Charlotte awoke in the morning with soreness all over her body. She couldn't even sit up straight in the car.
Damon had behaved like a mad dog last night. Their mating session didn't end until midnight, and Charlotte was sure she passed out as soon as she reached her last orgasm.
She had the greatest sex ever that night, but at what cost?
Fortunately, Damon was responsible enough not to let her sleep with cum all over her body.
"I'm sorry for waking you up so early." Damon said, "I have to attend the Pack monthly meeting this morning, and I thought it would be safer for you to go with me."
Julian wouldn't be able to track her anymore, but leaving her alone in the hotel was not a great choice either.
The monthly meeting would be held at the Crimson Moon Manor, which happened to be Damon's residence.
Charlotte had never been there, but she heard the manor was so grand and luxurious that other werewolves packs were jealous of them.
She would be delighted to live there, if only she didn't remember she was in a complicated situation.
Even though they hadn't registered their relationship to the supernatural organization yet, Charlotte had officially become Damon's Luna since he marked her.
Hence, Charlotte was certain Damon wanted to introduce her to the Crimson Moon Pack.
But, that was the problem.
She was his nephew's wife, or soon to be ex-wife. Their relationship wasn't illegal, but other people might find it a little bit disgusting.
Not a little, maybe really, really disgusting.
Not to mention humans, even werewolves would think Charlotte was a bitch who could climb from one man's bed into another man's.
Furthermore, Charlotte wasn't sure if Damon's pack knew she'd been rejected by him or not.
Her motherfucker ex-husband really fucked up her life, even after they were no longer together.
"You don't have to meet my pack for now." Damon seemed like he knew what Charlotte was thinking of.
Charlotte chuckled. "Then, what am I gonna do? Hiding in your bedroom until the meeting is over?"
It sounded worse than telling everyone that Damon had claimed Charlotte as his mate.
She lowered her gaze because she didn't want to look at Damon's eyes. "But if you are ashamed of me, I can stay in another place for a while."
The mark on her neck was more than enough for her. As long as Julian couldn't find her, then Charlotte was able to hide in another place.
"That's not what I mean, Charlotte." Damon lifted her chin, so he could see those ocean-blue eyes. "You are tired and sleepy, so I want you to rest today."
Moreover, she wasn't in her best condition now. Her hair was tousled from the night before, dark circles had settled under eyes, and her clothes were wrinkled from rushing out of the hotel.
No. She would rather die than have to meet other people with that kind of appearance!
Besides, people might have thought Damon had kidnapped his nephew's wife and forced himself to her after they saw her messy appearance.
Charlotte would immediately be thrown up if people thought of Damon as the big bad wolf and Julian as the innocent lamb.
"Okay, how about we stop at the public restroom and I'll touch up a bit." Charlotte opened her bag and only found a compact powder and a broken red lipstick.
She curled her lips in disappointment. She used to have her own makeup studio and loved to wear makeup everyday.
But Julian said he preferred her natural face, so he forbade her to buy makeup products anymore.
"What kind of clothes do you like?" Damon looked at his watch. "We still have two hours before meeting."
• • •
The brief touch up in the restroom ended up being fully dressed up in the boutique. Damon let her pick out whatever she liked without looking at the price.
He even asked the boutique's assistant to help Charlotte put some makeup on her face.
When she stepped out of the boutique, she had worn a new dress, new shoes, and new jewelry.
The pink dress she chose was simple, yet elegant, with thin straps that left her shoulders bare, accentuating the curve of her collarbone.
"Do you need anything else?" asked Damon. He moved his eyes to observe Charlotte's appearance from the bottom to the top.
"No. This is more than enough." Charlotte stroked her arms, embarrassed that she had to use Damon's money to buy all those. "I will pay you back when I get a job."
Damon touched Charlotte's brunette hair and began to slowly twirl it between his fingers. "No need. You already repay me by being beautiful."
Charlotte's cheeks flushed. A small, shy smile tugging at her lips. "You don't have to say things like that," she murmured, barely able to meet his eyes.
Damon didn't reply to her words, but he stroked her cheeks softly before walking her to the car.
Once they arrived at the Crimson Moon Manor, Charlotte stopped breathing for a moment, amazed by the grand manor.
The manor consists of four buildings; the main building where Damon and his family live, the training grounds, the greenhouse, and the maid's house.
Every one of the buildings looked grandiose, making Charlotte sure that her feet would hurt if she walked from one end of the building to the other.
While she was still admiring the beautiful place, Charlotte suddenly heard someone call her name.
"Charlotte, what are you doing here?" a dark-haired man with a face almost identical to Damon's approached her. "You don't come here with your husband?"
Louis Sullivan—Damon's younger brother looked at Charlotte and his brother in turn as he waited for the answer.
But before Charlotte could say anything, Louis brought his face closer to hers and sniffed her scent.
"Strange, why does my brother's scent linger in your body like you just had a mating session?" Louis laughed quickly when he saw Charlotte looked terrified. "Relax, there's no—"
He paused for a second when he couldn't trace Julian's scent in Charlotte's body at all. Louis widened his eyes and looked at Damon in disbelief, "Fuck! Damon, you marked her!"