Chapter 5

Damon's POV "Damon, you're thirty years old." My mother, Julianna, tells me during breakfast, her tone deceptively light. "You know how the elders are already hoping not only to choose a mate but to have your own pups. You have neither." She means well. Both my parents do. And apart from this one topic, I have a very good relationship with them. They were worried. Everyone is. At thirty years old, I am honestly overdue for a mate. The truth is, I refuse to enter a loveless union for political gain. The mere thought of being bound to someone I didn't even know or care about suffocates me. I simply won't be able to take it and I fear I will never love anyone unless they are my mate. My fated mate. I've been waiting for her since my wolf came but she has yet to appear. Still, my duties loom over my head, always waiting and always demanding. I am Damon. The Alpha of the Crescent Moon Pack and as Alpha, I have to protect not only my pack but my bloodline and title. So I understand. I understand the worry and the demands and the wish that u can secure the next generation of leadership but I also don't want to shortcut this. I want my fated mate and no one else. "Listen to your mother, Damon." My father, the former Alpha, chastises me, staring at me across the breakfast table. "The annual Mating Ball is happening tonight. You should go." I scoff, pushing away my plate, my appetite for breakfast gone with the topic. "No." "Damon, you are an amazing Alpha. No one questions that. You have done good things for us and our pack but you have to remember that part of your duty is to find a suitable mate." My mother says in a soft and understanding tone. "I know you do not like to be forced into something you do not want but the reality is, you have run out of time. Go to the Mating Ball tonight. Find your mate. Start your family." "And if I don't?" I questioned, staring hard at the coffee in front of me with a gaze that could shatter glass. "Then you give us no choice but to give you an ultimatum." My father announces, throwing a folder in front of me. "These are women that we have been looking into for a political marriage with you. If you do not go tonight to the Mating Ball and choose a mate from there, then we will choose someone for you." I stare down at the folder, seeing pictures of women from different packs with a list of their bloodlines like they were trying to sign up for a job… instead of a mate. It turns my stomach and the measly breakfast I ate. Strangers. These were strangers. They would shackle me to a stranger if I didn't go choose my own? That isn't right. "I don't want this." I say with a shake of my head. "Unfortunately, this isn't about what you want." My father shoots me a sharp but understanding expression. It was a loon of a man that has gone through the same thing before. "This is what the pack needs and that goes above anything you could want. Choose or we will choose for you." I swallowed, angry, confused and a little too cornered for a man of my position. "Fine." If suffering through a tasteless ball with even more tasteless women is what I have to do to avoid a loveless bond with a stranger, then I will grit my teeth and endure it. For a night. All I have to do is go, right? Throughout the day, I dread it. I dread going to the Mating Ball especially when it is hosted at the Blood Moon Pack where the most annoying high ranking werewolves in existence are. No one is as stuck up as them and I can only imagine what the others will be like. It will be a very long night. ‘You are being stubborn.' My wolf muttered as we made our way to the Mating Ball. ‘It will not be so bad. You will see.' I let out a huff. ‘You know why. This is hopeless. I know it and you know it. She will not be in the Mating Ball. We will only get hounded by hungry she wolves that know nothing about love. They only want power.' He falls silent after that, knowing the truth of my words. Though his instincts want nothing more than to find our mate, he also knows that being forced into an empty, unfeeling bond with someone that isn't our mate will only forever keep us lost without a true connection. A forced bond without true love. Just as I was about to continue on with my complaints about tonight, my Gamma rushed over to me, interrupting my thoughts with urgent news. "Alpha!" He bows low, his expression tight with the news he brings. "A rogue has been captured near the border." Yes, this is exactly what we needed! An excuse. A valid excuse to skip that dreaded ball— temporarily at least. But still an excuse. Relief washes over me and I actually find myself smiling. "I'll handle it." My Gamma hesitates, his eyes widening. "Are you sure, Alpha?" "Quite sure." I was already making my way to the dungeons. Concern washes over his face. "But the Mating Ball? And your parents?" I wave him away dismissively. "I said I'll handle this. The pack safety comes first." A little too enthusiastically, I enter the dungeons, passing through cells filled with criminals, rogues and trespassers, heading for the interrogation room at the back… except a scent was in the air and my wolf starts pacing and pacing in my head, making my chest tight and my breathing heavy. When I stepped into the room, I found the reason why. A rogue stares back at me and I take in every detail of her. Dark, tangled hair falls past her shoulders, her delicate frame tense and frail... malnourished and obviously badly treated. Her soft blue submissive eyes, framed by thick lashes, locked onto mine with a mixture of worry, fear and something else— something unspoken. Despite her unkempt and battered appearance, she radiates a beauty that cannot be put into words. She was perfect. A powerful jolt shot through me and a surge of happiness— utter happiness and warmth goes through me. Mate. Mate! My wolf howls in excitement… except I wasn't excited. I was horrified. No. This couldn't be happening. She's my mate? A rogue? My vision darkens, memories of my sister's murder slamming into me like a painful tidal wave. She was brutally killed by rogues and now I was mated to one. Fury surged through me. Instinctively and out of pure hatred, I opened my mouth to reject her. "I, Damon, Alpha of the Crescent Moon Pack reject you—" ‘No!' My wolf roars in defiance before I can finish the rejection, wrestling control of my body and stopping my words in my throat. ‘I refuse. I will not let you do this to us.' I try to fight him. I try to regain control but I can't. I simply can't. Consumed with much too many emotions than I can handle, I find myself walking away and leaving her. For the first time in my life, I do not know what to do.