第11章

The entire cave erupted in an uproar.

"What?! The fated bond is broken? Such a huge thing, how come we didn't hear anything about it?"

A Beta wolf about Damien's age exclaimed, his eyes wide with shock.

"But... Damien, since the bond between you and Miss Selena is broken, are you... are you planning to officially mate with Miss Lyra now?"

Another, more astute Beta wolf, asked tentatively. "However... Damien. With the Blood Moon Pack's strict rules and conservative council of elders, plus your nominal sibling relationship with Miss Lyra... for you two to truly be together openly, it will probably... be very difficult."

"Exactly, Damien! Are you... are you two really prepared to face everything that might happen next? The council of elders... and the old Alpha and your mother... have you talked to them?"

Everyone's gaze focused sharply on Damien and Lyra.

In their eyes, now that the obstacle between Damien and Lyra was completely removed, Damien would surely do whatever it took to truly bond with his beloved Lyra.

But the more they discussed it, the uglier Damien's expression became.

He instinctively pulled Lyra even tighter, then lowered his head and gazed at her affectionately, "Lyra... my little moon... what do you think?"

He had actually given Lyra the power to decide their future.

It seemed he was trying to show Lyra his determination: with just one word from his precious sister, he would immediately offer her the entire Blood Moon Pack, even everything he owned, without reservation, willing to pay any price.

Facing the surrounding gazes, Lyra, unhurriedly, replied in an innocent tone, "Oh, uncles, brothers, please stop teasing me and Damien like this. Selena... she's just having a little tiff with Damien right now, she's not thinking straight, that's why she did something so impulsive. They are, after all, destined mates chosen by the Moon Goddess herself. They'll definitely make up later. So please stop fueling the fire, okay?"

"How could I possibly be with my own brother? Between us, it's just the purest sibling affection."

After speaking, she even deliberately turned to Damien with a sweet look. "Damien will definitely find a way to win Selena back later, right?"

Everyone present cast looks of disbelief at Damien.

No one could believe Damien would agree to such an absurd and outrageous request from Lyra.

"Lyra is right. That woman, Selena, is just throwing a tantrum with me right now. Soon, I'll bring her back, and then, we'll ask for the Moon Goddess's witness to restore our fated bond."

He stared intently at Lyra, as if merely stating an irrelevant fact.

The Beta wolves present frowned, utterly confused.

Finally, the Beta wolf leader who had been closest to Damien couldn't help but whisper a reminder again, "But... Damien... didn't you just say that Miss Selena has completely broken the fated bond with you? Then she... probably won't come back so easily, right? And since you and Miss Lyra are truly in love, we... we will all do our best to help you. But now you... wanting to be with Miss Lyra on one hand, while stringing Miss Selena along on the other... isn't that... isn't that a bit wrong?"

Dead silence.

They had always felt that Damien maintaining a nominal mate relationship with Selena while being entangled with his sister Lyra was highly inappropriate.

Now, they couldn't help but want to speak up and dissuade him.

Before Damien could answer, Lyra, in his arms, quickly and aggrievedly replied.

"Being able to bond with Damien, to become his Luna, has always been Selena's greatest wish. The reason she left now must be because of some unpleasant misunderstanding with Damien, so she's just throwing a fit, trying to get Damien's attention. I'm only trying to help Selena by persuading Damien to find her. I believe Selena will come back. She loves Damien so much, how could she truly let go?"

Damien nodded.

He felt Lyra was absolutely right.

Back then, if Lyra hadn't begged him, asking him to pay a little more attention to the unremarkable Selena for her sake, he would never have agreed to the fated bond ceremony with that woman. The situation was the same now. As long as he was willing to lower his Alpha pride a bit and actively show Selena some goodwill, that woman would surely, like before, come wagging her tail back to his side, continuing to be his nominal Luna, someone he could summon and dismiss at will.

As for these few days without Selena...

He'd just consider it a final period of unbridled joy, a gift from the Moon Goddess for him and Lyra to enjoy their time alone.

Thinking this, the man picked up an unopened jar of strong moon-wine from the table, slammed off the clay seal, and then tilted his head back, gulping it down like water.

Lyra, beside him, was about to speak up to stop him, but Damien had already leaned down abruptly, once again fiercely kissing Lyra's soft, sweet lips.

This was the first time they had kissed so openly, so wantonly, in front of so many mutual friends and subordinates.

Lyra reached out but couldn't push him away even an inch.

Soon, she was once again completely lost in Damien's passionate, stormy kiss.

Just as Damien, completely muddled by alcohol and lust, was about to take the woman in his arms, who drove him wild, right there and then in front of everyone, the heavy curtain of the cave was violently yanked open from the outside!

An old wolf-man with a stern face strode in.

It was the former Alpha of the Blood Moon Pack, Damien's father!

"Damien! Lyra! You two... you two wretched creatures! How dare you do such shameless things in front of so many pack members! What... what on earth are you doing!"

The old Alpha's voice, like a clap of thunder, boomed throughout the cave.

Instantly, the couple, who had been kissing passionately, froze.

Lyra's face was ashen. She frantically tried to jump off Damien, but Damien, instead, held her even tighter, giving her no chance to escape. He lifted his head and looked defiantly at his father.

"Father, what we were doing, haven't you already seen it with your own eyes?"

Lyra couldn't believe her ears. She whipped her head around, looking at Damien in despair, her voice sharp, "Damien! What... what nonsense are you talking!"

Damien, however, ignored her attempts to stop him, instead looking at her with a possessive and deep affection, "Lyra, my little moon, today, right here, in front of Father and all our pack members, let's officially announce we're together, okay? I don't want to love you in secret, hiding like this anymore. We have no blood relation. We can be together openly, even bond like true mates, have our own pups. My Lyra, we can be together forever and ever, never to be parted."

Seeing the undisguised madness in the man's eyes, and then her adoptive father's face, contorted with rage, Lyra suddenly raised her hand and, with all her strength, slapped Damien hard across the face.

"Damien! Stop talking nonsense! We... we are brother and sister!"

That slap stunned everyone present.

A clear five-fingered mark quickly appeared on Damien's handsome cheek.

He looked at the woman he loved, silently clenching his fists, his knuckles cracking from the force.

The other Beta wolves in the cave, who had been watching the drama, had already slipped out quietly through various exits the moment the old Alpha appeared.

The old Alpha looked at the disgraceful pair before him, snorted heavily, and couldn't be bothered to waste any more words on them.

With a sharp wave of his hand, several Alpha guards who had been lurking outside the cave quickly rushed in and, without a word, pinned Damien and Lyra down, immobilizing them.

"Today, both of you, get into the dungeon! Until you sort out this filthy, business between you, neither of you is getting out!"