6
885 Words
Damon POV
The celebration should have been perfect.
We had won the biggest game of the season.
Scouts had attended.
Sponsors had attended.
The entire pack was celebrating.
Everything had gone exactly the way it was supposed to.
So why couldn’t I shake the feeling that something was wrong?
I stood near the edge of the celebration, half-listening to another conversation about the championship.
My teammates were laughing.
Pack members kept congratulating me.
Everyone wanted my attention.
Normally, I could handle it.
Tonight, it felt exhausting.
My wolf was restless.
Agitated.
Distracted.
I hated it.
“Damon.”
I turned to find my father approaching.
“You should be enjoying yourself.”
“I am.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“You don’t look like it.”
I didn’t answer.
Because the truth was, I wasn’t sure what I was feeling.
Ever since arriving at the celebration, something had felt… off.
Like I was waiting for something.
Searching for something.
Or someone.
I shook the thought away.
My father eventually left to greet another group of pack members.
I grabbed a drink and looked around the crowd.
That was when I noticed the commotion.
A circle of wolves had gathered near the center of the celebration.
Laughter erupted from the group.
Curious, I walked closer.
Then I heard a familiar name.
Elliot.
Immediately, irritation hit me.
Why was he involved this time?
I pushed through the crowd.
Someone was holding a notebook.
The moment I saw Elliot standing there with red cheeks and lowered eyes, I understood.
More drama.
More attention.
The same attention he always seemed to attract.
At least that’s what I told myself.
Deep down, another part of me didn’t like the way everyone was laughing at him.
I ignored that feeling.
Then someone asked the question.
The ridiculous question.
Whether I would ever consider Elliot as a mate.
The crowd laughed.
And without thinking, I answered.
“Not in this lifetime.”
The words came easily.
The crowd laughed again.
Elliot’s face lost all color.
For a second, something twisted uncomfortably inside my chest.
Then he turned and left.
I watched him disappear into the crowd.
A strange feeling settled over me.
Wrong.
Something about it felt wrong.
I ignored that too.
The celebration continued.
But I couldn’t stop looking toward the exits.
Couldn’t stop noticing Elliot wasn’t there anymore.
Couldn’t stop thinking about the hurt in his eyes.
By the time I returned home that night, I was in a terrible mood.
The storm outside matched it perfectly.
Rain hammered against the windows.
Thunder shook the house.
I headed upstairs.
Halfway down the hallway, my wolf suddenly froze.
Every muscle in my body locked.
There.
I frowned.
What?
There.
The voice was sharper this time.
Urgent.
I stopped walking.
The hallway was empty.
The house was quiet.
Then a scent reached me.
My heart skipped.
It was faint.
Almost impossible to detect.
But it was there.
Sweet.
Warm.
Familiar.
My wolf surged forward.
Mine.
I nearly stumbled.
“What?”
Mine.
The word echoed through my mind.
Possessive.
Certain.
Terrifying.
I followed the scent down the hallway.
With every step, it grew stronger.
My pulse accelerated.
My instincts became impossible to ignore.
The scent led directly to one room.
I stopped outside the door.
Elliot’s room.
For several seconds, I simply stared.
No.
That wasn’t possible.
My wolf growled.
Mate.
The word hit me like a punch.
My entire body went still.
Mate.
“No.”
My voice sounded rough.
Impossible.
Not Elliot.
Anyone but Elliot.
My wolf didn’t care.
The scent pouring from beneath the door was overwhelming now.
Every instinct I possessed screamed the same thing.
Mate.
Mate.
Mate.
My breathing became uneven.
Years.
For years I had ignored him.
Dismissed him.
Rejected him.
Treated him like an inconvenience.
And now my wolf was telling me he was the one person in the world meant for me?
The idea was absurd.
Impossible.
Yet the bond didn’t care what I thought.
The pull was undeniable.
I raised my hand toward the door.
Then lowered it.
My mind raced.
Inside the room, I could hear movement.
Restless pacing.
Uneven breathing.
Something was wrong.
A flash of memory hit me.
The clinic.
The doctor mentioning an early heat to another nurse earlier that day.
My stomach dropped.
Elliot.
The realization hit hard.
He wasn’t just upset.
He wasn’t just hiding.
He was struggling.
And he was completely alone.
Another wave of scent drifted beneath the door.
My wolf pushed forward again.
Protect him.
The urge was overwhelming.
Powerful.
Instinctive.
Nothing like anything I had ever felt before.
For the first time in years, I looked at Elliot differently.
Not as my stepbrother.
Not as the awkward Omega who followed hockey.
Not as the burden I had convinced myself he was.
But as someone who mattered.
Someone my wolf would never allow me to ignore again.
Inside the room, something crashed to the floor.
My heart jumped.
“Elliot?”
Silence.
Then another sound.
A shaky breath.
My hand closed around the doorknob.
The storm roared outside.
Thunder shook the house.
And standing outside Elliot’s door, surrounded by the scent of the bond awakening between them, I finally accepted the truth.
The Omega I had spent years pushing away…
Was my mate.
- Writer
