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CHAPTER 5 Meeting Alone

Willow's POV

"Come on Mercy, let's go. It's getting late."

Without looking back, Mercy and I made our way to the parking lot with the materials for our presentation and drove in an uncomfortable silence to the hotel where the meeting for the contract bids was being held.

Not long after entering the venue, a young werewolf approached me and leaned forward in a friendly manner, smiling warmly as he greeted us. "Hello, is it Miss Willow?"

The name that he chose to greet me by took me by surprise a little. Most of the other pack members referred to me as 'Luna', or 'Shadowclaw Luna'. Very few people called me Miss Willow and the sound of it brought a faint smile to my face at the insinuation that I was unmarried.

"Yes," I nodded, "I'm Willow."

Not a single person knew that Mason and I had never laid together as he did with other women, and he had deliberately been claiming that the lack of an heir was down to my own inadequacies. An infertile Luna was worthless in the pack's eyes, so they remained silent as Mason worked his way through the she-wolves in the pack, hoping that one day soon, a healthy wolf would give birth to the child of the Alpha. It would never be as good as one born to the pack's Luna, but it was certainly better than nothing.

"Yes, that's right."

Sam smiled and turned sideways to point the way we needed to go. He gestured towards a private room at the other end of the venue. "Well Miss Willow, our Alpha has some knowledge regarding your previous work and had seen some of the projects that you've worked on previously. He feels that he has a good understanding of you and what you can offer to the project. I know that I'm very interested to see what you have produced for us i your draft, so let me invite you to meet with him alone to discuss it."

I had to admit that I was a little surprised by the preferential treatment I was receiving. After all, our pack isn't really well known in the business world, nor does it have a reputation as one of the best so I had no idea what had attracted this Lycan King's interest.

However, I was not going to turn down such a unique opportunity and I nodded to indicate my acceptance of his invitation and followed him to his room in the corner.

As soon I entered the private room, I heard the door closing behind me and as I turned to see what was going on, I realized that neither Sam, nor Mercy had followed me into the room

"Sit down."

A deep baritone voice came from somewhere in front of me.

I turned around in shock, not having paid attention when I first entered the room, only to see that Daemon was the only person sitting at the dining table in his own private room.

He was not wearing a suit jacket, and the cuffs of his white shirt were slightly turned back, exposing his muscular forearms. His tie hung loosely around his neck as he reached for a cigarette with his left hand and lit it with a lighter that he held in his right hand. After a few attempts, his handsome face was faintly blurred as he exhaled the smoke.

"Alpha Silvercrest, Sorry to keep you waiting"

I thought that the presentation would involve discussing the designs with a lot of people, and i had prepared answers in my head to countless that questions that would undoubtedly be asked, but I really hadn't expected to be faced with Daemon alone.

I supposed that it was a little like a business dinner, but with a man and a woman eating alone together, it almost seemed a little more like a date.

I smiled tightly as I moved to the table and pulled out a chair opposite Daemon and sat down, feeling a little apprehensive as my gaze travelled over the array of dishes laid out.

If there were more people that showed up to this meeting, then it would be fine. However, if it was only me and him I wasn't sure how I would cope. I felt an inexplicable pressure radiating from those deep eyes of his. It was almost as if he could see into the very depths of my soul.

"Alpha Silvercrest, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Luna Willow of the Shadowclaw Pack and I'm the project leader for the proposal we put forward for your Ryder One project. This is only the first draft of the project that I designed, so feel free to take a look at it first and let me know your thoughts."

After I had introduced myself, I pushed the first draft in front of Daemon.

I had just let go of the paper when the man in front of me looked up and a cloud of smoke drifted towards my face.

I choked on the smoke and coughed, meeting his midnight coloured eyes sheepishly as I awkwardly sank back into my chair.

Daemon's gaze drifted over the design briefly with an unreadable expression in his eyes. I couldn't tell what he was thinking and then suddenly, he set the drawing aside.

This was...what did that mean?!

Daemon's POV

I couldn't tear my gaze away from Willow, she was stunning. Every single part of her body was perfect in my eyes.

"That's it! There's that scent again Daemon! Ugh, she smells divine...this is driving me crazy!"

I barely paid attention to my wolf's frantic demands in my mind, as I seemed to have fallen straight back into the insanity that I felt the first time I laid eyes on her. When I first met Willow, he had been the same, like a madman. He wa a wolf after all so I couldn't expect his behaviour to be governed by the same human constraints, he was a wild beast only inches away from feral bestiality and if he saw something he wanted, then he would take it. Of course, that's not to say that we weren't the same, because I would act exactly the same as he would...we were one and the same after all.

There was barely any difference in our personalities.

I quietly admired the woman in front of me, her entire physique was reminiscent of a beautiful work of art. The pride and indomitability in her eyes were like a whirlpool, catching you in her current and sucking you further down until you drowned in her beauty.

Her scent carried a unique flavor to it, unlike anything that I had ever encountered before yet as familiar as home was.

As soon as our eyes locked I could feel the irresistible pull towards her, my body surging with adrenaline and lust as I almost trembled with excitement.

I was deeply fascinated by her, whether it was her scent, her eyes, her lips, her body, or even the way she made me feel just by being in her presence.

The impulsiveness of my desire for her had my heart beating wildly in my chest. Again she made me feel as though I were a teenager with no ability to control any of my desires in her presence. Even my trousers were getting uncomfortably tight as my erection strained at the material, eager to feel her touch.

I looked down at the wedding band on her hand and felt cheated somehow.

I really wanted to destroy that rock around her finger.

"Mason didn't hit you, did he?" I asked without shame.

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