Chapter 7
1503 Words
Aria
What was he thinking? What the hell was he thinking?!
No matter how many times I repeated the question in my head, I still didn't get an answer. Instead, the more I asked myself, the more confused I got.
Oh good goddess.
With each step I took towards my destination, I felt my rage levels increase significantly, and why were they increasing, you might ask?
Damon, f*****g Damon.
After he'd appeared out of the blue during I and Callum's conversation, it was clear the duo didn't see eye to eye. I mean, I knew they didn't get along, but I never expected things to be that bad. I could literally cut the tension I felt in the air with a bread knife and it still wouldn't change a thing.
I know we hadn't discussed the details of our plan, but the last thing I expected was him announcing it last night.
“Werewolves of the ton, I've found my Luna!” Damon's words rang painfully in my ear. Like that wasn't enough, he went ahead to point towards me.
“Aria Delaney is my Luna.”
I'd heard the expression, if looks could kill, but I'd never actually experienced or witnessed it, up until last night. The moment those strings of words slid past Damon's lips and the crowds cheers died down, I felt it. I felt Callum's gaze boring a deep hole into Damon's chest. And I wasn't spared either. Immediately he was done with the man of the hour, he turned to me.
I swear I saw his jet black eyes light up in flames and if we weren't alone, a tiny part of me feared he would have done something, to me or Damon.
“Congratulations.” Callum's voice was cold. “I hope you have a happy union.”
And before I could cough up a response, he was already out the door.
“Hey, hey, hey.” I flagged down the first person that came into view. He was a server, a very tired one at that. From the eye bags under his eyes, I could tell he needed sleep. Fast. “Have you seen Damon?”
“Sir Damon?” I rolled my eyes at his correction. “He was here a couple of minutes ago…”
“Do you know where he is?” I cut him off immediately. “I need to see him now.”
“I think he should be in that room just up ahead.” The server pointed to a room with the tilt of his head. “Or perhaps…”
“Thanks.” I blurted out, before sidestepping him. Without listening to the rest of the things he had to say, I continued with my journey.
Thankfully, the particular room didn't take too long to find and the moment I reached, I pushed open the door knob and stepped right in.
“Damon.” I called out and immediately, two men turned towards me. One of them was Damon, and the other, I was yet to find out.
“Hello.” The second man drawled, a huge grin on his face. I raised my eyebrows as I watched him come closer to me. “ I'm Lucien, and you are?”
“Aria.” I gave him a curt nod. As quickly as I could, my eyes darted to Damon, but even he didn't get the message. “It's nice to meet you.”
“The pleasure is all mine.” Lucien bowed before turning to Damon. “She's even more beautiful in person and I…”
“Aria?” Damon cut through the man's speech. Lucien chortled as Ryder gave a quick roll of his eyes. “Did you want to see me?”
“Um, yes, yes.” I stuttered as I fought to calm the heat that rose up to my cheeks. “We need to talk.”
“You don't need to tell me.” Lucien was already out the door immediately. “Couples need their privacy once in a while.”
Couples. Somehow, the very mention of that word was all I needed to jog my memory of why I was in here in the first place.
“What did you…”
“How dare you?!” I blurted out immediately, not caring if Lucien was out of earshot or not. “How could you?!”
“Whoa, whoa,whoa.” Damon echoed, clearly confused. “What are you talking about?”
“You can't be serious.” I scoffed. “Don't you try to play dumb with me because it's not going to work.”
“I'm not playing dumb.” Damon tone was curt. “I really don't know what you're talking about.”
“Announcing me as your Luna? Really?” I watched his facial expression change immediately. “Was that really necessary?”
Silence. I watched in silence as the man in front of me said nothing. Instead,he shoved his hands into his pants pockets like that action was going to provide an answer to my question.
“Damon.” I called out to him again. “I'm talking to you.”
“Well, what's done is done.” He shrugged. “We can't do anything but move forward…”
“No.” I huffed. “This wasn't the plan and you can't just expect me to not be bothered.”
“We haven't even gotten to planning yet….”
“Exactly!” I blurted out, cutting him off again. “Didn't you think that you would have to tell me first?”
“And what does that matter?” I was taken back by his question, but only slightly. “What does it matter? Delaying it isn't going to change what's going to happen ....”
“But it could have prevented a lot of things!”
Frustration nipped at my bones. “You should have seen the look on Callum's face when you made the announcement and…”
“Wait, wait, wait.” Damon raised a finger to me, completely shutting me up. “This whole thing, this entire thing is about Callum? Is that why you're acting so paranoid and what not?”
“What?” I gasped. Suddenly, I'd lost the ability to form words. “I don't…-no! Why would you even think that…”
“Why did you bring him up then?” The switch in his voice was evident, you couldn't miss it even if you wanted to. “Why did you have to come all the way here just to tell me that he was furious about my announcement. Was I supposed to care?”
“Yes!” I exclaimed. “Yes, Damon, yes.”
“I thought you wanted to make him jealous?” Something akin to disappointment flashed in Damon eyes. “So what's this all about?”
“Yes, and I also wanted to ask him why he rejected me.” Anger bubbled in me at Damon's reaction. “I was this close to getting my answer from him and you just had to go ruin it.”
“ I ruined it?” He chortled incredulously. “I, ruined it? So what would you have preferred? That I waited till he told you what exactly? Why he rejected you?”
“Yesss!!”
“And when you find out, what's next?” Damon pressed on. “Come on, tell me.”
“If he manipulates you into thinking it's your fault what will you do then?” Damon wasn't laying it easy on me and the more he did, the more my willpower to yell at him dwindled. “Will you grovel and beg for mercy?”
“Damon….”
“This whole thing was your idea in the first place.” He barked. “I only added a twist of my own to make it work, and barely two hours into our deal what did you do? Barely two hours with the man and you threw our deal into the f*****g trash can.”
“Don't talk to me like that.” I stood my ground, my teeth gritting against each other. “You don't have the right to…”
“Of course.” His eyes were cold as he mouthed his next words. “I'm not Callum.”
“What's that supposed to mean!”
“It means the wedding is in a couple of days.” Goosebumps crept up my skin as he stepped closer. A mix of citrus and cinnamon wafted into my nostrils and I stepped back. That was the only option if I didn't want to lean in to sniff him all the more. “So you have between now and then to decide what and who you truly want.”
“But that's too soon and….”
“Choose wisely.” were the last words Damon's whispered into my ears before stalking out of the room, leaving me alone and to my thoughts.
- Writer
