’t like it.
Another reason he had to stay away from Delphine was because the bond didn’t just create the feeling of protection over her but also stirred other desires in places he didn’t want them. Damien didn’t want to lay a hand on Delphine because she was still underage and also the fact that she didn’t seem to have any feelings for him.
“Dude!” Damien jumped, snapping out from his thoughts. “What’s going through your head? You have been staring at your pen for hours.”
Damien rolled his eyes. “Don’t exaggerate, Luca. I was just thinking of something else…” He drifted away again. “Do you think she hates me?”
“Who? Vivian?” Luca scoffed. “Please don’t tell me you’re thinking about that chick?”
“No, not Vivian, Delphine.” After threatening that he wouldn’t give her breakfast and would send her back to the dungeon if she didn’t tell him her real name, she finally opened up.
“Oh good. Speaking of Vivian, I haven’t seen that crazy chick for a while…I bet you she is up to something. I mean, it’s Vivian, she is always up to something.”
“Trust me, Luca, Vivian is the last thing on my mind. I’m talking about Delphine. Do you think she hates me? Do you think there’s something I should be doing that I’m not doing?”
Luca gave his friend a suspicious smile. “Why do you ask all this anyways? I thought you said you felt nothing for her and the only reason she’s still here is because she’s your mate.”
“Exactly, I said that.”
“So, why are you so bothered if you don’t care? Seems to me like you do care a little about her.” He poked Damien, who slapped his hands away. “Ouch.”
“Poke me again and I’ll bite your fingers off, and you’re right, I don’t feel anything for her. I’m just…it’s just the mate bond. Come on, I haven’t even known this girl for a week, is it that easy to develop feelings for someone? I just care, and that’s all,” he concluded.
“Have you told your parents?”
“That I’ve found my mate? Of course not.”
“What? Why? Shouldn’t they be the first to be aware of this?”
“Well, they are coming home soon anyway, they’ll meet Delphine when they get here and seriously, this is the least of my worries…Let’s just go with things slowly. I don’t even want to think of Delphine, don’t mention her name again.”
“Fine.” Luca sighed. “I won’t mention her name again. Anyways, the reason I’m here is to ask you to come to the training ground with me. The trainees are feeling really down and I was hoping you could come and give some like…inspirational words.”
“Inspirational words? Why don’t you give them the words yourself, you have the mouth.”
“Yeah, but I’m lazy.”
~
Lila had arrived at the palace that day to take Delphine out for a look around the pack. “I don’t know why the Alpha is keeping you around in the palace, but I’m so glad you’re still here and of course out of the dungeon.”
“Yeah,” Delphine said. She couldn’t tell Lila that she was Damien’s mate. She knew deep down that she could be Damien’s mate, judging from the dreams she had about him, but she felt nothing for him, just found him really attractive. Delphine couldn’t deny that Damien was attractive. There was no doubt in that. From his midnight black hair to the evergreen eyes. She loved his smile, the way his eyes lit up whenever he saw something that caught his interest, but what she loved the most was the way he looked at her when he thought she wasn’t looking.
“You are lucky though, not everyone is allowed in the palace unless it’s for a really important reason. I am only allowed in there because of Daciana.”
“Who is Daciana?” Delphine asked.
“She is the Alpha’s sister. You’ve met her before, she was the one you saw on your first day here.”
“Oh,” Delphine remembered her. “She’s… She’s kinda scary.”
Lila laughed. “No, she isn’t. Daciana is amazing. I know she can be intimidating at times, but that’s because she didn’t know who you were and when you were brought here everyone thought you were a threat.”
“Really? Did they take a look at me? I was all bag and bones then, what could I possibly do to harm any of them?”
“Well, you’re looking better now…So, is there anything between you and the Alpha?”
“What?”
“Word around the pack is that the Alpha has broken up with Vivian and you are his new girlfriend.”
“Oh wow.” Delphine laughed. “It’s nice to see that I’m kinda famous.”
“You have to be careful, Delphine. I mean, don’t go places at night, and if you really need to, have someone by your side.”
“W-what do you mean?” Delphine was worried by the tone in her voice. “Am I in trouble? I mean, no one can harm me…no one wants to harm me right?”
“Delphine, do you know the number of girls that are after Damien in this pack?”
“Damien?”
“The only reason no one came after Vivian is because her father is one of the elders, and she’s kinda powerful around here, no one would dare come close to her. But now that it’s going around Damien has broken up with Vivian and is now involved with you.”
“But n-nothing has happened between Damien and I. He is definitely not and will never… will never be involved with me.”
“Well, they don’t know that and I’m afraid a few of those crazy girls will try and come after you. So, just try your best and stay on the safe side,” she warned. Just then, Delphine noticed a group of girls, they were all discussing under a tree and were all sending her malicious looks.
“Like them?” She asked.
“Exactly.”
~
She closed the door behind her slowly, trying her best not to make any noise. Once she succeeded in shutting the door, she hurried into the room. “Michael?” No reply came back. “Michael, where are you?”
“Vivian, is that you?” A voice came from a dark place in the room, it was followed by some rustling sound and then a light came on. “I told you to always knock when you enter here. One day I’ll think it’s someone else and then you might get hurt.”
“Oh, shut up. I need your help with something.”
“Does this have to do with your dear boyfriend breaking up with you?”
“He didn’t break up with me!” She snapped. “He is simply going through a hard time and has his thoughts and feelings all jumbled up. All he needs is a little time and space, which I’m willing to give him, and then my boyfriend will be back.”
“I told you to leave that guy, Vivian.”
“You don’t decide who I end up with, Michael, just shut it and mind your business-”
“That’s enough, I’m not ready for your disrespect. Why are you here anyway? What do you want this time?” He asked.
“There’s a girl in the palace-”
Michael threw his head back, laughing. “I knew it, you only come to me when you feel threatened. It’s the new girl everyone is talking about, right? Her presence in the palace is getting to you, isn’t it? I knew you would be here the moment I heard about her. Who is she to Damien?”
“None of your business, and will you let me speak?”
“Go on.”
“I need you to take care of her for me.”
“You have to be specific in your words. What do you mean by taking care of her? And remember, with whatever you want, you know the price.”
“The money isn’t the problem, Michael, I can handle that. I don’t want you to kill her, just…beat her up and then take her far away from here, so Damien will never set his eyes again on her.”
“I see…You really don’t think Damien wouldn’t know you had a hand in this if something happens to her?”
“Leave that to me, I’ll take care of that.”