Chapter 5 Forbidden mate
Alpha Damien’s POV
The dining hall was heavy with silence, a silence that carried the weight of yesterday’s scene like an invisible chain around my throat. My brother, Alpha Killian, sat across from me, his smug smirk hidden behind a mask of indifference. But I could feel it, the grudge simmering between us, the unspoken taunt waiting to burst free.
My mother, Luna Elizabeth, finally broke the silence. Her voice was gentle, but it pierced the stillness like a blade.
“Damien, did you find your mate? The one the goddess prophesied?”
Her question hung in the air, heavy and suffocating. I didn’t answer. My jaw tightened, my wolf growled within me, and all I gave her was a frown.
Mother smiled faintly, as if trying to soothe the tension. “I’m sorry I couldn’t attend your coronation yesterday. I was… occupied.”
Killian’s laughter exploded into the air, sharp and mocking. He threw his head back, the sound grating on my nerves like claws dragging over stone. He pointed at me, laughing so long that even Father, Alpha Gregory, arched a brow.
“Killian,” Father demanded. “What’s so amusing?”
My brother barely composed himself, smirking as his words spilled out. “Father, your precious son has fulfilled the prophecy. He has found his mate!”
My wolf snarled, demanding blood. But I swallowed the anger. Fighting was forbidden in Father’s presence, and Killian knew it. That’s why he dared.
Father’s expression darkened. “And this is why you laugh? Fool. You should be concerned about finding your own mate, not ridiculing your brother.”
Killian’s grin faltered under Father’s rebuke, but the gleam of mockery never left his eyes.
“Good, Damien,” Father said, pride seeping into his tone. “The goddess blesses you.”
“She must be beautiful,” Mother added warmly, leaning forward as though trying to catch a glimpse of the girl through my silence.
Killian’s gaze bored into me, daring me to confess, mocking me with his stare.
“What is her name?” Father pressed. “What is she, whose family does she belong to?”
Mother joined in, her curiosity sharpening. “Is she an Alpha’s daughter? Is she from our pack? Perhaps Sarai, her mother told me you spoke with her once.”
Sarai. The name alone turned my stomach. My silence wasn’t from shame of who my mate was, but because I knew the storm that would follow.
Killian chuckled. “Brother, stop making them guess. End the suspense.”
I placed my cutlery down with deliberate calm, and all eyes fixed on me. Father and Mother leaned closer, eager for my answer. Killian, of course, leaned back, grinning like a wolf ready to devour.
“She’s…”
Before I could finish, the doors burst open.
The pack elders strode in, their expressions thunderous, their footsteps echoing authority. They did not bow to Father, nor greet Mother. Their silence was an insult, their presence a storm.
Father’s brow furrowed. “What grievance drives you here with such faces?”
One elder’s voice was sharp as steel. “We demand to speak with Alpha Damien.”
Father’s gaze cut to me, confusion and worry mingling. “Damien, what is this about?”
Another elder snapped, “Your son has defied the laws of our pack. And such defiance will not be taken lightly.”
Father slammed his hand against the table, rising to his full height. “Enough riddles. Speak plainly!”
I rose too. My wolf demanded we face them head-on. My voice was steady, yet it carried the weight of thunder.
“Omega Tiara is my fated mate.”
The words silenced the room. Mother gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. Father’s face reddened, veins bulging at his temple.
“What?!” Mother’s voice trembled with disbelief.
Father’s glare burned into me like fire. “A breeder? You dare claim a breeder as your mate?”
I held his gaze, refusing to cower. “I do not claim her. The goddess gave her to me. Tiara is my fated mate.”
The elders erupted.
“Impossible!” one barked.
“Unacceptable!” another spat.
“Not an omega! Not her!”
Beta Mark, my uncle, the man who had raised me alongside Father spoke carefully, his voice laced with concern. “Damien… she is an orphan. A mere commoner.”
My wolf bared his fangs within me, and my chest swelled with defiance. “And that is why she is mine. She is the goddess’s gift to me, and I accept her.”
Father’s fury cracked like a whip. “You will reject her! The goddess has erred. She cannot be your mate.”
“Yes,” Elder Stan agreed. “Alpha Gregory is right. The goddess made a mistake. Reject her.”
My wolf snarled at their blasphemy. A mistake? As if the Moon Goddess could falter?
My eyes, glowing with my wolf’s power, swept across them all. “I will not reject her. She is mine. That is final.”
The elders exchanged glances, their faces etched with outrage.
Killian’s laughter filled the hall again, cruel and venomous. “Oh, this is rich! The mighty Alpha Damien, mated to an omega. No worse. A breeder. An orphan. A cursed wolf.”
His words struck like daggers, each syllable designed to provoke. My wolf clawed at me, demanding I lunge across the table and rip his throat out. My hands shook with restraint, my vision flickering with the golden haze of my wolf’s eyes.
“Enough, Killian!” Father roared.
But Killian only smirked wider. “Tell me, brother, how does it feel? To fall so low? To have your Alpha throne mocked because of a pathetic little breeder?”
“Silence!” My voice cracked through the hall like thunder, my wolf’s power lacing every syllable.
The elders raised their voices again.
“We cannot bend the laws for you, Alpha Damien.”
“You must reject her.”
“It is the only way to avoid war within the pack.”
Father’s hand trembled as he pointed at me, his eyes cold with authority. “If you refuse, Damien… then you will no longer be Alpha. And she” his voice broke with venom, “she will die.”
The room froze, their words echoing inside me.
My wolf’s growl shook my bones, rising in fury at the threat to our mate. Rage surged through me, burning hotter than any fire. Reject her? Watch her die? Never.
The elders waited, Killian smirked, Father glared.
And I… clenched my fists, vowing
silently that no one not my father, not the elders, not even the goddess herself would take Tiara from me.
