Damian’s... what?
My mind goes blank, yet my eyes can’t stop watching them. This couple, standing across the room. Next to each other, a black and gold movie-like scene. I can’t think; I just stare like some mindless idiot. I feel so stupid...
In the crowd of werewolves around them, no one is surprised to see those two together. They all know. Except for me. Nobody told me, and worse, they all made sure not to. Foolish, ignorant, blind Nora.
“Nora, are you okay?” Someone asks.
I don’t know. How am I supposed to feel? I feel nothing right now. My heart just fell, somewhere really, really low. I’mnumb as if my body is covered in ice. I can’t even cry. I have both eyes fixated on them, and I have no idea what to do or how to react. Damian is talking to someone else, while that woman is still attached to him, her arm around his like he belongs to her.
“He is mine!”
My wolf is screaming inside, growling and crying her guts out. Her pain hits me like a hurricane. My chest is so painful, I can’t breathe.
I take a step back. I want to run away from here. Why can’t I stop watching when it’s so painful? I can’t stay here. Her. With him. The two of them, side by side. My mate and that girl together. I don’t want to see that! The more I watch, the crazier my mind goes. Thoughts like a raging fire, burning me from the inside. How long? Since when? Why her? Does she love him? Does he love her? Does he love her more than me? Does he love me at all!
I can’t stay here. I take another step back and realize there’s broken glass at my feet. Is this mine? When I raise my head again, a lot of eyes are on me. Among them, a pair of silver eyes, wide open with surprise.
“Nora, watch out, you—”
I push them back. I can’t take anyone touching me now. Not Bobo, not Liam, not anyone. I want to run from this horrible place, from this world. I turn around and start running. I hear Damian’s voice calling my name behind me, and his brother’s.
I run to the elevator, and a surprised waiter steps out to let me in. I push the ground level button, again and again, but I hear Damian’s steps without looking up. Just as the door closes, he rushes in the tiny elevator space, and I instinctively retreat until my back hits the wall.
“Nora, listen to me. Look at me.”
I avoid his eyes. I don’t want to talk to him right now. I don’t want to look at him. It’s too painful! If I look at Damian, I’ll see that vision of him with her again! I see his hands coming close, and I scream. “Don’t fucking touch me!”
That’s when I realize I’m crying. From my scorched voice. I’m crying hard and shaking. His hands freeze just before he touches me.
“Okay, okay. I won’t touch you. But Nora, you must listen to me. It’s not what you think.”
Who cares about what I think? It’s what I just saw and heard that matters! And I’m not ready to listen to it again! I feel like my heart will stop beating if I do! I cross my arms around me, shielding myself from him, staying the furthest away I can from Damian.
Why does it have to be me? I can take a hundred hits from Alec, but I can’t take this! I trusted him. I knew something was wrong, somewhere in my mind I had that thought, but I still decided to trust him. Why now? Why this? After all this time? I love him, I love this man so badly, and that’s why it hurts.
I raise my head, looking at him in the eyes, and between my tears, I hear my own voice. “Tell me it’s not true. Tell me you’re not engaged, Damian.”
Maybe Liam lied. Perhaps I saw it wrong, and maybe that girl is just a close friend. Maybe it’s was all just a joke, maybe I’m dreaming, some nightmare I need to wake up from.
I see Damian open his mouth, hesitating, but he stays silent, and this time, he is the one to avoid my gaze. I can’t believe it. I cover my eyes with my hand, trying to calm down my crying, but gosh, it’s hard.
“Nora, listen to me, please. It’s true, I am engaged to Alessandra, but...”
“Shut up.”
I don’t want to hear her name in his mouth. I don’t want to hear anymore. He’s been with me for two months now. Yet he’s still having this engagement party. I don’t think of any good reason for this. He had weeks to call it off or break up with me. I... Who am I to him?
“...I thought you loved me.”
He looks at me with scandalized eyes. “...What? Nora, I do! Do you seriously think I don’t love you? I...”
“Then why the fuck is she the one you’re going to marry! Why?”
“Nora, Alessandra is not the one I love, you are! She will just be my official Luna!”
I look at him, stunned beyond words. Is he mad? Does he have any idea of what he is saying right now? His Luna? What would I be, then? I think of the apartment he gave me. So, he wants to keep me in that tower, like a bird in a golden cage? I shake my head, at a loss for words.
The elevator reaches the ground level and opens. He is still in front of me, barring the exit.
