Chapter 60

Frustration.

Helplessness.

Rage.

All these emotions rushed through the Alpha's veins when he came to know that the person who hurt his mate was none other than his mother.

Removing his hands from Emmaline, Damien stepped back and turned to Isabella but a frown settled on his brows after watching the dirt patches on her gown.

"What happened Mom?"

His voice held concern which instantly made Emmaline prepare for the worst. She knew another fabricated story was on the way because as usual, Isabella would project her in the wrong light.

Isabella leaped towards Damien, her eyes stinging with heavy tears, "Why should I even tell you that? Your mate keeps hurting me yet you do nothing and worse, ask for her well-being." She sneered.

Damien clenched his jaw, the veins on his forehead throbbed. Turning to Emmaline who had her eyes glued to the ground, he clutched her right forearm and yanked her closer, "What the fuck is wrong with you, HUH?? DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT YOU CAN'T HURT MY FAMILY? WHY ARE YOU HELL-BENT ON PUSHING MY BUTTONS?"

Emmaline lifted her head and glared at him, "Because she keeps goading me. Your mother called me to the kitchen and told me to prepare breakfast. I agreed but she just can't let me live in peace. Here," she rolled up her sleeves and showed him her arm, "Saw the scratches, it's the result of your mother who was abusing me just because I answered her back. I can't stay mute and let you all harass me. I stepped down from my pride only for my family but that doesn't mean I will tolerate your shits.” She growled but then rolled her eyes, “But I know you won't believe me so punish me however you want, I don't care."

Damien examined the bruises on her pale skin. His gaze softened. Grabbing her arm gently, he traced his index finger over those nail scratches and sighed.

"Why aren't they not healing? You're a werewolf."

Emmaline jerked back her hand startling him, "Don't fucking act, okay. How will I heal when you're feeding me wolfsbane." She grated and looked away in disgust.

"WHAT??" Damien was stunned. He turned to Isabella who had fright written all over her face, "Mom, didn't I tell you to stop giving her that and provide her with nutritious food."

Isabella gulped.

Yes, Damien had told Isabella to stop mixing those drugs that enervated her but she disregarded his words and kept feeding Emmaline those baneful meals. Emmaline also had no clue about it until today she tasted the food that she made only to find a different taste. That’s when she came to know about their dirty games.

For one month, Emmaline was kept on a diet that was only killing her from the inside. She was also doubtful about her feeble form; she was losing strength and even Reina wasn’t responding to her. Emmaline was suspicious about the food she was being given but the shackles around her wrists compelled her to eat or she would die of starvation. She was caged and didn't have the power to break free, the only way she could survive was to eat the food. But today when she tasted the breakfast she made, she understood that she was being fed poison in place of nutritious food for the past month.

Damien turned incensed with Isabella's silence.

"What the hell Mom? You dare give her poison," he seethed in her face.

Isabella was shaken to her bone but quickly masked her fear with a glum look, "Y-yeah I did but there's a reason behind everything I do, son. And that is you." She cried and tottered to him. Grabbing his hand, she pulled him out of the dining room.

Damien was perplexed still he followed her trail. Isabella dragged him to a secluded corner and finally turned to him.

She heaved a deep sigh before speaking, "I knew you would be angry but it's important to keep this girl weak, Damien. Zion told me that the boy, what's his name," she paused and made a thinking face before chirping, "Ah yeah Jasper told him that Emmaline possesses humongous strength which can bring down every strong Alpha to his knees. If we don't keep her weak, she can easily kill you and every one of us and then escape with her foster family."

Damien glowered at her. Jerking his hand, he snarled, "What rubbish is this? I agree Emmaline is different. She is strong, spry, and brilliant but she can't defeat me."

"That's where you are wrong Alpha."

Their conversation was interrupted by Zion who was standing behind them.

Damien shot him a glare, "What do you mean? You think Emmaline, an eighteen-year-old girl can win over me. She is still in transformation Zion; her wolf is even dormant. I have heard her complaining to her wolf, Reina multiple times."

Zion scoffed and walked closer to him, "You only see things which Emma wants you to see. She herself is unaware of her powers, Alpha. Madam is doing the right thing by provoking her again and again so that her real self can break through her shell and we can finally solve this mystery. But I agree with Alpha, we should stop feeding Luna wolfsbane and let her evolve. Who knows if she is a Lycan?"

"Preposterous," Isabella lambasted his theory, "Edward was a werewolf and so was his wife. How can their child be born a Lycan? I won't stop giving her wolfsbane. She isn't a Lycan but a monster. I think she is a vampire because I have never seen her wolf form. Or worse, a hybrid?" she muttered in a scared voice.

Zion huffed out loud, "No way she can be a hybrid. That is more absurd that my theory-"

"SHUT UP YOU TWO!!"

Damien hollered at them. Isabella and Zion both flinched at his thunderous growl and looked at him with wide eyes.

"She isn't a toy nor a fucking slave that you will decide her destiny. She is the Luna of this pack and deserves respect. So better watch your tongue before I rip it out of your mouth and wrap it around your neck."

Isabella turned red at his offensive words, "DAMIEN"

"ENOUGH" Damien also shouted back leaving her shell-shocked.

"I had enough of you too. Dad handed me Emmaline to decide her fate. I fulfilled my promise by bringing her here but I wouldn't tolerate anyone insulting or hurting her. She is my prey, mine to hunt and mine to love. You don't poke your nose in matters which have nothing to do with you." He raged.

Isabella couldn't believe her ears. This was the first time Damien raised his voice at her.

She looked at him with teary eyes, "You're shouting at me for that girl. Who hurt your mother and humiliated her in front of the servants multiple times, YOU'RE TAKING HER SIDE??" She shrieked, losing her mind, and grabbed his collar.

Damien glared down at her, "You're no saint either Mom. You must have done something which had riled her up. And why did you tell Emmaline to make breakfast, she is not your maid. Stay away from her."

Isabella let out a shocking gasp, "But didn't you say in the dungeon that day that you married her to keep her in control? You want to obey her, tame her-"

"Yes, I said that but I also mentioned that her bridle will be in my hands not yours."

Damien rebuffed her taking her off-guard. Her hold on his shirt loosened. A tear slid down her left eye as her hands fell sideways.

Isabella looked at him with a broken expression, “So, are you trying to say that I shouldn’t interfere in your married life anymore?”

She was hurt, deeply hurt. Isabella was a protective, over-possessive, and annoying mother. Damien was her only child and she doted on him a lot. She was the reason why he couldn’t have girlfriends because Isabella never approved of any. She would always find faults in every girl he would like and her aversion to her relationships made Damien drop the idea and turned him into a Casanova.

Damien however this time didn’t melt by her tears. Her constant interventions had started to get on his nerves. He didn’t object to it earlier because he was also never serious with any woman but Emmaline was his exception. No matter how much Damien hurt her, he couldn’t deny the fact that he loved her.

Moving back, Damien looked into her glossy eyes and spat, “That’s what exactly I am saying. Stay away from her.”

Merely blinking at her tear-stricken face, he stormed away from there and headed to the dining room.

*****

‘I know you’re guilty, buddy but wasn’t Mom going extreme? The old rivalry had already drawn lines between us and mate and on top of that, if our family keeps pestering mate, we will never win her back,’ Scar stipulated trying to convince Damien who was brooding.

Damien ignored his words as his mood was already soiled because of his wife and his mother’s daily quarrels. He was regretting talking back to Isabella but he had no choice. Damien knew that bringing Emmaline to Northern Valley would tag along a lot of troubles. His parents hated her and that wasn’t something surprising. He could tolerate everything except Emmaline’s resentment. He knew he was being a hypocrite for demanding such things when he was the one at fault but for some reason, her sad face and lost eyes were troubling him.

His heart clench whenever he sees the pain and loneliness in her ocean hues. The spark in her eyes was long gone and was only filled with dark clouds of despair and solitude. Whenever she looked at him, his shoulders turned heavy as if loaded with tons of bricks. Damien couldn’t help but hate himself for being the cause of her tears.

He wasn’t prepared for arguing with his mother, he had no intentions of defending Emmaline. Noticing Emmaline in the kitchen, Damien had intuited that it was all Isabella’s doing but taking a stand for his wife was just his reflex. The mate instincts were drawing him away from his family but at that moment, it sounded the only right thing to him.

Dwelling in thoughts, Damien entered the dining area but the sight in front of him flew him into a rage.