Chapter 69 Choose Someone As Foolish As You
"I said, Grandpa, I mean, Martin gave me the ring, and I hid it in my husband Tobias's hospital room. My husband is currently recuperating at St. Crescent Medical Center," Alicia struggled to steady her breathing and heartbeat, trying to prevent Damian from sensing any deception.
"Do you know that when you lie, you emit a sour scent that I can detect?" Damian clenched his fists angrily. He couldn't understand why, with the mate bond between them, this she-wolf still foolishly believed she could lie to him by feigning composure.
The facade she was trying to maintain crumbled completely at his words. Alicia bit her lip, recalling that Damian's lavender scent, aside from being sharp when he was angry, had always been mild. She had thought that only a mate's scent changed slightly when they were angry. She hadn't expected that lying could alter the scent a mate emitted.
Details about mate scents and emotions were typically taught by a shifter's mother before they shifted. However, Alicia had lost her mother before her first shift. At that time, Mary had only told her to find a wealthy Alpha at the university in Los Angeles after her first shift and had warned her not to ask for any more money from home.
Frowning, Damian listened to Alicia's mental turmoil. He suppressed the anger that Alicia's lie had ignited and sighed, "If I could, I'd really like to figure out what curse was cast on me to make me choose someone as foolish as you."
Alicia realized that he had heard her thoughts again. She couldn't understand why Damian used the word "choose."
"You didn't choose me. Our meeting was just an accident caused by Vivian's heating drug," and the consequence of this accident had been inside her womb. She didn't say the last sentence out loud; after all, her baby was innocent.
"An accident?" Damian sneered, stepping closer to her, gripping her chin. "Listen, Alicia. Wilton, what you think of as an 'accident' was all part of my plan. You never knew that all your actions were under my surveillance. Now, give up this foolish idea of taking me to that damn medical center. Tell me where the ring is."
It felt like her jaw was trapped in a vice, as if Damian could crush her bones if he used a bit more force. But the pain in her jaw wasn't enough to make her cry or go insane.
What truly shocked her was hearing Damian say that their one-night stand when they first met was part of his plan, and that he had been monitoring her actions.
Alicia's mind was thrown into chaos, filled with various speculations.
For example, had Damian deliberately gotten close to her to obtain the Moonstone Ring of the Wilton Family because she happened to be his mate, and he had to pretend to like her?
Or maybe he wasn't her mate at all, and he had used some kind of magical spray to mimic mate scents, just like the odor-removing spray he had created?
Or perhaps the heating drug she had ingested that night was created by him. Yes, that was very likely. Otherwise, how could he have accurately named the drug and its side effects on the night they met?
The worst possibility of all was that everything from the moment she met him had been part of his plan or scheme.
Their meeting wasn't a coincidence; he had saved her multiple times not by chance; Vivian, Caroline, and even Alpha Scott could all be "characters" intentionally arranged by him to obtain the Moonstone Ring.
So, the feelings she had developed for him, the emotions that had surged uncontrollably due to their mate bond, were all the result of his premeditated actions.
Hearing Alicia's jumbled thoughts, Damian's jaw muscle twitched, as if he were suppressing his anger. Eventually, he chose to release her, his brows furrowed deeply.
"What are you even thinking, Alicia?" Damian squeezed this question out from between his teeth, then demanded, "Dare you suspect that I would harm you with some fucking dirty drugs? Have you left your brain back with your father's pack?"
Damian had to wonder if his mate had a mental issue. On the night they first met, if he hadn't seen Vivian drugging his nominal wife’s drink while monitoring the party, he wouldn't have had Lyon take Alicia to his room.
Alicia covered her ears, not wanting to hear him speak. Suddenly, her stomach convulsed, and she felt nauseous.
Pushing Damian away with force, she rushed into the bathroom, clutching a basin as she retched. She wanted to purge her feelings for Damian, their mate bond, and even her heart.
Unfortunately, all she managed to bring up, apart from the stomach acid burning her throat, was nothing at all.
"Ed, come here immediately," Damian ordered through the walkie-talkie, addressing Dr. Edward, who was in a car ahead of him.
Alicia retched until she felt utterly drained, slumping weakly by the sink. Her mouth was filled with a bitter and acidic taste.
Leaning against the edge of the sink, her eyes remained wet from the vomiting, making her vision slightly blurry. She watched as Damian, with his long strides, approached her, like a blurry, ominous giant drawing closer to her.
Alicia wanted to step back, but she had no strength left. Damian bent down and lifted her up. She attempted to struggle, but his arm, solid and powerful, held her legs firmly. Even as she tried to kick him in mid-air, he held onto her tightly.
The scent of lavender he emitted continually agitated Alicia's nerves. The once-beloved scent of lavender now served only to remind her that her encounter with Damian had been either his plan or... a conspiracy. This scent made her sick.
Alicia held her breath, hoping not to smell this nauseating scent anymore.
After placing her on the bed, Damian turned and grabbed a spray bottle from a drawer, spraying himself with it. It appeared to be the odor-removing spray.
At this moment, the RV door swung open. A petite girl with black hair, dressed in a tight black leather suit, glanced coldly at Damian and stepped into the vehicle.
"Mae!" Alicia saw her friend and tears welled up in her eyes.
"Why are you here? Where's Edward?" Damian frowned at Mae as she entered the vehicle, then shifted his gaze to what was behind her and noticed Edward lying on the ground.
Mae glanced briefly at Alicia, who was lying on the bed. Her dear friend's cheeks and lips were pale, and she clutched her abdomen, her eyes were red as if she had just cried. Mae's sharp intuition told her that Alicia had lost at least five pounds in just a few days, and her current mental state looked extremely poor.
"You bastard!" she cursed Damian and swung her left fist at him.
Damian furrowed his brow and reached out to catch the fiery she-wolf's fist. Unexpectedly, this she-wolf swiftly extended her right fist and punched him in the stomach.
"Listen! I made it very clear on your territory last time. I don't care how long you and my mate want to play this damn dual identity game. I don't care if you're that damn Tobias or fucking Damian. I have only one requirement for cooperating with you: do not hurt my bunny again."
Mae crossed her arms over her chest, staring straight at Damian, whose face turned red due to furious. She sneered and continued, "Now it seems like, in pursuit of your revenge, you've once again hurt my friend, Mr. Wilton."
"What?" After hearing Mae's words, Alicia felt as though her breath had stopped. In those few short seconds it took Mae to speak those words, Alicia’s mind, in a state of chaos like a ball of yarn toyed with by a cat, went completely blank.
She could only think of one thing—
Damian Howard was Tobias Wilton, her husband.