Damon had just stood where he was and watched Alexia angrily storm out of the pack house. For some unknown reason, he felt a twinkle of sadness as he stared after her.
He shrugged the feeling away. He couldn't allow the feeling to get to him and cloud his judgement. Ryan had left them and gone upstairs to get his things so they both could leave. He turned to leave and saw his parents staring expectantly at him.
"What?" He asked them.
His mother had a worried expression. His father also looked the same.
"You can't just let Alexia go like that," Nessa began.
"Yes I can because we're not related in any way," Damon answered.
"She's your mate Damon, she's your second chance mate. No one has been given this opportunity before," Greg joined in.
"And I say to hell with this opportunity, I don't want it," Damon stood his ground.
"But it's a gift blessed by the Moon goddess. She knows what's right. She'll never write the wrong destiny for you. She gave you a gift Damon," Nessa pressed on.
Damon laughed. It was a sarcastic laugh. "I don't think it's a gift mom. I think it's a curse just like Alexia said. You people seem to have forgotten that Alexia's clan is the the same clan of hunters that murdered my previous mate. I haven't forgotten that!" He pointed out.
Nessa opened her mouth to speak but no words came out.
"I haven't forgotten that these same hunters are responsible for murdering a lot of werewolves! If you have then I haven't. Then you expect me to just forget and walk up to Alexia. What am I even going to tell her? Please Mom, Dad, just drop this conversation. Let's not speak about it anymore," Damon put an end to the conversation.
His parents were left speechless as they saw that there was absolutely nothing they could do about it. Their son had made up his mind and he alone held the power to change his own mind.
At that moment, Ryan descended the stairs and joined them. "Can we leave? I'm ready," he announced. He only held a small dark bag in his left hand.
"I don't think my parents are ready to leave. Besides, I believe they can find their way home," Damon told his friend.
Damon gestured at Ryan to follow him as he walked out of the pack house. When Damon stepped out, he threw a glance backwards to see if Ryan was following and he smiled to himself when he saw that Ryan was.
Damon went to the black SUV that was in the parking lot. He collected his car keys from his pocket and clicked on the button. The car made a click-click sound to indicate that it was unlocked. He was about to get into the driver's seat when Ryan stopped him.
"Let me drive you, you look stressed," Ryan offered and Damon willingly handed the keys over to him.
Damon moved to the other side of the car and got in. Ryan took his place behind the wheels and brought the car to life. Their destination was back home with his clan. He was sure Ciara would be impatiently waiting for him.
"You okay man?" Ryan asked.
Damon only exhaled sharply as he watched the brightened road due to the light beams of their car.
"I don't think I am," Damon finally answered.
"I don't blame you man. I won't be okay too if I was in your shoes," Ryan told him.
Damon gently rubbed his temple. His fingers felt cold and numb. This always happened when he was stressed.
"What do you think I should do? I seriously don't know what to do," He voiced out and turned to his Beta for advice.
"I can't really say Damon. If they're right about the prophecy then you don't get together and do the necessary; then we'll all be damned. If you do get together, that's going to be super hard for you since you have to accept a Huntress. I know how you hate hunters," Ryan said.
"Very! I hate them more than you can imagine. Which is why I'm completely blank. I have no ideas," Damon voiced, frustration weighing him down.
They remained in silence as Ryan kept driving them through the dark paths. They soon got to their clan's huge gates. The gates opened and they drove into it. Ryan kept driving through the streets. Their clan home was like a magnificent estate. This was so since Damon's pack was one of the largest in America.
There were a lot of houses lining the streets. The huge gates were meant for protection from other creatures, especially the Hunters who never missed a chance to murder werewolves.
Ryan soon came to a stop before Damon's mansion. Ryan lived there with him since the place was big enough to house him along with other important werewolves of the White Flame pack. The pack house was built outside of their clan home since it was designed to house all werewolves from different clans whenever they wanted to have a meeting together. Yet they had used it to house vampires, Hunters, witches and warlocks.
Damon got out of the car first. Ryan followed and together they entered their house. As expected, Ciara was pacing around impatiently as she awaited their return. The moment she saw them walk in, she sprang to Damon's side..
"What happened? I was so worried. I tried to reach you but there was no way I could," She began and leaned on her feet to plant a kiss on his lips but Damon threw his face away.
This hurt Ciara so bad. The hurt was evident in her eyes.
"Listen Ciara, I'm tired. I'm exhausted. I just want to rest," Damon informed her.
"It's okay. I'll help you rest. Maybe I should give you a good body massage. That'll ease your stress," She suggested while smiling seductively. Her red hair aided the mood she was trying to provoke.
"I'd like to be alone. Alone with my thoughts, please. I'll see you tomorrow," He turned her down and went on to his room.
Ryan just pretended he hadn't witnessed anything as he made a beeline for his room. Ciara stared after Damon's back in anger. It was boiling and rising up her throat. There was only one cause for this sudden change in behavior. Alexia!
She wasn't going to just stand there and allow her happiness slip out of her fingers. Damon was her happiness and she was willing to do anything to keep her happiness. She was willing to fight for her happiness.
She exhaled loudly and slowly walked to her room. Even if Damon had been given a second chance mate. She was going to fight for what was rightfully hers.
Damon on the other hand got to his room and took a quick shower. Then he sat on his bed shirtless. The tattoo of the Phoenix on his chest was visible in the moonlight.
He looked up at the moon for a long time. The Moon goddess was supposed to be watching over them. She was supposed to have everyone's best interest at heart. She was supposed to know what was right for her subjects.
But for the first time, he questioned her judgement. Of all Alphas, why did she have to pick just him? Hadn't he gone through a lot already? As much as he would have liked to blatantly deny Alexia being his mate like she did to him; he couldn't.
He could feel the mate bond. It was strong in his heart and his wolf deep within wanted to be with his other half. But the real him wanted nothing to do with her. He just couldn't stoop so low.
Hunters and werewolves could never unite. It had never happened before in all history and he was certainly not going to be the first werewolf to start it.
They could be wrong about the prophecy for all he knew. They could be another second chance mate. It could be referring to some other couple.
Yet every other person was so sure it was him. They already tagged him as the mate stained with blood. Since he had been the one to lead the attack on her grandparents. The prophecy said only true forgiveness. Alexia had to forgive him even if they wanted to make it work. He didn't even feel remorseful. They deserved it for slaughtering a large number of werewolves.
This prophecy was indeed a double edged sword meant to cut him on both sides. Either way he was stuck. Either way, he was going to get hurt. The worst part was that there was nothing he could do.
Well he did know what he was going to do for now. He was going to stay clear of Alexia. He was going to stay away from the hunters.
Maybe if he ignored the prophecy, then it would find its way to work things out in the end.
How bad could his decision be?