war

Book:Mated To The Ruthless Alpha King Published:2024-6-5

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Mind-link- when a werewolf communicates with another pack member using something like telepathy
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“D-Damon?” Sarah was as still as rock in his arms. If anyone said they saw her move or even breathe for that matter, then they’d be lying. The air in her lungs was gone as soon as tingles erupted along her skin. But for some reason, they were more explosive, more delectable than ever. Maybe it was because they had been away from eachother for so long or perhaps she was just being delusional like always. Whichever it was, she couldn’t tell. All she knew was that she needed to get away from him… no matter how nice the tingles felt, she couldn’t deny that her skin itched when he touched her, not in a good way… as if they were doing something wrong, something that shouldn’t be done in secrecy.
The reason for that must be because Katie was somewhere around, close enough to be able to witness them both in this position. Katie was the one he apparently wanted, so Sarah uncontrollably felt that her being touched this way by him wasn’t right.
“Let me go.” She screamed, writhing and twisting in his arms like a child afraid of punishment. She was so determined to get out of his hold that even Damon figured it out judging by the power in her movements. But that only made him tighten his hold. “Let me go, Damon!”
He cringed at the screech in her voice, but grinned nonetheless. “You finally left that shabby room, huh?”
“Because you-”
“It was Jason’s idea.” He quickly corrected her as one of his hands moved from her waist to run through her black hair softly. “Three days is enough alone time, right? I’m sure you got lonely in that room alone.”
She shook her head the second he asked that question. Not once did she lift her gaze to glance at him. “I felt more content here than when I was in yours… so now let me go!”
“That.. I can’t do. You’re mine. I can touch you, talk to you and look at you whenever I want.” His hand that was playing with her hair moved down to her chin and angled her face so she was staring in his direction. But even after that, Sarah was still determined to keep her gaze set on the floor no matter how he positioned her head.
“Look at me… or we’ll be standing here up until you do. Stop being so defiant, Sarah. I just want to talk.”
Sarah sucked on her cheeks as her body reluctantly went lax in his arms and her eyes finally rose to meet his. “I don’t want to hear anything you have to say.” Her voice went down to a whisper. “If you want to talk to someone, you can talk to Katie.”
At that, his hands clenched against her and then sullen words fell from his lips. “Only you humans have the ability to keep grudges for so long.” He sighed, “Look, I’m sorry I-” he paused to squeeze his eyes closed and twist his face in a way that made it seem as if he was remembering something horrible. “I’m sorry I kissed her and I’m sorry for saying something stupid. I promise that was not what meant. I was just… angry because you were angry, if that even makes sense.”
Sarah was shook by his words. She had never seen or heard an apology leave his lips so smoothly before. He didn’t even seem too traumatized after having said something so ‘unkingly’. And there was even this sincere look in his eyes that made her almost certain that his apology was genuine. What she wasn’t sure about though, was if he really didn’t mean to say what he did.
“How do I know that for sure?… you looked pretty into it when you were kissing her.” Her voice cracked when she mentioned their kiss, but despite knowing that Damon must’ve heard it, she gulped and carried on, all the while ignoring the urge to release a few drops of tears from her eyes. “… And then the next day you say something that would give anyone the same idea I got. What else do you expect me to think?”
“I don’t partake in silly things such as lying,” was his unconvincing reply.
She nodded in silent disappointment and moved her hands that were crushing between their chest to her side. He didn’t make any move to continue so Sarah could easily tell that he had nothing more left to say. He probably didn’t even know how ineffective his words were.
“Will you let me go now? Or do you plan on holding me hostage forever?”
Damon’s broad, rare smile painted his lips and he slid his hand across her face, tucking her hair behind her ears. “The tingles are as pleasing as always.” He remarked. Sarah saw his nostrils twitch before he brought his nose closer to her, nuzzling it into the soft hair that capped her head. “And your scent is stronger than before for some reason. I could probably smell you from miles and miles away…. This distance you created isn’t good for us, Sarah.” He pulled her impossibly closer to him and as her chin pressed harder against his chest, her head pushed back enough for her to stare straight up at him. The action made her aware of the deadly fact that his gaze was shifting between her eyes and lips. Normally, it’d be instinct for embarrassment to overtake her and then she’d either twiddle her fingers, stiffen or both. But this time, Sarah did nothing more than drop her eyes to his chin…. though the task of keeping it there and not on his two luscious lips was a different story.
“Do you still feel tingles when you touch her?” Sarah asked out of the blue, thankfully managing to keep her gaze away from his lips. The question was more like a diversion, a diversion from his ensnaring glances that made goosebumps rise all over her skin. But it was when Damon clenched his jaw in irritation that she truly realized what she had just said. Without a doubt, blood rose to her cheeks and she began to shuffle in his hold, mostly from embarrassment. “I meant d-”
“No. She’s not my mate, you are.” Damon answered simply, his large hand gripping her firmly. “Don’t talk about her. I came to talk about us.” He told her bluntly. Once again, his gaze shamelessly shifted from her eyes to her lips and then back. Sarah chose to ignore it for the second time, however, he suddenly hit her with another arrow, one that she couldn’t ignore. This time, it wasn’t his glances, it was his words.
“Can I kiss you?”
“W-what?” She pushed herself away from him the best she could, but he only pulled her back in place. “Stop doing that.”
“Doing what?”
“Touching me.”
“I already told you that I can do whatever I want with you.” He declared. “I could kiss you, but I’m playing nice since this is supposed to be an apology.”
“This is barely an apology.” She frowned.
“Just kiss the dude! I’m not used to seeing his sorry-ass face!” A frustrated voice boomed from the side. Sarah craned her neck to see Jason comfortably sitting on the stairs as he shamelessly picked at his nose with his finger. Both his presence and his unnecessary loudness made Sarah fill with embarassment, but Jason didn’t stop there and continued to ramble on. “He never apologizes to anyone… I can assert to that. Isn’t that enough of a reason to forgive him? And he’s leaving anyway so just give him a goodluck smooch and makeup! Who knows?… he might not even come back. If that happens you’ll only regret t….”
He continued to rant on and on, but Sarah tuned him out completely as soon as he mentioned Damon leaving and not returning from wherever. She spun her head back in his direction with confusion swarming her eyes. By the way Jason phrased his words, she could only stupidly gather that Damon would leave if she didn’t make up with him. That thought seeped dread into her very soul. “You’re leaving? To where? With whom?”
“It’s not what you think.” He answered immediately. His eyes gave Jason a hard glare before returning to her. “I’m going out for battle. The rogues hideout has been spotted far into the forest. I need to get rid of them before they cause anymore problems.”
“You’re going alone? What about Jason?” Worry laced her words.
“My thoughts exactly.” Jason grumbled from the same spot, though nobody paid him much attention.
“Jason will stay here with you in case anything happens, but I won’t be alone. I have hundreds of wolves at my command. I just have to kill a few rogues and that’s it. They barely have numbers.”
“But still-?”
“Are you worried?” He suddenly intercepted.
She immediately clamped her mouth shut.
“You are?” He grinned.
“N-No. I’m just asking.”
“Because you’re worried?”
She quickly shook her head. “Because I—because…”
“I am the Alpha King. Mere rogues aren’t capable of killing me.” He assured. “Now, if we’re done talking about that….” His grin widened across his lips, “Can I get my kiss now? Aren’t you scared I’ll die th-”
“Alpha!” A mind-link from his subordinate Gilbert, came popping up into his head, cutting his words short. “I’ve lost all contact with Daren. I’m sure something happened back at the hideout. What should we do?!”
Damon’s body pulled to a complete stop and his grin fell from his lips. “Get the others ready for departure.” He replied to Gilbert then turned to Jason. “Don’t let her out of your sight and she isn’t supposed to step a foot outside. If anything happens to her while I’m gone, you’re dead.”
“Huh? It’s already starting?” Jason enthusiastically jumped up from the stairs and made his way over to them. “If there’s even a scratch on her body, I’ll willingly let you have my head.” He grinned.
“I’m serious.” Damon warned.
“And you think I’m not?”
“What’s going on?” Sarah confused voice broke their conversation. “What’s starting?”
Jason signed. “You should’ve gotten chummy with him sooner cuz he’s about to walk into his grav-” a hard slap to the back of his head made him swallow the rest of his sentence.
“I have to leave now.” Damon finally said. With a quick peck to her forehead, he unwrapped his arms from her waist and gently shoved her in Jason’s direction. “Take care of her. This won’t take long.”
He ruffled her hair and then moved to step off in the other direction, but before he could reach far, Sarah quickly grabbed the end of his sleeve with hesitant fingers whilst looking down at his feet rather than his face. “Come back safe.” A low mumble came from her pink lips.
Damon smiled softly. “I’ve never lost a battle.” And without any further words, he pulled his arm away from her and jogged towards the stairs. Then within a few seconds, he was out the door and into the woods.