My Fated Mate Can Have Her-Chapter 43: Selfish Entitlement

Damon

The journey back from the capital left me bone-tired but satisfied.

Supreme Alpha Palisa had granted my request. More than that, for some reason, she had seemed genuinely interested in the case I had presented. Even if it clashed a bit with what Garret had told that higher beta, Lady Palisa had said the discrepancy in the information would not be an issue.

He would just have to take the blame.

Now the tricky part would be finding another fitting wolf to replace Garret’s duties.

By the time the summit concluded, that pathetic omega would be on her knees begging to let her live. It was almost too easy.

The thought brought a smile to my face as I pushed open the doors to my private lodge.

The smile died the moment I saw Elena.

She sat one of the seats of the lobby, arms crossed, and her posture radiating barely contained fury. I sighed. What was she mad about now? I had already told her when I would be returning from the capital.

"Three weeks," she huffed, standing up. "You’ve been gone for three weeks, Damon."

I grumbled, frowning as I closed the door behind me, buying myself a moment to understand the situation. "Not now, Elena. I already told you I would be back after three weeks. What is—" 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

"That is not it!" she shrieked. "For more than a month now, you have been chasing after that rejected mate like she is the only thing that matters in your life!"

’Ugh. Not this again.’

I was already in a good mood thanks to this new development. I can’t have her ruin my night.

"I wasn’t chasing her," I said, keeping my voice calm and reasonable as I walked towards her. "I am only making sure she faces consequences for—"

"We both know that is ass! I don’t care what justification you’ve invented. You haven’t even marked me or made me your Luna despite your promise. And you have been neglecting some of your duties. Do you know what the pack is saying? Do you know how this looks? The Alpha obsessed with his cast-off omega while his chosen mate, his ACTUAL mate, waits alone on the side like some forgotten accessory!"

Idiots. This was getting out of hand. "Elena—"

"Don’t tell me you’re delaying things because you want to take her back as your mate," she sneered at me, her voice suddenly low.

I struggled to contain the anger that immediately engulfed me. My hands that were initially reaching for her tightened into fists and hung at my sides.

"What is this nonsense? Don’t insult me, Elena. What do you take me for?" My fists shook. "I would never do something so disgraceful! Where is this accusation even coming from?!"

"You have not even marked me yet!" Her voice rose again. "It’s been weeks, Damon. Nearly two months since you rejected that worthless thing and claimed you wanted me instead after all the time we’ve spent together. And here I am, still unmarked, still unacknowledged, while you gallivant your way to the Supreme Alpha for a wolf who means nothing!"

My hands went limp at my sides. I was stunned.

Why was she like this? And why was it so difficult for her to understand the slight to my honour?

Let me just get this over with before she bursts into tears again.

I moved toward her slowly, touching her shoulders to console her "You’re overreacting. The pack knows—"

"The pack knows you’re making me look like a fool!" She moved away from me. "I didn’t do all this and waited years for the right moment just to be reduced to ’that female the Alpha keeps around but won’t actually claim!’"

"Elena," I gritted out. "I am not making you look like anything. This situation with Violet is temporary. Once she is dealt with—"

"Dealt with." Elena laughed, and suddenly whirled around. "It’s always ’once she’s dealt with’ or ’after this is resolved’ or ’when things settle down.’" She stopped and looked at me. "Have you even been listening to anything I’ve been saying? How does any of that nonsense prevent you from marking me?"

Suddenly calm, she sat down and neatly adjusted the folds of her skirt. "When, Damon? When will you actually follow through on what you promised me?"

I stared at her, confused. Something about how suddenly calm she became did not sit right with me.

"You’re not going to say anything?" She finally looked up at me, interlocking her fingers together and resting them on her lap.

"Soon, Elena. After the—"

"I am done with ’soon.’ I am done being patient. I am done being understanding. And I am done being the fool who waits while you obsess over someone who should be nothing more than a bad memory. Alive or not, you should not even care whether she lives or not when she is no longer here."

Ehn...?

My ears began to ring and my chest tightened. But not because of the mate bond, that had long gone weeks ago.

It took the next few seconds for me to experience a feeling Elena had never made me experience.

She had to be joking. She didn’t mean that. She wasn’t going to leave me.

She couldn’t.

"What are you saying?" I whispered, rushing to sit beside her.

She looked at me with disgust and shifted to the end of the seat, creating some distance between us.

"I am saying I’m reconsidering this rubbish arrangement. I am your mate. Meant to be your Luna. It is embarrassing enough that you don’t seem to care now, but the thought of being with an Alpha who can’t even keep to his promises is sickening. I will leave and find a better option. This is—"

"No. Stop this nonsense," I hissed harshly. "Don’t do this. There is no better option." I slapped my chest. "Do you even think there is any other wolf in this pack who is more powerful and influential than I am? I am the Alpha—"

"Even if they are not an Alpha. At least they would actually claim me." She stood up. "I don’t know. Maybe if I leave the pack and find another Alpha, you would be obsessed with me the way you are obsessed with that girl."