Chapter 24: Damian Is Crazy
Ariel POV
I woke up slowly, the ceiling of Damian’s mansion swimming above me. For a moment, I thought yesterday was a nightmare. Witches. Wolves. Blood. My mind tried to trick me, but then the sharp ache in my stomach reminded me it wasn’t a dream.
I remembered the flash of gold eyes. Blue fur. Damian’s wolf tearing into the witches. His voice calling my name before everything went black.
I pressed a hand to my stomach. It hurt, but not as much as it should. The doctor said I healed fast. That wasn’t normal. Nothing in my life was normal anymore.
I reached for my phone but it wasn’t on the nightstand. Damian had taken it. He said I wasn’t going to work until further notice. I’d tried to argue, but he only looked at me with those cold eyes and said, “You’re not leaving this house.” No room for debate.
By afternoon I was restless. The walls of his mansion felt like a cage. I slipped on a long cardigan over my slip dress and stepped outside for air.
The garden stretched wide and perfectly manicured. The butler, an older man with silver hair, stood by the fountain trimming roses. He glanced up and gave me a polite bow.
“Good afternoon, ma’am,” he said softly.
I walked over. “Please… call me Ariel.”
His lips twitched. “As you wish, Ariel.”
We talked. He told me about the house, about how long he’d served the Blackthornes, how Damian was always “different.” I could sense he wanted to say more but held back.
“You seem lonely,” the butler murmured.
“I am,” I admitted before I could stop myself. “But I’m also… trapped.”
His eyes flicked to the house. “He’s not a man who lets go easily.”
Before I could answer, a black car rolled into the driveway. The energy shifted immediately. Even the butler stiffened. Damian stepped out, tall, immaculate, his tie loose, his eyes already locked on me like a predator on prey.
“Ariel,” his voice cut across the courtyard. “Inside.”
I blinked. “I was just—”
“I said inside.” Not a shout. A command. The butler lowered his head and disappeared without another word.
I walked past Damian, my heartbeat uneven. His hand shot out and caught my wrist before I reached the door. He didn’t pull hard, but the strength was undeniable.
“You think you can walk around my property like prey?” he murmured, eyes dark. “After last night?”
“I needed air,” I whispered.
“You’ll breathe when I say you breathe.” His fingers slid from my wrist to my chin, tilting it up. “Do you have any idea what you do to me?”
My stomach clenched. “Damian—”
He pushed me gently but firmly against the wall of the hallway. His body blocked mine, towering, overwhelming. He wasn’t sweet, he wasn’t gentle. His energy vibrated like a storm about to break.
“You almost died yesterday,” he said, voice low, dangerous. “Do you understand what that did to me? Do you?”
I swallowed hard. “Let me go.”
His mouth curved, not in a smile. “No.”
His hand slid up the back of my neck, holding me still. “You run. You hide. You look at me like I’m a monster. But you keep coming back. Say it.”
“Say what?” My voice was shaking.
“That you’re mine.”
I stared at him. The house felt silent, the world far away. He was breathing hard, jaw tight, eyes golden at the edges. This was not the CEO, not the perfect billionaire. This was the wolf.
I should have been terrified. I was terrified. But part of me burned, a heat I couldn’t name crawling under my skin.
“I’m not—”
His other hand slammed against the wall beside my head. The sound echoed like a gunshot. “Say it,” he hissed.
“You’re scaring me.”
“Good.” His thumb traced my lower lip, rough. “You need to know what you’ve done to me. You don’t get to walk into my life, into my blood, and walk out like nothing happened.”
His voice dropped even lower, almost a growl. “You’re mine, Ariel. Every breath. Every look. Every sound you make belongs to me now.”
He kissed me then — not soft, not tender. A brutal, claiming kiss that left me dizzy. He pulled me closer, his hands gripping my hips, his mouth at my ear.
“You’re not leaving this house tonight,” he whispered. “You’re going to remember who I am.”
And then everything blurred — his hands, his heat, the sound of my own heartbeat. He lifted me effortlessly, carried me down the hall. The door slammed shut behind us. The next moments weren’t sweet, they weren’t romantic. They were raw, unhinged, a storm breaking after being held back too long.
Damian POV
I came back earlier than planned. The gala last night still weighed on me, Ariel’s stubborn face replaying over and over in my head. I wanted her where I could see her, where no one could touch her. That’s why I didn’t let her go to work today.
But the moment I stepped through the gate, what do I see?
She was outside with the butler. Laughing. Actually laughing like she didn’t have a single care in the world.
My jaw clenched. My vision blurred for a second. The rage in me boiled — not because she was laughing, but because she wasn’t laughing with me.
I didn’t even greet. I just walked straight to them, each step loud, dangerous. The butler saw me first and his smile died. He bowed immediately.
“Sir—”
“Get lost,” I snapped, not even looking at him. He vanished without another word. Good. He valued his life.
Now it was just me and her.
Ariel POV
The way Damian’s eyes cut into me, I knew I was in trouble. My smile froze on my lips. My body went stiff.
“Damian…” I whispered.
“Inside. Now.” His voice was low, sharp, almost animalistic.
I wanted to protest but the look on his face was enough. He grabbed my wrist and dragged me inside, slamming the door shut so hard the walls shook.
“Why were you laughing with him?” he asked, pushing me back against the wall. His face hovered inches from mine, his breath hot, his eyes burning gold.
“He’s just the butler,” I said, my voice trembling.
“Don’t ever say ‘just’ again.” His hand slammed beside my head. “When it comes to you, no man is just anything. No man looks at you. No man makes you smile. Do you understand me?”
I swallowed hard. “Damian, you’re overreacting—”
The growl that came from his throat silenced me.
“You think I’m overreacting?” he hissed. His other hand gripped my waist, pulling me into his body. “You belong to me. Every smile. Every breath. Every single part of you. Mine.”
“Damian—”
He cut me off with a kiss so rough it bruised my lips. His mouth devoured me like he wanted to erase the air I shared with anyone else. His hand slipped down, grabbing my thigh, lifting me until my legs wrapped around his waist.
I gasped against his mouth. “Damian, stop—someone will hear—”
“Let them hear,” he growled. “Let the whole world know who you belong to.”
Damian POV
Her resistance only fueled me. She pushed weakly at my chest but I pinned her harder against the wall, grinding into her so she could feel how hard I was for her.
“You think he can make you laugh like this?” I snarled in her ear. “Tell me, Ariel. Did you laugh because you wanted to forget what I did to you last night? Did you think the butler could distract you from me?”
“N-no,” she breathed, her voice shaky.
“Then say it.” My teeth grazed her neck. “Say you’re mine.”
“I—I’m yours,” she whispered.
Not enough. Not nearly enough.
“Louder.”
“I’m yours!”
That broke something inside me. I carried her straight to the nearest surface — the dining table — and threw her on it. Plates clattered, glasses fell, but I didn’t care.
I yanked her gown up, tore at her lace panties until they ripped in my hands. She gasped, covering herself, but I pushed her hands away.
“Don’t hide from me. Never hide from me,” I growled.
Ariel POV
My body was betraying me. I should be angry, I should be fighting him — but the way his eyes burned, the way his hands claimed me, it sent heat rushing between my thighs.
“Damian, this is crazy—”
“I told you,” he cut me off, pulling down his zipper, his voice dark and raw, “you don’t get privacy from me. I own every inch of you.”
He shoved himself inside me in one hard thrust and I cried out, clutching the edge of the table.
“Damian!”
He groaned, deep and guttural, as if finally feeding a hunger he’d been starving. “You feel that? That’s me inside you. No butler. No ex. No one else. Just me.”
Every thrust was rough, unhinged, making the table creak under us. His hands gripped my hips like he wanted to brand me. His teeth grazed my neck, my shoulder, leaving marks only he could claim.
I was gasping, moaning, half in pain, half in unbearable pleasure.
“Say it again,” he ordered, his voice harsh in my ear. “Say you’re mine.”
“I’m yours, Damian,” I cried out.
“Again.”
“I’m yours!”
His pace grew faster, harder, until I thought the table would break. My nails clawed at his back, leaving red lines, but he only growled louder, slamming deeper into me like he wanted to bury himself in my very soul.
Finally, with one last deep thrust, he let out a primal growl that shook my whole body. His release filled me, hot and raw, and I collapsed back on the table, trembling.
Damian POV
I stayed inside her, panting, my body trembling with the force of what I just did. She looked destroyed — lips swollen, hair messy, body marked with mine.
Good. That’s how she should always look. Like mine.
I leaned down, my mouth brushing her ear. “No man touches you. No man looks at you. You are mine, Ariel. And I will ruin anyone who forgets that — even you.”
Her eyes met mine, wide, dazed, terrified, but also burning with something el
se. Desire. Need.
She hated me. She wanted me. She couldn’t escape me.
And that was exactly how I wanted it.