Damon's POVI tossed the battered and bruised lady into the room as I stormed in, tearing the weak wooden door off its hinges. The sight I saw there made me look twice to be sure of what I was seeing.Helen stood there mere inches away from Zirah. Her hand hung down, her hair covering her face but I knew it was her. I honestly didn't think I had any more fury left in me but it came back with a vengeance seeing Helen calmly poised by her, a sharp knife to her throat.Helen as usual was immaculately dressed, her hair coiffed and her makeup in place. Even her white pantsuit didn't have a speck of dust, dirt, or blood on it as she stood in the bloodied and disheveled area.She looked dispassionately at the lady I had tossed at her feet and muttered so low for anyone to hear but I picked it up with my superior hearing."Humph, I thought she would have lasted longer." She asks."Let her go." I boomed, my voice echoing in the spacious, empty room. My men had the building surrounded so there
Damon's POVDUE to many prying eyes, I had to change the location of where I could keep Zirah safely and I made sure to tell my men to check and double-check that no one was following us before taking a secret route to a special place I felt we could be safe. You never know who you could trust now. I watched Helen's profile as she sat calmly in the front seat, taking in the change in scenery as we passed, her face betraying no hint of emotion or what she was thinking.Just because she had surrendered to me didn't mean that I could trust her, if anything I had to watch her way more closely now.There was a flurry of activity once we arrived safely at one of my safehouses that I had instructed my men to prepare for me before I got there. I alighted from the vehicle, cradling Zirah's unconscious form in my bloodied arms as my men and Helen flanked me. Many guards stationed outside that sighted me first gathered around me, intent on helping me with the burden but I refused to allow anyone
Damon's POV"No, no. Don't dismiss me. This won't be like the last time, Damon." She said sternly, staring at me with something akin to hate in her eyes. "You already know what I can do, and that I wouldn't hesitate to do absolutely whatever is necessary to have my way."I hated feeling threatened so I relented and gave her what she wanted to hear. "Fine! Just give me a couple of days to sort things out, and I'll get back to you. I promise." Hopefully, that gave me a couple of days to figure out what to do."Tick-tock, Damon." She smoothly rises from my chair reminding me of a snake when it's unfurling from its resting place -quite an apt description-, and brushes by me intentionally as she makes her way to the door.Double-checking that she was gone, I plopped down on the chair rubbing my eyes and letting out a huge sigh.A short while later, a knock sounded on my door and Tristan's face poked in to check before entering and making himself comfortable in the chair opposite me."Damo
Zirah's POVMy eyelids fluttered wildly as I struggled to come out of the deep, unconscious state I was in. Opening my eyes, everything was blurry and I didn't know where I was. Trying to focus on the ceiling tiles, I counted the tiles until I was sure my eyesight was a bit steady.I could make out the fuzzy outline of a tall man who was leaning over me, his face creased in worry. My pupils came into focus and I saw a familiar, tall, lean man that I thought I would never see again, and I fought to get him out of my mind.It was Noah. Noah was here. Or was he?Deep shock coursed through me as I tried to make sense of what I was seeing.Noah?I must probably still be unconscious or I was hallucinating, maybe the drugs made me woozy. Those were the most plausible explanations because I couldn't realize that he could be here.How did he find me? Why did he find me?What did he want?Suddenly, I made to clutch my stomach but I remembered that he was watching me intently and I shifted my ha
Zirah's POV ON seeing the message, I tried calling either Tristan or Damon but it didn't go through. Tristan's line rang about the first three trials, and after that, my calls went straight to voicemail while Damon's was unreachable throughout. I sent several text messages in reply but I didn't get any answer either, either he was reading it and deigned not to reply or he didn't even bother to check. I wanted to storm over to his house and demand answers for this unjust behavior but I held myself back with the little self-respect I had. Going there and getting tossed out or rejected again would be more than I can bear right now because I know there's a reason he brought me here and not his home. I got the message they were sending out to me. Loud and clear. Unbidden, a tear dropped from my eyes followed by another. Then another. Until they were running down my face in a steady stream, painful, silent sobs. I remembered every moment with him, the fun times we had together. Had. I
Zirah's POV He cleared his throat before speaking. "I'm sorry for my actions earlier today, I was angry and upset, however, that's no excuse for how I behaved. I'm sorry." he looked so down and contrite, I didn't have it in me to be angry any longer. "It's okay, I understand." I tried to smile at him but I wasn't in the mood to even fake it so it just went flat. "Um, I uh.." he paused, looking at the floor for a moment before staring at me. "When I left, I had some time to think about things. About what you said, and you're right Zirah. I messed up, okay?" He blew out a breath, looking so anxious and partly troubled that I felt for him. It seemed he had something to get off his chest but he didn't know how to. "When you came, I was drunk or..or partly intoxicated and all I wanted to do was to have a good time with you when I saw you. Okay? I-i, I, I never thought that you were my mate, it never crossed my mind. That's why when I woke up in the morning and I realized what I had done
One Year LaterZirah's POVRemoving my hand. I kept on pushing the stroller, enjoying the warm afternoon air while I chatted with my babies even though it was one-sided. I read somewhere that talking to your kids made them develop faster.A tall, dark-haired man that was walking fast towards me with his head bore such a similar build to Damon that it made me stop in my tracks, causing people to bump into me.I hurriedly apologized and moved out of the way, still looking at the man but when he raised his head, I breathed a small sigh of relief it was him. Just someone who looked like him but unfortunately the damage was done.I had managed to keep any thoughts of Damon out of my head for the past year, no matter how difficult it was. For the first few months, I brooded and sulked and refused to do anything, just thinking and wondering what I might have done to make him act like that toward me. I listened intently, hungry for any scrap of news about him until I saw an article about him
Damon's POV"One, two, and three!" The sounds of Tristan drilling into the young pups and their sweaty, grumbling form normally would make him smile or put me in an upbeat mood, but right now I just stared blankly at them, watching them go over their drills again when Tristan wasn't satisfied with how they did it before. "Come on, you lazy asses get your butt off the floor and do this! " He yelled.Somehow I felt that the last part of his sentence wasn't only directed to the pup's training but also to me. Fates know I haven't been my top-notch self lately, for a couple of months actually and if not for Tristan I refuse to wonder what would have happened to my people."Yo, yo, put more energy! Come on!" He shouted. "Some of you want to be powerful alphas, betas, and enforcers. The only way to do that is to be strong." Tristan said, as he went over to a large boulder and picked it up effortlessly, his muscles straining with the weight.The young ones oohed and ahhed at that little displ
Zirah's POV Right into his neck. Damon staggered away from me with a stunned look on his face while his hand slowly went up to the clutch at the side of his neck. He brought his blood-stained hand to his face with a shocked look on his face like he still couldn't believe what happened. "Why?" He asked, still with an air of confusion around him. And I broke down. "You left me no choice!" I sobbed out loud, thinking back to when I decided to do this. When I saw them fighting and he threw Noah into the wall, crashing into the metal tray and dislodging his items, instinctively I So I played him. The weak demeanor, the submissive woman, the arousal that shivered through my body as he ran his hands over my body…...was all fake. I had to swallow down my revulsion the moment he touched me, knowing I had to sell my submission enough or he wouldn't believe me. He opened his mouth to speak but instead gargled on his blood and his knees went weak and he crumpled to the floor. I careful
Zirah's POV I sat there frozen…..helpless.While I watched my former lover circle my mate like a predator looking for his next meal."Damon...no! Please... I- uh," I babbled incoherently, forcing words out of my mouth in a silly attempt to stop him from ramming the knife into a fragile spot on his body that could claim his life.He stopped behind Noah when my pitiful cries reached him and for a moment I thought that maybe he had changed his mind.However, he lunged forward pressing the thin part of the blade exactly into the jugular spot at his neck pressing firmly with those cold eyes trained on mine."You know what I need from you." He ground out harshly, his deep tone barely making his words distinguishable but I managed to catch it."Damon, I-" I had no idea what I was about to say but for some crazy reason I just had to open my mouth.His odd eyes hardened and the brief flicker of hope I'd seen bloom in his eyes died out and he turned his attention back to his semi-conscious pat
Zirah's POV Ice-cold water was splashed on my body, jerking me awake abruptly pulling me from the reins of unconsciousness.I flung my head, my eyelids fluttering as I sought to get my bearings.Everything was spinning, and my eyes felt like they were glued shut for the longest time.My body also felt heavy... probably 'cos I haven't used it for a while.I raised my head slowly and I realized two things.One, I couldn't move….at all.That jarred my senses and I awoke fully to see that my legs and hands were restrained with thick metal straps laced with chains, proving it impossible to get out of.Even if I could break through the leather straps, the chains had the distinct yet faint smell of silver which would be tough if not impossible to get out of.Secondly, I was in an underground dungeon that stank like the devil's behind.How I got here seemed to get away from here, but why was it a different case?I was here because I refused to give in.I think back to what happened after Dam
Noah's POV It soon became obvious what their ace was….or rather, who.It soon became obvious when Damon separated himself from his pack, that was what I had taken to calling considering how they fluttered around him.When the two of us caught the other's gaze, it held for the longest and the tension, the need for bloodshed was calling out to us.Riding us both hard.He was standing now unobstructed, without his men underfoot, his white shirt flapping around him as the wind blew up a notch.His dark pants and heavy boots looked worse for wear, but that wasn't what drew my attention.It was the unnaturally still way he held himself, it was like his body was encased in eyes but from here I could see his eyes were sharp, picking up on every movement.It felt like no one else existed but the two of us, even though I could hear distant sounds of roars and men fighting.Everything that happened was building up to this point."You need to go," I said quietly to Zirah who was still behind my
Noah's POV We were winning.Or so it seemed.No, I know we were winning. It started as a tough battle at first especially when they got the upper hand by taking us by surprise- I still wondered how they might have known where we were and we fought to regain our defense since they were attacking mercilessly but hours of training won out and we started to beat them back.Their numbers were gradually reducing, and it also helped that we had support from the Grand Canyon pack since they were furious that they were attacked in their home. I was tearing my way through the men, my eyes trained on the prize, killing mercilessly and without remorse as I inched closer to the man at the helm of all this.Damon Westwood.I had had enough of his constant interference in our lives, and once and for all...I wanted to end it.By stabbing a knife through his cold heart.Or by beheading him.Whichever way works for me.But it seems that just when I was within reach of him, I would spin around and he w
Damon's POV All five of us were surrounding the table. Me, Skylar, Amanda, and two other werewolves one from my side and hers each named Frank and Erik when someone rudely barged in without knocking. We were currently in a private meeting, as we were thinking through our next moves and I had left explicit instructions not to be disturbed in the meantime.Now this.Immediately I got to my feet in front, ready to strangle whoever it was but Erik held me back, placing a hand on the table to stop me."What is it?" He asks the heavily panting young man quietly, patiently waiting for him to compose himself before talking.He was doubled over, sweat soaked through his body. He slowly raised his head, wiping the sweat dripping into his eyes."I-I-I…" his eyes were wide, his face pale as if he just realized what he had done."Get on with it!" I spat out. "We don't have all day.""You can see he's in no shape to talk." Erik points out, scraping his chair back as he stands up. "It looks like he
Zirah's POV Traveling en masse with such a large crowd while trying to move stealthily proved to be a big deal for us.Also for different packs who are just getting acquainted with each other for the first time, being enclosed in a small space wasn't the ideal choice and soon enough after a couple of days, they started to get on each other's nerves.I learned that lots of testosterone and small spaces don't mix when Noah had to come between a brawl brewing for the third time in two days.We'd been traveling for almost a week which was longer than expected but Noah insisted on the element of surprise so mostly we traveled in small clumps during the day and large during the night. It slowed down our progress significantly but it did the job.We were stopping at a neighboring pack who was a very good friend of Noah's and graciously offered to host us.We had eagerly accepted, anxious to get a reprieve from camping life and the tension or altercation brewing every minute.I, for one, had
Damon's POV For some people, it would be hard to lead two different people on a united front. But luckily for me, I had experience in such and it seemed quite seamless the way I effortlessly combined Amanda's people and some of mine. I had called in some favors and put a call through to some of my most loyal men and of course..they answered. Amanda's father was wealthy, and apart from that he was also vastly connected which was how we got this massive mansion to hide our people in and conduct our business without query. If he had any idea of Amanda's plans, he did well to turn a blind eye to it. We were engaging in mindless chatter when a murmur rippled through the small crowd that had gathered here on the balcony. One thing I loved about this place was the view. Sometimes when I stood here, it gave me this empowering feeling, you know, like I could do anything I wanted. And of course, you guessed right, it quickly became my favorite spot in the house. I was lounging in my corner
Noah's POV The taste of defeat left a bitter tang in my mouth as I gathered my men and went back home.The car itself was silent, no one daring to utter a word. To say I was furious with myself was putting it lightly but there was nothing more I could do…. except turn back time which was out of my power. So I sulked all the way home, rehashing all the possible ways that situation could have gone.All too soon, we arrived at the gate's entrance and then I realized I still had people waiting to talk to me.The car stopped in front of the house, and before I went in I was making small talk with the men when I heard my name."Noah!" Zirah screamed, gathering her flowy summer dress in her hand as she hurriedly rushed down the stairs.I was struck by how beautiful she looked at that moment. For a second, she appeared young and carefree….like she should always be.I felt a twinge of guilt when I saw how scared she was, and the guilt expanded to become a large block resting on my chest.She