Chapter 5

DAMIAN.

"Well..."

Marcus cleared his throat loudly and broke the awful silence in the office as he stared at Damian.

Damian raised his eyes from the files he pretended to go through and stared back at the unspoken questions so plainly written on Marcus's face.

He knew that he wouldn't be able to avoid those questions whether Marcus said it out loud now or not so he sat up straight and cleared his throat.

"It is exactly what you think, Marcus. I bought a lady...  like you suggested."

Marcus's eyes widened in mock surprise like he hadn't literally suggested the idea in the first place.

"I didn't... Well, I never asked you to buy one. If I remember correctly, it was just a suggestion to help you see that there are other ways to view women. Besides..." He stopped and cleared his throat.

Damian's eyes darkened when he realized what Marcus was about to say.

Once again, Serena body was a topic of negative discussion. 

Damian had watched her squirm under the scrutiny of those brazen men who treated her like a commodity, and he had sworn that she would never have to worry about being judged for her body again. Now his own beta was about to do the same thing.

Not on his watch!!

"You have nothing else to say on this matter, Marcus. Your job is to make suggestions for me and you did just so."

The tone of his voice and the glare he gave Marcus were enough to get the message across.

"Yes, Alpha."

With a wave of his hand, Damian dismissed Marcus and twirled his chair around so he could face the wall.

Ever since he came back from that hell hole where he rescued Serena, his mind had been a tornado of questions, none of which he could seem to find answers to.

She was quiet all through the drive home and hardly said a word, not even casting him a glance. It was almost as if he was invisible to her.

He couldn't blame her, though. She looked like she had been through a lot of traumatizing events before finding herself in that dungeon, and judging by the level of distrust and suspicion in her eyes when he approached her, it was obvious that getting her to open up to him would be even harder than convincing the elders that she would be a perfect Luna.

Not that he was going to force anything on her though. 

He couldn't even understand anything at this moment.

Why did the moon goddess wait until that very moment to reveal her as his mate? Where did she disappear to all these years? What happened to the light in her eyes?

Why did she look so exhausted, as though all the joy and life had been drained from her?

So many questions.. yet not one answer had popped up in the entirety of four hours he spent in his office.

Damian sighed and ran his hands through his hair.

When he went to that underground auction, he had never expected to come back with so many questions, let alone with a woman.

And now...?

A knock sounded on his door and shattered the glass-like thoughts in his mind.

He had barely turned his chair around when the door opened.

Marcus stood in front of him and his expression told him all he needed to know.

"Where are they?" He asked in a gruff voice and stood up, smoothened the crease in his shirt.

"They're waiting in the lobby. Should I direct them to the board meeting room?"

Damian sighed and nodded.

He knew this was coming. 

The minute he dropped Serena at the Alpha's residence and gave specific orders for her to be treated specially by his own doctor and those maids serving on him, he knew that it would raise some questions.

Despite his orders for everything to be discreet, somehow word got to the elders of the pack and they didn't waste time to find him.

He waited some minutes after Marcus left before walking out of the office. Close to the meeting room, he caught a glimpse of his face in the wall mirror and wiped the worried look off his face.

The last thing he needed was for those men to realize that he was bothered by their visit.

"That's not right..." 

Those words floated from behind the doorvas his hand hovered over the doorknob, and he stood still to listen to the voices inside.

"Exactly. We asked for a Luna, yes but he can't just bring a woman from nowhere and drop her off at his place."

Damian scoffed.

He recognized that voice all too well.

Elder Roy.

The man had been pressing him to bring a Luna, he even went as far as suggesting that he take his niece from the neighbouring pack as a Luna.

It was obvious that he was pissed about Damian taking a nobody over his own niece.

"Um, gentlemen... I think it's best you all wait for the Alpha to come and explain his reason to us."

Elder Allan.

The sensible one of them all.

"Where is he, by the way?"

Damian pushed the door open and walked in.

"Here..."

They all turned their heads to him and stood up immediately in unison.

Regardless of whatever power they wielded over the pack, they knew that they had to show respect to him.

"What's this about?" Damian asked as he walked to his seat.

They all waited until he was seated before they sat down.

No one spoke for several seconds.

They simply stared at each other and waited for one person to bring the topic up.

Whatever bravery they had before he walked in had all evaporated at the sight of him.

"We heard rumors, Alpha.."

Damian almost snorted. He knew that Elder Roy would be the first to speak.

"Go ahead... What rumors?"

"They say you brought a lady... No, you bought one and took her to your quarters."

He looked at all of them, the anxious look on their faces as they waited for him to either deny or agree with the rumors.

They looked almost impatient when he didn't say anything for some time and simply stared at them.

When he was sure that they were at the peak of their impatience, he leaned forward and answered,

"It's not a rumor."

The matter-of-fact way in which he answered their questions stunned them and collective gasps filled the room.

They stared at each other and then back at him.

"You bought a lady...?"

"Yes."

It seemed that his method worked. The fact that he didn't seem to give a care in the world about their concerns shocked them to the point of being speechless.

"Look... We don't know what you're trying to do here, Damian but we can't have a Luna whose upbringing is unknown. You do realize that a Luna carries the name of the pack, right?"

He nodded.

"And I never said anything about her being your Luna or not, did I?"

That did it.

It crampled their mouths shut...at least for now,. until he could figure out exactly what he was going to do with Serena or better still, how he was going to get her to trust him.

"Now if you have nothing else to say, I have something important to do," Damian said and pushed his chair backwards.

He was just about to leave when Elder Roy's voice stopped him.

"I hope you mean that because we can't have a Luna of that size... You know what I mean, right?"

Damian had managed to keep his calm through the meeting with the elders, managed to hide the steam blowing off in his head but that statement ignited the flames and he spurned around with a speed that drew a soft gasp from Marcus who was directly behind him.

He walked back and slammed his hand hard against the table.

"You have no right whatsoever to decide what I do or don’t do, do you understand?"

They nodded their heads.

"And never... I mean... never speak about her body like that again, do you understand? I will not have you all mocking your future Luna!"

With those words, he stormed out of the meeting room.

It wasn't until he finally got to his office that he realized what he had just said. 

Future Luna...

He had no idea what on earth he was thinking when he blurted out those words.

True, Serena was his mate but, mate bond or not, marking her as his Luna was far too quick a decision to make, especially since she seemed like she would rather get swallowed up by the earth than to have him come close to her.

The truth was, sooner or later, he was going to have to make a decision concerning her. And that was the least thing he looked forward to at the moment.

The mate bond was strong, but so was his resolve to never let anything or anyone shatter his life.

But Serena seemed to have a way of doing exactly so.