I stared in complete shock as I stared at the man who was around the same age as Damon calling him father. The room tilted slightly in my view, as I couldn't seem to piece the puzzle together.
"Theo… welcome back home," Damon pulled him into a hug.
'Could it be they are… lovers? That's why he called him father?' I shook my head. "That is not possible, father isn't endearing… then what is their relationship?"
After they pulled out of the hug, the man Theo turned towards me, before walking closer to me. "This is the spy I caught eavesdropping on your conversation." As he finished his, growls reverberated through the air.
"Who are you? And who sent you here? Is it the Blood Moon pack?" one of the elders growled at me, his lips peeling back revealing his elongated teeth.
Unconsciously, I took a step backward, the menace coming from them was blood-chilling. Theo walked to me, pushing his glasses back. As he reached out to grab my hand, a hand beat him to it.
As Damon's hand held mine, jolts of shivers were sent flying down my spine, my heartbeat fleeting for a second. 'Get your head straight, this man is not straight.' I swallowed nervously, as he pulled me to the middle of the table. The werewolves growled and snarled at me, as their heads followed our steps, but their gazes were later filled with surprise.
"Chill," Damon ordered.
"Alpha, you are holding a female?" the oldest man among the men, who was advising Damon to get a mate, asked. The way he phrased the question hit a few wrong chords in me. 'What kind of stupid question is that? Why is he asking as if he had never laid a hand on a female before?' My brows furrowed.
"I forgot to introduce someone to you all," he began, as he glanced at the curious eyes of his pack members. "This is Ember, my pet," he said, pulling me just close enough to feel the heat radiating from his body.
Theo's brows furrowed, as confusion smeared on his face. "How is this possible?" he muttered. My brows knitted at the strange tension in the air. 'What is going on here?'
"What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in the room?" he asked with a scrutinising gaze.
I blinked nervously, "I was hungry," I muttered so only he could hear me, but I was only fooling myself as the other werewolves could hear what I was saying, thanks to their heightened senses.
Damon cast a glance at me one more time before returning his gaze to the pack members who were now staring at us as if we just fell from the sky.
"Father, what do you mean by pet?" Theo couldn't help but ask.
"It means exactly what it sounds like. I brought her and now she is my pet," he answered with a bemused look.
"You mean she is your sla…"
"I said a pet, not a slave. And when I mean my pet, I mean she only belongs to me. If I see your hands on her, I will cut it off," he warned, shooting Theo a knowing look. Theo lowered his gaze as he already understood what he meant.
'Now I have become a spectacle that werewolves are now gawking at?'
"Stare at her in a way that is not supposed to be, and I will gawk your eyes out." His words brought chills down the werewolves' spines, who quickly lowered their gazes.
"As for you," he turned to me, "You will receive another punishment tonight," he whispered. Blood drained from my face as I remembered what happened the night before.
"We shall adjourn the meeting to later in the evening. I hope each one of you can come with a plan to sort this issue out." As Damon was busy talking with the pack members, my eyes locked on the map laid on the table, with a red cross sign indicating the village that was being flooded.
"This is wrong," I muttered under my breath. "The plan is so dumb," I whispered. As I focused on the map, I felt a spider-like sensation crawling up my spine. Something was wrong. When I raised my head, I saw the pack members stopping midway from the door, their eyes boring into me.
'Shit.' I cursed inwardly.
"Are you calling me dumb?" a voice thundered from the group. The old man who had been advising Damon marched towards me in fury. "I won't let a low Omega talk to me in that tone," he growled. The power in his voice made me whimper in fear.
"Dominic," Damon called out gently, but he was not responding to his call. As Dominic glared at me with his fierce eyes, I felt like I was going to evaporate into smoke. But then a huge figure stood in front of me, blocking his intense gaze. When I looked up, I saw the back of Damon. A sigh of relief escaped my lips.
"I apologise, Elder Dominic. I'll make sure to discipline her," he said, trying to calm the raging elder.
"This is impostrous, a mere omega. Is she trying to say that I am a foolish elder, who is passing out dumb advice?" His veins popped under his skin, his skin shifted, furs appearing and receding, his claws elongated.
"Elder Dominic," this time Damon called him with his alpha voice, momentarily snapping him out of his bizarre state.
"I will not tolerate this!" Elder Dominic's voice thundered again.
I felt fear creeping through my hand, as I hid myself behind Damon's back. Damn my mouth for speaking out loud. But if I don't clarify what I meant, they might have the wrong idea. With that, I summoned my courage to speak.
"I didn't mean to offend you, Elder Dominic. I deeply apologise for my actions," but a growl was what responded back to my heartfelt apology.
"If you don't mind, I can share my point of view with you and point out what you could do to improve your solution to the flooding disaster," I said, with hope that he would give me a chance to apologise properly, and if maybe I'm lucky, maybe I could win him to my side.
"Come and show me."