Damon’s POV:
“Who are you?” I asked the rogues who were in the cell.
There was a little pup on the woman’s lap who was whimpering. The pup looked so thin and sick, and the woman didn’t look good either. She was in a torn dress, her hair was messy, her collarbone was sticking out, and her lips were cracked and dry.
Although the woman was trying to avoid my gaze by looking at the ground, I could sense that she wasn’t one of my kind.
The man beside her, though, was definitely a werewolf.
“Miss…”
“Mrs.,” the male corrected my sentence with a glare.
Although he had bruises on his body and his build wasn’t all that, he had fire in his eyes. In him, I saw a warrior ready to protect the ones he cared for.
“You, do you realize the penalty of trespassing into an Alpha’s territory?” I asked seriously.
He lowered his gaze to the side and kept quiet.
“I see, so are you ready to die together with them?” I asked.
“No, please,” he said on top of his voice, then looked at me with a pleading expression on his face.
“I need to know who you are and why you crossed my territory. If not, then I’ll just have to…”
“Damon,” Sherry called.
I turned and watched her calmly as she approached me.
“You don’t have to be here,” I whispered softly once she was in front of me.
“I know, but I wanted to be by your side,” she answered.
I grabbed her hand, then leaned in and kissed her forehead.
“I will soon join you in our bedroom, so go back and rest,” I said softly.
She shifted her gaze to the rogues, then pulled her hand away and took a step closer to them.
“Sir, my name is Sherry, and I am the Luna of this pack. Next to me is my mate and Alpha, Damon. I came here to check up on him, and I was about to leave, but the pup got my attention. If you aren’t a selfish man like most assholes I know of, why don’t you answer his questions truthfully so that we might be able to help you in any way? Judging from the pup’s whimpering and loud breathing, it may die soon,” she said as the man quickly moved to his knees and lowered his head.
“I am Bevin, and this woman beside me is Mika. I apologize for trespassing into your territory, Luna. I had no idea this would be an Alpha’s territory,” he said.
“Where are you from?” she asked.
“I am from a pack called Xanarian. The pack is two territories away, and if I were to decide to go back on foot, it would take me a year and some months to reach,” he answered.
“Is that pup yours?” she asked.
He looked at me, then back at Sherry, and nodded.
“The pup is my little girl, who was born from my first mate, whom the moon goddess had given me. Sadly, she died due to a complicated childbirth,” he answered, then sniffed.
“You see, she was just an omega who most people hated. Our love was a pain in their eyes that even when she was giving birth, they cared less. One even dared to give her wolfsbane while she was on her dying bed. Although I lost my mate that day, I gained a daughter,” he said sadly, then lowered his gaze to the ground.
“My baby girl is an Omega too, and I knew it wouldn’t be long before they started mistreating her as they did her late mother. That’s why I chose to run away with her from my pack. Everything was hard for me, and I had no idea how to raise a child until I met Mika. You see, Mika is… Mika is a…” He hesitated and looked at her.
Mika slowly looked up and smiled at him. Even if her scent was hidden, just seeing the color of her eyes, I could tell that she was a vampire.
“A vampire,” I finished for him as fear flashed on his face.
“Our pack has a few vampires around, so that isn’t something you should be scared of admitting,” I pointed out as he sighed in relief.
“Mika was staying alone in the woods, and she was kind enough to help me,” he said as I folded my arms.
“You aren’t telling me everything,” I pointed out seriously.
“Mika is my second chance mate, and her taking us in only angered the elders of the coven. Some vampires had been chasing us down for a long time until we stumbled into your territory. Since coming here, they have never appeared before us. That’s why we decided to live here. Sadly, I had no idea that ahead was your pack Alpha. If you let us go, I promise that I will never ever step foot on your land again,” he said as Sherry grabbed the bars.
“He can do that for you, or you can stay here and prove your loyalty to him. When you are released and he does let you go, what makes you think the ones after your lives will just let you live? There is a possibility you will still be hunted down, and you might lose your life as well as theirs. Just judging from how Mika is looking, I can tell that she hasn’t been feeding well because of the two of you. But if you decide to serve my mate and Alpha, you will have a chance to give your pup a worthy life because no one here will bully her or treat her badly,” she said as I smirked.
Now there was my Luna, standing firmly before her Alpha.
“Mika will be able to feed well because we do have human blood in our pack clinic, and you will get to train with other warriors and become stronger. The vampires who are hunting you down will also back down because they know what it means to step into this land. So, what would you like to do?” She asked.
The man stood up slowly and took a few steps forward.
“If the Alpha does give his word to protect me and my family from danger, then I and my family will vow to forever serve him and his pack,” he answered strongly.
I moved closer and extended my hand between the bars.
“I give you my word. I will protect you and your family when you do prove that your loyalty lies with me,” I said as he grabbed my hand and shook it.