The Alpha's Contract Bride

Chapter 11

Damon.

I stared at the Rubik's cube in my palm, my fingers steadying it by the side. A mix and match of six colors stared at me and if I was being honest, it did nothing but infuriate me all the more. I'd been trying to solve the darn thing for the past hour now. If I was trying to be accurate, I had spent at least three hours on this thing.

A small smirk made its way to my lips as a thought slowly crept into my mind.

I'd just gotten married a couple of hours ago, and here I was struggling with a Rubik's cube. It was f*****g pathetic if you asked me.

Just as the smile came, it didn't take too long for it to disappear again. Another memory pricked at my mind and I frowned immediately. I would rather gag than willingly think about it, because, what exactly was there to think of?

There was no way I would sit back and watch myself being disrespected. Future alpha or not, you definitely couldn't walk all over me or try to play me for a fool.

Aria. Yes, I was talking about Aria. The mere thought of it was more than enough to get my blood boiling all over again. I thought I'd gotten over it, but turns out, I was only being delusional and nothing more.

She'd betrayed me, in the worst way possible too. I'd always known Aria to be a nice girl, ever since we were kids. I hadn't gotten a lot of opportunities to get closer to her, for more than one obvious reason, but never in a million years would I have anticipated this from her. If I hadn't witnessed it, I would never have believed it, even if I had a gun pointed to my head.

Just hours before the wedding, a letter arrived for me, or more precisely, at my door. It was more of a small note if I was being honest, and nothing else. Originally, I'd wanted to discard it, until I read its content.

"Meet me at the spot behind the gardens” it read. Originally, I wanted nothing more than to discard it. In all honesty, I already had, until a thought popped up in my mind, causing me to pick it up again.

I had no idea why, but I couldn't shake off the feeling that it had something to do with Aria and ultimately, Callum. The mere thought of him was more than enough to multiply the intensity of the fire burning inside me.

If Callum was going to be there, then I had to show up as well. There was no telling what that man was up to, and I didn't trust him one bit, especially around Aria. A smaller part of me wondered if it was a prank. Well, if it had been, then I wouldn't have minded honestly.

Before I would have talked myself out of it, I headed straight to the garden. I had no idea what I was expecting, but I'd gone nonetheless, just to be given the biggest shock of my life. I had barely arrived when….

“What's got you so lost in thought that you didn't hear me?” Someone's voice cut through my thoughts, startling me in the process. All it took was a quick glance at the door to get my answer. “Why are you thinking so much?”

“Nothing, mother.” I pursed my lips. She shot me a glance, before heading to one of the small armchairs in the corner. “If you had knocked before coming in, maybe I would have heard you.”

“Did you just sass me, young man?” She explained and I found myself grinning. “How dare you?”

“You did kind of walk in here without knocking.” I shrugged. “What if I was naked?”

“Damon!” Mum was on her feet immediately and I guffawed as loudly as I could, my laughter bellowing all the way to the hallway. “Stop that this instant.”

“Relax.” I wheezed. “I was just messing with you. You should have seen the look on your face.”

“Always with the pranks and sass.” She muttered underneath her breath, loud enough for me to hear. “If there's one thing you got from your father that I utterly dislike, it's those two things.”

“I missed you too,mum.” I cooed and I could swear I saw a ghost of a smile tug on the side of her lips. “Welcome home.”

“No, you didn't.” She shook her head immediately and I sighed. “If you did, you would have reached out to me. Did you call me for once?”

“Yes.” I exclaimed. “Many times, but you never returned my calls. It was either stuck on voicemail or your assistant was always picking it up.”

“Still, that's not a very valid response.” She pouted. “You didn't call and that's what matters.”

“But you're here now, aren't you?” She was finding it hard to hold in her smile. I could see it. “ Now we can catch up.”

“I definitely didn't come here to catch up.” She spun to face me immediately. I watched as her gaze rested on me, her eyes never leaving mine. She stared, almost like she could see each and every corner of my mind, like she was literally poking into the depths of my mind. “How could you make such a big mistake?”

“I already apologized about the door, didn't I?” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I mean, I didn't but you get the point.”

“No.” She huffed. “No, I do not. So tell me, is there really a point to getting married without informing your mother about it first?”

Oh.

“Mum, it's not like that.” The huge grin I was wearing quickly gave way to a small sigh. You could tell I didn't want to go into it, but I knew mum, and she definitely wasn't going to have it. “ I didn't plan to, it just kind of happened.”

“You didn't plan your own wedding?” I wasn't sure which emotion was more evident in her tone; shock or anger. “What does that even mean? Who in their right senses walks down the aisle with some random individual?”

“She's not random, mum.” I got up from my seat. I watched something flicker in her eyes but ignored it, as I walked to the windows instead. It was already pretty late, with nothing but the moon and stars illuminating the night. “It's Aria.”

I wasn't going to deny the fact that she was getting on my nerves, but it didn't mean I was going to discard the way my heart ached when she wasn't near.

“Exactly!” Mother exclaimed. Footsteps shuffling behind me reached my ears and in no time, mother had appeared behind me. “Why?”

“Why what?” I creased my eyebrows in confusion. “I don't understand what you're asking.”

“Why did it have to be Aria?” I turned to face my mother again and the look on her face was nothing but pure rage. “ I didn't even know she still existed!”

“That's not very nice," I frowned. “She’s been with us….”

“Spare me that.” She cut me off. “She's been with us and so what? Do I need to remind you she worked as a maid for us her entire life? Even her mother did the same thing.”

“And that's supposed to matter?” I knew very well the path mum was treading, but the last thing I would do would be to indulge her.

“Yes!” She rushed out her response before I could continue. “That's literally the first thing you should have considered.”

“She is an omega, Damon!” Mum spat, pure venom in her voice. “In case you forgot. They're the weakest of our kind and you know that. Not only that, she is a slave, she was born into it, and yet you chose to get married to her?”

“None of those things are her fault, mother.” I straightened my stance. “How's any of that her fault?”

“I don't care.” She shook her head, an air of defiance radiating from her. “You can not get married to that girl.”

“Mum.” I groaned. “ This literally makes no sense. So I can't get married to her just because she's an omega? That's, that's ridiculous.”

“What's ridiculous is the fact that you're even entertaining her.” She scoffed. “You're both on different sides of the social ladder. You're royalty and she's nothing but trash to be trampled upon. No one wants her, why do you think Callum rejected her?”

“How did you find out about that?” I raised an eyebrow in partial suspicion and curiosity. “Who told you?”

“It doesn't matter where or how I got to know. What matters is that you can't get married to her.”

“Well.” I shrugged. “I already did. If you had come earlier, then you would have witnessed the whole thing.”

“I'm not joking , Damon.” Whenever she called my name, it usually meant I was in trouble or she meant business. “If you think I'm joking, think again.”

“Come on, mum.” A small smile made its way to my lips as I took a step forward. I was just about to wrap my arms around her when she took two steps back. “Mum?”

“Tell me you're going to divorce that girl.” What? She couldn't be serious. “Tell me, that you're going to end whatever that sham that you did was.”

“You're serious?” No way. There was no way she meant it. She had to be kidding, right? “Mum, tell me you're joking?”

“One week.” She rasped instead. “You have one week to end that joke you call a marriage with that lowlife.”

“I can't.” I shook my head. For more reasons than one, letting go of Aria was impossible at this point. “You have to understand…”

“What I understand is that she'll ruin you.” Mum wasn't standing down. “Would you like your kids to grow up as weaklings, just because their mother was an omega? Do you want us to be the laughing stock of the entire city? For years, our family has been respected because we followed the rules and traditions laid out for us and the last thing I would do is allow you to ruin that.”

“Mum,listen to me…”

“One week.” She raised a perfectly manicured nail to my face. “I give you one week to do the right thing, or face the consequences that comes with it.”

Without so much as a glance, I watched my mother walk out of my room, but not without slamming the door so hard it rattled its hinges.

Shit. What was I going to do now?