Free Web NovelChapter 159: Thunderstrike II
No sooner did I think that, I heard the sound of a church bell tolling. The hefty gate slowly began to creak open, and the three of us were forced to wait. I could sense Damon’s increasing irritation as he was forced to wait for it to swing fully open, instead of darting through to immediately get down to business.
Damon grumbled under his breath, "Pretentious fuckwits."
"Manners," Blaise and I chided together, relishing in the surprised look on Damon’s face. He wiped it off just in time when we saw someone approach us.
She was a tall woman with long dark hair, tied up in a high ponytail. Her forehead was covered by straight bangs, and I saw how her sharp blue eyes squinted with distaste as her gaze roved over me, judging me and finding me lacking from head to toe. She sniffed the air and drew back with a huff.
"A human? And you’re not even beautiful." She gave me a disdainful glance. "You’re weak and you lack presence," she said, straight to my face.
I bristled; even though it was true, surely she would be politer than to point it out directly! And what on earth did lacking presence even mean? Was it because I had no wolf?
I felt anger from both Blaise and Damon, and I felt more mollified. Good to know they thought her words were nonsense, even if they couldn’t stop her from speaking.
I guessed she must at least be a pack warrior; thanks to her short crop top, the contours of her abdominal muscles were clearly visible to my eyes. She wore denim shorts, leaving her long legs on full display― I tried not to gawk at her muscular thighs. freēwēbnovel.com
I had a feeling she could kick someone to death. Hopefully that someone was not me, the weakling who lacked presence.
She then turned her critical eyes onto Blaise, who had a look of amusement on his face as he let himself be perused as though he was a slab of meat on sale.
"Blaise Valentine, at your service," Blaise said, deliberately keeping his tone friendly. However, the woman only looked at him and scoffed.
"Your brother is better looking," she said bluntly.
I wanted to argue that they were twins with practically identical faces, save for their eyes, but then she shifted her legs, and in the virtue of self-preservation, I kept my mouth shut. It helped that Blaise wasn’t even upset at her words, instead, he was even more amused.
Her unimpressed stare did not bode well for our mission, but when she finally laid eyes on Damon, her entire expression changed.
Her lips widened into a beautiful smile and she strode excitedly towards him, her arms outstretched as though she wanted to pull him into a hug. Damon took a step back, gazing up at the skies for a brief moment, as though he was pleading for the heavens to take pity on him.
Of course, no such pity happened. ƒгeewёbnovel.com
"My beloved Damon!" She trilled out delightedly, ignoring the fact that Damon had ignored her unspoken request for a hug. Gone was the haughty, judgemental tone from before. Now her voice radiated girlish joy.
I blinked in surprise.
"You’ve come to see me at last!"
"Hello, Dahlia," Damon said politely, as though he was trying to repress a long-suffering groan. "This is a business visit."
I raised an eyebrow; this was Dahlia? Blaise and I had joked about her being madly in love with Damon before, but it turned out that our jokes had a kernel of truth in them. Even Damon’s insistence that this was a business visit could not dim the light in her eyes as she gazed at him so adoringly.
Strangely enough, I felt the slightest tinge of possessiveness rear its ugly head. She might not know this, but Damon was already mated, and his fated mate was right in front of her.
I wanted to shout it at her, but I kept my mouth shut. Just like the instance with Elise, our plan might work better if Alpha Thorton’s daughter believed Damon to be single and available, no matter how much I disliked it.
"Your ’business’ is with my father, but your pleasure lies with me. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten already?" Dahlia laughed as she flicked her long ponytail, the ends of her strands trailing down Damon’s stony face.
My mouth fell open at the blatant insinuation.
Oh god. Dahlia must have been another one of Damon’s flings. I chanced a glance at Blaise, only to find that he was unsurprised at this turn of events.
Of course he wouldn’t be. I scolded myself. Blaise was his twin. He, out of everyone else, would know what Damon was like back then before he found me. He had women in Fangborne lining up to please him; why would women from other packs be any different?
"I’m sure you and I will be able to reconnect during this visit," Dahlia continued, batting her thick eyelashes. Damon stared at her impassively, but she took the initiative to hook her arm around his.
He pulled away. "Dahlia, do not forget yourself. This behavior is inappropriate."
"Inappropriate? When did you turn into such a prude? Ah, I see, you don’t want your little brother and his hanger-on to know about your past escapades?" Dahlia nodded in understanding.
I bit the inside of my mouth at being called a hanger-on. Blaise cleared his throat. "Actually, Harper here is my fated mate. Please treat her with respect."
Dahlia paused, turning back to me with a scrutinizing gaze. She tutted in disappointment.
"A human? Has the Valentine family fallen so low that they’ve resorted to mating with humans now?"
"Quiet," Damon growled out menacingly, finally having enough of Dahlia’s condescending nonsense. Dahlia caught the look in his eyes and gulped, instinctively taking a step back to save himself from his wrath.
"Dahlia, where is your father? We’re here for him, not for you," Damon barked out. "If you can’t take us to him, get lost and stop wasting my time!"
