Damon's POV
I punched the wall so hard my fingers split and bled.
The pain felt good. It was the only thing that made sense right now. Everything else was chaos.
"Alpha?" Jake's voice came from behind my office door. "Is everything okay?"
"Go away," I growled.
But I could hear him coming in anyway. That's what betas do. They never listen when you want to be alone.
"You've been pacing for three hours," Jake said carefully. "And you destroyed your desk. Want to tell me what's wrong?"
I turned to face him, and he stepped back. I probably looked crazy. I felt crazy.
"Her scent," I said. "It's everywhere. In my head, in my clothes, in my office. I can't make it stop."
Jake frowned. "Whose scent?"
"Maya Rivers." Her name came out like a prayer and a curse at the same time.
"The omega from last night's ceremony?" Jake's eyes widened. "Damon, you need to be careful. Elena Cross is coming next week to talk wedding plans—"
"I don't care about Elena!" I yelled, and Jake actually stumbled backward.
The quiet that followed was deafening. I'd never said those words out loud before. I'd never even thought them.
But it was true. For the first time since I'd agreed to the political marriage, I didn't care about duty or allies or what was best for the pack.
All I cared about was a sweet-faced omega who made me feel alive.
"Alpha," Jake said slowly, "you're scaring me. " Good. I was scaring myself too.
"I have to see her," I said, already moving toward the door.
"Damon, no. This is exactly what you can't do. You have rules—"
"My rules are stupid!" I spun around to face him. "Do you know what it's like to live with walls around your heart? To never let yourself feel anything real?"
Jake's mouth fell open. In eight years of being my beta, he'd never heard me talk about feelings.
"Since my parents died, I've been dead inside," I continued. "I made rules to keep myself safe. No emotional ties. No second chances. No real links with anyone."
"Those rules protected you," Jake said quietly.
"They were killing me." I ran my hands through my hair. "Until last night. When her smell hit me, something woke up. Something I thought was gone forever."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying I need to see her. Right now."
Before Jake could stop me, I was out the door and running down the hallway. My wolf was tearing at my chest, demanding I find her. The need was so strong it hurt.
The bakery was only a ten-minute walk, but I ran the whole way. My heart was pounding when I pushed through the door, and the bell above it chimed like an alarm.
Maya was behind the bar, sweeping flour off the floor. When she looked up and saw me, her face went white.
"Maya," I said, and even I could hear how desperate I sounded.
She dropped the broom. The older woman from behind the counter emerged like magic, gushing about what an honor it was to have me there.
But I only had eyes for Maya.
"I need to speak with Maya," I said. "Alone."
The woman's eyebrows shot up, but she couldn't argue with an Alpha order. "Of course! Maya, take the Alpha to the back room."
Maya led me to a small storage room filled with flour and sugar. When she turned to face me, I could see her hands shaking.
"Why are you here?" she whispered.
How could I explain it? How could I tell her that I'd spent the entire night pacing my room like a caged animal? That I'd tried to work, tried to sleep, tried to think about anything else, but her scent kept calling to me?
"Your scent," I said. "I can't get it out of my head."
She blushed, and it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. "I don't understand."
"Neither do I." I reached up and put my hand on the shelf beside her head, pinning her against the wall. "I've never felt like this before."
"Alpha, I think there's been a mistake—"
"No mistake." I was close enough to see the gold flecks in her brown eyes. "Last night, when your smell hit the air, something inside me broke open. Something I've kept locked away for years."
She was breathing fast, and I could smell her fear mixed with something else. Something that made my wolf howl with pleasure.
Want. She wanted me too.
"Tell me you felt it," I said. "Tell me you felt something when our eyes met."
She didn't answer, but I could see the truth in her face. She'd felt it too. That electric link that made no sense but felt more real than anything in my life.
"You're going to hurt me," she said suddenly. "Everyone knows your rule. You never sleep with the same woman twice."
The words hit me like a physical blow. She was right. I always hurt the women I was with. It was safer that way. Easier.
But the thought of hurting Maya made me sick.
"My rules don't apply to you," I said.
"Why not?"
"Because you're different." I leaned closer, breathing in her smell. "Because you make me feel things I swore I'd never feel again. Because I can't think straight when you're near me."
Her hands were shaking so hard I could see them twitching. "This is impossible. You're the Alpha. I'm nobody."
"You're not nobody to me."
Something changed in her eyes then. Hope, maybe. Or chance.
"Maya," I said her name like a prayer. "I know this is crazy. I know it doesn't make sense. But I can't stay away from you."
Before I could stop myself, I reached out and touched her face. Her skin was soft as silk under my fingers.
She gasped and leaned into my touch. "Alpha..."
"Damon," I said. "When we're alone, call me Damon."
"Damon," she whispered, and hearing my name on her lips nearly broke me.
I was going to kiss her. I was going to break every rule I'd ever made and kiss this sweet omega who'd turned my world upside down.
Then she did something that shocked me.
She reached up and touched my face too.
The moment her fingers made contact with my skin, lightning shot through both of us. Real power. I could see the sparks dancing between our hands.
Maya gasped and tried to pull away, but I caught her wrist.
"Don't," I said. "Don't be afraid."
"What's happening to us?" she whispered.
"I don't know." But I did know. Deep down, in a place I'd tried to ignore, I knew exactly what this was.
The mate bond. The thing wolves spent their whole lives searching for.
The thing I'd told myself didn't exist.
"Damon," Maya said, and I could hear the wonder in her voice. "I think... I think we're—"
The door burst open.
"Maya, we need—" The older woman stopped dead when she saw us. Our hands were still touching, sparks still dancing between our fingers.
I jumped back so fast I knocked over a bag of flour. White powder burst everywhere, covering all three of us.
"I'm sorry," the woman stuttered. "I didn't know... I didn't think..."
My heart was racing. If she'd seen the sparks, if she told anyone what she'd witnessed...
"It's fine," I said, trying to sound normal. "We were just talking."
The woman looked between Maya and me, clearly not buying it for a second.
"There's someone here to see you, Alpha," she said carefully. "She says it's important. "
My blood turned to ice. "She?" "Luna Elena Cross. She's waiting in the front of the shop. " No. No, no, no. This couldn't be happening. Elena wasn't meant to be here for another week.
"She says you two have important things to discuss," the woman continued. "Something about wedding plans?"
I felt Maya's eyes on me, saw the hope die in her face. The electricity between us sputtered and went out.
"Wedding plans?" Maya's voice was barely a whisper.
I couldn't look at her. Couldn't see the hurt I knew would be there.
"Should I tell her you're busy?" the woman asked.
Every feeling I had screamed at me to say yes. To stay with Maya. To figure out what was going between us.
But I was the Alpha. I had duties. Duties.
A political marriage that would unite two packs and avoid a war.
"No," I said, hating myself. "Tell her I'll be right there."
Maya made a sound like I'd hit her.
"Maya—" I started.
"Don't." She held up her hand. "Just don't."
"You don't understand. It's complicated."
"No, it's not." Tears were forming in her eyes. "You have a fiancée. You're getting married."
"It's not like that—"
"Then what is it like?" she asked. "Because it looks like you were about to kiss me while your future wife waited in the next room."
She was right. That's exactly what I'd been about to do.
"Maya, please. Let me explain."
But she was already walking away from me. Walking out of my life.
I followed her to the front of the bakery, where Elena stood studying her nails. She looked up when she saw me, and her cold blue eyes took in the flour covering my clothes.
"There you are," she said. "We have a wedding to plan, darling. And I've heard some very interesting rumors about your actions last night."
Her gaze found Maya across the room. Maya, who was trying not to cry. Maya, who smelled like sadness and vanilla.
"I do hope," Elena continued, still looking at Maya, "that you're not developing any bad habits that might interfere with our arrangement."
The threat was clear. Elena knew. Somehow, she knew about Maya.
"Because that would be very unfortunate," Elena smiled coldly. "For everyone involved."
My hands clenched into fists. "Elena—"
"Especially for sweet little omegas who don't know their place," Elena interrupted.
And that's when I realized the horrible truth.
Elena hadn't come here to plan a wedding.
She'd come here to remove the competition.