Chapter 7

Damien's POV

I watched as Jeremy stepped out of the café just as the lights went out inside. The night air caught the loose strands of his hair, brushing them across his face. He looked tired and his shoulders were slumped.

I watched from the car across the street, keeping the engine idling at a low level.

Six years, I thought. It's been six years since that day.

'He looks thinner,' Kael growled in my head, his tone was raw and possessive. 'You're just going to sit here again? Watching him like some coward? Go to him, Damien.'

"Not yet," I muttered under my breath.

Kael snarled. 'Not yet? You've been saying that for years. He's right there Damien, our mate. Do you even feel the bond anymore, or have you drowned it in all that damn control of yours?'

I shut my eyes for a moment. The bond tugged deep inside me, an invisible pull I've been struggling to fight since the day it first appeared. The ache of the bond was constant. It was a reminder that some things weren't meant to be resisted.

But Jeremy wasn't ready for the truth. Not yet.

He turned the corner, disappearing into the darkness of the street. My chest tightened as his scent faded, replaced by the cold air of the city night. For a second, Kael’s growl echoed so loudly in my head that it made me wish that just for a moment, we could be two separate beings.

'You're letting him slip away again.'

"He's not slipping away," I said quietly. "He's coming to me. Soon."

Kael didn't respond after that.

Six Years Ago

I remember the scent first, it was warm, faintly sweet, it smelled like a mix of jasmine and honey. I'd only stopped by the café to avoid attention. The Anderson name wasn't something I could wear freely in public, not even then. People knew the power behind it, but not the faces behind it. That was the point.

I'd ordered black coffee, sat in the corner, and kept my head low. And then he walked in.

Jeremy Carter. Nineteen, probably just out of high school. He had that look of quiet exhaustion. He looked like someone who had too many responsibilities, the kind that was too heavy for someone his age to carry. I hadn’t looked at him twice until Kael stirred.

The wolf's voice had torn through my mind so suddenly that it nearly made me drop my cup.

'Mate.'

The word burned, lighting a spark that spread like wildfire through every nerve in my body. I looked up, and the moment my gaze landed on him, the bond snapped into place.

He hadn't noticed me. He was talking to the barista, smiling faintly as he tucked his hair behind his ear. Kael growled low in satisfaction, his voice trembling with want.

'Go to him. Now.'

"No."

'Why not?'

"He's human."

'No, he's not, he is one of us,' Kael had snarled, a sound so furious it had made my head ache. 'But I don't care if he is, human or not, he's ours.'

I remember clenching my fists under the table, forcing myself to breathe. The wolf in me wanted to tear through every boundary to touch him, claim him, make him look at me. But I couldn't, he looked so unaware of our existence.

I had seen what the bond did when rushed. It destroyed the weaker one first, but I couldn't bear to let him go through that pain.

So I'd left before he could turn around. Walked out the door and told myself it was better this way.

But I never forgot that scent.

The memory faded as I opened my eyes to the present. The café was empty now, lights off, and the street quiet except for the hum of my car.

Kael broke the silence. 'He doesn't remember you.'

"What's there to remember? He never knew me"

'Look at you,' Kael sneered. 'The man everyone fears can’t even face the one person meant for him. All that power, all that control, all for nothing.'

"I had no choice but to keep him away."I snapped.

'No, you did have a choice.'

"You're wrong Kael, if my enemies find out I have a mate, they'll use it against me. Jeremy being with me will only put him in danger"

'But you can protect him, you have the power to do so.'

''I hope so, because soon they are going to find out about him."

Kael remained quiet after that statement but my mind began to wonder back to how this arrangement came about.

I had received information that Jeremy's parents were going to sell him off for profit despite the fact that they had not been in his life for years. So I proposed a marriage agreement with profits greater than they would have received and they agreed to it without knowing anything about me other than my name.

I was annoyed by that but relieved because now in three days time I will get to meet him.

A soft buzz broke through my thoughts. My phone lit up on the passenger seat. One word flashed across the screen:

Confirmed.

It was done.

'Finally!' Kael's growl broke through my head. 'We can now mark him as ours'.

"Don't," I warned.

'He's ours, Damien. You can't keep him at arm's length forever. I can already taste his scent in the air.'

"He's not ready, he doesn't know what he is yet." I said quietly.

'Then make him ready, let him know.'

Kael's tone softened suddenly, the rage shifting into something more primal. 'He's been alone too long. You know that feeling, don't you?'

I exhaled slowly, my gaze drifting toward the street Jeremy had vanished into.

"Every day," I admitted.

'Then stop pretending you don't need him too.'

I didn't respond. The bond pulsed faintly beneath my skin, aching with every heartbeat.

For years, I'd thought I could live without him. But Kael was right. I was only fooling myself.

Soon, Jeremy would be in my world. My home. My reach. And when that happened, there would be no hiding what we were anymore.

I started the car, the engine's low hum echoing through the empty street.

The city lights flickered in the distance, their glow fading against the dark horizon.

Soon he will belong to me completely.