Damian's POV I chased after Olivia, determined to catch up to her and explain myself to her, but she was simply too quick on her feet. "Liv, please." I called out to her but she simply wasn't listening. How on earth did she even come to find out about the Forgers? Who had told her? Aside from that, there was the problem with my father who just couldn't keep a secret. Despite my warnings, he had gone ahead to betray me. Angry, I stormed to his room to have a word with him. He was taking this obsession with me being Alpha way too far, and it was clearly affecting my relationship with Olivia. I made it to his room in mere seconds and found it empty. Frustrated, I turned to head for the garden, and only then did I catch sight of him on the other side of the passage. I could tell he had seen me too because he had suddenly changed paths in a bid to avoid us running into each other. "Coward!" I cursed inwardly while I raced to apprehend him. "Are you going to run away from me
Damian's POV "Your mother was not my true mate, Stefan's mother was." Alexander started and I felt my blood run cold just because of that sentence. So Stefan wasn't even my blood brother? And father had two wives? What was going on here? "Your mother and I were in love, but she wasn't my mate. When I found my true mate, Stefan's mother, I just couldn't connect with her emotionally. I loved your mother so much that my mate bond felt like a burden. I neglected Eliza, never loved her, and treated her like she was nothing short of a regret. When your mother passed, my hatred for her grew even further." Alexander paused for a moment, taking a deep breath and a second to catch a glimpse of the stunned look on my face. "But Stefan's mother was a witch, at least that's what most people believed. They said she was responsible for the death of your mother, and I gave into the rumors. She loathed me, and after giving birth to Stefan she cursed me, saying that my son would never find happine
Olivia's POVMy anxiety continued to rise as I waited in my room, my fingers trembling nervously while my heart threatened to break out of my chest. It had already been two hours since Michael, my fiance, had left the house, and he was yet to be back. Today was our wedding day, and we were supposed to drive to the church together. "Has he abandoned me? Have I really been dumped on my wedding day?" I questioned myself while I bit down furiously on my nails. No! That's not it, it can't possibly be true. He was probably held up in traffic or something, there was no way he would abandon me on our wedding day. But then again, Michael had never really said that he loved me, I wasn't even sure if he was my mate. My parents wanted to be recognized by the royal family so badly that they had given me up to the Alpha's son the moment an opportunity showed up. We had gotten engaged, and the entire kingdom already knew about our wedding. It was the biggest event of the decade, and everybody was
Damian's POVI had been frustrated, angry and almost out of control. My father's call had come in as I had expected, he never failed to make me feel like a failure everyday. And while I should have gotten used to his insults by now, they never failed to spoil my day."Find your mate soon, or your brother will be the one to succeed me! You're already bringing a bad name to this family, find a mate quickly or you'll be disowned!" Those had been his words, and although I had heard those same sentences countless of times, they never failed to make me feel less of myself. It couldn't be helped though, my younger brother had already found his mate, and his wife was pregnant with an heir. Meanwhile, I had yet to find anybody who I could remotely call a girlfriend. It wasn't helping that the villagers had begun to spread rumors about me being cursed by the moon goddess to never find love. It was a ridiculous rumor, but as the years passed, and I failed to find a mate, it had become believabl
Olivia's POV I wasn't exactly surprised by the fact that this stranger was my mate. I had never felt a bond between Michael and I, our relationship had an entirely forced one, and a part of me was grateful that I had caught the real him before our wedding. My heart still felt heavy, and no matter how much I tried to shake away the feeling, I just couldn't. I had been betrayed by the only person I trusted in the entire world, and I had no idea how I was going to move on from that. "Are you alright? How are you feeling?" The stranger who had saved me inquired as his eyes carefully examined my body. I didn't reply to him, I was still confused, and my head wouldn't stop aching. "Where am I?" I asked as my eyes failed to recognize my immediate environment. "I brought you to my home. Since we're mates, I figured it's best we—" he paused, as though he didn't want to go through with the next words. I had an idea of what he had in mind, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to hear it either. He
Damian's POV I took Olivia to my father's palace the moment her wounds were fully healed. Now that I had found my mate, I finally had the courage to face him after eleven months. I could finally stand before the council members and hold my head high, and finally prove all the rumors wrong. The moon goddess hadn't cursed me, I had just been a bit unlucky. I could see the light return to my father's eyes the moment I announced that Olivia was my mate. "When do we hold the mating ritual? She's a beauty, you need to get married immediately!" He sang out excitedly, his face beaming with smiles. He wasn't the only one excited, half of the castle was filled with joy, but amongst the smiles, a few angry faces were present. "Congratulations brother, it seems your prayers have finally been heard. Now let's hope you'll be able to provide an heir." Stefan commented with a grim smile. I paid him no attention, I wasn't going to let him ruin my day. "Ignore him." I whispered to Olivia who seemed
Olivia's POV I glared at Damian with shock in my eyes, unsure if I had heard correctly, or if he was playing some sort of prank with me. Surely this man wasn't engaged to someone else, and also planned to get mated to me? He was nice and all, but I wasn't going to settle down for his second choice."Martha, this is Olivia, my mate and wife to be." Damian bragged with confidence before gently pushing the lady glued to him off his body. I felt a wave of jealousy hit me as he pulled her away. She was really something else, but I couldn't blame her, she probably didn't know that I was Damian's mate until now.."Mate? How? What about us? What about me?" Martha inquired, tears slowly gathering in her eyes. She was clearly a drama queen, and her little act had begun to pull attention towards us."I'm sorry Martha," Damian apologized calmly. He inched closer to me and took my hand in his. "The moon goddess has finally blessed me, I'm hoping she blesses you as well." Damian didn't say anythi
Olivia's POV I sat up on the bed after I heard the door creak open and close loudly. Damian had walked in, and he had in his hands a box which he dropped off on the bed. I glanced up at him, unsure of what the contents of the box was. "I bought you some clothes." He replied, as though he had read my mind. "It's just a few, I'll make arrangements for more." I grabbed the box and opened it. There were two dresses inside, and from the look of things, they were my exact size. I wanted to ask him how he got my measurements, but that would look as though I was undermining his good intentions. I didn't have any clothes here, and had to wear his clothes throughout yesterday. They weren't bad, but I needed to have my own clothes."Aren't you going to try them?" Damian inquired, and I immediately froze. I wondered if he meant for me to change right in front of him, or if he had any intentions of giving me a little privacy. We were mates, but even then I wasn't sure I was ready for him to see
Damian's POV "Your mother was not my true mate, Stefan's mother was." Alexander started and I felt my blood run cold just because of that sentence. So Stefan wasn't even my blood brother? And father had two wives? What was going on here? "Your mother and I were in love, but she wasn't my mate. When I found my true mate, Stefan's mother, I just couldn't connect with her emotionally. I loved your mother so much that my mate bond felt like a burden. I neglected Eliza, never loved her, and treated her like she was nothing short of a regret. When your mother passed, my hatred for her grew even further." Alexander paused for a moment, taking a deep breath and a second to catch a glimpse of the stunned look on my face. "But Stefan's mother was a witch, at least that's what most people believed. They said she was responsible for the death of your mother, and I gave into the rumors. She loathed me, and after giving birth to Stefan she cursed me, saying that my son would never find happine
Damian's POV I chased after Olivia, determined to catch up to her and explain myself to her, but she was simply too quick on her feet. "Liv, please." I called out to her but she simply wasn't listening. How on earth did she even come to find out about the Forgers? Who had told her? Aside from that, there was the problem with my father who just couldn't keep a secret. Despite my warnings, he had gone ahead to betray me. Angry, I stormed to his room to have a word with him. He was taking this obsession with me being Alpha way too far, and it was clearly affecting my relationship with Olivia. I made it to his room in mere seconds and found it empty. Frustrated, I turned to head for the garden, and only then did I catch sight of him on the other side of the passage. I could tell he had seen me too because he had suddenly changed paths in a bid to avoid us running into each other. "Coward!" I cursed inwardly while I raced to apprehend him. "Are you going to run away from me
Olivia's POV I froze for a moment, unsure if I had heard correctly or if I had misheard the man in front of me. Did he just say surrogate? And did he just say that Damian told him about our situation? "W...what?" I returned with a trembling voice. "A surrogate, Olivia." Alpha Alexander clarified, further confirming my suspicion. "I know how it sounds, and I understand how you must be feeling right now. But we will keep it a secret, no one has to know. Once Damian gets an heir, his position as Alpha would be solidified. Plus, the Forgers wouldn't want a woman whom they believe has already taken in for another Alpha—" I didn't let Alpha Alexander finish before I rose from where I sat and stormed out of the garden. The alpha didn't chase after me, and I was happy he hadn't done so. I wouldn't have responded if he had called out to me, and the last thing I wanted was for his subjects to see me being disrespectful to him. They already hated me enough, and I was more than content with
Olivia's POV "What do you want this time, Martha?" I inquired the moment I caught sight of the sneaky lady in front of me. I had noticed a couple minutes ago parading the hallways aimlessly, but didn't pay much attention to her. I might have been forced to forgive her, but that didn't make us friends. "It's a nice evening, so I thought taking a stroll would be nice." She lied as she slowly walked towards me with a fake smile plastered across her face. "It is a nice evening..." I admitted while my eyes closely followed her every step. Damian had warned me to be weary of her, but with John constantly hovering around me, there was little to worry about. "..what brings you to the palace? Are you here to stroll aimlessly, or did you come to visit someone?" Martha's face twitched lightly, the sarcasm in my voice was unrestrained, and I could tell my last sentence had struck a nerve. "I actually came to see you, my lady.." she said with a bright smile. "There's barely anybody aro
Damian's POV "It's nothing, forget I ever said a thing—" "Don't you try to act like this is nothing! Tell me what those words mean right now!" Alexander urged, his determination to get answers almost frightening. I had wanted to keep everything to myself until we found a solution to the problem, but after the slip up it seemed impossible now. Alexander drew closer, the frustration on his face slowly turning into concern. "Tell me what's wrong.." he urged softly. I stared at him for a straight minute, confused if I should confide in him or not. We had our ups and downs, but at the end of the day he was still my father, and I was grateful for him. However, this time, I was more skeptical than ever about telling him anything concerning me and Olivia. He wanted her gone, and even though it was to protect his people and family, he still wanted her gone. Telling him that we can't have a child, would only give him more reasons to push Olivia away. It was always easy to blame the fema
Damian's POV I entered the council room with a blank expression on my face. I already had a vague idea of what the discussion was going to be about, and quite frankly I was not in the best mood to have such conversation. But then again, it was inescapable, it was either now or later, I would still have to deal with the situation. Just like me, everyone of the present councilmen had a stoic expression plastered across their faces, all besides Stefan who always seemed to be amused by something each time he saw me. "Damian..." My father, Alpha Alexander, started. He rarely spoke during these types of meetings, unless it was something serious. But in this case, I could tell he wasn't just speaking because of the seriousness of the matter, the disappointment and anger on his face and voice made that much obvious. "...since you've refused to give Olivia up to the Forgers, you might as well provide us with an heir. For her to put our pack in danger, she has to be worth it, and right n
Olivia's POV A month had passed since I attempted to escape from the palace. And while things seemed to be getting relatively better, Damian and I had once again encountered another big problem; we couldn't produce a child together. We were the only people who knew about this at the moment, but it wouldn't be long before people started whispering. We had consummated our marriage on the day of our mating night, naturally I should be pregnant by now, but that hadn't been the case. We had also tried several times, but for some unknown reason I just couldn't seem to get pregnant. We had consulted a doctor twice already, and yet nothing seemed to be wrong with the both of us. It had become a problem, and what was even more problematic was that the elders were looking forward to an announcement from the two of us soon. I sat at the balcony, my gaze fixed on the clouds above. The sun was slowly beginning to dip over the horizon, but even the beauty of the sunset didn't seem to entice me a
Damian's POV I returned home to meet Olivia fast asleep on the bed. John stood guard outside our room, and he could easily tell that I was not doing very well with just one glance. "Is something the matter, Damian?" He inquired as he pushed open the door for me. I swiftly waved off his concern with a simple smile. "I'm fine, just exhausted." I said as I quietly entered the room. I didn't want to disturb Olivia's nap, and I definitely didn't want John to know that I had gone to Shadow pack. "Take a break, she'll be fine with me here." John lowered his head in respect before finally leaving the room for me and Olivia. I glanced at her innocent and peaceful face, completely grateful that I had found her. She was the best thing that had ever happened to me, and now they wanted to take her away from me. There was no way I was going to let that happen, not while I was still alive and kicking. Olivia was my mate, and I wouldn't let anybody take her from me. But at the same time, my
Damian's POV The ride to Shadow pack was as uneventful as it was terrifying. I was basically walking into the enemy's territory uninvited, but even then I kept a bold persona on my face, this issue wouldn't be resolved unless I spoke to Michael and found a mutual ground with him.. "I'm here to see Michael Forger.." I said to the guard at the gate. I had come with my own guards, just two of them. Compared to the army behind these walls, two guards were nothing. But there was no need for a comparison, I had not come for war, I had come to negotiate and possibly stop a potential war. Nobody knew I was here, not Olivia, not even my father. I knew that none of them would agree with my decision, so I didn't bother with them. The only people who knew of my plans were the two guards with me, and I had made sure they understood that saying a word of this day to anybody would mean certain death. The guard on the gate looked me up and down for a moment before finally unlocking the gate to