Dahlia's POVI take my time with my meal, not sure where to go from here.There is no way left to go.I sat for so long I start to shiver. Winter is coming, and the room gets freezing cold fast after the fire is extinguished. Of course no one came for me. Not him. Not even a maid.I stand up with a deep breath, making up my mind. So his interest in me ran out, so what? I won't live in fear. What's there to fear, at this point?I already died once. I watched everything I had burned to the ground. Even the last piece of my old life, our land, is now lost.What more can I lose?I rub my arm for warmth as I stomp my numb feet till I can feel my body again. I stride out with my chest up high. No matter how much he hates me right now, I have the mate bond on my side.So long as he still wants my body, I would have a chance at making peace with him.To my surprise, he is waiting for me in the bedroom.Though not dripping, his hair is visibly wet. He has showered. Yet the man is now fully dre
Dahlia's POVI didn't need a shower, but I stood under the water for an hour.I have never felt this way to anyone.Being a wolfless, I have known since I was a child that I can never feel the magical "mate pull" that every kid is excited about since they can understand the word "love". I have always actively avoided getting close to any opposite sex because the higher chance is, that they belong to someone else, or soon will be.Mom said experiencing a relationship is important, but I never understood why until now--The result of lacking experience is that I can't even distinguish whether I really felt something toward that ruthless devil, or I'm picking up Stockholm syndrome.The longer I stand there, the less real it feels. In the end I started wondering whether he really chuckled. That's how I know I can't postpone anymore.I don't know why but I slip out on tiptoe, knowing he is hearing everything no matter how light I am.He is lying on the bed, almost solemnly with his body st
Dahlia's POV"I--" I almost snap, only to contain myself at the last second, "She insulted me, so I did what I could to return the favor. I didn't know I should be punished, so no, I'm not."Whatever faint feeling I had for my "supposed" mate died the second he said that! I should remember that he is just a jerk and I won't forget again!I try to jump down but he grabs the root of my thigh and stops me, an evil smirk on his lips: "You are not seducing me? You stripped in front of me with your clumsy attempt at being cute, and now you just deny everything?"What?!It took all my willpower to not slap him in the face, but I can't stand being in such an intimate position anymore, not when he just sees me as a shameless whore!I struggle but to little use. He throws me on the bed and presses over me, my chin gripped in his hand as he growls at me: "Lola told you, didn't she?! Don't lie to me!"I freeze in fear, so scared I even forget to struggle. Is this it? Is he going to kill me? Tears
Dahlia's POV"She hated my father, and therefore me. She thought he kept her around just so he could get an heir from her, his true mate, so she wanted the heir gone. She tortured me with every chance she could get. Once she put a silver needle in my food and I swallowed it. A wolf doesn't die that easily. So I sat there for hours, feeling the silver burn my insides as the needle pierced everywhere it could before it stuck in my stomach. My father punched me in the gut and it pierced out of me, from here. I was six. That's the story of my father killing my mother." Alpha Damon leans back in an elegant move, arms folded in front of him as if telling a joyful bedtime story to a child, when the story was the cruelest I can imagine.Unable to even find my voice, I cover my mouth with shaking hands, tears rolling down beyond my control."The world takes my father as a murderer, a cruel mate, a ruthless Alpha," He lets out a cold sneer, "but they don't know that he killed her to protect me.
Dahlia's POVTo break an awkward silence, he reminds me calmly: "You don't want me to spend the night here." I might have said that once, but that was when I resisted him as the cruel ruler over me, a bullied sex slave!His tone is still the usual, calm and cold without emotion, but now when I hear this tone that he used to tell his story, I can't shake off the feeling that there hides a deep sorrow behind its calm surface."Didn't I say I didn't know this was your room?!" I snap at him.He lets out a light laugh, leaning close with his sightful eyes looking into mine as if he can see through my soul: "Is this your way of saying thank you for the land?"If I say yes, it feels like I'm paying him back with my body; but if I say no..."I didn't give you this for your gratitude," He says with a cold sneer, the smile in his eyes fading.He knows what I didn't say -- if he didn't give me this gift, I wouldn't have asked him to stay. I can't say he is wrong."Why?" I get stubborn, won't le
Dahlia's POVThings looked up after that night.Still the same cold, fearful, horny Alpha, but somehow his image softened in my eyes. Maybe it's because he is less pissed off by me, or maybe it's because, on top of all those, he has one more label now -- my true mate.Now when he still remains silent but nods at my chatter at the dinner table, when he stays after sex and wakes up with me in the same bed, I can't help but think: this man is my mate. Then all his annoying actions seem less bad as that thought spreads a sweet on the tip of my tongue.You have to admit to the moon goddess's power -- even for me, an Omega without a wolf, the mate bond is totally changing how I look at him.Though he is not claiming me, I feel less like a sex slave now. Who am I to ask for anything more than this? I lost everything before this. But now I got back my home. HE got it back for me. Though I can't visit it at will, he promised he would take me there when he has time. That's more than enough for
Dahlia's POVI didn't want to go.Even before they left a blood stain in my mind, parties were dull. I had to mingle because I was the pack princess, but I couldn't mingle because I had no wolf. Even the polite avoiding of topics on wolf got me awkward. If only I wasn't the only child it would have been better."YOU want to go..." The Alpha cocked his eyebrows at me, drawling. He didn't believe me. I wouldn't have either. My request came as a surprise to both of us.But I couldn't back out. What was the worst that could happen? It was just a party."Are you going to be in two pieces this time?" He folded his arm as he leaned against the wall, observing me with suspicious eyes.Now that I knew he only wanted to spend his birthday with me last time, I felt guilty ruining it. But if he wasn't too proud to admit that, Lola wouldn't have a chance to cause the misunderstanding. Still his fault!"It depends on the party," I wrinkled my nose, dodging his eyes.He let out a short laugh."It's
Dahlia's POVEverything was perfect until Justin walked into the ballroom.I realized that Damon had got me a bunch of red dresses in different designs, intentional or not, red was clearly his preference. So I picked a strapless red one, giving a little cleavage as it wrapped tight around my waist and ass, not loose until my knee. For the dress I paired a scarlet hair band to make a messy bun, leaving a few curly strands draping freely.Glittering
Dahlia’s POVHome is too strong a word for me now. Let’s just say, I agreed to go with Dad.Damon is gone, and Justin left soon after. Kayle disappeared from my sight, and so did Lola. My life suddenly became a vacuum. One thing to my solace is that Dad became the perfect dad in my memory after we left the headquarters.Sometimes I feel like the few weeks during the trial of Damon was just a nightmare, just like my memory of Dad before I was five.It was on the plane that I finally got the whole story of what happened to Dad after I was taken.Dad found out that the attack on our pack was a well-planned scheme. Damon gets me, the land of the pack, AND mom’s title for his friend. Well, by the time when this was planned, Justin was still Damon’s friend. And the rogues he hired got all the money they could scrap from our home.Dad had no choice but to flee the land. He ended up in a new city with the help of an old friend. And that’s our new “home”.Like I said, this is not home.Dad is
Dahlia’s POVA rejection is the worst experience you could have as a werewolf.The mate bond is what connects two souls together. The humans can’t feel their souls, but to sensitive creatures like us, our souls are almost tangible, and so are our mate bonds. To break something like that is like cutting us open, except the wound is not on our body, but on our souls.You won’t be able to even imagine the pain if you have never lost a limb.The rejection tears. It tears apart something that should not be apart. It leaves one bleeding, hurting, and itching for all their conscious time, as well as in their sleep. It’s like your flesh is cut open, and left open in the air, and unlike a physical wound, you can’t faint due to blood loss. You will always feel that something is broken in you, and you have no way to heal it.It’s hard to understand the concept of one’s soul being complete by itself, is also complete when it’s combined in the most intimate way with someone else’s soul, while keep
Dahlia’s POVThe van is quiet. No guards anywhere near it, not even a driver. Not exactly what I had in mind for a jail of “the devil”.Not daring to hesitate, I pull open the back door and slip up. Though it looks like a trap off the textbook, I don’t really have any other move left.It isn’t a trap. Damon is in the trunk, alone, hands not even cuffed. He is smiling at me as I close the door behind me with a thumping heart, panickedly looking for a proper place to sit when my move is so limited by the handcuffs I hid under the shirt.I feel like I’m the prisoner, not him.Damon remains silent, but I see taunt in his eyes.“Hi...” I break the silence, frowning lightly. This is not exactly what I expected. I thought he would be angry, desperate, regretful, or sad. But not this. Not this calmness with a shred of taunt.He curves his lips.“Hi yourself, Dahlia.”His voice is the bass I always indulge in, and his tone is not exactly aggressive. I’m confused now. I rise my eyebrows questio
Dahlia’s POV“Where are you heading to, miss?”I maintain my smile and clear my throat, stalling because I didn’t come up with a good excuse.Aiden managed to put together a plan at the last minute. Well, sort of. He found out where the prison van for Damon was parked, AND he took on the job to distract the guards. All I needed to do was to make it to the elevator to parking lot G and see Damon.Who would know they’d put a guard in front of the elevator door on each floor?!“I--uhhh, my Alpha told me to go meet him in the parking lot,” I open my mouth, only to realize Damon’s case definitely made the “news” here. Revealing my identity might not be the wisest move.“Which section of the parking lot, ma’am?” The guard asks with extreme patience, sympathy even. I would have taken him as caring if I was the old me. But recently I have realized that the colorful fog around people that I can see, is not something that everyone can.I can’t quite explain it, but I can more or less tell the p
Dahlia’s POV“Do you even know what you are doing?! He is the monster that destroyed our home!” Dad presses on, but Aiden steps up and he stops a few inches away. He is furious and panting, as if he just hurried over when I decided to visit Damon. Two seconds ago.Could it be? Did Dad plant surveillance on me? This thought gave me a chill down my spine. Or maybe I feel cold because of how easy it is for me to suspect my own father now.I guess I can’t just forget everything like I was little just for a few days of kindness from him anymore.“You still haven’t shown me any evidence that pins what happened on Damon, Dad,” I remind him calmly. He is hiding something from me, I can feel it. And it annoys me. If Dad was using the stress of the case to explain why he avoided letting me in on anything before the trial, he is definitely failing to explain himself for still not showing me any of his investigations now.“You have no idea how brutal they are. Do you really want to look at the pi
Dahlia’s POVIn the end, Damon was found guilty.Something about him refusing to give the court Jared and stuff. I guess that explained Dad’s sudden change of attitude -- After five months, he finally got the justice he wanted.I wanted to visit Damon, but I couldn’t find a good reason.To see my old owner who kept me as a sex slave? To see the evil who was found guilty of the crime over my fallen pack? To see the man whom I betrayed and had a bad fallout with the last time we saw each other? Or...Just to see my mate.That word feels so strange to me now.I don’t have a wolf to feel the mate bond, and with Damon gone from my life, I have totally forgotten that I have a mate. Who is in prison now, for the most horrifying crime one can do.I can’t justify visiting him, and luckily, Dad and Justin helped me from struggling myself into halves.Dad has been unprecedentedly nice to me ever since the trial. Even nicer than before the incident, I would say. He insisted on having EVERY meal w
Dahlia’s POV“She’s lying!” My Dad growls at the judge, “She’s fucking lying! How dare you, you little useless brat?! You--”“Liam Palmer!” Damon suddenly raised his voice before the judge could react to my Dad’s outburst. He turns to Dad with a calm smile yet his eyes are cold as ice, “She is an Alpha now, as much as you are. I don’t want to see you disrespecting her again.”“She is MY daughter! And I won’t take orders from a murderer! You! You murdered my wife!” Dad spat at him. Frankly, I find it shocking that he dares to shout at Damon. No one else in the Leagues seems to have the courage to do so, not even Kayle.But I guess by suing Damon, Dad already put him on Damon’s bad side permanently.Damon shoots a worried look at me. I blink in confusion.Did he think that Dad’s mentioning of Mom’s death would change my mind? I hate the murderer and I want a thousand deaths of him, but that doesn’t mean I would jump and bite anyone who my Dad accuses without proof like I’m his mad dog.
Dahlia’s POVI’m daunted in the face by this life or death question.“Dahlia Morgan, please answer my question,” The lawyer urges, his tone getting cocky, “Did Tom Sanders call out Alpha Damon’s name in the last phone call you shared with him, 10 minutes before he showed up dead in front of you?!”The truth is, Tom did. But somehow I feel wrong to answer yes.Too many things feel wrong.First of all, Tom lived in Damon’s mansion for weeks, and yet never has he showed any particular fear toward him. He is timid in front of Damon, but any Omega does in front of a fearful Alpha.Secondly, when Tom told me about that he heard the man who captured him calling the man behind the attack on that night “Alpha Damon”, he only mentioned that as highly suspicious of Damon, unlike the night at the train station when Tom shouted “It’s him! Alpha Damon is here!”If I’m trusting my gut, I would say that something made Tom recognize the man from the night of the attack on my pack, not Damon this perso
Dahlia’s POVI never got to see Dad again in those 48 hours, and it was pretty clear that even if I could, it would be fruitless. Even after two days of thinking, I still don’t understand how a simple inquiry on the case turned into such a bad fight with him.I can’t see Damon either. Apparently, the 48 hours is all they have to get anything out of him, and they are not allowing any visit until the hearing.I got a subpoena to attend as a witness, hence here I am, in the witness waiting room with a bunch of people that I have never seen in my life. Aiden can only appear as an audience.“This way, ma’am,” After what felt like an eternity, the guard came for me. I’m the last one to appear in court.The moment the guard pushes open the courtroom’s heavy door, I instantly feel Damon’s hot sights landing on me. But when I look over, he is already looking at the file in front of him on the defendant’s stand as if he never looked over.He looks the same as I remember him. Handsome, neat, sha