Chapter 6: Mine To Claim

[DAMON'S POV]

“Don’t listen to him!” she snapped, shooting a warning look at me. It was at that moment I knew she recognized me as the stranger from the nightclub. “He does not know me.”

Daryl curled his hand around her arm, clearing his throat. “What did you mean by that, Damon?”

I smiled at him, trying to ignore how firmly he held on to her. His jaw was clenched, but it was his eyes that got me. He glared at me with deep hate. Somehow, it set Calx, my wolf, off immediately.

The bastard growled inside me, and I felt his claws scrape at the walls of my mind.

I knew that feeling. Jealousy. Calx reacted this way only when another person had something or someone he desired. This was a sign that the woman in Daryl’s arms had caught Calx’s attention—again.

Oh Shit. I cursed under my breath. 

~~~~~~

One of the things I should never have done was to lose control—but that night in California, I did. I told myself I was there to check on father's companies which Daryl had gone to supervise in the human world, but the truth was, I was stalking my brother.

I couldn't understand how he managed to juggle the demands of pretending to be a human CEO while being an heir to the Alpha throne of the BlackThorn pack. It got me angrier that everyone always saw him as being capable, even when he was my younger brother.

My father and the rest of the council had always considered me a rogue and a spoilt brat who could never know how to lead a pack. After days of stalking my brother and watching him be everything I wasn’t, I ended up in a nightclub full of noise and smoke and humans who didn’t know who I was or why I shouldn’t be there. I badly wanted to forget how useless I had felt, just for one night.

And then I found her.

Or maybe Calx did. I’m still not sure which of us noticed her first. All I knew was that for one second, I was standing there in the corners, drowning in music, and the next moment, my wolf was shoving at the edges of my skin, snarling like we’d found something we’d been searching for our whole lives. I thought it was a mistake so I told myself it was nothing. Yet, a faint scent still hung in the air. It was barely there, not even strong enough to catch my attention on a normal day.

But that day, it was enough. 

Shit. It was enough to drive Calx insane and make me follow her through the crowd until I was close enough to see her face. The first thing I noticed about her was that she was small and fragile in ways that made no sense to me, and yet I couldn’t look away. She was the first human female that had ever caught my attention. 

I shouldn’t have touched her that night. But I couldn’t stop myself. I took her to the room I had booked upstairs and I fucked her in the dark. It was strange how Calx wanted to claim her right there, and he pushed me the entire time, telling me she was ours. Heck! He even lied to me that we needed her. And for a few reckless moments, I let myself believe it.

When it was over, I didn’t allow myself to stay with her.  Somehow, I knew her name, but I never gave her mine. So, I left her there and booked the first flight back to Blackthorn, convinced I could forget the whole thing ever happened. 

And now… now she was here. Ciara was standing too damn close to my twin, looking at me like I’m the devil himself.  I’ve never hated the moon goddess more than I do right now.

Because of this? This has to be her sick joke. How else do you explain the fact that the one woman I swore I’d never need is now standing in Blackthorn—mine, but not mine?

And Calx? He was out of his damn mind as he raged inside me, furious I ever let her go. He was furious I even let Daryl get within an inch of what should’ve been mine.

~~~~~~

I clenched my jaw and shoved Calx into the darkest corner of my mind. My gaze locked on Daryl just as he snapped his fingers in my face, demanding my attention.

“What do you know about Ciara?” he bit out.

I smirked, tilting my head just enough to make him twitch. “Plenty of nasty things. But you’re not ready to hear it.”

Daryl stepped in front of her completely now. His shoulders were squared and his frown deepened. “Tell me. Is there something I need to know?”

I dragged in a slow breath, crossing my arms as I let a smirk settle on my face. I’d played this game before. Hell, I owned it.

 “That’s a dangerous question, Daryl.” I crossed my arms. “You really want me to spell it out, brother? You sure as hell are not going to like how this ends.”

Ciara’s eyes flashed. She shook her head as she stepped forward. “Daryl, don’t. He’s just trying to—”

“Tell the truth?” I offered, cutting her off. My eyes dropped to her lips. “You kept me a secret, didn’t you, sweetheart?”

“Damon,” she mumbled.

“You met her in the hallway,” Daryl said. He wasn’t asking—he was telling. Like he’d put that much together already.

I gave him a slow nod. “Yeah. And that wasn’t our first time.”

Ciara’s breathing quickened, and for the first time, I was grateful for my werewolf instincts, for how effortlessly I could monitor another person’s heartbeat, especially humans. They were so damn easy to access. Right now, I could hear her heart pounding loudly against her chest like it was calling for me. Calx purred with approval in my mind. “That’s it. She feels us.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Daryl asked.

I stepped in, closing the space between us. He shifted in front of her again, blocking me like that was going to change a damn thing. I wasn’t looking at him anyway. My eyes were locked on Ciara. She stared back, wide-eyed with her lips pressed tight. 

And f**k, she was still beautiful. Even now, when she was doing absolutely nothing. Maybe especially now. It was hard not to grab her and kiss her.

“I’m saying that I had her first before you ever laid eyes on her,” I smiled.

Ciara’s mouth parted. I watched her hands curl into fists at her sides. Daryl stiffened beside her, glaring like he was ready to tear me apart. Yet, I leaned in just a little, with my eyes still on her. 

 “You really gonna stand there and act like you don’t remember how good it felt, Ciara?” I chuckled. “How you begged for more while I had my hand around your throat and my c*ck buried so deep inside you, you forgot your own damn name?”

"That's enough, Damon. Now, shut up." My brother growled. 

I folded my arms over my chest casually, like I wasn't wrecking them both. "You wanted the truth, Brother. She was soaked for me the second I touched her, and when I f*cked her, she came so hard she damn near passed out.”

Ciara's breath stuttered. Daryl caught it, and he turned toward her. 

“Ciara. Is he telling the truth? Was he the one you were with that night?”

“Daryl, I—” she began with a shaky voice. I should’ve felt smug, but something twisted in my chest instead. Calx was pissed to see how Ciara was breaking down, so I pushed him away again and tried to enjoy the scene before me.

“I knew it,” Daryl said after a moment of silence. His hand dropped from her arm like she’d burned him. “The day we met… you thought I was him.”

Ciara raised an eyebrow. “I already told you—I met someone who looked exactly like you, and you refused to believe me! Now, what? You expect me to feel guilty for having a one-night stand with your twin brother, a man I didn’t even know existed until today?”

“Of all people, my twin brother? Oh, damn it.”

“Are you kidding me? You know what? Fine. I’m sorry I had sex with him! I’m sorry I didn’t have a clue who the hell he was! But don’t you dare stand there and act like this is all on me—”

“Stop,” Daryl snapped. “Don’t apologize.” Then, he swung his glare to me, stabbing a finger towards the door. “Get the hell out of my room.”

I gave him a slow grin, "Make me, Brother."