Not a weakness
1104 Words
Damon — POV
The celebration ended in noise, I didn’t even enjoy the rest of it after meeting Elodie. I couldn’t stop thinking about her and not in a way that you would think.I was mad at her, mad at the goddess and mad at myself for the decision I had taken. However it was too late for regrets now and I would have to live with the decision that I had taken.
Laughter. Music. The clink of glasses. Wolves congratulating me as if tonight had been some grand triumph instead of a necessary correction. I endured it. I endured Nyra's hand on my arm.
The elders’ approval. The whispers,and the congratulatory compliments from my fellow alphas But the moment the final toast was made, I left.
I did not say goodbye.
I walked through the corridor toward my chambers, boots striking stone in measured steps. The pack house was quieter now, the scent of smoke and wine fading into the night air drifting through the tall windows. I ordered the guards to make sure that no one was allowed into my room, they asked me if that also applied to their new Luna and I quietly nodded. I didn’t want her in my room…not yet.
Her scent was stronger as I neared my door. Soft. Warm. Dangerous.
I opened the door slowly, as if I was a visitor or a stranger in my own room. Elodie stood by the window, arms folded tightly across her chest. She had removed the ceremonial the clothes that she was wearing from earlier, not that she would have been able to if she wanted to. But I was only realizing now how that dress sit on her curvaceous body.
She turned the moment she heard me. Her eyes were not tearful. They were furious.
“Why am I here?” she demanded. No greeting. No trembling.
I closed the door behind me.
“You know why.”
“No.” She took a step forward. “I don’t. You rejected me in front of the entire pack. You chose another mate. You demoted me.” Her voice wavered only slightly. “So why am I in your room?”
“I didn’t do it in front of the entire pack, I think I was rather discreet wouldn’t you agree with me?” I asked her, barely making any eye contact and she scoffed.
“just tell me why you chose to bring me here when you could have just let me disappear into the night with no one noticing or ever knowing about us?” she demanded
Because I don’t trust the wolves downstairs not to tear you apart. Because Nyra would enjoy watching it happen. Because your scent still claws at my control. But I said none of that.
“You are safer here.”
She stared at me like I had struck her.
“Safer?” she repeated. “You don’t want me.”
The words lingered between us. I met her gaze evenly.
“I do not.”
Her chin lifted, proud even now.
“Then release me.”
There it was. The plea wrapped in dignity. I moved closer not touching her, never touching her but close enough that she had to tilt her head to keep eye contact.
“You misunderstand your position.”
Her jaw tightened.
“You are no longer of rank,” I continued. “You are not protected by title. The pack is restless. They may blame you for the disruption tonight.”
“That disruption was your doing… I would have never approached you”
“Yes.”
I did not flinch from it.
“And because it was my decision, you will remain under my authority.”
Her laugh was sharp and humorless. “Authority? Or ownership?”
The word slid through the air like a blade. I let the silence stretch before answering.
“You will stay here until I determine what is to be done with you.” Her breath hitched.
“What is to be done with me?” she whispered.
“As I said,” I replied coolly, removing my jacket and placing it over the chair as if we were discussing nothing of consequence, “you are safer in my room than in the omega quarters.”
Her hands curled into fists.
“So I am a burden now.”
“Yes.”
The word was simple. Final. Something flickered in her eyes then. Not tears. Something breaking.
“You could have sent me away,” she said quietly. “You could have let me leave.”
“No.”
That word was quieter than the others. Stronger.
Her gaze snapped back to mine.
“Why?”
Because you are mine to decide the fate of. Because I will not have my weakness walking free where others can claim it. Because I had a lot more than the pack to worry about…someone else could see you as a way to get to me…
But I gave her the only answer she would receive.
“Because I will not allow a complication to become a liability.”
She recoiled as if struck.
“I am not a complication.”
“You are precisely that.”
The air between us thickened. I stepped past her toward the balcony doors and opened them, letting the cold night air spill inside.
“You will sleep here,” I said. “You will not leave these chambers without my permission. Because I will not have you will not provoke Nyra. And you will wait.”
“For what?”
“For me to decide.”
Silence fell again.
When I finally looked back at her, she was staring at me as if memorizing something or erasing it.
“You are cruel,” she said.
I held her gaze.
“No,” I corrected calmly. “I am practical.”
She did not answer. But I saw it then the first fracture in her loyalty. And something unfamiliar twisted low in my chest. Not regret.But awareness. If I wasn’t careful, she would be the end of me..there were too many eyes on me today present and absent from the party. But all with one thing in mind, they wanted to know who belonged to me. That is why I had to pick and not have some goddess pick for me. I was going to be in control of what weaknesses I let into my life. And I wasn’t going to allow her…her of all people to undo all my hard work.
And I would not allow that.
- Writer
