CHAPTER 3 Opportunity

Daemon's POV

I handed my handkerchief to the Luna of the Shadowclaw Pack as carefully as I could without being seen. If I had heard it correctly, I thought her name was Willow.

From the moment I had first laid eyes on her, I had instantly been attracted to her and my wolf was close to driving me crazy with its insistence that I move closer to her and his demands that I touch her in any way that I could manage.

I was completely enchanted with her, the intoxicating scent that surrounded her was like nothing I had ever experienced before. It was both uplifting and comforting with a warm sense of safety and love, but it made me feel like I was going crazy, as if I was a hormonal teenager lusting after something hopelessly out of reach. There was no fighting it though and I simply had to give in to the urges to approach her.

I stood in the corner of her party, lurking like a creep and watching the guests pass by one by one. They all seemed to be surprised by the events that had unfolded, but none of them made any move to offer her help. The only thing they were happy to do was to make a snide comment on the situation or jeer loudly at her, before they moved away and carried on enjoying themselves at the party that was supposed to be in her honor.

I was so angry at their reactions that I barely managed to contain myself. This woman deserved to be treated like a queen, admired and respected by all, not treated as if she had no value.

Sam, my beta made his way over to me and stood at my side silently, saying nothing but acutely aware of my current fixation on Willow's enchanting figure.

"As much as I would love for you to enjoy his banquet without interruption, Daemon, I'm sorry but duty calls," He grimaced as he showed me the missed calls that we had racked up in the short time that we had been here.

"You know what I'm going to say, right?" He asked half jokingly.

"The Elder Council is calling you again and won't leave you alone?" I shrugged with a smirk.

"Exactly," Sam sighed, "They time it perfectly for when you're in attendance at various pack functions, and tell me that I must remind you to hurry up and find yourself a suitable candidate for Luna."

Ever since I became the Alpha, The Elder Council just wouldn't leave the issue alone. They called again and again, always with the same argument that a qualified Alpha needed a Luna to ensure the continuation of the bloodline and a stable succession for the seat of leadership in the pack. Strong Alpha's bred strong lpha's...or so they said.

I didn't agree though. A qualified Alpha should be judged on his strength, his leadership and his ability to lead his pack ot glory, not whether or not he can shoot his load inside a woman and impregnate her with his pups.

Having a Luna wasn't really a big deal for me, well, not as high on my list of priorities as it was for The Elder Council it seemed.

I didn't like to brag, but to be honest, I was a powerful Lycan King in my own right. I wasn't a promiscuous piece of shit like Mason, and I refused to marry just any random female in order to produce an heir.

I had always believed that I would wait until I found my fated mate.

"Sam, have you seen the Luna of the Shadowclaw Pack?" I asked thoughtfully.

"The one who was shoved down the stairs by her mates lover?"

I nodded as I sipped casually at the champagne in my glass and smiled. "Yes, this is going to sound odd, but...as soon as I saw her I felt...amazing."

"You felt amazing?" Sam replied dubiously as he arched an eyebrow at me.

"Look, it's difficult for me to describe it exactly, but all I know is that before I realized what was happening to me, I was completely enthralled by her. I didn't even register what was going on, it was as if I was being pulled towards her."

Sam pursed his lips and frowned. "No offence Alpha, but that sounds pretty bad."

"For you maybe," I shrugged, "Adam felt it too though. He was practically feral trying to get me to chase after her. I've never seen him excited about any woman, ever"

Sam hummed thoughtfully as he though my words over. "What do you think could be the reason? Could it be that she has some strange sort of charm or aura? Maybe something magical?"

I didn't answer though and just held my glass carefully whilst i stared into the distance and thought.

Suddenly, a completely unexpected suggestion came from Adam.

"Sam, is it possible that my mate could be a Luna at another pack?" I asked a little too loudly, drawing the attention of the people stood closest to us.

Sam was silent for a while as he stared at me in disbelief before realizing i was deadly serious. "Are you kidding right now?" he yelled loudly, drawing even more attention to where we were stood.

"Would you stop yelling like a child at someone else's party Sam? Goddess, you're going to make us look uncivilized." I grimaced.

"Are you sure that you didn't make a bad judgment because of the pressure from the Elder Council?" Sam asked warily, "Or are you really trying to provoke the wrath of those old bastards with this trick?"

"Why would I bother trying to deceive them?" I snorted as Sam nodded speculatively.

"That's true, you don't really care what they think do you."

It was glaringly obvious though that my words had startled Sam greatly.

"Look, Sam. This feeling can't be wrong, it's too intense. If I don't follow it through, then I'm afraid I won't get another chance to pursue it."

"You know, this is pretty heavy stuff Daemon. The potential implications of this are making me uncomfortable just thinking about it."

The two of us made our way into the hallway and walked side by side with wine glasses in our hands as Sam was slowly trying to accept this insane theory that I had just presented him with.

Sam let out a long breath as he turned to me with a serious expression. "Well, if she's really your mate, then how are you going to...I mean, she's someone else's mate after all, right? There's just no way that she can be the Luna of two packs at the same time."

"Well of course she can't. But honestly, I'm kinda glad that she isn't happy in her current marriage." I smirked happily.

"You know, right now you sound like a bit of an asshole. But, I guess their unhappiness with each other is pretty normal for a political marriage, right? Everyone knows the two packs have some pretty serious grudges going back generations, so there's no chance that the relationship would ever be as sweet as some of the arranged marriages that happened. Though, I think you should be prepared for the fact that she might not want to give up Mason."

We rounded a corner as Sam finished talking and stopped dead in our tracks, brutally confronted with the image of Mason and Lila wrapped tightly around one another as they fucked each other with little regard for who was watching.

At the opposite end of the hallway to where we stood, my gaze fell upon the cold expression of Willow, watching her mate and his lover making a spectacle of themselves in the open air banquet venue.

Even though her expression was blank, I could almost feel her pain as keenly as though it were my own. Without realizing what I was doing, my fingers closed into a fist, crushing the delicate glass that I held in m hand much to Sam's surprise. I fought hard to resist the urge to pummel some sense into Mason mid stroke.

I just couldn't fathom how he could do this to her!