Chapter 44: A Strange Bond

Damien's POV

I was filled with anger upon seeing the marriage certificate bearing my name and that of Ariana. The signature under my name was not forged. I had one big question on my mind: How did this happen?

"I did not consent to this," I said, and handed the certificates over to Michael. "Start divorce proceedings," I ordered.

"Alpha, divorce proceedings cannot be initiated, irrespective of the person involved, unless after six months," Michael said, and I shut my eyes.

I recalled the law I put in place to reduce the divorce rate in the country. I made it binding to all, irrespective of your power or strength.

"Where is Ariana?" I questioned, taking the certificates back from Michael.

"I am not sure, but I would go get her asap," Michael said to me. 

I dismissed him with a hand gesture. I began pacing up and down my office, trying to figure out when and how I had signed my signature on the marriage certificate without knowing, but found none so far. I went through all the documents before signing. 

Is someone playing games with me? I thought. Why do they want to pair me with a human? A species I hate. I thought, but I know it was different with Ariana. 

I have made everyone believe she is a wolfless she-wolf. But who is doing all this? Could it be Ariana? I thought. If that is the case, could this be a plot by the humans against me? I thought.

I snapped out of my thoughts, thinking I heard the door. I stared at it for a while and proceeded to check, but when I opened my office door, I didn't see anyone in the corridor. I closed the door and walked back in.

I felt Michael had kept long. So I went to my surveillance room. To find out what was keeping him. I checked all the surveillance, including the hidden cameras, looking at department by department and all the floors. I found Ariana instead, sitting with that new employee, Jeremy Wilson, at the cafeteria. I stared at them, looking all lovey-dovey, and my heart began to race. I was already angry about the marriage certificate. Seeing Ariana and Jeremy, my anger tripled. Every inch of me wanted to go down to the cafeteria and pull her out of the place and warn Jeremy to stay away from her, if he cares about his job and his life. 

I retrieved my phone from my pocket. 

"Michael, go to the cafeteria and get Ariana. Keep an eye on that new employee, the slightest mistake on his part has his contract terminated," I said through gritted teeth over the phone. 

I ended the call immediately and left the surveillance room. The more I stared at them, the more the urge to go get Ariana myself grew inside me. I returned to my desk, but I didn't sit down. I started pacing up and down again. I heard a knock and I invited the person in, knowing it was Michael and Ariana. I had my back turned to the door. I stopped moving and shoved my hand into my pocket.

"Alpha, she is here," Michael announced.

"Leave us, Michael," I said, and Michael left immediately. 

As soon as I was alone with Ariana, I started interrogating her about the certificate. I could see from her reaction, she was dead scared, but I didn't care. I advanced towards her, and she took a step back, but she lost her balance. My instinct kicked in, and I rushed to her quickly, catching her in my arms. She was so close to me, with my hands wrapped around her perfectly shaped waist. Her hands gripped my biceps as if I were something she was trying to hold on to, so she wouldn't fall.

For that moment, everything came to a standstill. I stared into her eyes, and I read fear. I realise I didn't want her to be afraid of me. A strong desire surged through me like a hurricane, and I felt something really strange. I felt a connection with her. A bond. That was surprising because mate bonds are something a wolf feels when they meet a she-wolf that happens to be their mate.

How is it that I feel this bond with Ariana, a human? I thought, still holding her in my arms and staring into her eyes. Could she be a wolfless she-wolf? I thought.

My anger was gone, and I was as calm as the still waters. I wanted to kiss her. Yes, I wanted to kiss her so badly, but I was not sure how she would react to that, so I just stared at her, as my desire to have her burned inside me. 

Just then, the door to my office flung open, and Victoria entered. Ariana quickly moved away from me. Victoria stared at us, alternating her gaze between me and Ariana, but I realised I didn't care. If she had walked in on me kissing Ariana, I wouldn't care. 

"Honey, what is going on?" Victoria asked, staring at me

I ignored her question and rather asked her what she was doing in my office. I was also displeased with the revealing dress she was wearing. 

"You said you were going to call me at 4 p.m.," Victoria began and shifted her gaze to Ariana. "Are you questioning me in front of her?" she asked, returning her gaze to me.

"She is my employee. All discussions that happened here are about the company, and she can sit in it," I replied and walked to my desk. 

She took a step forward, and I saw her bend over. Ariana also moved to the place. My mind quickly went to the marriage certificate lying on the floor. 

I saw Ariana's effort to keep it away from her after picking it up before Victoria could. She looked at me for help when Victoria was demanding that she give the paper in her hand to her to see, but I did nothing. For some unexplainable reason, I wanted Victoria to see it, and I was happy when she did.

She started reminding me she was my mate and turned her anger on Ariana. Next, she landed a slap on Ariana's face, and I was immediately angry.

"Victoria, stop it," I yelled, intervening immediately, but I could see Victoria was too angry to listen. 

She kept going on and transferring her anger to Ariana. I realised I didn't like what Victoria was doing. I yelled at her to stop, this time using my alpha voice, and she curled up immediately. She left my office, threatening me with my father. Surprisingly, I didn't care about my father finding out about my marriage to Ariana. When I found out about the marriage, I wanted to divorce her immediately and arranged to marry Victoria instead, but when I saw Ariana with the new employee, I realised I didn't want her with someone else. 

I ensured I collected the marriage certificate from Victoria before she exited my office in anger. Ariana started questioning me about my behaviour. I felt she was disrespecting me, so I sent her out of my office. 

The moment she exited, Michael entered my office.

"Michael, I want answers to how this marriage happened," I said to Michael. "Look into it and give me answers in 48 hours," I added.

"Yes, Alpha," Michael replied. "Alpha, about the quarterly meeting, which date should I communicate to the leaders of the various cities?" Michael asked, I checked my activity calendar on my laptop.

"Next Friday to Sunday," I replied. 

"Yes, alpha," Michael acknowledged and left my office. 

I quickly sent a message to my other investigator to get me everything he could find on Victoria, concerning his day to day activities.

I went back to my laptop and concentrated on work. A couple of minutes went by, and I felt a sharp pain in my chest. My hand moved to my chest immediately. This time, I heard Ariana's voice crying out in pain. I stood up from behind my laptop immediately. I took long strides towards the door. I opened, and Michael was about to knock.

"Get my stuff from the office and meet me at the garage," I said and went to the elevator. 

In a couple of minutes, we were out of the company premises. I knew exactly where she was, and I asked the driver to head to the location. We got to one of my newly purchased warehouses. It was not yet in use. I got out of the car and walked towards the building.

I entered the huge room. I walked towards the back, I pushed the door open and used the staircase into the basement. As soon as I entered the basement, I saw Ariana, lying on a table, her back stripped bare, and three men were lashing her. Michael had followed me in, together with three of my guards.

"How dare you touch her?" I yelled at them angrily, and they quickly withdrew.

"We are sorry, Alpha. We were just following Ms Victoria's instruction to get her to speak about the bad things she is doing," one of the men spoke.

"Shut up," I yelled at him angrily in my alpha voice. "Michael, take care of them. Make sure they do not see the sun again," I instructed angrily.

"Alpha Damien, we are sorry," I heard them beg, but my guards took them away.

I drew closer to Ariana, her back was all sore, with multiple cane marks. I felt a pain in my heart. I quickly took off my jacket and covered her with it. I untied her hands and feet and flipped her over. She had passed out. I carried her in my arms and headed out of the basement.

"To the hospital," I said to the guard behind the wheel as soon as I was in the car with Ariana.

I left the place with Ariana and the two guards in the front seat of my car. Michael and the rest of the guards stayed behind to take care of those who had harmed Ariana. 

A couple of minutes’ drive away from the warehouse, my phone rang. Ariana was still in my arms. I retrieved the phone, and my father's name flashed on my screen. I knew Victoria had spoken to him.