Chapter Three

They dragged her away, and Damon didn’t look back. Her voice didn’t follow him. Her scent didn’t linger.

The bond he’d felt faded into the cold night. It was as if she had never existed.

Good.

He stepped into the empty hall, his expression unreadable, and his pace unhurried. The doors shut behind him with a dull thud, sealing off the noise–the whispers.

Shutting out the mistake.

A slave. His mate. His jaw tightened.

The thought barely formed before he crushed it.

No.

He had rejected her. That was the end of it.

His wolf stirred beneath his skin–restless, irritated.

He caught himself remembering the weight of her against his chest. Beneath her filth, was citrus. Faint. Wrong.

His wolf leaned towards it. He didn’t.

Her skin.

Soft. It growled.

Damon’s eyes darkened. “Never again,” he muttered.

Whatever had happened in that maze… whatever weakness had made him hesitate - it meant nothing now.

She meant nothing.

He had a war to win.

Casting the slave from his mind, he focused on the dispute that followed him.

His beta, Ralph, and the elders were arguing. Tired of their bickering, he turned.

“You had one job,” Damon said.

Eli, one of the elders, bowed. “Alpha, please, we did not know it would turn out this way. The goddess cannot be predicted or manipulated.”

“One simple task.” Damon stepped closer.

Implacable irritation filled his eyes, but his voice remained calm.

“Maybe I should throw you in the dungeon.”

Eli frowned. “The goddess gave you the power and strength to defeat every enemy you faced…”

“You think the goddess is the reason we left our brothers to die in the mud? You know nothing.”

“Victory comes at a cost.”

Damon almost laughed. He knew the cost of victory. He had paid the price all his life.

“You both served my father,” he said, stepping closer. “That’s the only reason you’re standing here.”

Silence fell.

“But I am not him. He trusted you.”

His gaze hardened. “Look how that turned out for him.”

Edgar, the second elder, gasped. “Alpha… w-what are you saying?” He shook his head and rubbed his sweaty palm under his cloak.

“Only the two of you can speak to the goddess.” Ralph cut in. “We trust your word with absolute faith. But after tonight…”

He moved from where the elders stood to Damon’s side.

“It’s either the goddess has made her first mistake… or you have. And we know which is more likely to happen.”

Immediately Eli’s head shot up. Still, he barely looked the alpha in his eyes. “We have done nothing but serve the alpha. Our duty is not a simple one and yet we do it perfectly. The alpha sensed the slave, as the goddess proclaimed.”

Damon said nothing for a moment.

Then–

“What next?”

His skull throbbed. This was becoming a waste of time. For the past year, battle after battle stole what little peace the night offered.

Returning was supposed to bring peace. But here was–arguing with old men about their precious goddess.

“W-we don’t know for sure. But we can—”

“I don’t care what you do.” His voice cut through the room. “Find another.”

His eyes sharpened, making the elders swallow.

“Someone worthy.”

“So it’s true?” The voice came from the doorway. “An omega… our alpha.”

All eyes turned to the door.

Rosalind, the third elder and healer of the pack, stepped inside with a bow.

Damon didn’t relax–but he didn’t dismiss her either.

Rosalind had been in the war with them. For a year she catered to his men.

She was the only elder he trusted because she had proved her worth and understood the loss they faced. Also, after his parents passed, she had raised him - and kept his secret.

“You have forty-eight hours.” His attention snapped back to the elders.

“I beg you Alpha. Defying the goddess… is not advised. She won’t tolerate her gesture being revoked or ignored.”

“I will not take a slave as my Luna!”

A rumble pushed through the walls.

Edgar fell to his knees, and Eli followed. Shaking to their bones.

The war had made Damon's temper shorter and nastier. He didn’t want the elders to see just how close he was to snapping.

“How long?” Damon ignored them.

Ralph unfolded the letter again. “The next full moon.”

“Seven days,” Rosalind said. “What happens then?”

“The battles begin,” Ralph replied. “Every alpha chosen to fight for Alpha King will attack. Without a Luna… Damon is disqualified.”

“Something is wrong. You sound worried. If he’s no longer a candidate isn’t he exempted from the battles?”

Ralph passed her the letter. “There’s only one rule.”

Rosalind’s expression changed as she read. “No… they can’t.”

“Every Alpha must have his Luna to take the throne,” Ralph affirmed. “Everything else…”

He looked at Damon.

“Anything goes.”

Silence.

“They’ll come anyway,” Rosalind whispered.

Damon let out a low, humorless chuckle. “They always do.”

He didn’t need to read the letter.

Whether he claimed a Luna or not - they would come.

And he would fight. For his people he always did.

But without a Luna…

None of it would matter.

Ralph turned to pour himself a drink. “Our pack is undefeated and every alpha hungers to be the one who destroys us.”

He took a glass to Damon. “Who destroys our alpha.”

They all understood. Only his Luna could make him a contender.

Damon’s gaze dropped to the elders still kneeling. “On your feet.”

They obeyed instantly.

“Go to the goddess,” Damon said. “Ask for another.”

“A-and if she refuses?”

Damon snarled.

“Then you join the slave.”

He turned before they could speak again. His beta and Rosalind followed.

By the time their voices rose–he was already gone.

Their time had begun to run.