Damon’s POV
The ride back to the pack was awkward and uncomfortable for me. Lyla won’t stop staring at me and Tunde won’t stop checking on me as he drove us back to the pack. I stared hard at the rows of trees we passed by, trying to swallow the images in the head.
Lyla suddenly held my hand, squeezing it tightly. Without looking at her, I removed my hand from hers.
“I’m fine, ” I groaned and faced the car’s window back.
“Are you okay, Damon?” Tunde asked.
“Since when have I ever been okay? I’m Damon and that means I’m never in my right senses, okay? Both of you should stop acting as if I dropped from a tree and broke my neck. I’m fucking fine” I hissed and ignored their look.
When I turned to look at Lyla, her eyes were filled with tears and she was biting hard on her lips till she drew blood and squealed at the sight of blood.
“Stop hurting yourself, it’s not worth it” I condemned her action.
“Okay,” she simply replied and didn’t say anything else.
A phone beeped and Tunde picked it up to check.
“Atherus is with Devante and they’re on their way back to the pack. We’ll see them later”
“I don’t want to speak or talk to anyone when we get back. Inform Dean to send the necessary reports to my room”
“Atherus is a Prince, we can’t deny him of your presence if he requests it”
“Don’t you dare, Tunde” I threatened.
“Why don’t you talk to him with respect? He’s your friend, isn’t he? He’s always with you and all you do is threaten him and everyone else around you”
Lyla angrily blurted as soon as the car stopped in front of the packhouse and before I could say anything, she walked out of the car angrily and went into the house.
“Take it easy with her, amigos, she’s just probably angry about what’s going on” Tunde requested.
“I wasn’t going to do anything to her in the first instance” I got down from the car.
Before Tunde could drive off, I stopped him, “Thank you” I said gently.
Startled, “Wait! What! I can’t hear you. Say it louder,” he asked, laughing.
“You only get to hear that once in your life, asshole” I growled and walked away from him, smirking as I did.
“Alpha” Ruth bowed as I walked into the house and several others joined her. I nodded my head in acknowledgment and when my eyes moved, I saw Lyla standing at a corner, her head down.
I moved closer and touched her face. She moved back a little.
“Let’s go” I commanded.
“I want to talk to Ruth for a while” she replied.
“Why? What do you want to talk to her about?”
“Girl stuff”
“Do whatever suits you, Lyla” I grumbled and left for my room. As I entered the elevator, Dean appeared right beside me.
“I don’t like you, Dean and this means I don’t like seeing your face. Leave!”
“I’m your Gamma and the pack needs us both. So, I suggest you put that hatred aside for the time being so we can work things together for the progress of this pack”
“It’ll be much easier to get rid and replace you, you know that, right?” I smirked before I continued, “So for the love of yourself, don’t appear when you’re not needed” I warned.
“There’s an urgent matter I need to discuss with you” he reported, ignoring my threat.
“I’m tired, Dean. Send the report to my room. I’ll go through it once I feel like” I informed him.
The elevator opened and I walked out.
“There has been an attack on the neighboring pack. Several of them were killed by what they presumed were vampires and dragons”
I turned to look at him.
“They’re delusional, those creatures have gone into extinction” I answered.
“We can’t be sure about that, Alpha. The survivors are taking refuge with another pack right now and when I called the pack’s Gamma, he told me of their plan to reinforce their borders” he argued.
“With what? Their salivas”
“This is not a time to joke, Alpha”
“Why do y’all always think I’m joking when I’m actually fucking serious?” I barked.
“I’m sorry Alpha but I feel this is a serious matter we need to attend to urgently”
For a few seconds, I was silent, thinking about what to say to get this guy out of my room.
“Call Tunde and get the map of this pack ready, I need the one showing the packs that we are sharing boundaries with, and also, get me the names of every warrior and pack guide. Let’s start from there”
“Okay Alpha” he bowed and walked out of the room.
I closed my eyes to stop myself from thinking for a while when the door suddenly opened again.
“Can you just stop being so annoying, Dean?” I grumbled.
“Damon” I lifted my head from the bed and saw it was Devante. His eyes were swollen and he looked torn.
“What do you want, Devante?”
“To talk to you” he replied, his voice shaking. I’ve never seen Devante like this before.
“About what?”
“About what Aunt Marybelle said. Is it true?”
I ran my hand through my hair and growled gently.
“I’m not ready to go down the memory lane with you, Devante. It’ll be better if you get out of my room. I’m not in the mood to tell tales” I replied angrily.
“Okay, if you ever want to talk about it, I’m here”
I nodded, hoping that’ll get him out of my room. He walked out not without asking me to shake his hands. I raised my eyebrow, hoping he’ll explain what that meant.
“That’s the closest I’ve gotten from you ever, Damon” With that said, he walked out of my room, finally giving me my space.
I sat on one of the sofas and went through the report that Dean had left. I was on the last page when Lyla walked into the room, her luggage at hand.
Without words, I collected the bag she was carrying from her and put it in the closet and went to get the others at the door.
“Thank you,” I nodded without saying anything.
“Are you mad at me?” She suddenly asked, getting me confused.
“I thought it was you who was mad at me, not the other way around” I replied.
“I’m not mad at you”
“Okay,”
“Can you help me with these clothes?” She asked while moving closer to the closet.
“Okay”
“I’m sorry about what I said in the car,”
“Okay”
“Damon” she cried out.
“Okay,” I replied.
“Can we talk about what that woman said?”
“Okay”
“Is that all I’m going to get now? Okay?”
“Okay,” I replied again. I couldn’t stop teasing her because of the reaction I was getting from her.
It was cute.
She stayed rooted on the spot as I started walking towards the closet.
I turned to suddenly see her going towards the door.
“What are you doing?” I demanded.
“I’m leaving since it appears that you don’t want……” Before she could finish her sentence, I interrupted her by carrying her up by her waist and wrapping her legs around my body.
She screamed at the sudden action.
“I’m mad at you, I’m so mad at you that I want to kiss you senseless and rip you into pieces”
She pouted her lips at me and that released the animal I’ve been trying to cage.
I smashed my lips with hers and kissed her as senseless as I’d promised. I grabbed her butt and rocked her against me until she was breathless.
I took off her shirt at the same time she was trying to unbutton mine.
“I need you, Bunny”
“I want you too, Damon. I don’t like it when you’re mad at me” she said, giving me her puppy look.
I ignored her words and kissed her, but this time passionately and gently enough to make her know that she’s mine and mine alone.
“Alpha,”
Lyla almost dropped from my hands at the sudden interruption.
“Learn to knock, Beta” I yelled.
“I couldn’t afford to knock. There has been an attack at the borders, two of our men are dead”