Chapter Six

Damon

“I’m proud of you, Damon,” Sophie said as she served me dinner.

I flashed her a smile. I was thinking. Was it right? To reject my mate? I was having second thoughts about this. What if I had made a mistake?

The aroma of the food flushed into my lungs and I forgot about it in a split second. It didn’t matter much to me anymore. What was done had been done.

There was a knock on the door which caught my attention. That had to be my mother. She was late. This was the first time in a while this had happened. What could have kept her out for this long?

“I’ll get the door,” Sophie said, rising from the table.

I sat down and let my eyes back on my plate. We were having chicken casserole for dinner, but I wasn’t moved by it. My appetite had been drowned by my thoughts. Surely there would be consequences for what I had done, but I was ready for it. As long as I got to spend it with Sophie, I would endure anything.

“What are you doing here?” I heard my mother say from the living room.

I sighed and rose from the table. My mother wasn’t a fan of Sophie. This came after she found out that we weren’t mates. She told me that there was no point in being together if we weren’t mates. To her, it was a taboo.

“Where is Anna?” She asked as I entered the room.

Her eyes came to me immediately. Mother was standing by the door, and Sophie was facing her timidly. She knew that her mother didn’t like her. She had done everything to please her, but Mother wouldn’t listen.

“I sent her away,” I replied.

Mother’s eyes were now filled with rage. She was furious. She stepped into the room and walked towards me.

“What do you mean by that?” She asked.

I shrugged my shoulders nonchalantly.

“I sent her away, mother. There’s no way that I’m taking someone like her as my mate,” I replied. “She is a slave and nothing more.”

Mother furrowed her brows at me. They slanted and I feared that they would peel off her face if she kept that gaze for long.

“You rejected your mate? How could you?” She demanded.

I sighed and rolled my eyes.

“Relax Mom. It isn’t much of a deal as you’re making it.”

My mother looked dumbfounded by my words.

“Do you know what you’re saying, Damon?” She asked. “Do you know the consequences of rejecting a mate?”

I was silent. My eyes went to Sophie who was still standing by the door. She was looking sad and dejected. I felt my stomach churn. The night’s breeze filled the room and also the sounds of the crickets grew louder.

My eyes came back to my mother who didn’t let go of her angry gaze.

“Mother. I love Sophie, and I want to spend the rest of my life with her,” I said.

“You can’t. Sophie isn’t your mate. She is the daughter of your father’s Beta, it is an abomination to marry her!” Mother yelled at the top of her voice.

“And Anna is the daughter of the Alpha I killed,” I pointed out.

“She has that Alpha blood, that is why she is your mate, Damon.”

I sighed and stared at the ground.

“Noami, give the kid a break. He can do whatever he wants,” a male voice said.

My eyes widened as I recognized that voice. There was no way that I would miss it. That was….My father.

My eyes went up and I saw him standing by the door. He had gray hair mixed with his jet-black hair. He was dressed in a black top like mine with blue pants. I couldn’t believe it. My father was home. How many years had it been?

“Father!” I said almost shrieking.

My father chuckled and walked into the house. He still had the aura that made everybody in the room chill. I could never forget how intimidating that was when I was little.

“Damon, my boy,” he said, patting me on my shoulder.

“I see you’ve grown into a fine man,” he said.

After handing over the title of Alpha to me, Father decided to leave the pack and focus on his life. He wanted to relive the years he had lost being Alpha. And that was quite a lot. I was surprised that my mother never left him. But now he was back. Was that why Mother had come home late? Had she gone out looking for him?

“Richard. You shouldn’t support this. It’s wrong,” Mother said from across the room.

My father smiled and walked towards her.

“He is Alpha, Noami. Nobody can question his decision, not even you.”

That was all I needed to hear. That was why I missed him so much. He always supported me. Maybe it was because I was the heir to his legacy. The legacy I had spent well. It had been almost a decade since I last saw him, but he hadn’t changed that much. He was still the same man I knew.

Mother told me that he had gone to explore the world. He had moved to the city with the humans and tried to understand them the best way he could. I couldn’t wait to hear the stories he had for us.

My mother sighed and placed her hand on her forehead.

“You guys are unbelievable.”

And with that, she disappeared upstairs. I wasn’t pleased that my mother was appalled with my decision. But I had to do it. Sophie was the only person I wanted.

My father held my shoulder and I could feel how metallic his grasp was. Even after all these years, he still had it. His silver eyes crinkled as he smiled.

“It’s your decision, son,” he said. “Only you can stop you.”

I nodded at that. My eyes went to Sophie who had watched my family drama. This was the first time she had been here to see it. There wasn't always much because my mother usually listened to me. But tonight was different. She was adamant about me being with Anna.

I walked up to Sophie and grabbed her hands. She looked up at me with starry eyes.

“I love you, Sophie. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you,” I said.

Her cheeks heated up.

“I love you too, Damon. And I want to be with you always,” she said.

I smiled.

My next words left her shocked.

“Then marry me, Sophie.”