5. Dinner Party Gone Awry #2
“Shut up! You little dick-loving whore!” Rydel snapped.
I narrowed my eyes dangerously and hissed, “You better apologize to him right now.”
“Or what? You northie bastard! Your mother is also a whore since you are not even a legitimate son!”
I heard the string snap in my head. I swung my fist at that prick but someone caught my hand unexpectedly.
My attack was interrupted, and I heard Damien bellow in a rumbling voice, “Rydel! That’s enough! Back off!”
“Was I wrong? Everyone knows his father only took him away from his whore mother because the real Luna couldn’t give birth to an alpha!” Rydel taunted, even though others were also holding him back.
No one could call my mother that and still get away with it. I was seeing red. I tried to yank my hand free, but Damien’s grip was surprisingly tight, so I head-butted him. He didn’t expect that and stumbled back. For the second time in two days, I gave him a major nosebleed.
Gasps and exclamations of shock rippled across the dining hall.
Damien steadied himself and slowly looked up at me. The darkness in his eyes was so thick that even I found it intimidating. We faced each other, both in full charging stance, and the space between us was so loaded with tension that any little stir could set off a full-scale war.
“That’s enough, this is unbecoming.” Prince Valerian, who had been a silent observer this whole time, had finally spoken. “Calm down, both of you! Do you want to disturb the king and the queen with such a farce again?”
It cut through the cloud of rage in my brain, and I knew it wouldn’t lead to anything good if we fought again right after a dinner party.
Damien seemed to think the same. His posture relaxed, so did mine.
The crowd gathered around us visibly relieved, seeing that Damien and I wouldn’t claw each other’s eyes out.
However, the tension and anxiety in the room suddenly spiked again when Damien marched toward me, stopping merely inches away from me. Our faces were so close that I could see my own reflection in his dark brown irises, our noses only an inch or two apart.
I didn’t back down, looking him straight in the eyes.
And he smelled ... surprisingly good. It was a unique scent, a blend of rich, velvety refinement and the sharpness of metallic danger, like a black dahlia blooming in a pool of blood.
I had smelled him last night, but at the time, I was in too much panic, feeling his hard-on and knowing I was about to lose, to notice it.
But now, it overflowed my senses.
The scent told me he was angry, but the more pronounced excitement didn’t come from anger alone. It almost felt like he saw me as one of the dangerous beasts in the woods who could tear him into pieces, and he was going to hunt me down and make me bow.
That made me ... strangely excited, too.
“I look forward to our Full Moon Hunt tomorrow,” he said. His voice was husky and dangerous.
Then, he left. Rydel hastily followed him out. Johnathan gave me an apologetic look and also followed. He was one of Damien’s companions, after all.
I excused myself from the room and waited for Leif in an adjacent room near their drawing room. And for some unexplainable reason, I couldn’t get Damien’s scent out of my head.
Damien’s Diary Entry, Day 2
June 14, Waxing Gibbous,
So, it turns out Fenris has an omega brother who is one of the potential mate candidates for me.
The brother, Leif is his name, is a rare beauty, perhaps even more so than Lovel, who has always been proud of his own appearance, probably a little too much.
Leif is very different from Fenris in both appearance and temperament, but they both share an artless demeanour that is more genuine and grounded than what I’m used to seeing.
I like him. But ... I find annoying and provoking his alpha brother to be far more entertaining. In fact, it has become the highlight of my dull, dreadful day.
I could tell Fenris wanted to bite my head off during the Presentation, and I knew exactly how to get on his nerves: I invited Leif to sit next to me during the dinner party later today.
Fenris would have to sit close to me, giving me a perfect opportunity to observe his every little annoyance and disapproval.
He is not very good at hiding his thoughts and emotions, I’ve noticed.
Among all the leaders of the clans who want me to marry their omegas or female betas, Fenris is probably the only one not trying at all to impress me. In fact, I suspect he doesn’t even want me to marry his brother. But for whatever reason, I just cannot stop messing with him.
Oh, and he gave me another nosebleed today after the dinner party. For once, I was trying to help him avoid being shunned by high society, and blood was the reward I got.
Afterward, when Johnathan came to deliver missives from the eastern camp, he asked me what was going on between Fenris and me. I told him I was just putting an arrogant upstart northern lord in his place. I think Johnathan didn’t believe me.
“You are acting like a teenager,” Johnathan said unceremoniously. “Reminds me of when you first met Eric.”
Hearing that name still sent a chill down my back, a hollow ache echoed in my chest like the phantom pain of a lost limb.
Shit ... it’s not happening again, is it?
Perhaps I should leave Fenris alone. Perhaps I should do what I’m told and find myself an omega. Especially now, when father is about to announce his successor.
Mother will not allow anyone to stand in the way.