Rejected by my ex, Claimed by the CEO

Chapter Fourteen

Damon’s POV

I paced up and down the hall, trying my hardest not to lose my s**t. How could Harriet leave me like that? Was she crazy? My thoughts kept returning to Harriet, no matter what I was doing, whether it be pack business, in the shower, or out in my wolf form for a run. Why could I not stop thinking about her? I mean, yes, ok, Aurora was beautiful, stunning and had a body that drove me crazy, but yet I found myself thinking about Harriet and imagining it was her underneath me when I was f*****g Aurora. She couldn't make me feel half as satisfied as Harriet always had. I clenched my fists into angry balls of fury. I needed to know where Harriet had gone. How could I not even notice she had left? Yet her best friend claimed to know nothing of her disappearance.

I took a deep breath to rein in the storm of emotions. My fingers threaded through my hair as I paced, the walls closing on me. The memory of Harriet's eyes—those soft, stormy blues that always wrapped me around her finger—haunted me. How could I have let her slip away?

I glanced out one of the tall windows lining the hallway, the moon casting silver light over the sprawling grounds of the pack house. Everything felt wrong without her. The air was choked with a tension that I couldn't shake off. I didn't care about the packing business anymore; I only wanted to find her.

“Damon? What is going on? Why do you seem so distant from me?” Aurora came up behind me and placed her hands on my back or shoulders, slowly making her way down to my chest, and I growled.

“Get off me. I don't want you right now.” the words came out harshly, and she stepped back in disbelief; I heard her gasp and knew then that she was near to tears. I couldn't bring myself to look at her.

“Alpha, my alpha. What is this?” she stepped around me and was suddenly in front of me, demanding answers.

“It's complicated, but we can't be together, Aurora. I don't want to get into this right now.” I warned her.

Aurora took another step forward. “You don’t have to do this alone. I want to be there for you, not just the leader of the pack, but as someone who loves you. Let me help you.”

The silence between us hung heavy, each heartbeat throbbing like a drum. I could see her walls crumbling, the stormy blues of her eyes reflecting the turmoil within. “I don’t want to lose you,” she admitted, her voice breaking slightly.

I groaned in frustration. Aurora was nice, but she was a distraction, a balm for the wounds Harriet had inflicted on my heart—wounds I hadn’t even realised were open until she was gone. It wasn’t fair to be with Aurora when my mind and body ached for someone else and that someone was nowhere to be found. “It's that omega you are obsessed with finding. Isn't it?” Aurora suddenly said. She grabbed my hand and tried to wrap herself around me.

“Just leave. Don't you talk about Harriet, and Don't you f*****g dare touch me. Just get out of my sight.” I roared, feeling my wolf surface. Aurora’s eyes widened in horror as she clumsily ran for the door; turning back to me, I saw the tears brimming up in her eyes, but I didn't care.

She slammed the door and left, telling me she hated me. I know she was hurt, but I couldn't force something that wasn't there.

I couldn't understand the strange, sudden connection I felt with Harriet. We had only been sleeping together, yet I felt like I'd lost a limb at her disappearance.

“Damon,” a voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I turned to see Lucas, my best friend and beta, standing there, his brow furrowed with concern.

“Lucas. I hope you bring me good news! Have you found her?” I asked, desperation creeping into my voice.

Lucas shook his head, gripping the back of his neck in frustration. “No one seems to know where she went. I’ve checked with everyone—her family, her friends. No one’s heard from her.”

My heart dropped. “She wouldn’t just leave without telling anyone. Something must have happened.”

“Or maybe she left because of you,” Lucas said quietly, leaning against the wall as if the weight of the situation pressed down on his shoulders.

I shot him a glare; he didn’t understand. “What are you talking about?”

“Damon,” he said, his tone more serious now, “you’ve been distracted for weeks. You were pushing her away, even if you didn’t mean to. I tried to warn you. Maybe she took that as a cue to go. To protect herself when you took Aurora.

The truth of his words stung. I wanted to protest, to defend myself, but I knew deep down he was right. I had been overwhelmed with pack duties, torn between my responsibilities and connection to her. But loss had a way of making you see everything clearly, painfully so.

Before I could voice my thoughts, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out, my heart racing as I saw a text from one of my pack members—a sighting. Someone had spotted Harriet a few towns over. I didn’t think twice before I made my way to the door.

“I'm going to find her. I will spend my life apologising to her if I need to, but I need to see her and understand why I feel this way. I never felt it when she was here, but it's drinking me mad, Lucas.” I said without meeting my beta’s gaze.

“Are you going after her?” Lucas asked, following me.

I nodded, “I’m not letting her walk away from me. I’ll find her, and I’ll bring her back.”