Chapter Forty-Three

Damon

I watched Finley and Charlotte as they climbed out of the car and Finley froze as she turned towards the steps leading to the front door. Chastity was walking towards her but I couldn’t see her face but I knew it wasn’t anything good if I had to go on Finley’s expression.

I left the office and made my way downstairs and found Chastity and Charlotte at each other’s throats with Finley standing behind Charlotte.

“This isn’t your house!” Charlotte said angrily.

“I’m the future Lady of this clowder!” Chastity yelled.

“Stop it, both of you!” I said loudly and turned towards Chastity, “you’re a guest here, outstaying her welcome.”

I nodded at Charlotte as she and Finley walked past me up the stairs and I turned to follow them but Chastity grabbed onto my arm and pulled me back.

“I won’t allow a human woman to occupy your time while I’m here,” she said to me.

“Then leave,” I said to her.

“Damon, there’s a signed agreement, you know how this works,” she said to me, her eyes blazing.

“And Finley’s my bonded half, you know how that works,” I said, gritting my teeth.

“The clowder needs to come first,” she said.

“You’re never going to be this clowder’s Lady Chastity, go home, I didn’t sign the agreement and no Elder will force me to take you as my wife,” I said to her angrily.

“There will be repercussions,” she said.

“I don’t care, go home or next time I won’t be as civil as I am now,” I warned her.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” she said and walked towards the living room.

Axel was urging me to just throw her out of the packhouse and be done with it all and to rip Elder Isaac apart. Everything was a mess and I still hadn’t spoken to Finley. We needed to leave for New York and I had no idea if she was going to reject me or not.

“Finley,” I said and knocked on my own bedroom door. It felt surreal to say the least.

“Come in,” she said and I opened the door.

“I’m sorry about Chastity,” I said to her, “I told her to go home or else.”

“What’s the or else?” she asked me.

“I’ll throw her in the dungeon if I have to,” I said with a smile.

“Why?” she asked me seriously.

“Because she doesn’t disrespect you in my house,” I said to her.

“We should probably have that talk,” she said and looked down.

“We should, there’s something else I need to discuss with you as well,” I said to her.

“Okay, you go first,” she said and I walked over to the sofa and sat down next to her.

“The Council contacted me, Calvin lodged a complaint against me, two actually. We’ve been summoned to a meeting in New York so that I can state my case against the claims,” I said.

“What complaints?” she asked.

“First that I illegally entered his territory to kidnap you and secondly that I forcefully marked you against your will,” I said to her. Her hand instantly went up to her neck where my mark was, she could feel it but she couldn’t see it.

“How can he say that when he’s the one that kidnapped me!” she said angrily.

“You’ll have to testify to that,” I said and she looked at me.

“Okay,” she said.

“Really? You’ll go to New York with me?” I asked her.

“Yes, that’s the truth, he kidnapped me, you saved me,” she said as I smiled and she looked away.

“Please just ignore whatever Chastity said to you, it’s not true, she’s delusional and there’s nothing between us,” I said to her.

“I know,” she said.

“I don’t actually know how to process this, I thought I’d have to drag you to New York, kicking and screaming,” I said to her.

“Honestly… I don’t really know how to feel about all of this, it’s a lot to take in. I understand that this Council thing is important but that doesn’t mean that I’m fine with what you did,” she said to me.

“I know,” I said and sighed.

“You still betrayed me, I trusted you and you used me,” she said.

“I didn’t use you Finley, I could never do that to you, yes I watched your every move but I never lied about how I feel about you,” I said to her.

“It’s just a lot okay,” she said and I nodded.

“Finley, it was never my intention to hurt you. I could never hurt you and I’d give you whatever you wanted but I’m asking you for one favor, just don’t make any decisions while you’re emotional or angry,” I said.

“I’ll try,” she answered.

“You should pack and then get some rest, we leave at midnight,” I said and stood up.

“Are you worried about this Council thing?” she asked me.

“No, and neither should you, just tell the truth,” I said to her, “they’ll know if you’re lying anyway.”

“I’m not even going to ask how they’ll know,” she said.

“Council members are also truth seekers, they can feel when you lie,” I said to her.

“Great, guess that makes their job easier,” she said and I laughed softly.

“The stronger the Alpha the more power he has to hide his lies, humans can’t hide it though and as an Enforcer I can’t lie either, it goes against the oath I took,” I said to her.

“So you just can’t lie to them?” she asked me.

“Yes, I could lie to you if I wanted but I’ve never lied to you about anything important,” I said to her.

“Where did you sleep last night?” she asked me.

“In my office on the couch,” I said and she looked down.

“But this is your room,” she said.

“I don’t want to confuse you, the bond will push you towards me even if you don’t want it, I want you to make your own decisions based on what you feel and not what the bond is pushing you to do. If I stay here tonight we’ll end up naked, it’s just how it works. I love you Finley, enough to give you free will in this. I want you to stay with me because you want to,” I said to her.

“Thank you,” she said as she stood up from the sofa as well.

“Good night Finley,” I said and opened the bedroom door.

“Good night,” she said and I closed the door behind me before I did something stupid.

I went for a run after asking Connor to keep an eye on Finley without her knowing and especially not to let Chastity anywhere near her. I needed to let Axel out not only because he was irritating me but also because I needed to vent my frustrations on something else.

“They’re going to ask her about the mark,” Axel grumbled.

“I know,” I said to him.

“And then she’ll say that you did it without her permission,” he said.

“You did it without her permission!” I said to him angrily.

“Okay let’s not fight about a technicality,” he said as he climbed a tree near the edge of our territory and slumped down on it.

“Technicality my ass, you knew exactly what you were doing,” I said to him.

“If I hadn’t, Calvin would’ve marked her and then what,” he said irritably.

“Still doesn’t make it right Axel, I don’t know what’s going to happen, as long as Finley’s safe it doesn’t matter,” I said to him.

“That’s true,” he said.

We spent another hour in the trees and then slowly made our way back to the packhouse. I quietly sneaked into my room to get some clothes and then used the guest room bathroom to shower and change.

At eleven thirty pm I woke Finley with a cup of tea and packed my suitcase as she quickly took a shower and got dressed in the bathroom. It was pure torture knowing she was just on the other side of the door, naked in the shower and with Axel urging me to join her.

“Ready?” I asked when she finally came out of the bathroom and my heart was already beating rapidly in my chest.

“Yes,” she said and grabbed her purse as I picked up her suitcase.

I grabbed a blanket from the closet and Finley followed me downstairs and outside to the garage where my truck stood. I helped her inside and handed her the blanket so she could sleep some more on the way there.

Once we reached the highway I put the radio on for background noise because I knew that Finley preferred it. She was looking out of the window and I heard her sigh. My hand itched to touch her but I fought against my instincts.

“Do you want to talk about it?” I asked her.

“We’ll talk after this whole Council ordeal,” she said.

“Okay, I’m here when you do want to talk, about whatever,” I said to her.

“Is my brother going to join your clowder?” she asked me instead.

“I think so, he said they’d be back after his book tour and Kat has a lot of explaining to do,” I said.

“Because she turned my brother?” she asked.

“Well yeah, she did it without my consent or knowledge although an Oracle did help her which means she didn’t need my permission if an Oracle consented, but she would have warned me at least,” I said and Finley laughed.

“You like being in control don’t you?” she asked me.

“I’m an Alpha, it’s a natural trait,” I said to her.

“Does it hurt?” she asked me.

“To shift?” I asked and she nodded, “the first time hurt like hell even though I shifted quickly it took just under two hours but it got better with time and after a year I barely felt it.”

“A year?” she asked loudly.

“For some people it takes longer, Alpha blood is superior so for us it’s not as bad, we’re stronger and can handle pain better,” I said.

“Fuck that,” she said and I laughed.