William stays silent for a long minute, then suddenly goes to unbutton his shirt. What is he doing? To my surprise, he turns around and shows their Clan’s marking, a full blue moon, tattooed on his back.
“This is your clan. This should have been your marking, but instead, you walk around unmarked like some stray. We can’t have that. I want you to join our pack, Nora, the one you belong to.”
I stare at him, speechless. To join the Sapphire Moon Clan? I never thought of this, but William’s eyes are resolute. He is serious...
Damian glares. “No. Nora will join the Blood Moon Clan. Soon.”
“Why would she? Aren’t you engaged to another? Are you supposed to keep her as your mistress?” Asks William.
“Hell, I hope not!” Suddenly yells a voice.
Everyone suddenly turns heads. This has to be a joke. Alessandra King, now?
She is standing a few meters away, sided by a few of her own wolves. Were we that close to the Gold Moon Clan’s territory? My wolf starts growling just at the sight of her. I hate that woman. What is she even doing here? No one is pleased to see her, as both sides start growling, too, but she doesn’t lose her self-confidence one bit. She is standing with her arms crossed, looking at Damian like a cat preying on a bird. My wolf and I are both outraged by the looks she gives him.
“Hello, Damian,” she says with a little hand gesture that annoys the hell out of me.
Damian doesn’t reply; he keeps glaring at her with a very pissed look. I slightly shift my position to stand between the two of them, by pure instinct.
“King, are you that bored that you have to come to peek at the border so often?” Asks William without even looking at her. His eyes are still set on me, despite all of his wolves growling at both Damian and Alessandra.
She giggles. “Maybe. Well, my dearest fiancé bothered to come all the way here, I should at least say hi, shouldn’t I?”
“Is that so...?” Whispers William.
I’m sure he is waiting for Damian’s reaction right now, judging the relationship between the three of us. While Alessandra is clearly acting as if I’m not here, Damian pulls me closer to him, glaring at her with all his might.
“I’ve made things clear, Alessandra. Our engagement is canceled.”
She starts playing with her golden necklace, absentmindedly. “Oh, I’ve heard something like that. Father is pretty annoyed at your attitude, you know. You are making things difficult, but I persuaded him it was just a matter of time before you changed your mind.”
“I won’t,” Damian replies without thinking.
I am a bit proud of him, but Alessandra stops smiling, and suddenly glares at him. “Oh, you will. Do you know how many millions are hanging in the balance right now? Do you think you can actually afford this little tantrum of yours? Don’t forget, Damian, I’m the one with the money. You might be powerful, but you need back-up. Who is going to give it to you if not me? Hm? This little tramp?”
“Watch your mouth!”
Not only Damian, but even William suddenly started growling at Alessandra at the same time. I have to hold back my mate; Damian is on the verge of shapeshifting to give Alessandra a piece of his mind. While holding Damian’s arm, I also have to calm my own wolf, which more than pissed by Alessandra’s attitude. If I let her, she would violently rip her face off in seconds.
To my surprise, William talks in an ice-cold tone that reminds me of my mate. “A tramp...? Aren’t you one to speak, Gold? Your kind is nothing but a down-the-gutter breed of slum dogs.”
Surprised, Alessandra looks at him, violently offended by his words. “What did you just call me? How dare you...”
“I call you whatever I please, you slut. Tell your wolves to back off from my territory right now, before I send you back myself!”
The Gold Moon Clan is clearly overstepping. However, Alessandra doesn’t move an inch. Instead, she sends a deathly glare to William.
“Really? Your territory? Aren’t you the ones who shamelessly took the scraps the Snow Moon Clan left behind? Don’t talk to me about territory when this should have been ours from the beginning.”
William snorts. “Is that what you guys think? Do you own this land? You are nothing but a mass of dogs playing around. Don’t come to me and talk about your rights. You’re merely a pack of stray dogs acting like vermin and thieves...”
Alessandra’s face changes color upon hearing this, but she can’t come up with any answer besides furious growling. It seems like William hit a nerve. Instead, she decides to ignore him and turn to Damian once more. “Are you really going to keep this stupid little act?”
“I have made things clear already,” growls Damian.
“Oh, please! Shutting us out, nullifying business deals? Are you that blind that you would lose millions for the sake of that little... girl?”
She clearly hesitated on the last word, but I guess she ran out of insults, or Damian’s glare shut them up.
