Fall Harvest Moon

Chapter 8: Damon

Damon sighed and drummed his fingers along the armrest "I can't believe I agreed to come along tonight. I should've just waited at the hotel. At least we would be still in the city.... how far are we going?" Damon was getting restless and his mother reached over and grabbed his hand.

"Don't worry dear, we're almost there now. Just try to enjoy the scenery. I'm sure we'll find your mate tonight". She smiled and patted his hand as she turned back towards her husband. Even though they were in a limo, Damon felt it was too small to be sitting here with his mother and father. His mother was a new shifter, he even had more experience shifting than she did. She only accepted the mate bond after my father married her and turned her.

Thinking back on their life before all this, Damon missed it dearly. But his mother absolutely loved their new life and after many years as a single mother she was ecstatic to be finally bonded with his father. But it wasn't always like that. Damon remembered when his mother was sad and how she refused any other suitor. Having a father was a new thing for him. His grandfather helped raise him but it was not the same. Everything was new to him, even though it's over 3 years since he first shifted he has been having a hard time adjusting to his new life. His father wanted him to one day take over their pack. Damon rolled his eyes at that thought, "The Copper River tribe would be just fine without me. What would they have done if my mother had never looked for my father? I would've been fine as a rogue, maybe found my own pack where I didn't have to be the leader."

As if picking up his son's thoughts, his father, Alpha Dean, cleared his throat. "Tonight could be the night you can fulfill your duties and take over being Alpha... I'm an old man now ready to retire with my beautiful wife and you should've had a mate by now to take over. The tribe deserves a leader of true strength to protect and lead them to success."

Damon was facing away, looking out the window, so he knew it was safe to roll his eyes again.. this was something he'd heard over and over again. "What if I don't want to be alpha?" he wanted to ask. He knew his father's temper and didn't want to make the trip any longer than it seemed by starting an argument, so he just sighed and agreed with his father.

Alpha Dean's temper was why Damon chose to attend a private school for shifters. Damon took almost every course available before his father dragged him home to prepare for his future alpha role. Even though it's been years since he first shifted, he never met his mate. He didn't mind. Every new semester at school brought herds of new females into the school, and Damon didn't complain about that. Just because he didn't meet his mate didn't mean he was going to wait. His Wolf Fyer huffed at that thought. He wasn't happy at all that Damon was spending time with other women. He wanted to be a leader of the pack and have his Luna beside him. He was frustrated with Damon for purposely preventing that from happening. He even prevented Damon from shifting a couple of times. Damon and Fyer did not see eye to eye on being Alpha.

Damon sighed again. Before all this, Damon and his mother lived in Europe across the world. They lived together in a small, quiet apartment. Damon had his childhood friends and his mother worked at her father's company. She had met his father while in North America on a business trip with her father. After a short time together, he asked her to join him and revealed what his was: a shifter who was the alpha of his pack. Understandably, his mother freaked out and cut her trip short to go back home. Not knowing she was already carrying me. It wasn't until after my first shift, when I turned sixteen, that my mother told me about my father and everything that she knew about what he was. Before that night, she avoided all questions about him, so Damon knew nothing. They were both not prepared or knowing what to do next. So Damon's mother reached out to his father and told him about Damon. After that, he flew in his private plane and swept them both up to come back to his pack as a family. Damon was not at all ready, but Alpha Dean was eager to have a son to take over as the future alpha. And Fyer was eager to train, but Damon was hesitant to let Fyer take complete control.

Damon's father already had a girlfriend, and it was an extremely messy breakup as the other woman wanted to be Luna. His mother walked out with Damon, refusing to be Luna and demanded their own house. It was a rough start for everyone and when his father suggested private school, Damon eagerly agreed, just to have a sense of normality away from this strange new world of shifters and pack life.... But he was mistaken to think his father would easily let him go from the future Alpha role. He had sent Damon to a Shifter school.

When his mother invited him home to attend an important event, Damon did not dream of it being anything such as a mating ceremony. Fyer was wagging his tail and panting at the thought his mate could be there.. "Calm down you horn dog. We won't be meeting anybody tonight. I'll sit in the car all evening if I have to", Damon scolded his wolf.

"You WILL get out of this car and sit at the table or you'll never see me as your wolf again.." Fyer growled suddenly at Damon. Damon knew he was serious about not shifting again. Damon was angry, thinking of when Fyer seemed to abandon him when he wanted to shift. "Dumb Wolf thinks he can control me. He is almost as bad as Dean. How many times must I say? I DON'T WANT TO BE ALPHA!!"

Sensing her son's growing frustration, she reached out again to hold his hand. "Don't be nervous, we practiced the dance over and over again." Of course she would misinterpret my frustration" he groaned internally , "Thanks mom, wasn't worried about that but, NOW I am!"

Damon wished he could dive out of the car and really thought "How bad would it be to land going this fast?". Thinking of Fyer's threat ,he just sighed and sat further back on the leather chairs.

Alpha Dean smiled at his son as he knew he had no other choice but to participate in tonight's dance. The boy did whatever his mother asked of him and she was marked as his Luna, so it was extra hard for Damon to deny his mother's request. She made Damon practice dancing every night since he returned from schooling.

Alpha Dean knew Damon wouldn't complain about dancing with numerous beautiful women, it just frustrated him that Damon refused to seriously look for a mate. Alpha Dean knew exactly what buttons to push on his wife and he knew she eventually wanted grandchildren. So, before they left on the long journey from the city to the feast, he reminded his wife how great it would be for him to finally retire and together they could grow old and have grandpups running around.

Luna Breanna or Luna Bree was absolutely excited about tonight's event. She was a new shifter and after years of stalling, she agreed to be Luna and be a shifter. This was her and Damon's first Shifter feast and Alpha Dean wanted to remind them of tonight's importance of honoring the Moon goddess.

Damon felt he didn't need a reminder. Fyer took his future role very very seriously and he was always reminding Damon of Alpha duties. Damon shared his respect for the moon goddess. He was extremely thankful to be given such a gift. He still missed his old life, but this new life was also very exciting and he enjoyed training with Fyer.

Before Damon could say anything, the driver announced they were arriving at the gates of the Northern Star tribe. Damon was trying to remember all the facts he had been given about this place, but luckily, his mother was asking Alpha Dean all the questions he didn't want to ask. He knew the Northern Star tribe was the biggest, most prosperous, and well known tribe in all the land and that's why they hosted the feast yearly. Feeling nervous as the driver opened the door and his parents stepped out and he had to follow. Damon didn't want to embarrass himself on the dance floor and wished he could just turn away right now. Fyer encouraged Damon forward and wanted Damon to feel excited, so he broke through the barrier and let Damon feel his emotions. Feeling excited and confident, Damon stepped in and saw many people lined up at the main entrance as Alpha Dean was escorted to the side to wait for the Alphas entrance. Damon was feeling nervous again but Fyer was beaming with pride as he himself was going to be introduced as the future Alpha. Damon rolled his eyes and smiled at his wolf, he allowed himself to relax as servers brought trays of food and drinks while they waited. Alpha Dean was mingling with the other Alphas as he held Luna Bree close to his side. Even though she carried his mark , Alpha Dean was very possessive of his Luna. He absolutely loved her wolf and was happy she accepted him.

Damon saw how the mate bond changed people and made them soft, he thought. But Fyer kept reminding him it also made them stronger and more powerful. Fyer was excited and wanted to look around. Damon knew they had to wait for the dance and was barely keeping control as Fyer was looking around the crowd. All the food being walked around on trays made it difficult to single out a scent, so Damon decided to focus on the food instead.

After Chief Eric introduced everyone and food was served, Damon's heartbeat picked up as he heard the music that signaled it was time for him to get up and dance. As he stood up, his mother gave him a hug and his father nodded his approval. Damon walked onto the floor to wait for the female entrance. As Damon was dancing with his second partner, he caught a mouth-watering scent of strawberries and cream. Fyer was howling as Damon thought of vanilla ice cream with fresh strawberries and syrup. He involuntarily followed the scent, walking past the other dancers, ignoring the glances as he walked towards a dark-haired girl with butterflies in her hair. The scent seemed to be getting closer and further at the same time, Damon and Fyer were confused and stopped right in front of the girl. She stared at him with equal confusion and suddenly Damon realized they were being watched, so he quickly composed himself as Fyer sulked in confusion. He grabbed her to resume the dance and he glanced down at her.

"Why did I get drawn to you? Aroma is coming off you but it is not you. How is that possible?" he asked the equally confused woman. The aroma was fading but now it was imbedded in his mind and heart. He could smell a faint trace on the girl but it wasn't this girl, she had no scent to him. Fryer had no answer, and Damon had alot of questions.

Before either could question what was happening, another male interrupted them to claim the girl as his mate. The girl quickly forgot about Damon, eager to get away, Damon turned to leave the floor. The aroma was flooding his senses and he could smell it everywhere. Fyer was sulking and confused, he wanted to find the source, Damon felt he needed to get some air and he walked out the nearest exit.