My Mate From Another World

THE HUSBAND

Chapter 5

In a private, heavily secluded dining room at the city's most exclusive high-end restaurant, Damien sat in absolute silence, staring at his reflection in the dark, rain-streaked window pane. The ambient city lights twinkled beneath the steady downpour outside, casting long, amber streaks across the cold glass. Raindrops slid down the exterior in jagged rivers, mirroring the chaotic thoughts swirling beneath his calm, impenetrable demeanor.

He was a terrifying figure to anyone who crossed his path, broad-shouldered, sharp-jawed, with piercing blue eyes that held a dangerous, otherworldly light. To the human business world, Damien was known as a ruthless, untouchable billionaire CEO who acquired struggling empires without a single trace of mercy. He operated in high-stakes boardrooms with surgical precision, dismantling financial rivals before they even realized they were in a fight. But to the hidden world of the night, he held a far more lethal title: he was the supreme Alpha of the most formidable werewolf clan in the entire region, commanding absolute respect through raw physical strength, tactical brilliance, and unyielding discipline.

His Beta, Liam, sat across from him at the polished mahogany table, tapping his fingers nervously against his water glass. The faint, rhythmic clink of glass was the only sound breaking the heavy quiet of the private room.

"I still don't understand why you're going through with this crazy arrangement, Damien," Liam said, his brow furrowed in genuine concern. "You don't even know the girl. What if she's completely unpresentable? What if her family is trying to play you for a fool? Frederick's bloodline has been weakening for decades, and his reputation in business is hanging by a thread."

"My instincts haven't failed me yet, Liam," Damien said smoothly, his deep, resonant voice carrying a quiet, lethal authority that made the air in the room instantly shift. "The arrangement was made, and I honor my word. Frederick's family owes debts to entities they cannot possibly comprehend, and this transaction resolves multiple strategic matters at once."

"She is a human, Damien," Liam reminded him, lowering his voice to a cautious, hushed whisper as if the walls themselves might be listening. "Our pack is already restless. The elders are demanding a strong Luna from a pure bloodline to fortify our borders. They won't accept a fragile, ordinary human as their Luna. A human cannot handle pack politics, let alone survive the physical realities and dangerous territorial wars of our lifestyle."

"Let them try to challenge me," Damien replied coldly, his gaze remaining fixed on the rain washing down the windowpane. "My decision is absolute, Liam. The pack will obey my command, or they will answer to my wolf."

Before Liam could muster another counterargument, the heavy brass door handle turned, the door swung open, and Frederick walked into the private room.

The older man looked haggard, severe dark circles weighing down his tired, bloodshot eyes. His posture was stiff, carries of stress visible in the tightness of his shoulders, though he hurriedly straightened his designer suit jacket as he approached the table, attempting to maintain an air of aristocratic confidence.

"Mr. Damien," Frederick said, extending a hand that trembled ever so slightly at the fingers. "I apologize profusely for keeping you waiting. Traffic coming in from the estate was insufferable due to the storm."

"It's no trouble, Mr. Frederick," Damien said, standing up smoothly with fluid, predatory grace. He shook the older man's hand with a firm, crushing grip that served as a subtle reminder of the power dynamic between them.

They both sat down as a tall waiter quietly slipped into the room, placing two heavy crystal glasses of ice water on the table before bowing and vanishing back into the hallway.

Damien leaned back in his leather chair, resting his forearms on the wooden table and lacing his long fingers together. His piercing blue gaze locked onto Frederick, instantly stripping away the older man's polite, practiced facade in a matter of seconds. The room felt smaller under the weight of Damien's intense scrutiny.

"Let's drop the pointless formalities, Frederick," Damien said softly, his tone dangerous in its simplicity. "Why are you so remarkably eager to sell off your daughter to a complete stranger? For all you know, I could be a high-level criminal, a drug lord, or a human trafficker. A father does not normally hand over his own flesh and blood so easily without asking questions."

Frederick stiffened instantly, his knuckles turning white as he gripped his linen napkin beneath the table. His darting eyes checked the quiet corners of the private room nervously. He took a slow, deep, shuddering breath before looking Damien directly in the eye.

"Are you?" Frederick asked, his voice raspy.

Damien’s jaw tightened slightly. Deep inside his chest, behind his human consciousness, his inner wolf let out a low, amused chuckle. He has no idea what we truly are, the spirit whispered darkly inside his mind. He thinks he is sitting across from a mere human businessman.

"No," Damien stated flatly, his expression unreadable. "I am not."

"Then my daughter will be safe with you," Frederick said, his voice dropping into a somber, hollow tone that carried a strange, desperate gravity. "I don't care about your reputation, your methods, or the vastness of your money. I just need her out of my house. She isn't safe under my roof anymore, and I... I cannot protect her from what is coming. Her presence brings dark memories, and things in the shadow are beginning to stir again."

Damien narrowed his eyes slightly, his heightened supernatural senses immediately picking up the sudden, erratic spike in Frederick’s heartbeat. The man's pulse was hammering like a frantic drum. Frederick was genuinely terrified—though whether he feared Damien, the girl, or an external threat entirely remained a mystery. The unmistakable scent of sharp, stale terror rolled off the older man in palpable waves.

"If that is your primary condition," Damien said slowly, weighing every word, "then I accept. I will take her off your hands."

Frederick let out a long, shuddering breath of profound relief, as if a crushing weight had been lifted from his chest. "Thank you. Come to our estate for dinner this coming weekend. Meet her face to face. Speak with her before we finalize the wedding arrangements for next month."

"I will be there," Damien replied smoothly.

A few moments later, after brief arrangements were noted, Frederick stood up, bowed his head stiffly, and left the private dining room. As the heavy door clicked shut behind him, Liam leaned forward across the table, his eyes wide with suspicion.

"Well? Did you get what you wanted?" Liam asked. "The man was praktisch shaking in his boots. What is he running from?"

Damien didn't answer right away. He raised his crystal glass, staring thoughtfully at the clear water inside. As Frederick had leaned close during his departure, Damien’s heightened sense of smell had caught a faint, lingering scent drifting off the fabric of Frederick's heavy wool coat, a delicate, intoxicating fragrance carried straight from his home. It smelled of fresh wild roses, sweet rain water, and something ancient... something extraordinarily powerful.

In that singular moment, his inner wolf stirred violently within his ribcage, rearing up and howling with a fierce, possessive, and deafening roar. The sheer, primitive force of the realization hit Damien like a sudden bolt of lightning.

She's ours, the wolf snarled commandingly in his mind. Our mate.

Damien’s eyes flashed a brilliant, ethereal, glowing blue in the dim light of the restaurant.

"I got far more than I bargained for, Liam," Damien whispered, a dark, fiercely protective smile touching his lips. "Clear my en

tire schedule for the weekend. I'm going to claim my Luna."