Chapter Two: New Home

Damon Kalesto was sitting on a small stool in his living room. His eyes were glued to something—or rather someone who had taken his breath away in one swift motion. He studied her every feature, from the long lashes on her eyelids down to the almost unnoticeable pimple at the side of her lips. He knew that it was a creepy thing to do, but he couldn't help himself. She was just too beautiful not to admire.

He noticed everything, including how her small button nose twitched whenever she shifted and how her lips protruded into a pout every once in a while. His eyes caught every single detail and imprinted them all in his mind. Everything about her, he wanted to know. Everything she did before she met him, he wanted to know. Everything…just everything.

He was trapped since the very moment he laid eyes on her. Her blue eyes had pulled him in with ease, and he fell deep into her abyss. He knew exactly what that dazed, inebriated feeling meant…she was his mate.

After what happened ten years ago, he had been so sure that his chances of ever having a mate were zero, but now, it was shocking to see that he actually had one…not that he wanted one in the first place.

The thing was, he wasn't very fond of the whole mate thing. He thought of it as an unfortunate string that tied together two random souls that weren't really meant to be. Plus, nobody had the right to tell him what to do, not even the Moon Goddess who had created him. He alone must decide his fate…who to love and who to despise, who to protect and who to kill.

However, now that he had gotten a first-hand taste of the mate bond, he had a totally different view. It was the first time in a long while since he had ever felt so intrigued and attracted to a woman. When they stared at each other, he hadn’t wanted the experience to end, but then, before he could even open his mouth to speak to her, she had blacked out.

He was angry at the fact that he hadn’t gotten to hear her voice. He was angry at the fact that he had been living in such luxury while she had been living under harsh conditions. And lastly, he was angry at the fact that she was full of cuts and bruises all over her body. All he was desperately waiting for was her confirmation that the Human Trade workers had done this to her. That was all he needed to wipe them all out in the blink of an eye. From now on, anyone who dared to touch, hurt, or even look at her would feel his wrath.

"Damon." Alexis, one of his sex slaves, came bouncing into the room. Damon cast an irritated glance at her for a split second before placing his full attention back on his mate. She pouted but didn't say anything about it. "I have never seen a werewolf who is mated to a human," she started to say while eyeing Sarah with a disgusted yet envious glint in her eyes. "How is this even possible?"

Damon clenched his jaw. Who did she think she was to question him when he too didn't even know the answer—nor did he want to know! He didn't care about why and how; he just knew that she was his mate…nothing else mattered.

Alexis jolted as soon as she saw his deadly glare. That look in his eyes only meant danger, and she knew it. Without another word, she shuffled out of there with her tail between her legs. But as she was turning the corner, she mumbled something that she thought Damon wouldn't catch. "Don't come crying when you meet the same doom as ten years ago…"

But Damon heard every word, and he was livid. He had the urge to crush her face with his bare hands, but he didn't dare ruin his moment with his mate. Alexis could wait for later…after all, she could never leave this house, so he had all the time in the world to rip her to pieces.

An hour after just sitting and watching his mate, Damon saw Sarah finally stirring awake. She opened her eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling, the fresh air drifting into her nose feeling very foreign to her senses. Bright light was escaping through the window and touching her skin delicately, leaving it glistening before Damon's onlooking eyes.

With all these unfamiliar things taken into consideration, Sarah soon realized that she was not in her cell.

She jolted into a sitting position and was about to turn her head in the direction where Damon was sitting when she felt his warm breath tickle the skin of her neck. She immediately stiffened, her breath hitching and heart rate quickening.

Damon's nose nuzzled into her, sniffing as it travelled along her neck. "Hmmm," he hummed against her, basking in her delicious lotus flower scent. The first thing he wanted to do was ask her how she got the bruises on her skin, but he tried to refrain from doing so. It was better to make her feel comfortable first before asking her anything about herself or what had happened in that dungeon.

When silence reigned for too long, he took one last whiff of her scent and then looked up at Sarah questioningly. Seeing the anxious look on her face and the dark shade of red that coated her cheeks, he leaned back a bit and reluctantly pushed his stool further outwards to give her some much-needed space. He was heavily irritated by the distance, but he willed himself to bear with it for her sake.

Sarah finally released the breath she had been holding and turned to slowly look at the stranger, her mind filling with dread. His voice had already given her an idea of who he was, but when she turned and looked at the man who had captured her attention for a second time, she couldn't help but feel bombarded by his untouchable beauty. Just like before, she unknowingly paid no attention to the fact that he knew she was staring at him and continued to do so on impulse, feeding her desire to burn his features into her memory.

"Speak," Damon demanded, his nonchalant, authoritative tone instantly grasping her attention. He was getting tired of waiting for her to say something when it seemed as if she wouldn't be speaking anytime soon. He desperately wanted to hear her voice, and as such, curiosity was about to devour him.

Sarah mentally slapped herself. She had been so busy ogling him that she completely forgot that she was in an unfamiliar place. "Where am I?" she asked frantically, finally taking a glance around the room. The house was larger and more spacious than anything she had ever seen before, so her awe was bound to reach great heights.

She was sitting on a grey couch that could probably be passed off for a bed because of how large and comfy it was, and in front of her was a glass table that separated it from another of its size and colour. On the grey walls, there were numerous paintings of wolves and such, and the shelves to her left were filled with a mix of books and trophies. The space seemed somewhat empty, but Sarah couldn't help but be mesmerized.

"This is your new home," Damon told her, watching her intently as her eyes circulated. He definitely liked how impressed she looked. If it took only this to wow her, then he could only imagine how happy she'd be to see the rest of the mansion.

"My home? Why am I here? Did something happen after I passed out? Have I done something wrong?" Her awe was gone, and she was getting worried now. She didn't know what was happening or how much trouble she was in. "Whatever it is, I'm sorry! I was just feeling a little dizzy at th—"

Damon pressed his finger to her lips without hesitation, halting her rant immediately. "I am the Alpha King, and I chose you. From now on, you are my possession: mine to keep and mine to protect. You will stay by my side, Sarah…where my eyes can always reach you."

Tingles sparked at her lips and spread across her skin. Then, once again, her heart rate picked up again.