A Second Chance Mate

Chapter 6: Universe

-Isabella-

“You know my name, but I still don’t know yours,” I said, looking at the blond guy, who had been talking away all the tense energy, making me feel safe and relaxed around them.

He was funny. I had to give him that, and charming. He had paid attention to me, but not in a creepy or scary way, more like a friend who liked to get to know me. I hadn’t said much, especially after he had asked me about my family. I had just said I was all alone and I didn’t really like talking about it. Seemed like he understood me and just nodded before he started to talk about his own night. He had quite the adventure being chased, and it became clear to me, he was a guy who liked to play with fire, mated females and married women. While I didn’t think the highest of cheaters, he had made the escape part of the story funny, and I had even laughed. It was strange, since I hadn’t laughed in years, but despite his charming smile and good energy, he wasn’t that attractive to me. No, my attention was always on the man in the front. The next tallest of them with very dark green eyes. Yeah, he was the one who really had all my attention, and who I wished would give me his. I still hadn’t figured out exactly why, but I was drawn to him. There was no doubt.

“I’m Chris,” the blond guy said before reaching out his hand.

I couldn’t help but laugh a little at the gesture. I took his hand and smiled at him, while we shook hands.

“That is Evan,” Chris said, as he pointed to the very quiet and scary guy in the passenger’s seat.

I nodded, but the guy didn’t turn around to say anything. He just looked out the window, silently.

“And that is Damian.”

Hold on!

It couldn’t be … Damian? No, a lot of people have that name, right? This guy couldn’t be … I had never laid my eyes on the man who killed my brother. I only knew his name, and that he worked alongside the king, but the coincidence that we should meet tonight seemed too unreal. It wasn’t him, I concluded, just as an unbelievable castle came into view. Something that was out of a fairytale, yet a good touch darker, so it didn’t look like a princess was hiding in there, but the very scary king of werewolves. Sh*t, sh*t, sh*t! It was him! He was Damian Black! I had searched for him since I was fifteen. For five years, nothing except the sweet thought of revenge kept me going, and here he was. Right in front of me. That must have been the explanation as to why I had been drawn to him. I hadn’t known, but somehow, I had still sensed it. It was hard to believe. For a moment I considered jumping out of the car and running away, but this was the golden opportunity I had been waiting for. The man would even let me into his home! This monster didn’t know what was coming for him.

My mind suddenly went to the crazy lady who had approached me at the secret meeting … she couldn’t have been planning this, right? How could she have known where Damian would have been at the moment? Yeah, it was a pure coincident. For the first time in a long time, the universe was finally smiling down on me, giving me exactly what I wanted.

Thank you Goddess!

“Ready to go inside?” Chris asked me, his door already open.

I hadn’t even noticed the car had parked in front of the castle, and Damian and Evan had left the car, and were waiting for us. I had been so busy praising the Goddess for finally being on my side of things, I hadn’t even noticed we had arrived.

“I am,” I said with a stupid smile on my lips, but why wouldn’t I be happy?

This was just too perfect!

Chris nodded before we both left the car. My eyes instantly locked on Damian, who was heading for the big staircase leading up the castle with Evan behind him. I followed Chris, as we started to walk to the enormous castle. I had never seen a place so big and that you could call home at the same time. The king and his pack really had it good. No wonder I mocked inside of myself. While pure-blooded wolves like him and the rest got to live the sweet life, half-bloods like me were left to fend for themselves. At that moment I really hoped the people from the secret meeting got to kill him. He deserved it!

Chris held the door for me, as we stepped into the warm castle. We were in the middle of April, but it was still cold, especially at night, so it was heaven entering. Even better, knowing I would have been sleeping on a hard cold floor freezing my a** off the whole night. It was almost strange thinking I would have, if these guys hadn’t gotten rid of the guys who hunted me, and then offered me a place to stay, but I wouldn’t be fooled. An evil hid beneath their so-called kindness, and as Chris had said, they liked to play heroes, and there was no way I was going to fall for their act.

-Damian-

I might not have been keeping my eyes on her, as we entered the castle, but I knew exactly where she was. She was like a f*cking lighthouse to my senses, always alerting me as to where she was. I knew she was still by the door, and I knew Chris was right there beside her. Goddess, I wanted to strangle that male! I shook my head trying to get myself under control, when suddenly I saw something orange coming down the stairs. The little cat had come to love this place and looked like she owned it and she had a lot of love for everyone here, but especially Evan, she clung to. Strange, considering he wasn’t really one to show any sort of affection, but the cat only brushed by me, welcoming me back, before it jumped into Evan’s arms. He didn’t seem to mind though, not that he could do anything. The cat clung to him like no other, and if he tried to let go, she would put her claws into him.

“You have a … cat?” I heard Isabella say.

I turned to her, looking like she was seeing a ghost, as Little Diva purred loudly in Evan’s arms, but when her eyes settled on Isabella, they narrowed, and her purring stopped. Strange …

“Don’t worry, the little queen here is just very fond of males,” Chris said, as he stroked the animal over her fur.

Isabella didn’t seem calmed by it. She looked funnily at the animal, almost as if she hadn’t seen a cat before. It was sort of sweet the way she looked ready to defend herself against the little fur ball.

“Thought you guys wouldn’t be back before tomorrow.”

We all turned to the stairs. At the very top, the king stood in relaxed clothes, as he looked down at us. His strong yellow eyes scanned over each and every one, before they landed on Isabella. I couldn’t help but take a step to the side, so I blocked some of the view of her. Sh*t, I was already getting too protective of her, but I just didn’t like his eyes on her. No other male, mated or not, could enjoy the beautiful and sexy view but me.

“And who do we have here?” I could hear him say before his eyes turned to me. “Damian?”

“She had nowhere else to go,” I explained, still blocking the view of her.

“My office.”

I nodded before turning to Chris.

“Find a room for her,” I said, looking shortly at the little female at his side.

She looked scared, but who wouldn’t be after being confronted by the king? He was one f*cking intimidating male.

“You got it,” he said and winked before turning to Isabella.

I didn’t like leaving her in his hands, but I was the one who had to explain to the king the situation. Evan was not the talking type and Chris … yeah, that wasn’t even an option. I took the stairs two steps at a time, walked down the hallway before walking up another staircase, then turned left and walked down to the king’s office at the end. Valerio was already seated inside, in his chair that was close to looking like an old throne. I closed the door behind me but didn’t plan to stay long. I was restless knowing Isabella was in Chris’s hands.

“She is a half-blood,” Valerio calmly said.

I nodded.

“She was being hunted through the city. After we saved her, we asked if there was a place she wanted to go, but it was clear she had no place to go.”

“Hunted, you said. Like a real half-blood hunt?”

I nodded again.

“Yeah. They would have killed her. Their scents were strong and aggressive.”

The king sighed before folding his hands in front of him.

“F*cking hell,” he groaned. “I had almost forgotten about the laws the old council made. Allowing people to freely hunt the poor half-bloods.”

“They are rare.”

“They are.”

There was silence for a while, and I felt myself shift my weight back and forth. All I wanted was to leave and figure out which room Chris had put Isabella in, so I could … could what exactly? See her? Talk to her? F*ck her? Yeah, it was definitely the last part that was the most urgent one. I needed to mark her. I needed her to be mine and only mine. F*ck! I needed her gone, that was what I should think … Remember Amelia? Yeah, I should just fill my thoughts of her. My sweet Amelia.

“Damian?”

I shook my head, not even realizing the king had been talking to me.

“Yes?”

“Are you okay?”

I nodded.

“Of course.”

“The female will stay here for tonight. We will talk again tomorrow morning about what to do with her. Hopefully, we can relocate her to another pack, and she can start a life there.”

NO! She stays! She is ours!

Amelia. Amelia. Amelia. Just keep repeating her name. Vision her. Her blond hair. Her green-blue eyes. Her … small but curvy body … f*ck! That was not what was supposed to come to my mind. Quick, end the meeting before the king finds you more suspicious, I told myself.

“Okay. Tomorrow morning,” I said before giving the king a quick nod and leaving the office, as if there was a fire.

Isabella ...

No! No, Isabella, I told my wolf, as I walked down the hallway, trying to focus on getting back to my own room, so I could get a cold shower.

Isabella!

I almost covered my ears like a little child, as I practically ran to my room, quickly locking myself inside and stripping from all my clothes, before going to the bathroom and taking an ice-cold shower.