Chapter 4: The Confrontation
732 Words
Damon didn’t knock the next morning.
He just walked into her room at 6AM.
Lila jolted awake. She was still in the clothes she’d slept in. Hair a mess.
Damon stood at the foot of her bed. Black sweatpants. No shirt. That wolf tattoo on full display. Arms crossed. Face blank.
But his silver eyes were burning.
“Get dressed,” he said. “We’re talking.”
Lila sat up, heart pounding. “About what?”
“You know what.”
He turned and left, door staying open. An order, not a request.
20 minutes later Lila was in the kitchen. Alone.
Damon was making coffee. His back to her. The silence was heavy.
He poured two cups. Black. Slid one across the counter to her.
“Sit.”
She did.
Damon leaned against the counter, not drinking. Just watching her.
“Tyler,” he said finally.
Lila flinched.
“Who is he?”
Lila stared at her coffee. “No one important.”
Damon’s jaw ticked. “No one important doesn’t text you twice. No one important doesn’t know you’re in my house.”
Lila said nothing.
Damon sighed and ran a hand through his hair. When he spoke again, his voice was lower. Tired.
“Lila. I’m not going to hurt you. But I need to know.”
The honesty in his voice broke something in her.
She took a shaky breath. “He’s... he was my mate. 5 years ago.”
Damon went still.
“Alpha Tyler of River Pack,” Lila continued quietly. “We met when I was 18. He said I was his. For 6 months he treated me like I was everything. Then on the full moon, in front of his whole pack... he rejected me.”
The words tasted bitter.
“He said I was too weak. Too human. That the Moon Goddess made a mistake. He said I embarrassed him.”
Damon’s expression didn’t change. But his hands gripped the counter until his knuckles went white.
“Why is he texting you now?” Damon asked.
“I don’t know,” Lila whispered. “I haven’t spoken to him since that day.”
Damon stepped closer. He didn’t touch her. Just stood there, close enough that she could smell him. Cedar. Anger. And something else. Hurt?
“Did you love him?”
The question hit her like a punch.
“Yes,” Lila admitted. Tears burned. “I was stupid. I thought... I thought if an Alpha chose me, I’d finally be safe.”
Damon closed his eyes for a second.
When he opened them, they were cold again.
“Is that what you think this is?” he asked. “Me choosing you? Because it’s not. This is a bond. Not a choice.”
“I know,” Lila said quickly. “You said 3 months. Rejection ceremony. I’m not expecting—”
“Good,” Damon cut her off. “Because I’m not him.”
The words hung between them.
Lila nodded. “I don’t want you to be.”
Damon studied her. Really studied her. The bruise on her arm from Kade. The way she was holding herself. Small. Guarded.
“Kade told you about him,” Damon said. It wasn’t a question.
Lila nodded.
Damon’s expression darkened. “He won’t speak your name again.”
Then he turned and walked out of the kitchen.
Lila sat there for a long time, coffee going cold.
That afternoon, Damon took her on another territory run.
Still silent. Still cold.
But this time, when they stopped at the lake, he didn’t walk away.
He stood next to her. Close. Not touching.
“Tyler was an i***t,” Damon said suddenly.
Lila looked at him.
“Anyone who rejects you doesn’t deserve you,” he said. Then he turned and walked back to the car.
Lila stared after him. Her heart did something stupid. It fluttered.
That night, her phone buzzed again.
_You’re making a mistake with him. He’ll break you too. Come home. -T_
Lila blocked the number.
But it was too late.
Because down the hall, Damon was staring at his own phone.
A message from an unknown number had just come through.
_A word of advice, Alpha. Humans like Lila don’t make good mates. She’ll betray you. Just like she betrayed me. -T_
Damon’s phone cracked in his hand.
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- Writer
