Free Web NovelChapter 172: Strangely Powerless
’What do you mean?’ Damon asked suspiciously.
’I mean the very thought of you becoming his brother-in-law and the father of his future nieces and nephews was so repulsive he was prepared to throw himself into the depths of hell to prevent such an outcome,’ Blaise said simply. freёweɓnovel.com
Before Damon could continue to question him, Blaise continued his report. ’Now for some good news despite our exploding car.’
’There is good news?’ Damon asked acerbically. ’Other than the fact that you and Harper are still alive and well?’
’Ye of little faith, of course we do have good news, all thanks to Darach,’ Blaise retorted evenly. ’He has a pretty good idea about where we can get another supply of food. If everything plays out as we planned, Dahlia will not be my sister-in-law and you can breathe easy.’
’And you believe him?’ Damon demanded. Blaise shouldn’t be trusting people so easily!
’Strangely enough, yes,’ Blaise’s thought was cheerful. ’We’re now making our way to Hornstead, the place where Dahlia’s fated mate resides. He’s apparently Hornstead’s heir, and she dumped him publicly for you. I’m hoping all of them are so furious with her that they’ll help us to spite Thunderstrike.’
’Blaise, Dahlia dumped his fated mate for me,’ Damon’s inside voice was practically screaming at this point. ’What makes you think they’ll want to help the person indirectly responsible for it? If anything, they might betray us later! We can’t trade one enemy for another!’
Darach would have every reason to knife him in the back. God knows how many times Damon had embedded his own knives into Darach’s body in the guise of training. Now, the very thought of his past actions made his stomach turn. He was entrusting his fate to a man who had every reason to want him dead and gone.
Such powerlessness did not suit him.
’That’s still our best bet,’ Damon could feel Blaise shrugging from the other end. ’No other pack will even bother hearing us out, not with Thunderstrike’s influence looming in the background. And we don’t have enough time or information to approach each pack one by one to interrogate them personally. This is our best bet, with the highest chances of success. Otherwise, you’d better start planning your vows.’
Blaise’s analysis was sound. Damon sighed out loud, closing his eyes in resignation. There was only one woman he wished to recite wedding vows to, and she might never want anything to do with him after this.
’How’s Harper?’ Damon then asked, half-worried about the answer. Was she disgusted with him?
’Oh, Harper is fine. A little shocked after seeing her first car explosion, but she’s holding up well. Our mate is made of sterner stuff than you expect,’ Blaise replied, deliberately avoiding Damon’s implied question.
’Blaise, you know that’s not what I wanted to ask,’ Damon said, even as he rejoiced in knowing that Harper was fine after such an ordeal.
’If you don’t tell me, how will I know?’ Blaise asked with false innocence.
Damon sighed and rubbed his temples; he had to remind himself that he was always thankful for Blaise’s existence, even when Blaise was intent on being a pain in his ass.
’Is she...’ Damon steeled himself and asked, ’Does she hate me after she knew what I did to Darach?’
’Well, she and Darach are becoming fast friends, since they’ve both had the unique experience of being terrorized by you,’ Blaise paused, as a wellspring of jealousy began to flow through Damon at his words.
He had taken so long to get into Harper’s good graces, yet Darach merely succeeded in a day?
’I can’t say she’s very happy with you at the moment though, but luckily for you, she can’t access the mind-link and yell at you personally, so you’re stuck with me. Hopefully, by the time she sees you in person, the anger will have faded away. Truth be told, I’m not too happy either,’ Blaise continued frankly.
’Damon, I could understand your hatred of humans, even if I don’t condone it. But bullying a fellow werewolf, a son of a mighty pack at that when he was sent to Fangborne for fostering? What were you thinking?’
’Did you fall from the idiot tree and hit every single branch on the way down? Were your brains turned into moonpies because you smoked too much moonshine?’
Damon winced as Blaise’s inner voice slowly but surely increased to a yell.
’I was the one raiding trash bins and hiding from humans to survive. How could you fuck up this badly when you were safe at home?’ Blaise demanded, sounding increasingly upset. ’Even if you didn’t want to make nice with him, you didn’t have to burn this bridge either. All you had to do was nothing, for goodness sake!’
’You were gone, what was I supposed to do? Just accept someone else as my brother? Our father was the only delusional one to think that could go well!’ Damon retorted petulantly, yet the sinking feeling in his chest grew stronger at the accusatory tone in Blaise’s words.
Blaise was always his temperance, a more even guiding force, and when Blaise was gone, he felt like a train carriage that had gone off the rails with a faulty brake. Back then, his father had all but assumed Blaise was dead and gone, calling off all attempts to search for him in an attempt to save resources, despite Damon’s many protests that Blaise had to be alive.
He had railed against his father, but since he wasn’t the Alpha then, nothing could be done. It was only after his father passed away and Damon had taken over Fangborne for good that he restarted the search for Blaise, only to find him living as a human.
Now, with the passing of time, Damon realized that Darach was simply a pawn in his father’s scheme, just like how Damon himself was under his own father’s thumb.
’Stupid,’ Blaise said, but he sounded slightly less angry than before. Of course he knew what Damon had not said. They were twins, after all. ’Being nice to him didn’t mean you were replacing me.’
’Whatever,’ Damon grumbled. Blaise was right, after all. ’Just make sure you and Harper come back safe this time around. They’re sending people to find you.’
’We’ll do our best. Meanwhile, for the love of god, please stall as much as you can. Tuck away that scowl!’
Damon, whose face was in the process of scowling, hastily rearranged itself to a neutral impression.
Blaise continued to speak, ’Butter up Dahlia so that she can speak up for you in front of her father. Turn on some charm. I have to go now.’
Then the mind-link went silent, and Damon was left alone in his room for only a few seconds before he heard a knock on the door.
"Damon? How are you?"
Fuck. It was Dahlia.
It was time for him to turn on the charm. He hoped Blaise and Harper were having a much better time than he was.
