Seeing his rigid face and clenched hands Layla knew something was wrong and she knew it all started when his grey eye became hooded and had a mist in it.
"Damien" she called shaking him, hoping it'll take him out of his mind and to herself. After minutes of shaking and calling worriedly, he came out of his shell and removed himself from her holds before walking out the door.
Then Layla knew something was terribly wrong, something just ticked him off and she bet it was what the Moon Goddess told her, the attack that was aimed at her.
When she woke up she was slightly scared the news had reached him and he had gone to intervene since she couldn't find him in the room so she rushed out the door but after seeing him laughing with Claire and her friends, relief washed over her, still she kept wondering when he'll hear about it.
"Damien!" she called after him trying to match his fast pace as he dashed downstairs
"Damien wait!" she tried again and seeing that she still got no response she decided to call him by his other name, the one he kept from her, the one Selena kept calling him
"Alaric!" she shrieked staying rooted in her step while trying to catch her breath
Hearing that name Damien stopped, no his wolf stopped him. Alert and shocked, he turned back to look at Layla wondering if she was the one who just called him that
"Alaric" she said again before he could question if she was the one who called him
"How did you know that name?" he questioned in a low tone.
Damien only knew one person that calls him that, his mother, and she only calls him that whenever he's out of control and his wolf is off its hook. She said it's his wolf's given name by the Moon Goddess.
"How about you tell me what the fuck is going on here? You were there talking to me and then all of a sudden you went off and you weren't answering me anymore and then the next thing I know is you're out of the room, care to explain why?" Layla said with her chest heaving but Damien couldn't answer her question, he wasn't ready to let her go, not now at least.
"How about you forget about that and tell me how the fuck you knew that name?" he said with an authoritative voice that made his request sound more like a command which slightly shocked Layla
She has never seen this side of his before, she could tell he was losing control but she's not ready to back down, not ever
"How about you forget about that then. Okay, trade by the batter, you tell me yours then I'll tell you mine, sounds like a fair trade to me" she said moving closer to him with every word until she stood right in front of him
"Right now I'm not in the mood for fair trade okay, so get back upstairs and wait for me to come back," he said deciding to find out the answer to his question later after he deals with the betrayers
"Alaric, you're going nowhere, not until you tell me exactly what's going on," she said this time in a commanding way but he resisted.
The name had an effect on his wolf, it made him act obedient to the person calling it and makes him want to make the person happy but he chided him 'she's not our mother so stop this nonsense'
He then crossed the rest of the stairway in an attempt to get away from Layla and finish his pending business
"If you step out of that bloody door I'm rejecting you" Layla threatened and even though she doesn't mean it, she made sure she used a menacing voice and a strong face to say it
Looking back at her in disbelief Damien said surprised "What?!"
"I mean every word I said Damien," she said staying rooted in her grounds
"That makes no sense because I'm not telling so you won't reject me and run away," he said agony lacing his voice
"How about a promise, I won't leave even if I hear what happened but If I don't tell me and you step out, I'm leaving, without saying goodbye"
"Layl..." Damien started before Layla cut his off by shaking her head in disapproval
"Just say it"
Deciding to trust her words he spilled "an attack was made last night and it was aimed at you, if not because you were here, only the goddess knows what I'll be saying right now" he said earning a gasp from the three girls present in the room with them who didn't notice
Damien was shocked though, not because of his sister and her friends being a guest to their bickering but because of Layla's body response to his news.
The way she acted was as if she already knew about it and that didn't help the curiosity that threatened to eat his brain.
Firstly she called him Alaric, a name he hasn't heard in years and now she's acting indifferent to his news, but what came out of her mouth was the most shocking part
"Let me handle the situation"
It was like he's dreaming, of course, he is dreaming, because to him, that's the only thing that can explain what he just heard.
Even Claire and her friends were shocked at her response, they didn't expect it. Claire has also thought she'll run away for her dear life on hearing what her brother said but hearing her ask for permission to take control, she couldn't be more proud 'Oh my goddess, she's ready to act like the Luna she is, she finally listened to my advice' she beamed inwardly
"Oh no you must be joking, right?" Damien said in disbelief
"And do I look like I am?" Layla replied still with a very straight and serious face and that convinced Damien
So she's not joking and I'm not dreaming?
"What the hell" was all he could say
"Damien, I know you care about me, and I know you want to protect me but please allow me to handle this myself, I'm the one they want right? So let me face them" she reasoned and Damien laughed in disbelief, seeing she still has that serious face on, he stopped laughing
"You can't really tell me you mean all that. Layla common, what do you want to do over there? We are talking about a group of aged and skilled werewolves who hate you here and you're telling me you want to face them? Why do you think I've not let you get close to any of them all this while?" he said, hoping she'll see his point and obey him
"Because you think I'm weak since I'm human and you think I can't protect myself as much as you can"
"Well, you can't! I don't think, I know!" Damien said in frustration. 'What is she thinking about for goodness sake!?' he thought as he worked for his hands through his hair in frustration
"And that's it! If you, my mate doesn't see me strong enough, how do you expect others to! I just said I can take care of this situation so why don't you just sit back for once and give me a chance. All in the name of protection you placed me on the safest floor in that house and still they attacked right! How sure are you they will stop there!?" Layla exclaimed as anger coursed through her veins
"And that's why I'm going to kill all of them, so all this will stop!" Damien countered making Claire and the rest, including Layla gasped in shock
"What?" Layla said horror coupled with anger clear on her face
"Yes, I'm going to kill them all so any of them won't have the gut to stand against me anymore"
Layla couldn't believe her ears, truly her mate is standing in front of her, telling her he's going to kill people without remorse? What the fuck? He can't truly mean that, right?
"Damien," Claire said, trying to intervene but the look on his face ate up every word in her mouth as she lowered her head in fear and respect, her friends doing the same.
They could see he was angry, no, livid and his Alpha trait was clearly in view as his wolf was in control
"And you think that'll solve anything?" Layla whispered
"No, it'll solve everything" Damien replied
"Alaric," she said soothingly "listen to me," she said as she moved closer to him and placed her hands on his chest
"I know you're angry and I know you love me more than anything, but can't you just give me a chance to take care of this?" she whispered lovingly
Damien struggled against Guy, but since he was in control, it was easy for Layla to get what she wants
"Okay my love" Guy said earning a grin from Layla while Damien just huffed
'So now you'll let her go right? Allow her to face those fuckers all by herself?' Damien questioned Guy in spite
'Take a look at her eyes for once Damien and see the sincerity in it, she can do it. She's not our mate for no reason, she's strong and capable and I can feel it' Guy replied with a proud smile, and with the amount of pride and love running through Damien's veins he had no choice but to calm down and see for once
"Well if anything goes wrong, I won't hesitate to shed blood" he stated as a final warning and Layla agreed while beaming while thinking his threat was what it was, a threat.
'He can't really kill, right? I mean he's more human than werewolf so killing can't be as easy as he's saying it' she thought as she smiled
"Ahem," Samantha said drawing their attention to her
"I strongly hope the two of you aren't planning on going out while looking like that," she said pointing to their choice of dress, making Layla blush slightly knowing what's underneath
"I bet they wouldn't even take the great Alpha seriously at least not while he's looking like that" Prisca said smiling
"Guys just go change and when you're ready we'll follow you to your destination," Claire said shooing them away and knowing the kids were right about their choice of dressing, they both hurried back inside to get changed