Chapter 44
The next morning
Miranda's hands strayed to the rocky flesh on the bed beside her. She remembered how she couldn't get enough of that flesh inside of her all night, and as she opened her eyes, something caught her attention that made her jump. She hadn't noticed the scars on his chest last night in the darkness, but now they were clearly visible, and her heartfelt nothing but pity for Damian as she wondered what could have caused those scars on his chest to be so large. She ran her hands across his chest a second time, but this time he awoke.
His eyes lit up suddenly as he threw his hands off her, "What are you doing?" He snarled. "How dare you touch me like that?"
"I'm sorry, I... I..." she stammered.
"You what? Let me guess. You can't get enough of a hideous monster, huh?"
"No! I-"
He stood up from the bed and didn't let her finish. He entered the closet and then returned fully dressed a few minutes later to meet her there in tears, and that's when he realized he'd been too harsh on her with his words.
He took a deep breath and went to sit with her on the bed.
"Miranda, I'm sorry. I'm sorry... For shouting at you..."
She wiped her eyes and asked him a question instead. "What happened? To you... Back then..."
"I'm sorry, Miranda, it's something I cannot easily tell you."
"Why? Don't you trust me? Do you think I'd ever laugh at you or call you a monster?"
"No, it's not that, Miranda, it's just...."
She took his hand in hers. "Damian, please... You can trust me! You can tell me, please."
He took his hands from her, walking to the window with his back facing her. The silence stretched for long between the two, and then...
"I'm sorry, Miranda, I can't tell you. Maybe one day, I'll bring myself to say it, but for now, I can't tell you what happened."
"Damian..."
His tone became cold, less angry but still cold. "We should respect each other's personal space despite the fact that we are married. I don't like what happened today, and I don't want it to happen again. Never, ever touch me without my permission."
He left the room, not wanting to hear her pleas for him to confide in her any longer.
***
'That bitch has moved into the Alpha's bedroom!'
Even though Katrina had been the Alpha's mistress for so long, she had never received such a grant! He'd never even let her spend the night with him, no matter how much she'd begged, let alone move in.
Now that bitch came from nowhere and seemed to have an impact that she'd never been able to achieve with Damian. Her heart raged with hatred and jealousy for Miranda. It was like she charmed him because the Alpha Damian she knew, would never do such things in his right mind. She realized something then...
Miranda was a witch, of course! And she charmed Alpha Damian to do as she wished. It was the only explanation for everything. Why else would Damian marry someone as lowly as that? It made no sense at all, but it made perfect sense for someone like Miranda to want to marry Damian. Think of all the power, land, and wealth she'll be getting so easily.
Katrina had to find out how to expose her somehow, and no way would she let Miranda, no way would she let that witch come and take what she had worked for the greater part of her life. No way.
***
Miranda had spent the entire day under Madame Jane's tutelage for her new duties as Luna, and she was still thinking about what had happened in the morning. Damian hurt her with his words, but she chose not to hold it against him because she could see right through his rage. She could see the hurt and pain he was carrying from his past.
It was evening when she returned to her bedroom after her final lessons with Madame Jane. The room was empty, and her mate was most likely still training, as was typical of Silver wolves.
She undressed and entered the shower, feeling a calm sensation as the water hit her body, all the while reminiscing about last night with him, a blush crept up her cheek, she suddenly snapped out of her thoughts upon hearing the sounds coming from outside the bathroom.
Damian was back, how her heart longed to see him, how her heart longed for last night to repeat itself.
She stepped out of the cubicle slowly, taking a clean towel from the rack to dry her wet body and another to dry her hair. She remembered forgetting to bring in a change of clothes, but she didn't beat herself up about it this time, mainly because she had nothing to hide that he hadn't already seen.
She looked around for him as she exited the bathroom with only a towel wrapped around her chest, and she could see his shadow in the study as it was heading towards night time. She approached him as he sat there, stretched lines on his face from being so busy that day tended to one case or another. He needed to rest, she was tired as well, and she needed to rest as well, but right beside him.
"Good evening Damian." He shifted a bit as her voice disturbed his thoughts.
"Oh, good evening Miranda."
She didn't like to beat about the bush, certainly not in this situation. "I'm sorry for what happened this morning."
"This morning? Oh... Don't worry about that, Miranda, it's forgiven."
"I understand you said I shouldn't touch you at all, and while it hurts me that you won't let me, I want you to know that you can touch me as much as you want."
"No, Miranda, I won't touch you. I'll feel a lot guilty if I have access to your body while I deny you of mine."
"I don't care about that, Damian. Besides, you'd be denying me if you refuse to touch me."
He began in a slightly stern tone, "Miranda..."
Her hand trailed sexily behind her, gradually losing the knot of the towel under her arm; the towel dropped down, exposing her nakedness. Damian's jaw dropped as he watched her. All the words he wanted to say slipped from his mind as Miranda drew closer.