Page 17 of His Blue Moon Princess (The Silver City #1)

“Do you start to understand, Nora? Mother took you in. After all, you were just a newborn baby, and your parents were nowhere to be found. When dad came home, he agreed with it right away! How funny, huh? Mom had no idea back then. She started taking care of you, too, as her own daughter. After all, Dad loved you, didn’t he? Do you start to understand, Nora? What sort of bastard our father was?”

I shake my head. No, I don’t want to hear it. My dad didn’t do that. Alec sighs and smiles.

“So, years passed! Mom was fine, letting you believe you were her daughter since it made our father happy that way. Yet she slowly started to doubt, watching you grow. Because somehow, you looked like me, you looked like Dad. How amazing is that? Whenever dad was away, our clueless, stupid mother was left with the two of us and her doubts. Despite our three years difference, it started to show, Nora. Our nose, like Dad’s. Our curly black hair. Even our voices. All those little, but intriguing similarities. Can you imagine how much Mom started to think and wonder? What if? What if you really were our Dad’s daughter?”

Tears silently start running down my face. I wish he was lying. I hope this was all a made-up story, something twisted that Alec invented to hurt me. Yet why does it feel like this is the truth? The last, scary piece of the puzzle.

“Years and years to wonder, Nora. She never dared to ask. If she was wrong, Dad might get angry and leave her. That thought alone kept her silent for almost seven freaking years. Can you imagine what it does to the mind, Nora? All this time, every single minute, wondering if you are raising your husband’s child, yet knowing it’s not yours? But she loved him. Oh, Moon Goddess, she loved him so much she kept her doubts to herself for so long. Until that day.”

That fateful day. And all this time I thought my mother just had gone crazy all of a sudden... I had no idea she had to keep it bottled for so many years. How did she feel every time she looked at me? Did she despair inside, yet hide it? She never said a thing...

Alec closes his eyes, and I suddenly see a tear among the blood on his face.

“One day, she finally asked him, Nora, she did. I was upstairs. I heard them yelling... When I came down, Mom was... she was crying. She kept asking him how he could do this? Have a child with someone else and leave another woman’s baby on her doorstep? He didn’t say a thing all these years, keeping the lie alive! But you know the worst, Nora?”

This time, we are both crying. Tears flow, and I can’t stop. Alec doesn’t care, he keeps talking, half smiling, half crying. He looks crazy again, and his tone keeps changing. Yet this time, no one is stopping him. We are all listening, stunned by the truth unveiled.

“He didn’t even do it for her! It’s not because he wanted to keep his marriage! Not even because he was afraid of leaving her, or because he wanted to stay with his family. He lied for you, Nora, all for you. He wanted his daughter to have a normal family, to be able to grow up with a mother and a father. With a Clan to protect her. All his lies, all he did, he did it for you!”

I’m crying desperately, shaking my head. I can’t hear it. I can’t believe it.

“You did it! Because of you, my father became this man! He drove my mother mad, and he lied to us! Just because of you, Nora! Because of you!”

Yells Alec.

I can’t hear him. I’m crying and sobbing hard; I don’t want to listen to this. My head is spinning. I want to leave this room; I want to forget this. Little black dots cover my vision. I hear Damian’s voice, but I don’t understand. Strong arms hold me, and I fight the dizziness to stay awake. I blink several times, trying to breathe to calm down. I feel a hand on my back, patting me. Tonia’s voice reaches my ears.

“That’s it, baby girl, breathe, slowly. Calm down, it’s okay. It’s okay.”

“Nora, Nora...”

I hear Damian repeating my name, and I feel his arms around me. I’m in his arms again, but I still feel colder than ever. I close my eyes a bit to rest against his chest while trying to slow my breathing and stop crying.

“She has a bit of a fever, boss, probably from last night... “

“Let’s take her back.”

“No.”

I don’t know where I found the strength to protest, but I open my eyes and clumsily try to stand up again. Damian helps me, and I can rest on him while regaining my composure as I can. I turn to Alec.

“What about my mother, then? My... birth-mother.”

He shrugs. “How would I know? I figure the bitch is dead... How about you join her?”

Bobo and Neal both angrily growl as a warning. Damian turns to his Beta. “We’re done with him.”

“No, stop!” I yell.

After all this, Alec is a victim, too. What happened to our family was not his fault. He was just a kid, also, only ten! He loved our mother so much, and... after what happened, I can’t blame him for hating dad and me. I know how awful he was to me, I didn’t forget any of it, but... but I don’t know what I’m feeling right now, I’m baffled. Too confused to make any right decision. I can’t let Damian have him killed. I don’t want to regret it later.

Alec laughs at me again with a smirk.

“What, you want to save me, Nora? Play the nice sister? The pitiful one? When are you going to get it? I hate you! And I don’t regret a thing I did to you! Every single time I hit you was fucking worth it! I wish I had killed you that night!”

All of a sudden, I lose balance and see Damian rush towards Alec. He’s way too fast. Bobo jumps to stop him, but Damian punches him away like a sandbag. Neal steps in a second later, but Damian runs into him with full force. The Beta is projected against the wall.

Damian shapeshifts into a black wolf, his fangs ready to take my brother’s throat. I scream.

He’s about to kill Alec. For a split second, I see my brother dead. The black wolf rushes towards my brother, and it takes me a couple of seconds to realize there are no two black wolves. I didn’t even see Nathaniel jump in. Everything happens so fast.

As soon as he realizes it’s his brother, Damian steps back, growling furiously. Yet Nathaniel keeps standing in front of Alec, his pale blue eyes fixated on Damian. The two wolves growl and glare at each other, and for a while, I’m terrified they’ll fight.

“Don’t worry,”

says Tonia. “the Boss would never attack one of his brothers. Nathaniel is convincing him to let your brother live.”

I nod, fighting the dizziness while Bobo and Neal both get back up. Bobo comes to my side to support me, while Neal walks to his Alpha, probably arguing with him, too. I wish I could hear it. Damian won’t stop growling.

After what seems like an eternity to me, Damian turns back to me and shapeshifts swiftly. He only puts his pants back on while I’m shyly looking away. Nathaniel probably shifted back, too, because I can hear his voice.

“Let me handle him, Nora,”

he says. “Don’t worry, I promise we won’t hurt him anymore.”

When I look, he is putting tape on Alec’s mouth to shut him up. I don’t know how I feel about this. I want to make sure Nathaniel’s not tricking me again, but he speaks before I get to it, guessing my thoughts.

“Don’t worry, I’m serious. I will have him put up for a psychological evaluation and rehab, okay? We will keep him under surveillance at the hospital.”

I don’t really get how they are going to take him to the hospital after they did this to him themselves, but I don’t care anymore at this point. I’m still way too shocked by his earlier revelations. I’m still teary and tired. Just when I was about to try and get up again, Damian walks up to me and takes me outside, carrying me away from the scene. Behind us, Tonia and Bobo are ready to follow, but Damian growls.

“Leave us alone.”

Tonia frowns, but we are already at the elevator. Damian steps in and turns around. I hear him pushing one of the buttons, and the door closes. He’s still carrying me, my head against his shoulder when he softly whispers. “It’s okay, Nora.”

Just as he says these words, something I was holding up until now suddenly breaks loose. I start sobbing loudly against his neck. I can’t stop it. My arms around Damian’s neck, I cry like a little girl while he holds me tightly against him. It’s unstoppable. I feel so weak, so overtaken by everything I just heard. I can’t deal with all those emotions at once. I feel so stupid! All these years, I had no idea what had happened between our parents. How could I be so clueless and naive!

I keep crying, unable to bear it any other way. Damian is walking again, but I have no idea where he is taking me. I just want to exult my pain somehow and keep crying.

At some point, he sits down. His hands move, one to caress my hair, holding my neck against him, the other around my waist. I feel his lips pressed against my temple as he tries to help me calm down.

“It wasn’t your fault, Nora. Don’t cry...”

I can’t. Tears flow, and my heart tightens painfully. My family was destroyed from within, and I was the cause of it. I can’t forgive myself for being ignorant all these years. I was the little seed that implanted the madness in our mother’s mind. I can’t even blame my father! What happened to my birth mother? Why didn’t I grow up with her? If Dad had a lover, why did he stay with Alec’s mother all these years without saying a thing? Did my biological mother die, as Alec said? I have more questions than I can handle, and so much grief, I can barely breathe.

Damian is whispering softly against my ear, trying to calm me down. I’m shaking in his arms, sobbing uncontrollably.

“You’re okay, Nora. None of this is your fault. You didn’t know. You were too young. It’s okay, you’re okay...”

He keeps caressing my hair and murmuring comforting words, leaning kisses on my head or temple from time to time. Despite all this, being in Damian’s arms makes it all a little easier. He rubs my back, soothing me. After a while, I lean back a bit, still sitting on his lap but facing him. He brought us to what looks like an immaculate office, probably his. I look at him, still teary and probably looking really messy after all this crying.

“I... I can’t believe it. My dad, he...”

“He probably did this to protect you, Nora. I don’t know what happened to your birth mother, but he made sure to keep you with him, and he protected you until the end.”

“I’m the reason he died! And mother, too! She went insane because of me! Because I existed!”

Damian shakes his head and puts his hand on my cheek, caressing me gently with his thumb, keeping me close to him. “No, Nora. Your parents had issues. Your father should have told the truth, and your mother probably had troubles before you came. Nora, you are not to blame. You were a baby, you had no idea.”

“But Alec, he...”

“Your brother took his frustration out on you. He had no right to. Despite what happened, you were not responsible, Nora.”

I have a hard time believing it. No matter what Damian says, everything happened because of me, because I was born from my dad’s affair with another woman. How do I live with this? What do I do with it from now on? I never knew, but now...

Damian suddenly kisses me, taking me by surprise. His lips are gentle against mine yet passionate as usual. After a few seconds, I answer his kiss, carried by the movement. I don’t want to fight it. I need his comforting presence; I need him. His warm hands on my skin, his fingers grabbing my hair. I love this feeling, this wave of heat coming from inside, like a low fire burning within. I grab some air and continue the kiss, my arms around his neck. Is this really okay? After all that happened, it seems crazy to be having a moment with him in this office. It’s just the two of us, and everything is quiet. Behind Damian, this fantastic view of the city that makes it look like I’m in Heaven with him...

His lips get more passionate against mine, and I don’t say no. Our breathing accelerates, and I feel hotter than before. I shiver, feeling his fingers on my skin. One of his hands is under my shirt, caressing my back and giving me delightful shivers. I gasp and hear him chuckle. Is he amused by my awkward reactions? I’m shy, I can’t help it!

I try to kiss him a bit forcefully to make up for it, and I can tell Damian is smiling against my lips. His fingers clench tighter in my hair, and his other hand holds me closer to him until I’m actually sitting astride him. Our kiss gets more intense, and I hear our breath intertwine, echoing loudly in my ear. Our lips part and Damian aims for my neck with ruthless kisses. I bite my lip and find myself leaning on the side to offer him more of me. What’s happening to me? I should be embarrassed, but my desire for more overtakes it all. My hands are on his back, caressing his neck and putting my fingers in his dark hair.

“Nora, Nora...”

His voice whispering my name is making me crazy. I seek his lips once again, and our kiss starts anew. His hands progress on my skin, caressing me gently. ...But suddenly, a cold shiver rises.

“...good girl, Nora. ...don’t you play hard to get now.”

I gasp and stop the kiss, panicked. Damian doesn’t notice and keeps kissing me. His hands keep going, and I shiver all the more, but not from pleasure this time. I’m scared.

“Stop, Damian, stop!”

I almost scream. I struggle, getting off his arms, stumbling, panicked. He looks at me, shocked by my reaction. He tries to hold me back, still confused, but that only scares me more. I fight him off, and when he finally releases me, I almost fall on all fours on the side.

“Nora? Nora, what’s wrong?”

I get up and cross my arms in front of me, tearing up again. I can’t believe it. I’m scared. I’m afraid of Damian’s touch! He gets up and wants to come close, but I shake my head and retreat. Kissing was okay, but... He looks at me, confused. Oh gosh, I’m so, so sorry... I’m about to cry again. Damian stops and sighs.

“Nora, tell me what is it.”

His imperious tone, as usual. But I can’t even utter a word right now. I’m scared and horribly ashamed. How can I compare Marcus and Damian? Why now? I shiver and shake my head again, my arms around me like I’m shielding myself. He grabs his phone.

“Tonia, get here. Now.”

He sounds so angry. I wish I could hide somewhere. It’s my fault. This kiss was intense, perfect, and yet here I am, rejecting him like a crazy girl. As if I needed this now. I thought I needed Damian, so why do I find myself eluding him! I wish I could run back into his arms, ask for his warm kisses again, but I’m terrified. Those cold shivers won’t leave me, and I don’t think I can reject him twice.

He keeps glancing at me, silent. He must think I’m crazy, maybe he even regrets having such a troublesome mate! That’s not the end of my dark thoughts, but thank Moon Goddess Tonia finally enters, followed closely by Bobo and Neal, the later back in his human form.

“Everything okay?”

She asks, worried, as soon as she enters. She comes to me, taking my face into her hands. She frowns almost immediately. “Nora, you’re burning! I knew you had a fever. Boss? We really need to take her home,” she tells Damian.

“Take her back.”

Damian is still staring at me, but he won’t show his emotions. Tonia, understanding there is something wrong between the two of us, puts an arm around my shoulder and pushes me toward the exit of the office. “Okay, baby girl. Let’s get you home now, you need some rest.”

I nod weakly, still dizzy and a mess. Damian watches me exit the room, but I can’t decipher his cold silver eyes. I feel numb while Tonia escorts me out of the office. As we pass the door, I hear Neal’s voice. “Why the murderous look?”

The ding from the elevator makes me jump, and Tonia softly pushes me inside while my mind is still somewhere with Damian. I start sobbing again when the machine starts, and Tonia sighs. “Oh, Nora, you’ve had a tough day, huh? You have dark circles under your eyes, too...”

She rubs my back, trying to comfort me. Gosh, I just want to go home and curl up in my bed to cry once and for all...