*one month later*
Aria's POV
Waking up in Damon's arms is something I'll never get tired of. Over the past month, our tight schedule and busy days seem to have died down. Everything was running smoothly, no huge problems. The kingdom was flowing nicely, the elders were always pleased with what we were doing. We've made multiple changes to the Werewolf Laws. All things Damon has dreamed of changing. Oh, and as for Damon and I, we've never been better.
That gorgeous man just seemed to be getting more sexy every passing second.
"Ah, gushing about me is what keeping your mind occupied." Damon mind links me, causing me to blush. Ever since we mated, his new favorite thing to do is read my mind.
I turn around in his arms so I'm facing him. His stunning eyes, staring at me. Over the past month, he's grown out his stubble to a small beard. I'm not sure how I feel about it.
"Good morning, Damon" I smile, giving him a short kiss.
"Good morning, A" He replies, he then digs his head into the crook of my neck. I feel this wave of insecurity wash over me, but it wasn't my emotions. It was Damon's, why would he feel like that?
"Damon, are you okay?" I ask, running my finger through his hair as he nuzzles further into my neck.
"Yeah." I hear from him, slightly mumbled. I try to see what he's thinking of and what caused this feeling but he made a wall in his mind that I can't get through.
"Babe, I know something is wrong." I say, he never blocks me out of his mind.
"No, I'm fine." He groans, kissing my neck now. I know he's trying to distract me from whatever he's upset about..
"You can't lie to me, I'm your mate, remember?" I joke, trying to pull his head from my neck.
"Fine, what do you want?" He asks, pulling away from my neck and pulling me on-top of him so I'm straddling him. He has this annoyed look on his face which starts to fuel my anger.
"I want to know what's wrong!" I say, frustrated that he won't just tell me.
"You don't want to know, it's stupid." He mumbles looking away from me.
"Damon, I felt your emotions, just tell me." I say a little bit softer, I've never seen him like this before. After a long pause, he sighs and looks me in the eyes.
"My wolf was putting thoughts into my head about you leaving me. I guess with all the meetings and you making Collin your right hand man. I felt jealous and scared to ever lose you. It's stupid, my wolf is being jealous." He says, staring into my soul. Collin was one of the head warriors, he was my personal guard for meeting and helped me a lot with my Luna duties. I didn't know Damon was bothered by it.
"It's not stupid, I didn't know your wolf was bothered by that..." I trail off, I'm not gonna stop talking to people just because Damon is jealous.
"It's just...seeing you able to spend more time with him then me is so hard. I know he's your guard so he has to be with you but when we aren't together my wolf keeps nagging at me. He hates that his mate is alone with an unmated male. He keeps telling me your secretly having an affair with him or that you'll one day leave me for him." Damon sighs, finally expressing his true feelings.
"Damon, I don't where your wolf is getting those thoughts but never in a million years would I ever leave you. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me. Whenever I'm not with you, I count every second till I can see you again. Collin knows how strong our relationship is, I've gushed to him about you to point of annoyance. Baby, you have nothing to worry about." I say, pecking him on the lips. He stares up at me, sadness mixed with jealousy. The he gives me one word:
"Together?" He says, looking up at me a little bit more reassured
"Forever." I smile, intertwining our hands. The loud beep of the intercom floats through the suite, ruining our small moment. I press the 'answer' button.
"Queen Aria speaking, who is this?..." I say waiting for the person on the other side.
"Queen, it's me, Collin." I hear he voice come through the speaker. I look down at Damon to see him roll his eyes.
"Speak of the devil.." he whispers.
"What do you want, Collin?" I ask.
"I'm here to escort you to your 10:00 am meeting." He says, sounding nervous. I completely forgot about that, crap I need to get ready! I jump out of the bed and into the closet, asking Damon to finish the call.
"I'm going with her, so your services aren't necessary, but thank you Warrior Collin." I hear Damon say, ending the call. I slip on a white dress with flowers on the bottom, it was quite tight to the body but I was fine with it.
"Wait, your coming to the meeting?" I ask Damon, looking for my shoes.
"Yeah, I forgot to tell you last night." Damon says, slowly walking into the huge closet.
"Hurry up, we're gonna be late." I say still looking for my shoes.
"I moved it to 10:30, we'll be fine." He says, grabbing a suit. "Are you looking for these?"
I look at him to see him holding my shoes, of course he would find them. I smile and take the shoes from his while thanking him.
"You look beautiful by the way, I love that dress." He says, pecking my cheek. He leaves to the bathroom.
I do my hair and makeup at my vanity. I placed my crown on my head. The crown was always a requirement that I never wanted to follow but it was tradition. Damon walks out of the bathroom in his dark suit and styled hair. I love how he looks with his crown on, so royal and powerful.
"Let's go!" I smile, grabbing his hand as we head downstairs. The walk to the meeting was always a enjoyable one. We passed multiple guards and maids, bowing or biding us 'good morning'. As we enter the conference room, I sense more wolves than usual.
"Why are there so many people?" I ask Damon through our mind-link.
"Just wait and see." Damon says, leading us to our seats. I was suspicious of Damon not telling me more about the meeting. I saw all of the head warriors here, quite a few elders, and I believe a few alpha's from other packs.
"Thank you all for being here today, I know some of you were called last minute. But I am glad everyone could make it." Damon says, standing up and speaking to the group surrounding the table. The more he speaks, the confused I become.
"Now as some of you know, the former Queen was sentenced to prison in Dark Shield Pack a few month ago. Alpha Alessandro, thank you for imprisoning her but you have sadly failed us."
I look over to see a powerful man, seemingly cower at Damon's Alpha tone. Wait, does this mean my mother is free?
"I was informed last night that the former Queen has escaped prison with the help from 2 other wolves, who have also escaped."
My head snaps to look at Damon, as I feel anxiety wash over me. My mother was free again, she could be coming to get me. How could Damon not tell me sooner?
"Please inform all of your surrounding packs to be on the look out for her. I have already set up a search team to head out until they find her. Head Warrior, Collin, and 10 selected wolves will leave once this meeting is over."
He's sending away one of my closest friends, what is wrong with him?
"The pack members will not know about this, only the highest rank wolves. I don't want this to be public. Keep it as quite as you can. Thank you all for being here, you are dismissed." Damon says, giving a curt nod to everyone.
At this point I was fuming with anger. He didn't tell my mother was on the loose, he wouldn't even tell me what the meeting was about, and he was sending away Collin because of his stupid jealousy. I couldn't be next to him anymore without lashing out at him. I quickly left the conference room, without saying anything. I storm back into the suite throwing my shoes somewhere in the room. I start pacing back and forth through the living room. Each step I take, I become angrier at him. I could feel the anxiety and panic trying to creep up but the anger I felt over-powered it.
After 10 minutes, I hear the suite door open. I look over to see Damon stroll inside, like nothing happened.
"How could you do that?" I spit at him, he instantly stops in his tracks. The look of confusion on his face made me want to slap him for being so oblivious.
"What?" He says, placing a folder he was holding on the kitchen counter top.
"How could you hide this from me? She's my mother! I deserve to know if that maniac is locked up or not!" I yell at him.
"I didn't want you to have a panic attack or anything." He says.
"If anything, not telling me made it worse. Knowing that she could have easily done something to us while I was unaware of her escape." I say, fuming at him.
"I'm sorry, but I can't go back now and change it. So get over it and let's try to find her." He snaps at me.
"No! The person finding her is the one person who is supposed to protect me when your gone. The one person who I can talk to that doesn't cower in fear because I'm the Queen. The one person who is actually my friend is the person you take away from me." I shout at him, my eyes filling with tears.
"So, he is more than just a friend to you." Damon says, jealousy filling his eyes.
"Oh my Goddess, Damon! Can you push your possessiveness away for one second? I don't love him, he's just a friend! Can you get that through your thick skull?"
"I was just trying to help you! Why can't you see how I was trying to help?" He says
"Trying to help? You just took my one friend away and kept secrets from me that I deserved to know!" I yell back at him. "You know what, leave! I don't want anymore of your 'help'!"
"Fine, I'll leave. But you're never getting Collin back. Finding your mother is a suicide mission." He says, slamming the door on his way out. As soon as he leaves, the anger goes away and the anxiety and panic take over. I know he didn't leave the castle, I could still feel his presence.
I spend that day sitting in my bed, having multiple panic attacks, and crying myself to sleep.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
Ahhh it's a sad chapter!!! I almost cried during this chapter!!
What did you think?? Any suggestions??
Did you think Damon was wrong to hide stuff from Aria or was Aria over reacting bc of hormones(😉😏)???
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Word count:1954