The Possessive Alpha
Chapter 71

DAMON POV

It didn’t take long for Elle to fall asleep after I carried her to bed from the tub. I covered her with the duvet cover, hoping to sneak away, but instead found myself crawling beside her. Pulling her onto my chest, I hope the uncertainty settling in my bones begins to ease with her in my arm, but it’s useless. An emotion I never thought I’d experience has me in its death grip; fear.

As the clock ticks closer to midnight, the uneasiness sits in my stomach like lead, weighing me down. A change is coming, and I still haven’t decided if it’s good or bad. Squeezing Elle closer to me, I run my fingers through her silky smooth hair, still slightly damp, small whimpers leaving her mouth while she snuggles closer.

‘You never mentioned marking her,’ Slade reminds me, obviously vexed that I am not rushing the subject, but insecurities run deep.

‘I know,’ I sigh, irritated that I have to explain this to him again, ‘Elle has enough on her mind with the shift tonight, and I don’t need to put extra s**t on her plate right now. I will do it tomorrow.’

‘You better,’ Slade grumbles, ‘the clock is counting down until that man comes for Elle, and if my spidey instincts are correct, it’s going to be soon.’

‘Spidey instincts?’ I ask, chuckling aloud at his word choice, ‘where did you even hear that?’

‘The streets,’ Slade replies quickly like it was sitting on the tip of his tongue.

‘Yeah,’ I say, teasing him slightly, ‘well, did the streets teach you how to have this conversation with Elle?’

‘Uhhh…,” Slade sputters like a car breaking down on the freeway, ‘no…’

‘Exactly,’ I say, continuing on a tangent, ‘whoever made this damn prophecy didn’t know Elle’s personality enough to be making it. Hell, anyone who placed a spell on her didn’t know her well enough to make those calls.’

A low growl comes from Slade’s end of our connection, ‘Maybe,’ he says, his voice tense, ‘those who contributed to these spells did what they thought best to protect Elle.’

‘Yeah,’ I retort, rolling my eyes in disbelief, ‘if you consider making things more complicated protection, then sure, we’ll call it that.’

‘You have no-‘ Slade begins, but a sharp rap on the door interrupts him. At least it wasn’t me this time. Before my feet can touch the soft rug under Elle’s bed, the door opens, and cerulean eyes peek around the door.

“Mom?” I ask as I stare into a face filled with absolute glee, as her eyes flicker between my half-naked body and Elle, curled up under her duvet, naked. I get up to stand, but she is already backing away from the door, trying to close it.

Standing abruptly, I race to catch her in the hall; the happiness radiating off her is nearly crippling as she practically skips away. “Mom!” I say before she starts descending to the lower levels. Turning on her heel, she tries to look at me with a serious face, her arms crossed over her chest, as she eyes me steadily.

Despite the 180-degree turnaround in her attitude and the serious look in her expression, there was still a glint in her eye after walking in and finding me in bed with Elle. “Why were you in Elle’s room?” I ask as I scan her face, trying to find the answers she won’t say aloud.

“I could ask you the same thing,” she retorts with a slight smirk, reminding me that she caught me red-handed. “You were helping flip a mattress again, weren’t you? Don’t bother trying to lie to me, Damon; you were never very good at it,” The look of victory sweeping across her face is a subtle reminder to never go against her; the woman knows too much for her good.

“You knew?” I ask, I thought I had been so careful about sneaking it past her, but I guess not. My mind reels from the constant whiplash regarding Elle and me by my parents. They push a chosen on Elle, tell me to stay away from her, keep harassing me about a fated mate… “What f*****g game are you and Dad playing?” I ask, the anger rising, heating the air surrounding us, evaporating any lingering happiness left.

“What do you mean?” she asks innocently, but I can tell I have her dead to rights by the wary shift in her eyes and the way she instinctively takes a step back. My mom may be the Luna of New Moon, outranking other pack members, but she doesn’t have Alpha b***d, so she can still be affected by the aura of my father and me. While we never intentionally use it against her, it can be hard to manage when we are upset, noticing her reaction I try to pull back before I step over a boundary.

“Enough with the bullshit!” I whisper-yell, my eyes flashing to black, pushing Slade to the forefront, regardless of his resistance. “Elle and I are getting whiplash from your actions over the last month. Can you finally be honest with us now that her first shift is tonight?”

“I am sorry, Damon,” she replies, a sad look behind her eyes, “I can’t tell you anything. Your father and I made a promise a long time ago to stick to a specific plan, and we are honoring her parents, our friends, by doing that.”

“Whatever,” I mumble, growing tired of this same excuse, “and did this miraculous plan tell you what will happen at tonight’s shift?”

Clutching her chest, a pained look crosses my mom’s features as she winces in pain, bending over and trying to steady her ragged breathing. A whimpered “Yes,” stumbles past her lips as a single tear rolls down her cheek. After a few moments of kneeling over, taking deep and shallow breaths, mom finally stands tall, holding onto the banister as if it’s a lifeline.

“What the hell was that?” I ask, my voice slightly panicked over the sudden pain and how quickly it faded. A look from her, silently begging me to stop asking questions, sits in the space between us as I try to rack my brain for what could be causing all this trouble when I finally recall the conversation I had with the Beta male and female a few weeks ago, where they told me about an unbreakable vow my parents made with Elle’s years ago. What the f**k did they promise?

As if she can sense the epiphany, her face holds a look of regret for putting Elle and me into this situation in the first place, “I know it’s frustrating, but we did what we had to protect her,” she says. It’s the same line Slade gave me earlier, the alarm bells sounding in my head.

“Well, is their master plan working?” I retort, irritation filling my chest, “because to me, all it’s done is make things more f*****g complicated.” My mom visibly flinches back at my words, the venom in my tone lashing out, burning her skin like acid. Before my mom can respond with her reasoning, explanations, or perspectives, I am halfway down the hallway towards Elle’s room, letting the anger around me trail like heavy rain clouds.

‘I guess one positive came about during this talk,’ Slade says, sounding more jolly than he did earlier in the room.

‘What that?’ I huff, the sound of b***d rushing through my ears as it courses angrily through my veins.

‘Your mom knows about Elle,’ Slade says giddily, his anger nonexistent, as he purrs like a giant, lazy, well-fed housecat. ‘Sleepovers every night, and more chances to mark her.’

‘That is something to be more than grateful for,’ I reply dryly, ‘but you know what else we should be grateful for?’

‘What?’ Slade asks; his happy demeanor has him sitting on cloud nine.

‘That Elle’s parents are already dead so that we don’t have to do it ourselves over the stupid choices they make,’ I say as I open the door to Elle’s bedroom, to find her awake while Slade’s rambunctious laughter roars through my head.