Chapter 3: Damon's POV
1275 Words
Damon
The heavy beats of the ceremonial drums filled me with unease.
Tonight was the takeover bout, the one where I had to defeat the present King to become the next King of The Veil.
I stood, breathing heavily in a large circle of a crossbreed of supernaturals as they cheered and jeered. But I had to remain focused– tonight was special.
I had one sole aim tonight. I was going to challenge the centurion and a half ruler of The Veil, King Regis, for the right of rulership.
And I was going to win.
Fangs bare, I waited for King Regis. Until, a heavy thud rocked the football field, raising dust clouds. When I looked back, there he stood– King Regis.
He had a hoary white head and a majestic grin. Bare chested with a red cape to his neck, as the halo crown appeared over his head.
“People of the Veil, hear hear.’ The audience cheered wildly. “Tonight, as is our custom. No one might rule by inheritance but is proven by the might of his power in takeover bouts.”
He lumbered about in circles. “I am King Regis. None has challenged and won. To defeat me, is to become King. To put my back on the ground is to prove yourself worthy, halfbreed.”
He said the last part while looking menacingly at me, over his shoulders. But I was ready, and waiting.
It was simple– All I needed to do was floor him.
A shockwave exploded as King Regis appeared before me. His human face morphed to reveal his true nature as a Wolf– the Alpha King.
Suddenly, he stopped, his wolf face morphing away to reveal human eyes . “Is this a joke? Why would the Faes allow an unmated dragon contest?” He roared in anger and the drumming stopped as heavy silence descended.
“What ambition is this?” King Regis snarled. “You, Damon, Dragon shifter, do you not know the customs?”
I snarled back. “I am a dragon, one of the strongest supernatural beings. I can put you down with or without a mate.”
King Regis chuckled mirthlessly. “I am King and by ordinance, I receive a 1% loyalty tax of power from every supernatural. An unfair match to you, regardless of your species. The only condition to challenge is to be mated, from the matebond of which you may draw power to face me.”
“NO!” I yelled,desperation fueling me.
Mother needed me– her worsening comatose situation needed only spells that being King granted access to.
All my life, I had been finding a cure for the unjust curse of her, a human, birthing a supernatural as me. So, I couldn’t let this chance slip away.
“Fight me, Regis! Fight me!”
I yelled again, as my draconic wings shifted, behind me. WIth one single bound, I charged for the Lycan Alpha King. But the moment I reached him, with a single motion, his thick fingers found my neck.
“Damon. I could kill you with a single flick of my finger.”
I clawed at his hand, trying to break free as breathing became seemingly difficult for me. “Then prove it, Regis, Fight me!”
King Regis tilted his head like he was considering my challenge. But when I thought he was really going to fight me, he reared his head back in laughter.
Before I knew it, I was flung into the distance. My wings took the brunt of the fall, cracking and breaking as I tumbled painfully in the fields.
***
“ENOUGH!” A sharp feminine voice jarred me off my painful memories.
Her voice pulled my attention from my phone where the canceled bout was announced. It had been shifted for another month, in consideration for me.
Carmine’s face came into view as she snatched the phone. Her pupils contained a mix of concern and anger as the wind drifted through her hair.
“I hope your self-inflicted torture was worth it.”
“Did you look into my mind, Carmine?” I growled, angry at her intrusion.
“I don't need to, to know you're still beating yourself over it. You had a sliver of a chance against him, you know it.”
“He humiliated me.” I roared out, throwing my hands in frustration.
“Look… He could have just said no. But he broke my wings. On my way up, I crashed into something— flight is a nightmare now.”
“Oh, that explains it.” She looked away.
“Explains what?”
“Nothing.”
She sighed, pocketing my phone. Next, she fiddles with her shirt buttons, revealing more of her plump breasts and black bra.
I frowned at her. “What are you doing?”
“Helping you.” Carmine smiled tightly. “You don’t have a mate but If you sleep with me here and now, I can do the mate binding ritual and assign myself to you, as your lifelong mate.”
“What? You can do that?”
She tilted her head with a knowing smirk, on her last button. “I am a Fae.”
The view was inviting, the way her breasts reverbated with succulence called to me. But to what end? What was the guarantee that even if I circumvented my missing mate, that this makeshift ritual was going to be enough for me?
“No!” I shook my head and she looked hurt, stung by my rejection. “I don't want a mate out of pity. If the Fates cannot assign my mate naturally, then so be…”
“Nooo!” The pained scream of a feminine voice caught my attention.
From the highrise building we stood, I leered over the edge, my draconic eyes zooming in on the gory sight of a man being ripped into half by Lycans.
Remembering the humiliation from King regis, my lips curled in distaste at the open air atrocity committed by the Lycans. Especially as they closed in on a girl some distance away.
“f*****g Lycans…” I cursed out.
“Don’t.” Carmine called out. “That is Lycan business, you do not concern yourself with that.”
But I was already over the edge, my mass descending swiftly to the chaos below.
“Using your powers without a mate bond like that is inadvisable.” I heard Carmine yell from the top.
I was livid at the humiliation I faced with King Regis and I wanted to pass my rage to his kind. He was King and he had the loyalty tax powering him– but these were ordinary Lycans.
They were no match for me.
The moment I landed, the road cracked, stress lines rupturing in many directions. As I readied to fight, to take vengeance on them, something made me freeze.
The calming scent of flowers.
It swept through the air, oozing from a single direction– from the alley the hurt girl threw herself into, in a bid to escape the Lycans.
I had heard of this before. It was the tell-tale sign of only one thing– Mate!
That girl was my mate, and they were going to kill her. But not on my watch.
So, I roared with renewal of anger in my veins. Flames erupted from my lungs, as I shifted, unleashing my full draconic form.
And then, I zipped through in a burst of speed and flames, with murderous intent– hate, anger and protective feelings rising chaotically within me.
- Writer
