Chapter Seven

Alice

Damon and I step back inside the house, seeing the teenagers from earlier have left as they close the door behind them, their voices getting further away. Even Sam is nowhere to be found, it appears as if they have all left when we were enjoying our steaks.

"I want to show you around," He says, glancing at me.

"Around town?"

"Around the neighbourhood."

We both walk out of the house and I am immediately amazed by the view. I never knew a place like this ever existed in Portland, it is as if we are nowhere near the city. Everything appears different and I know that I am out of my comfort zone. Many people are walking around as they glance towards our direction, somehow talking as they do.

"Wow, I didn't think it was like this outside." I mutter, loud enough for him to hear even though it sounded more like a mumble.

"You're impressed?" He asks, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm surprised." I smile, "I've never seen anything like this."

"We do love nature. It's where we feel more comfortable,"

The people nods as they walk, somehow showing respect to Damon. I watch quietly but can't help feeling more curious than I already am—when he told me about werewolves, I never expected them to actually be in a big population, they have survived many, many years and it's astonishing to be a witness.

I frown, "Why do they nod at you?"

"It's a sign of respect. I'm their alpha,"

We walk side by side, with Damon occasionally glancing down at my face as I furrow my brows in utterly confusion. He has a small smile plastered on his face, finding all of this as his source of enjoyment. As a matter of fact, I can never blame him if he finds this funny, I would be laughing on the ground if I were in his shoes right now.

At this point, I think humans are pathetic creatures. As brilliant as we might be.

"Alpha," I respond, "You're like their leader?"

"Okay, let me try to clear your confusion." He replies, stopping near a different cabin as he turns to face me, "There are about five packs here in America but there are more in different countries. Here, you're standing and you're looking at my pack. I started with a few werewolves and now there are hundreds of us,"

"So, I'm right about you being their leader?"

"Yes, you're indeed correct."

I nod, trying to find any missing puzzles.

"An alpha is the strongest in the pack. In order to lead and protect, it's a big responsibility." He adds, both of his eyes focusing directly into my own. "Jared, the man you met earlier that asked for his jacket, he is my beta. His father was my beta until he decided that it was his time to retire and let his son take his place,"

"Wow, okay, you guys have titles. It seems really important,"

"Every pack has an alpha. A leader—without an alpha, the pack falls."

"Falls . . . as in?"

"Crumble."

"To the ground?" I ask, confused.

He laughs, in which I find oddly attractive. "A pack without an alpha is not a pack. Every werewolf that you see here is under my command, under certain rules and if any werewolf ever go feral, ever want to leave the pack, they will not be safe. They won't get protection from any other packs too. We call them lone wolves,"

"They'll be in danger?"

"Yes." He replies, "And, they are also a danger to other werewolves and humans."

"How is that possible?"

"Well, lone wolves don't have an alpha. They don't have a pack. They don't have a family. They don't follow any rules. They can do anything they want and I'm sure this applies to humans as well, when you are alone for a really long time, you start to get really crazy in the head. So, lone wolves, they get aggressive. They are what you call, murderers, in your world."

"Are there a lot of lone wolves out there?" I ask, looking around.

"Yes, but we prefer to hunt them down and kill them."

"You would kill your own species?"

"Without a doubt. They are a threat to us and other species as well,"

I nod, seeing him focusing on me which causes me to clear my throat, trying to make him look at anything else but me. However, it seems as if I've gotten his attention. It doesn't take me long to realise that he is actually really tall and I appear like a dwarf beside him. My head would be laying perfectly on his chest if we're ever in a snuggling position . . . wait a second, where did that even come from?

A snuggling position? With this man in front of me?

I must've completely lost my mind.

"Are you okay, Alice?" He asks, breaking my thoughts.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Just processing,"

"Are you sure you're okay? I can take you home if you're not,"

"I'm fine. Really, I'm just . . . really interested in your world." I respond, which causes him to smile. "Honestly, this is all very overwhelming but I can't help myself. Everything you have told me is all new and I keep wanting to know more and more, it's like, I'm really into this whole supernatural thing."

"Supernatural, huh?" He smirks.

"Well . . . it's not everyday you get to meet a werewolf,"

"Understood."

"If you don't mind me asking, how did you become an alpha?"

He clenches his jaw, "It was a really long time ago, Alice."

"You don't remember?"

"No, I remember everything. I just, don't know how to leave the bad parts out."

My eyes widen at his response but at the same time, I'm intrigued. Damon stands at the same spot in front of me with little space between us from my unstable body, I have been moving a lot ever since we decided to stop here and talk. I didn't even realise I was getting close to him but he doesn't seem to mind, he continues to look at me with interest, as if I'm really something new.

"It's okay. I'm just curious," I smile. "You don't have to tell me,"

"But, I want to tell you. That's the thing,"

"Okay, you're not forced to tell me anything, Damon."

"I like it when you say my name,"

Our eyes meet instantly and all of a sudden, my heart starts to beat fast. The way his eyes are just staring at me in awe as his lips slightly curve up into a smile—my cheeks are starting to warm up. Maybe, it was his voice or the way he slipped out those words but it made me feel butterflies, I am getting more butterflies now. They're not going away.

"You like it when I say your name?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"Mm-hm, say it again."

"Damon . . ." I frown, "Damon?"

His brown eyes are now slightly yellow as he takes a step towards me which causes me to feel the warmth of his body. I look up into his eyes, seeing that they are no longer their usual warm brown but a bit lighter, a bit different but it's still him, it's still Damon.

Just as I thought he was going to lean in and kiss me, he blinks a few times and the yellow tint is already gone. It is as if he just gained full control of his body again.

"Bitten werewolves are stronger than born werewolves. One of the reasons why I'm an alpha," He starts to speak which causes me to nod, trying to calm myself down from what had just happened. "I found lone wolves, they were confused and needed help. From there, I started to build a pack and I am where I am because of that. I watched my pack grow from nothing to being the biggest pack in America,"

"You left the bad parts out?" I stutter.

"I did. To not scare you away,"

"I don't think anything can scare me anymore," I chuckle.

"You're fragile, Alice. I don't ever want to see you get hurt,"

Is it just me or does he have a way of saying things? The way the words just slipped out with full sincerity and it means something to me. He can easily make butterflies appear in my stomach, my heart would beat faster and my cheeks would instantly go warm because I would blush; how can someone affect me like this?

Well, I only met him—once, at the charity event and somehow, we shared a kiss. Then, after a month, unexpectedly, here I am with his secrets from the world.

"How can you say that?" I scoff, taking a few steps back. "You must have a soulmate, somewhere."

"What do you mean?" He asks, confused.

"You told me, werewolves are blessed with soulmates and I'm pretty damn sure you're no different. You must have a special someone that is out there, waiting for you but you're saying nice things to me, you're making me feel something and it would be awful if she ever finds out about it." I answer before trying to calm myself down, looking straight into his eyes.

Damon chuckles, shaking his head as he looks around.

"Why are you laughing? Is this funny? Do you not care about the love of your life? Literally,"

"I just find all of this . . . a bit of a humour,"

"What? Why?" I frown. "Do you, like get multiple soulmates or something? Is it not a bit deal for you?"

He keeps quiet, looking into my eyes. "What makes you think I have a soulmate, Alice?"

"Because, you told me. You said werewolves are given a soulmate,"

"I did say that. I'm not denying anything,"

"And . . . you're pretty chill about this. You asked me on a date, too!"

"Relax, Alice. Just breathe," He places his hand on my shoulder before moving down to gently grip my arms in which I find strangely comforting. Our faces are inches apart from one another and I can't help recalling our first kiss. "I'm not trying to hurt anyone. You don't have to worry about that,"

"But, your soulmate—"

He cuts me off, "—never existed."

"What? What do you mean?"

"I'm two centuries old. You don't think I tried to look for her?"

I blink a few times, "I think you did but maybe you just haven't found her,"

"The moon goddess is always playing a wicked game."

"I don't understand. How can you not have a soulmate?"

"I don't know." He looks away, "I stopped looking. It's better this way because I don't even have to think about it anymore,"

"And, you're okay with that? What if you ever found her one day?"

"I won't. Trust me," He replies with a smile plastered on his face, not a single worry or guilt but he seems rather relieved. It's as if he doesn't even mind. Then again, at the same time, I know he cares. Anyone would be dying to find the love of their life, Damon is no different—maybe, he had given up after years of searching, he had found comfort in being all by himself.

"Okay, then. I guess,"

"Like I said, Alice, I did ask you out on a date and that tells you something."

I nod, completely understanding the whole situation. "That you're not interested in waiting for her,"

"Exactly. So, we just have to drop that topic, okay?"

"Okay, sure. I'm sorry I ever asked,"

"It's fine. Please don't apologise,"

"I don't know, I just feel really bad, like I'm trying to make a non-existent relationship go down."

He laughs, completely finding joy in this conversation. Well, at least someone here is having little to no care at all while I keep thinking about the possibilities of his soulmate to appear out of nowhere and rip my throat out for kissing her mate and agreeing to go on a date. I never want to mess with anybody's relationship and especially not now, when I know that they're werewolves.

"I want to be with you," He replies, catching me off guard.

"What?"

"I've been telling about myself since the moment you woke up and it's getting dull. I'm saying that I want to get to know you better, take you on dates and make you fall for me." He ends with a smile, somehow trying to make it sound cheeky but he's also serious at the same time.

"Make me fall for you?" I smile, shaking my head.

"Make you fall for me." He repeats.

I stop, staring at him in surprise. "You're very direct,"

"I just wanted to make my intentions clear."

"You walked away when we first met,"

"I was caught off guard."

"Because we kissed?"

"Because I haven't felt that way in a long time."

It causes me to stop dead in my tracks as I continue to look at him, trying to find him smiling or laughing as he did earlier but right now, it's obvious he is being serious. The way his eyes are looking directly into my own as we face each other, not realising that we've already walked away from the house or the people, we're now near a lake.

"Why did we kiss?" I ask, seeking answers.

"I . . . I don't know, Alice. It just happened,"

"You know."

He looks back at me, "I was really drawn to you."

"Out of the other women there, you were really drawn to me?"

"I didn't see any other women. You were there, I saw you."

"Oh okay, wow, is it because you're from the 18th century? Is this how people used to flirt?" I laugh, trying to hide away my embarrassment.

Back when I was with Eric, we weren't always this direct. Words were never really our thing. We did confess and we did express how we truly felt but it was explained clearly through our actions, by the way we kissed, the way we made love and it was all clear but Damon, he expresses through his words and it's making me feel butterflies in my stomach.

Damon doesn't seem to be shy about his feelings. He is way more direct.

He continues to keep quiet, smiling as he looks away.

"I can't see anything normally now."

"Why is that?" He turns to look at me.

"Anybody can be a werewolf and there is no way for me to tell,"

"I'm sorry I brought you into this."

Our eyes meet, "You saved my life."