Free Web NovelChapter 64: Setting Things Straight I
Damon’s room was just as I remembered. Nothing much had changed, though, in truth, not enough time had passed yet since I was last here.
"Sit," he said, gesturing to the room before closing the door behind him.
I hesitated. Rightfully so too, considering how Damon had never been so hospitable nor patient ever since I had met him. I walked into the room and chose the small armchair placed right beside the bed, sitting rigidly as he placed my small bag down in a corner.
"You..." I started, pausing to lick my bottom lip when Damon turned back to look at me. He remained silent, waiting for me to finish my sentence, and I took a deep breath before I continued. "You agreed to let me go, right? To look for Blaise? If I was trained enough?"
Damon pursed his lips, forming a thin line with them. Eventually, he sighed and nodded.
"Yes," he said. "If you’re trained enough to take care of yourself and not cause any trouble, you can go join him at the borders for a short while."
"You’re serious?" I asked, a little shocked.
Truthfully, I didn’t think that he would keep to his word. I had assumed that after I recovered, he would pretend that everything that was said and done in the infirmary was nothing more than my own lucid dream if it wasn’t already that. fгeewebnovёl.com
"I already said that you can, didn’t I?" he impatiently said, scowling. "But on one condition."
"Again with the conditions," I muttered under my breath.
"I heard that."
"Fine!" Huffing, I sat a little straighter, moving to the edge of my seat. "What is it? What’s your condition?"
A small smirk pulled at the corner of Damon’s lips, tilting it upward just the slightest into a ghost of a smile. Amusement danced across his eyes, allowing the blue of his irises to shine even brighter than usual.
"Seems like you’ve finally learned to listen to the full terms rather than accepting blindly," he commented.
"I am not a child," I snapped back. "Once bitten, twice shy. I am still aware of such simple concepts."
Damon shrugged. "Fair."
"So? Name it."
"I train you," he revealed. "You will be learning to fight under my wing. And only when you’ve passed a given set of tests, then will you be able to look for Blaise at the borders." frёewebnoѵēl.com
I squinted my eyes in doubt. "You’re not going to purposely make these tests insanely difficult just so I’ll fail, will you?" I said. "If that’s so, I would rather you just tell me I am not allowed to go, rather than give me false hope like this."
The small grin that had found its way to Damon’s lips was quickly extinguished. He scowled, rolling his eyes before walking over to his drawers. Opening them, he began to sift through for clothes, pulling out various t-shirts and shorts before moving on to the next drawer.
"I have no need to lie to you," he said. "If I didn’t want to let you go, you wouldn’t be able to go. There’s no need for me to pull such an elaborate prank, and frankly, I have no time for games with you."
"Don’t you?" I retorted. "Isn’t that what you’ve been doing this entire time anyway? Playing games with me?"
"Don’t think so highly of yourself," Damon said. "I brought you here to Fangborne because Stormclaw is no place for my fated mate to stay. I’ve accepted your challenge because you were insistent. I didn’t hold back during a fight because while you’re my fated mate, we are not mated― I am the alpha of this pack and I cannot be seen relenting to anyone other than the woman who is my luna."
When he pulled out a pair of panties from the drawers, I sneered, eyeing that small triangle in distaste. It wasn’t a thong or even lacy― if anything, it looked perfectly normal. However, just the thought that it could be some other woman’s underwear caused my stomach to churn uncomfortably.
"Wear this," he said.
With a casual fling, he tossed the t-shirt, shorts, and underwear at me. I barely caught them in mid-air before they could land unceremoniously on the bedroom floor.
"I’m perfectly fine with what I’m wearing, thank you very much."
"They’re brand new," he said, as though he could read my mind. "And you smell like rubbing alcohol. Get changed."
"Fine." Grabbing them, I made my way over to the en-suite washroom, only to be stopped in my tracks by a mocking scoff from Damon. "What?" I asked, turning around abruptly.
"Is there a need?" he said. "What have I not already seen?"
I gritted my teeth in anger, willing my fury down before it could explode through the roof of my head. The collar around my neck seemed to burn even further, the perfect evidence I needed to counter all the holier-than-thou words Damon had just spoken.
"And this collar?" I asked, ignoring his words. "Do you have a perfect explanation for that as well?"
He eyed the thing around my neck, raising an eyebrow before his gaze rose to meet my eyes again.
"Of course," he said. "You’re not exactly a very polite guest."
"Prisoner, you mean," I corrected.
"Only because I predicted you would run." He shrugged. "And I was right."
"I wouldn’t run if you hadn’t performed all those weird rituals!"
"I admit they were a little dramatic, but like you said, it was a ceremonial ritual!" Damon countered.
"And you were basically a brat when I first came here!" I yelled back. "In fact, Blaise was too, but he corrected himself quickly enough. You, however, only became worse!"
Damon’s lips parted, ready to argue back, but I didn’t give him the chance.
I continued, "Not to mention, I’m not the only one with this collar, am I? Susie has it, and she has implied that there are others who do too. Women are basically livestock here for you, and we’re even branded with different colors. Just who do you think you are to keep us here like that, Damon Valentine?!"
