Rejected and Forgotten

Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

{Damon’s POV}

“The trespasser won’t talk, and I don’t think he’ll tell us anything anytime soon, Alpha.”

I’ve sent men to interrogate the werewolf who’d dared trespass in my pack a week ago, and so far, we have gotten nothing from him. The fvcker had guts, but wait until I pay him a visit.

In some normal cases, I would have gone to the pack’s dungeon if only I wasn’t busy finalizing the expansion of the pack, taking care of some minor issues, and planning for my and Irish’s traditional holiday picnic date tomorrow. It’s very important, and I want this one to be perfect.

“Just keep an eye on him and make sure that you’ll give him a hard time every five minutes that he might consider spilling something.” I dismissed them and proceeded to call the person I assigned to organize the picnic date—especially the clearing—the place where I’d take Irish tomorrow, but I couldn’t take my mind off that trespasser.

If it was any normal rogue, I would have disposed of him already, but according to my beta, Grayson, the trespasser has some kind of intricate tattoo that was only given to spies from some unknown organization. He had dealt with one before, so he knew, and I also know very well that a spy wouldn’t be sent to come to my pack without any reason. It alarmed me because no one has dared to set foot on my pack without permission once my name had been known enough to strike fear in everyone.

When I couldn’t take it anymore, I stood up and went out of my office after mind-linking my beta to meet me outside. As expected, he was already waiting for me when I walked out of the main packhouse while leaning against a car. Without a word, I hopped in the passenger seat while he turned to the driver’s seat.

“Dungeon.” I grunted as he started the car.

He tsked. “Took you long enough.”

I looked outside. In a few hours, it’ll be nighttime, and I was still not finished with my plan for our date tomorrow. Fvck. But I couldn’t set this one aside. I had to take matters into my own hands before it became a big mess. It would only take a few hours, and after this, I could focus on planning our date.

The pack’s dungeon is approximately an hour away from the main pack house. Before it was built, I had to expand the pack’s land territory because I wanted it to be far from the houses and people to make sure that if in some impossible scenario a prisoner had escaped, they would be far from everyone, especially Irish. So that she would be far from any harm.

That had been my first mission when building my empire—for it to be a safe place for her.

The ride to the dungeon took faster than I expected, partly because it was probably obvious that I was anxious for a good reason and Grayson was observant enough to notice it. But meters away, I noticed that there’d been a commotion happening outside, and a good number of my pack warriors were scrambled around with a look that could only resemble a panicked one.

A warning bell rang through my head, but I maintained my composure until Grayson made his stop. I didn’t waste any time and hopped off the car, making my way to the person I left in charge of the dungeon, who didn’t look any better than the rest. He was as panicked as everyone else. Incompetent.

He looked alarmed when he saw me, and so does everybody else.

“Alpha,” he straightened up. I didn’t need to ask any questions because he was quick to fill me in before I could even question anything. “I-It’s the trespasser. He escaped.”

Fvck

————

{Irish’s POV}

I wasn’t expecting Damon to be home the night before our date because I knew he had a lot of things to settle first. He won’t be taking any work tomorrow after all, and I know how much he hated leaving things unfinished, but that doesn’t mean that it didn’t make me feel any less disappointed.

I remember how we used to greet each other exactly at midnight. There was nothing special about the date—it’s not anyone’s birthday, and Christmas is still a week away, so there’s nothing to celebrate about, but it just became part of our tradition. But that was before.

Before he became busier, before the pack became his number one priority, but I was hoping that we could change that. I was hoping that tomorrow would be a good chance to bring us closer again.

That night, I slept early to make sure that I wouldn’t wake up late. And I didn’t.

I prepared early, my stomach tingling with excitement. I have no idea if Damon would pick me up or if I’d meet him at the clearing. I don’t even know what time he would arrive—if he would ever pick me up—but we usually have our date from noon until night, but I’m okay with whatever he has planned.

I was so agitated, anxious, and excited all morning that I couldn’t even eat breakfast because I felt like I was going to throw up. It had been a long time since Damon and I had spent time together, so I can’t wait. My heart felt like it was going to burst any moment.

I can’t believe it’s been eight years with that man.

I smiled at my reflection in the mirror. He should be here any minute now. The man with whom I would spend my eternity.

I sighed in contentment and then glanced at the clock in anticipation. He’ll be here soon. I told myself and ignored the forming doubt at the back of my head. No matter how busy Damon is, he’d put everything aside to be with me. He knew how much this day means to me…to us.

But as time passed, the little doubt started growing and turning into nervousness, disappointment, sadness, anger, and all sorts of feelings I’d worked hard not to feel for the longest time.

Relief flooded through me like a bucket of cold ice in a heated desert when I heard the sound of a car pulled over outside. I quickly stood up and almost ran outside, a small smile already forming on my lips.

I knew he wouldn’t miss this—

But my smile slowly vanished when I saw that the person outside wasn’t Damon, but his gamma, Chase.

“Oh, you’re here.” He blinked, looking as surprised as I was. “It’s almost five o’clock; why are you still here?”

“Huh?” I was still caught up with my disappointment that I could only partly understand what he just said.

Chase raised both of his hands, showing the box he was holding.

“These are Alpha Damon's unfinished works. He told me yesterday to bring this to his office at his home because he won’t be available today. You two have a date, right?”

My eyes fell down on the brown box he was holding, my tongue seemingly tied and my throat too tight all of a sudden.

“Y-you mean he’s not at the p-packhouse?” I tried my best to hide the quivering of my voice.

Confusion marred Chase’s face, but he still answered. “He left the packhouse yesterday afternoon.” All the blood had drained from my face, but I kept my body still and straight. “Irish, are you okay?”

I’m not.

“I’m fine, Chase.” I swallowed, forcing a smile. It felt like pulling a rubber with my teeth and desperately falling at the same time. I pointed at the box in his hands. “I’ll take that to his office.”

I went inside, acting as normally as I could after thanking him, but when the door closed and I was finally alone, the box fell from my shaking hands and my knees hit the floor. Pain erupted, but I didn’t care. I didn’t even care that I was wearing a dress and that it might get ruined.

It was almost nighttime. If he was waiting for me at the clearing, he would have called me already. The day was almost over, and I hadn’t even heard from him nor gotten a glimpse of his shadow.

He left the packhouse yesterday afternoon.

I slumped down on the floor, my face blank but my insides breaking into tiny fragments. I felt so numb that someone might as well stab me with a knife, and I wouldn’t feel anything because the pain I was feeling right now was already too much.

Our holiday tradition next week. Don’t forget.

I won’t. It’s important to me too. Don’t worry, I won’t forget. I promise.

His words were like millions of knives making their way into my heart and soul—breaking them like no one has ever done because no one has ever had the power over me like he has.

He promised, and yet he broke it, like how he broke his promise not to hurt me.

A prickle of tear fell from my eye no matter how hard I tried to resist.

Today was supposed to be the day that we fix everything and reminisce about how far our relationship has come since the very beginning when he was just that little boy who’d throw tantrums when he didn’t see me for an hour.

Now it became clear to me where I stand in his world. He’d built an empire from nothing, but it seemed like nothing was ever enough to him…not even me.

He promised me the world, but I didn’t know that he wouldn’t be a part of it, so now, I’m giving it back to him because once upon a time was a long time ago. He wasn’t the Damon I once knew—the boy who’d go beyond his capabilities just to prove to my father that he’d be worthy of me. He wasn’t the same boy who held my hand as he worked hard to achieve his dreams.

For as long as I could remember, I held that hand like my life depended on it because I loved him. I still do. But I realized that it wasn’t his hand I was holding anymore, but a thorn that pierced my skin too deeply, leaving a wound that would last for eternity. It took me falling on my knees to realize that the person I was holding on to too tightly had already let me go.

And I must do the same thing no matter how much it would break me more than I already am.