Seven
Desmond didn’t bother to dignify Damien’s accusation with a response. Instead, he grabbed my hand and pulled me from the room. “Please tell me you still remember the agreement,” I begged.
Desmond glanced back at me. “Of course, I remember our agreement. I am taking you to my home. I’m not going to try anything with you.”
“Your home?” I made my short legs run faster so I could try and keep up with him but it was a struggle. He was taller and faster. “Desmond, Damien took over your place ages ago. They’re even going to vote on who to make Alpha in about a month because it will have officially been six years since then.”
He stopped and looked back at me. “Oh, I’m not taking you to the DuPont wolf compound. I wouldn’t trust you being there. No, I have a second loft. One with the vampires.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Why do you have a second loft with the vampires?”
“When you are an Alpha like me, you’ll find that everyone is in your business. I had to have a place where I could…. have fun.”
I frowned. “Werewolves sleep around? I thought they were big on mates. Most other werewolves wait until they find theirs.”
“We are, but we like to have our fun too. We’re a little quieter about it though. It varies depending on the generations. I’m an Alpha, so it’s also a little different. I get to choose my mate, remember?”
I thought of the werewolves that I’d gone to school with. They’d dated, but it was always with the understanding that if they found their mate, they would have to breakup. “I thought there was something that was magic about finding a mate. I know Alpha’s are different, but…everyone always makes it seem like a fated thing.”
“It depends,” Desmond told her, “Sometimes, you know who your mate is. You’ll dream about them or feel a connection. Some mates can get inside each other’s heads. Other mates, the magic happens once the binding ceremony occurs.”
“Has anyone ever been wrong about their mate?”
“That’s why we have precautions to let those involved undo the mate process. Sometimes, people make mistakes. But often, the gods know what they are doing.”
“How are they going to react to us doing this?” I asked.
“It will be fine.” Desmond smiled. “The gods already know what I’m doing too. They directed me to you.”
“They know what you’re doing? How’s that possible?”
“I’ve been dreaming about them. They helped me to come back. They’re the ones that gave me my memories. I need to figure out what happened to me in order to protect my pack. Are you willing to help me do that?”
I nodded. “Calix wants me to, so I will do that. Also, I meant what I said. I’m loyal to the DuPont pack. Even though…”
Desmond looked me up and down. “Even though you’re in love with Calix?”
I hesitated. It felt weird talking about this out loud, especially with Desmond, who I was supposed to be in part of a Choosing Ceremony with.
He smirked. “Calix has a soft spot for humans. It’s why he lives here in Moon City instead of one of the vampire cities. They don’t like him there. He’s looking for an alternative to having to drink the blood from humans.”
“What about animals?” I asked.
“He wants to make a synthetic blood,” Desmond explained. “He has people working to invent one.”
I made a face. “Oh…I didn’t know that.”
He shrugged. “It’s controversial. It’s not exactly something he advertises.”
The door to the wall behind us opened. Damien came out. He walked on by without even looking at Desmond.
“Come on,” he held his hand out to me, “take my hand. Let’s go.”
He led me out of The Werewolf Center and there was a car waiting for us outside. It was a black sedan. Desmond opened the door for me.
I got into the front seat. I studied him carefully. “Tell me something.”
“What?” he glanced over at me.
“Do you think my sister tried to kill you/”
He paused for far too longer than I liked. “Yes, I do think that your sister tried to kill me.”
“What are you going to do with her, if you figure out that she was the one that tried to kill you?”
Desmond sighed. “We’ll figure that out when we cross that bridge. I’ve been gone for six years. There’s a chance that it might be someone else. But I’ll be completely honest when I say that Nina and Damien are on the top of my list.”
My sister could be a bitch, but she was still my sister. I didn’t know what to think about that.
Desmond ran a hand through his hair. “Look, I’ll do what I can to make sure that you are safe. That includes your family. But I have to do what I need to in order to take care of my pack.”
I smoothed out my dress. “Having a failed mating pack here…. that can make things difficult for women. It hasn’t happened much, but I have seen it before.”
Desmond smirked. “If Calix is telling you that he wants to be with you, I don’t think you’ll have a problem. An immortal as dangerous as that is someone that no one would question who their mate is, regardless of their history. Besides, I’ll take care of you. I did that when I was courting your sister, didn’t I?”
We had started driving. We were headed in the direction of the vampire coven part of town.
I looked out the window, then studied him carefully. “You didn’t really dream about me being your mate, did you? You made that up. Please tell me you made that up. I was nineteen when you guys got together.”
Desmond shrugged. “You can believe what you want. Just know, I’ll make you happy. Whatever happens.”
I didn’t know what to make of that. “I’m not sleeping with you.”
He chuckled. “I would never make you do anything you didn’t want to with me, Little Flower.”
“Stop calling me that!” I sounded far too irritated, which was never a good thing to be with an Alpha. I covered my mouth then uncovered it. “You never called me that before. You always called me Iris.”
“Alright, I’ll call you Iris.” His yellow, almost golden eyes stared at me, making my heart pound against my chest.
There was something in the way that he said it that had me closing my thighs together for reasons that I didn’t really want to think about. Especially not with him looking at me with a kind of hunger I had never seen before on him. I didn’t know how this was going to end, but I knew it was going to end badly.
“Shut up,” I ordered, resting my head on my elbow as I stared moodily out the window at Moon City. He was quiet the rest of the drive.
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