Denial

'How do I find her?', Damon asked his wolf as soon as he stepped out of Alpha Edward's study.

'Follow your nose.'

Damon tried sniffing around. He went to the main floor, second floor, and… nothing.

He wondered if the girl is even real, or if he imagined it.

Damon is an Alpha and his senses are sharper than the ones of a regular werewolf, yet he couldn't pick up her scent. He was confused.

Without any clues, he decided to wait for Marcy who said that she will investigate which Omega was on the towel duty.

Damon plopped on the bed and took this opportunity to re-think the situation.

His wolf told him that the girl is his mate, but she escaped. Shouldn't mates be attracted to each other?

'Stupid!', Damon's wolf growled. 'What did you think she should do, when you had Miss Barbie between your legs? Did you expect her to jump into your arms happily?'

'Damn it! I forgot about it!' He really did. The moment his eyes landed on Talia, Marcy became not important.

'What if she hates me? Do I want her to like me?', Damon mused.

'What do you mean?', his wolf responded with disapproval obvious in his voice. 'I know that you don't like women latching onto you, but this one is different.'

'How different?'

'For starters, she is not latching onto you. The Moon Goddess paired you up with her for a reason. Don't do anything stupid until you find out what that reason is. You can't deny yourself this.'

Damon didn't respond.

So far, he saw every woman as a nuisance. Not because he thought he will fall for a woman, but because they are needy, whiny, and they easily assume the role like they are the boss of everything.

And this is mate. If he stays close to her, he WILL fall for her. Completely. She will manipulate him, and he will be happy to do cartwheels every time she feels like watching a circus. Isn't that dangerous?

Damon decided to leave these thoughts for later. Or maybe for never.

The best thing to do is to focus. He came here for a reason. Once he completes his task, he will leave and forget that he ever saw that copper-colored hair, and those big doe eyes.

To keep himself busy, Damon grabbed his laptop and started working.

He is a busy Alpha and there is always something that requires his attention.

…

Later that afternoon, Marcy came to Damon's room again.

He was working and he acknowledged her presence with only a quick glance.

Marcy understood that whatever he did, it was something important, and she didn't want to interrupt.

Marcy sat on the sofa chair opposite Damon and observed him in silence. This gave her ample time to take in his features, and the more she looked at him, the more attracted she was. Damon is very handsome, and his stern expression while focusing on work left her breathless.

She could literally feel the power radiating from him, and she was excited at the thought that she will be his Luna. Marcy will be able to walk with her head held high and no one will dare to look down on her because her possessive Alpha will grind them into a meat paste.

Marcy found her favorite pastime: staring at Damon.

She could do that all day and not get bored of it. Occasionally, the image of George would show up at the back of her mind, but Marcy suppressed it quickly. She is the princess. How can an Omega compare to an Alpha?

Marcy wondered why Damon didn't ask about the girl who interrupted them earlier that day.

She would tell him that she found out it's a lowly girl who hides in the attic and no one likes her. Omegas told Marcy that Talia is sneaky and skims at work, and Marcy went to deal with her only to find that the door of the attic was locked. Marcy used her sweet voice, and after a short persuasion, Talia opened the door, and then Marcy showed Talia her place.

Marcy was confident that Damon would approve how she dealt with the scrawny girl who intruded on their time, but he didn't ask about it, so Marcy assumed that Damon already looked at her as his Luna, someone who would deal with issues within the pack and not disturb him. She liked that.

'KNOCK! KNOCK!'

The light knocks on the door sounded louder than normal in the otherwise silent room.

"Alpha Damon, dinner will be served in ten minutes…", a female voice was heard from the outside.

Marcy stood up and opened the door.

"Thank you for letting us know…", Marcy said to the Omega who was flustered. "Tell mother that will be there on time."

The Omega nodded fervently, like chicken pecking rice, and left with hurried steps.

Damon smirked when he noticed Marcy's prideful posture. By answering the door, Marcy sent a message that she was in his room, and she spoke for both of them, like they are a couple.

This confirmed his suspicion that Marcy is not a simple girl.

'Caden…', Damon called his Beta through their mind link. 'We need to wrap this up quickly. We are leaving tomorrow morning.'

'I thought…'

'Tomorrow morning.', Damon interrupted Caden.

Damon confirmed that both Alpha Edward and Marcy are scheming something, and he didn't want to stay longer than necessary.

If all goes according to plan, by tomorrow morning he will tarnish Marcy's reputation and find out more about Alpha Edward's plans. After that, they will leave.

The additional complication was the copper-haired girl. Her existence made Damon restless. That girl was an unexpected variable and for the first time in a long time, Damon was not sure how to deal with the situation.

Dinner was similar to lunch, with the addition of Alpha Edward, his son James, and Beta Raymond joining them.

The sitting arrangement was different, with Alpha Edward at the head of the table, Damon on his right, and Marcy sitting next to Damon.

'What happened?', Maya asked Damon through the mind link.

'Why do you think that something happened?', Damon responded with a question.

'Because Marcy is talking to you and you are not acknowledging her presence.', Maya responded.

Damon realized that she was right. Marcy was talking something, yet he was spacing out. He was not even sure what he was eating.

Damon forced himself to focus. It's not like him to be absentminded.

'What did you find on Marcy?', Damon asked both Maya and Caden.

Caden responded. 'Nothing we could use. She came back a few days ago from Europe, and since then she is the perfect daughter of an Alpha.'

Damon frowned. 'What does that mean?'

'Marcy obeys her parents and does what she is supposed to do. She is not even bullying the servants.', Maya said. 'Alpha's daughters are usually haughty, but maybe life with humans changed Marcy's personality and she is kind.'

Damon glanced at Marcy and smiled while talking to Maya and Caden. 'Keep digging. Contact our people in Europe and see what they can find out. Marcy is a white lotus, and I don't believe that she has no skeletons in her closet.'

'Aye-aye, boss!', Caden responded jokingly. When he saw Damon frowning at him, Caden cleared his throat and said seriously, 'I'm on it. Don't worry. Our people are already working on it, from the moment Elder Parker sent his first request. I will tell them to prepare reports and by morning we will know exactly what this Miss was doing in Europe in the last ten years…'

Their plan was to find dirt on Marcy and discredit her as Damon's Luna. In this way, they will slap Alpha Edward and Elder Parker as well. This strategy has yielded the best results so far.

Sure, Damon can just reject Marcy and skip these silly games, but that will label him as a rebel, and other than, "Because I felt like it", he won't have any other explanation for his outrageous behavior while Alpha Edward can accuse him of being unreasonable and bullying Marcy.

Alpha Damon is a powerful Alpha, and members of his pack respect him, but there are many who are lurking in the shadows and waiting for Damon to cross the line, to make a mistake, to provoke someone he shouldn't… and Damon is aware of this.

Normally, Damon would be more enthusiastic about this play. After all, Marcy is a fine-looking she-wolf, and pretending for a day or two to indulge Alpha Edward will pay off several folds once Damon bares his teeth. But today, Damon was restless and he couldn't wait to get out of this situation where he doesn't have full control.

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