53

Chapter 53
Princess smiled when she heard his heavy footsteps against the wooden floor, his weary sigh gave her a pump. She had him just where and how she wanted him.
Tired and weak, too burnt out to argue or turn her down, all she had to do was time him, say the right words, execute her best facial expressions, and get this over with, alpha Jude would be proud of her.
She heard him pause at the door of the stairs, obviously contemplating what to do next, she had ordered the chefs to make their finest meal and put in their very best.
A smile stretched her lips when she heard him walk towards the dining area. Well, guess the chefs did good, was all she thought, good enough to draw him here with just the aroma of their cooking.
He just broke his routine of taking a shower and freshening up immediately after work. “Welcome,” she said, not too enthusiastically, and kept a straight face when he muttered a “Thank You”.
He sounded too tired, she would have to give him some time and space to recuperate, she sneakily watched him devour his plate of food almost immediately.
Well, must have been very famished, she thought, feigning focus on her plate. A comfortable silence befell them, and all Princess could hear was the subtle sounds of chewing and swallowing.
Princess bid her time, taking note of his expression and waiting for him to devour half his plate, which should give him enough strength and energy to answer her.
“We never finished our conversation from the other day.” She said, alpha Damon paused mid-chewing to look up at her, he had no expression, so Princess did not know what to read into that look.
He slowly dabbed at his mouth and swallowed loudly before he answered her. “Yeah,” he said, not sounding as interested in the conversation as she wanted him to be.
But that did not deter her, she had promised herself and Alpha Jude to get this over and done with, so she would tell him anyway, regardless of his mood.
“Well, do you mind if we continue from where we stopped?” She asked, watching him closely.
He played with his tongue or perhaps was just trying to get stray particles of food from his cheek, but he seemed to be contemplating her offer for a while.
“Well, I do not mind.” He finally answered, and Princess held back a sigh of relief. She wanted this to look as natural as possible, she was not going to force anything or let her face guard fall.
He seemed interested and focused now, Princess thought as he propped his elbow on the table and leaned his chin on his clasped hand, keenly watching her scroll through her phone.
Opening the folder that had the said pictures, Princess slid her phone over to him, gasping when she missed the target and the phone slipped. But he caught it just in time, and she let out a breath she did not know she was holding.
He gave her a hard stare before he peered into the phone, squinting his eyes as he observed it. “Who are these?” He asked and the princess held back a smile.
“Swipe left, to the next picture.” She said, simply, not wanting to come off too excited to show him. She would rather not be suspicious.
Princess could tell the exact moment he set eyes off the picture and realized who it was, she had never seen alpha Damon as surprised and shaken as he looked at that moment.
He looked as if he had just seen a dead come back to life, and Princess low-key felt bad that she was the reason behind that hurt look in his eyes.
His voice shook when he asked where she had found them…the pictures… Princess could swear she saw a glimmer of tears at the corner of his left eye, but she was not ready to mention that.
In all the times she had known alpha Damon, he had never looked or sounded this broken, not even when his mother left. But here he was completely broken by a picture.
Pictures of a woman he supposedly loved with another man, a picture that was staged and fake. She knew he would never forgive her if this truth ever came to light, but she was confident that it would not.
She would not let it, as long as she is alive. His eyes held so much hurt when she looked into them, and he did not seem bothered to hide it. This was the height of it, Princess thought. He was damaged beyond repair.
“Someone sent them to me.” She lied, her gaze wavered, and she hoped he would not ask the next obvious question of who the sender was, she did not have a lie prepared for that yet.
The hurt in his eyes turned to anger, she could hear his breathing from when she sat, and she knew now was the time, she had to unload everything on him at once, and she was sorry for it, but she had to do, what she had to do.
“That is not all.” She said, and his breath caught. He looked uncomfortably strange, and his voice sounded even more wounded when he asked what more was left.
He seemed like a man waiting to be finished like he knew what was coming was going to crush him even more.
“Ava is pregnant.” She let the bombshell out, and she could see him struggle to let that sink in. “For him.” She added, not waiting for him to get any ideas. He must not know that the child is his, it would only complicate matters for her.
He was struggling to hold himself together, she could physically see it, and he was in pain. His breath was raggedy, and his hand trembled, and so did the phone in it.
Letting go, the phone fell back with a thud on the table that startled Princess a little. She had not expected that.
Alpha Damon looked like he was having a war with himself and his morals, he wanted to do something and let out his anger and anguish, she knew him that much.
The chair scraped violently and loudly against the floor as he stood up abruptly, and walked out of the dining. Where was he going? Was he going to her? Was he going to find out the truth?
So many questions ran through her mind as she walked after him, he had longer legs and wider strides, so she had to run to catch up with him.
“Damon! Damon wait, please”
“You need to calm down, I know it is a lot, but you can’t go anywhere like this, you are too angry.” She kept calling him repeatedly, but it seemed the alpha Damon she knew was no longer there, whoever and whatever was, there did not recognize her voice.
His strides became wider, and he moved even faster, the more she got closer, the faster away from her, he moved.
Princess felt relief when he walked outside and walked straight towards the woods, it was a relief that he was not going for her. He just needed to clear his head.
She contemplated going after him, but she knew her effort would be futile. He wanted to be alone and alone he shall be, she just had to give him as much space as he needed.
She stood at the doorway and watched him run into the woods, a loud how followed almost immediately after, so loud she winced and covered her ears.
He was not just angry, he was furious, and she knew that doing this had woken something in him, something that had been asleep for so long. She just hoped she had the power to tame it as much as Ava had.
Walking back into the house, Princess walked into the dining area to retrieve her phone. She had to call Alpha Jude, tell him the deed had been down and all he had to do was await the results.
While she was sad that she had caused him so much pain, Princess was happy that he would finally be hers, hers to have and to claim, she just had to play her cards right.
Back in her room, Princess paced the floor as she dialed Alpha Jude, it rang twice before she heard some rustling from the other end and finally, his voice.
“Princess?” He asked when she said hello, well he did not even know her voice, she thought, rolling her eyes at that.
“Yes, it is done,” she said not wanting to go deep into details, after all, don’t they say the walls have ears?
“Okay, good night.” That was all he said, and Princess caught herself being angry at that. What exactly had she been expecting from him, she had no clue but maybe not just “okay”.
Alpha Damon might not be hers yet, but she was close enough to having him she thought as she poured herself a glass.