Page 32 of His Blue Moon Princess (The Silver City #1)

Damian immediately growls at him, annoyed. “I don’t give a shit, Nate. I want to know where Liam is, and you bring his ass back whether he likes it or not. We are not playing games now. Boyan, you and Tonia go help Neal, too, Nora will stay with me. I want the full Clan gathering in two hours, with no exceptions. Clear?”

Everyone agrees and disperses right away, leaving the two of us alone. I turn to Damian, but before I can say a thing, his arms surround me, and he is carrying me again across the restaurant. I would probably be quite embarrassed if the situation wasn’t so urgent, but now is certainly not the time to fight with him. None of this makes sense anyway. I was working just a few minutes ago, but now, it turns out I’m in a life-threatening situation.

Damian takes me to a black sports car and starts driving at full speed across the city. I can’t say a word during the full trip. I’m too shaken up, and I wouldn’t know what to say. Moreover, Damian takes one call after another on the car monitor. Neal, Nate, and some other people’s voices give him more information as soon as they get it, and I just listen. It’s not much. The building surveillance cameras went down for two hours in the afternoon, and they are still looking in the neighborhood for some decent footage of the closest streets. No one heard the gunshots, either, but they found a total of eight bullets; most of them were used to destroy the door’s lock.

At some point, I stop listening to close my eyes. This is all so unreal like I’m in one of those movies Tonia loves, where they talk about crime scenes and ballistics. I look at the city outside, wondering what happened that it would come to this. At some point, I feel Damian’s hand on my knee, and I take it. I can feel his emotions so clearly; my wolf just translates it all for me. Our mate is worried about us and furious. He is on the phone, but we don’t need to talk for now. We are next to each other; we don’t need any words.

Once we arrive back at the office building, Damian stays close to me, putting his arm around me to take me inside quickly. He only seems to ease up a little when we finally arrive at his flat.

There, he heaves out a deep sigh and hugs me once more now that we are entirely alone. I lean into his embrace, the safest place in the world to me.

“I was so worried something might have happened to you...”

“I know. I’m okay, Damian. I’m fine.”

He nods, and for a while, just keeps me in his arms. I feel his shoulders relaxing a little and get on my toes to give him a kiss. I know we are both shaken up. Damian takes my hand, and we both sit on the large grey sofa, facing each other.

“Are we going to tell the police?” I ask.

“Already did, Nate is on it. We are going to need forensics to know who did it.”

“The message on the wall... This is clearly someone who is personally after me.”

“Your brother is still in the psychiatric ward. The only name I can think of is...”

“Marcus,”

I whisper.

Damian nods. I really didn’t want to believe it, but that’s the most plausible answer. I can’t believe he is still alive, and after me. How did he even find me? Why now, after all this time? He got to my apartment, with a gun full of silver bullets. The more I think about it, the more I think that all this doesn’t look like Marcus at all. He is a rash man, and not that smart either. Leaving blood all over the room and sacking my apartment, that’s like him. The message, too. That sicko has been eyeing me forever. But sneaking into the Blood Moon’s territory, finding my location, and deactivating the building’s surveillance system?

“What is it?”

Asks Damian, noticing my frowning.

“Something’s not right. Damian, I think Marcus is the one who did this, too, but a lot of things don’t make sense. Like, how did he get access to the surveillance system? Or how was he able to find me, and get a gun too? He shouldn’t have any resources left in Silver City, so how did he pull something like that? I know him. That psycho is definitely not smart enough for something so elaborate.”

“You think someone helped him... But who would?”

An answer immediately comes to mind, but I really, really don’t like what that would imply. That person would have the resources to pull this off, and an excellent reason to use Marcus, too. Damian is not going to like this at all...

“...Nora?”

Someone comes in before I can reply. Nathaniel, followed by Liam. The third brother looks exhausted.

“Hi, Nora,” he says

“So, you came back after all?”

“Well, I heard Damian was going to spank me if I didn’t...”

I chuckle, and Liam comes to sit next to me. Nathaniel is glaring at him but doesn’t say a thing. He probably wasn’t happy to have to go look for him now.

“So?”

Asks Damian.

“The cops took over. The CCTV from the shop across the building showed a man going in and out, exactly in the time slot Boyan and Liam gave us. He was wearing a cap and a large coat, so I don’t think we will be able to identify him.”

Nate sighs and goes to get himself a glass from the kitchen, some whiskey, judging by the smell. Damian frowns while his brother does so but doesn’t say a thing.

“I bet it’s Marcus.”

“We think so, too,”

says Damian. “But Nora thinks someone helped him, and she’s probably right. That sicko couldn’t have gotten in so easily.”

“Who then? The Jade Moon banished him, right?”

Asks Liam.

“What about the Sapphire Moon? They hate us.”

“They wouldn’t stoop so low has to help a shithead like Marcus,”

Growls Damian.

“Guys, I have something to tell you.”

All three of them turn their heads to me, and I suddenly feel awkward, but I must tell them. Damian promised not to keep secrets anymore; I should do the same. Moreover, this is important. I turn to Damian, trying not to worry too much.

“Damian, promise me you won’t get angry.”

“Wow, now coming from you, that doesn’t sound good.”

“Shut up, Liam. Damian, please.”

He looks at me for a few seconds, visibly lost by my request, and retakes my hand. “I won’t, but Nora, what is it?”

“I... I had a bit of a fight with Alessandra King earlier today.”

“You had what?”

Damian’s Alpha aura immediately acts out, and for once, my wolf isn’t feeling too great about it. Both Nate and Liam look at me with shocked faces, too, but their oldest brother worries me the most. He jumps off the sofa and looks at me with an expression I can’t decipher, something between rage and incredulity. Well, I don’t care, but he better not be angry at me now! My wolf remembers the very disagreeable experience and agrees with me.

“You said you wouldn’t get angry!”

I protest. “Plus, she started it, she came to the restaurant looking for me.”

“Looking for trouble, you mean. How typical of King,”

mutters Nathaniel.

“What did she say?”

Asks Damian, in his ice-cold tone.

I tell them all about Alessandra’s words and how I stood up to her. Liam can’t help himself and interrupts me a couple of times to react, but both Nathaniel and Damian are staring at me until I’m done. Telling them about that stupid fight annoys me again when I have to remember all of Alessandra’s words. When I’m done, I’m just as mad as I previously was.

“I didn’t want to have to stoop to her level, but she started it, Damian, and I was not going to back off.”

A few seconds of silence follow I’m waiting for their reaction. Finally, Liam breaks the silence first. “That’s our girl! I’m proud of you, Nora, though I wish you had bitten her, too.”

“Well, I’m not going to say you were wrong, either,”

says Nate. “And King was wrong from A to Z, coming to look for Nora in the first place.”

Eventually, all eyes turn to Damian, waiting for his reaction. I get it a second before his brother, through my wolf. Our mate is mad. Really, really mad.

In a split second, I see a sudden movement, and the large table loudly breaks in two under Damian’s fist.

“That’s expensive...”

Sighs Nathaniel, rolling his eyes.

“I can’t believe the nerve of that woman! How dare she threaten you! And making fun of our bond on top of that? Who the hell does she think she is!”

“I don’t care about her threats, Damian. I don’t want that woman anywhere near you or telling me if I deserve to be with you or not.”

“Well, I care! If the Gold Moon Clan wants war, they are going to have it!”

Oh, Moon Goddess, this is so not what I planned. I get up and grab his arm, trying to have him calm down. To my surprise, Nathaniel and Liam don’t move a finger to help me reason with Damian, just watching the two of us.

“Damian, calm down. This is not worth blowing your partnership with their Clan.”

“Nora is right, Damian,”

says Nathaniel. “The current situation is too tense to make such decisions.”

“King overstepped her boundaries. She came on our territory to threaten Nora and, indirectly, she threatened Damian, too. And what if she really is the one behind the attack at the apartment?”

Suddenly, I remember the Witch’s words. What if the Black Brothers’ alliance with the Gold Moon Clan really turns out to be a trap? Does that mean they don’t have any reliable allies? The boys start talking about the situation at the border and arguing about what to do with the Gold Moon Clan, but something else catches my attention.

The Witch’s butterfly is back! I don’t know how it came all the way to Damian’s apartment, but it flies all the way to me, carrying something. It drops it at my feet and lands on my shoulder. A business card?

I bend over to grab it, reading: “William Blue, CEO, Sapphire Holdings.”

“Nora?”

While Damian and Nathaniel are still talking, Liam catches my expression. Can he see the business card? Probably not. I quickly put it in my pocket and walk back to sit next to him on the sofa, using the mind-link to talk to him without his brothers listening. That ability sure is convenient for keeping secrets...

“Liam, do you know William Blue?”

“Of course, the son of the Alpha of the Sapphire Moon Clan, remember? The guy that hates us to the core.”

“You said his father hated your father. Did you guys ever try to negotiate with him?”

“Yeah, Nate and Damian tried to talk to the man a lot of times, but he never wanted anything to do with us. The guy is a stubborn jerk.”

“I’m serious, Liam.”

“I’m serious, too! Try going into a territory where the pack hates you. I did it, quite a few times in a lot of places I should never have, believe me. But the Sapphire Moon territory? That’s a no-go, even for me, Nora. I can have a few fights with the Violet Moon wolves, but the Sapphire Moon watchdogs would kill me on the spot.”

So, things are at a dead end. Why would the Witch give me their Alpha’s business card then? Did I miss something? There is what I suppose to be their headquarters’ address written on the back but going there would be suicide! I know where their turf is, but if I go, there is no guarantee I will come back safe and sound. What is that Witch’s plan exactly?

“Hey, what are you thinking about?”

“I’ll tell you later.”

Liam gives me a suspicious look, but I realize Damian and Nate stopped talking to look at us. My mate comes back to sit next to me.

“What are you guys talking about?”

“Nora was asking me about the Sapphire Moon Clan, just filling her in.”

“We can’t exclude the possibility that they are the one behind the attack,”

says Nate.

“I’m still not going to let what that woman did slide,”

growls Damian.

“What do you...?”

Before he can end his sentence, we can all hear Nathaniel’s phone rings again. He takes the call.

“Tonia, you got anything new? No? Then... Oh, really? What, seriously? Are you sure? That’s...”

I see his eyes aiming my direction a few times, and I wonder what this is about. He looks surprised. What is going on? After a while, he hangs up, asking Tonia to email him everything. Damian frowns.

“Nate, what’s going on?”

“It’s Nora’s blood test results, they just came out.”

“And?”

I ask, curious.

I already know the results, and I thought we all did by now, but Nathaniel’s expression is a bit off— he seems too surprised. Is everything okay? His phone beeps, and he looks at it.

Damian growls, impatient. “Nate!”

Nate jumps, and shows his phone’s screen to Damian. “Seventy-eight point six! Nora has almost eighty percent of Royal genetics...”

My mind goes blank. 78.6%...? That’s too much! I thought I would be half Royal at most, because of my dad, but that number is way higher than expected! I can’t believe it! Damian and Nathaniel seem stunned, too, but Liam is internally screaming.

“Oh, Holy Moon Goddess mother! Nora! Eighty percent! Nora, you’re a freaking princess!”

A princess? What princess? I don’t understand. Nathaniel shows Damian the email detailing the results, but I’m just sitting on the couch, not knowing what to think. Nathaniel starts reading out loud.

“According to Tonia’s grandmother, common werewolves have above five percent of Royal genetic markers. For Alphas, it goes up to ten sometimes, but this amount is only possible for a Royal! Nora is not a Royal’s child; she is a Royal herself!”

“That’s not possible! I told you my dad was a normal wolf!”

“If he was your dad, Nora, you don’t know about that yet. Maybe...”

“This is nonsense, I look like him, Nate!”

“It doesn’t mean he was your father! We don’t know what exactly happened between your parents, but I have your blood test results right here, and there is no way this is wrong. Nora, no Royal is a hundred percent Royal, okay? With time, fights with vampires, and mixing with humans, a lot of the Royal Bloodline was lost. Now, any werewolf with about twenty percent of those genes could claim to be a Royal. But you have four times that amount! Liam is right; according to our standards, you have the pedigree of a werewolf princess.”

Granny Ariana probably told him all this anyway, so there is no point in arguing anymore. I sigh and cross my arms, a bit annoyed. I don’t really care about all that princess stuff, but I’m certainly tired about all this questioning around who are my birth parents or not. I thought this was settled when we interrogated Alec weeks ago!

“Okay, I get it. But I don’t want to talk about my father anymore. Can we go back to the main subject, please?”

“You don’t seem too surprised, Nora,”

says Nate.

“Not really, we had suspicions from the start, anyway. I don’t plan to change anything just because I’m some werewolf royalty...”

“You could try ordering Nate to wash your dirty socks. Or take over Damian’s spot. That would be funny to watch.”

All three of us glare at Liam, making him stop with his stupid jokes. How can he be spouting nonsense like this now?

“Anyway. What do we do from now on?” I ask.

Nathaniel scratches his chin and sighs. “Damian’s right on one point. King came to my territory unannounced to seek a fight with you. She had no right to do so. The Gold Moon Clan might be powerful, but it would be good for them to remember they are not above us,”

says Nathaniel.

Damian nods. “Right. I’m sick of her father’s pathetic arrogance, too. They are getting bolder by the day, using our name and their money. We might be on good terms for now, but I think a little reminder of who is the real King of Silver City might do them some good.”

“I like the sound of that, Brother.”

Honestly, I like it, too, but I can’t help being worried. Is that really all right? Liam catches my eyes while his brothers start talking about business deals and numbers.

“Don’t worry, Nora. That Gold Moon Clan had this coming anyway. And it’s not like Damian is going to fight them; this is barely a slap on the hand.”

“What if this upsets them? Aren’t you afraid they will get back at us or terminate all deals?”

“They won’t, they would be on the losing hand. I told you, the Gold Moon Clan is hell rich, but that’s it. Their wolves are not powerful, and they really don’t want to get on Damian’s bad side, trust me.”

“Hey, what are you guys talking about?”

Asks Nathaniel.

Liam shakes his head.

“Our Princess is scared about the Gold Moon Clan getting mad.”

“Don’t be, Nora,”

says Damian. “If we go soft now, we are not wolves. King should never have threatened you in the first place.”

“You mean us.”

“Same thing.”

“So, what now?”

Asks Nathaniel.

Damian smiles, but that’s more of a scary smile, the kind of smile when someone else is about to get in trouble. Liam and I exchange a look, and I know he is way too content right now.

“Let’s make them see how angry we can get. Gather the Clan as we planned. All our Alphas, hunters, warriors, and family heads. I’m going to introduce Nora at the same time and tell them the Gold Moon wolves are no longer welcome onto our territories.”

“Got that. Everyone is already assembling anyway.”

“Wow, introducing your girlfriend one week after introducing your fiancée. That’s what you call bold, Brother.”

“Liam’s right. Not that I’m going to complain, however. I still despise King, and so does the rest of our Clan. That was a bad idea, to begin with, especially with Nora in the picture, Damian.”

Well, I’m happy Nathaniel and Liam are saying this. I glance at Damian. See? You messed up really bad by getting engaged to that vixen. My mate gives me an apologetic look and kisses my hand quick.

“I’ll repeat it, I’m sorry. I’m going to make things right about that engagement, too.”

“Is that still a thing? I mean, you just drank some champagne and walked into a room together. There is no contract yet, is there?”

“It’s more than that, Liam,”

sighs Nathaniel. “By now, all the Gold Moon Clan will have used this engagement for business issues and consider it as valid. Even if Damian turns out to have a lover, I doubt they will even care. They will most likely just pretend they don’t know or pass it off as a baseless rumor. The news of this engagement is too big; the Gold Moon Clan took things to their advantage to put pressure on other companies, saying the Black Corp is backing them up. If we want to stop them, Damian will need to make a formal statement.”

So, this is an even more significant issue than I thought. To think a simple engagement could have so many consequences... I remember my conversation with Bobo in the car earlier. Don’t waver, Nora. Even the Witch said the same thing. I should have faith in myself. Maybe I will find a way to help Damian later.

I keep thinking about that business card. Maybe I have a chance to turn tables now. This can’t just be a coincidence. I bite my lip, thinking about what to do next.

“Damian?”

He turns his head to me, and I point the bedroom.

“I’ll get changed before we meet your clan. I’m all sweaty from work. Okay?”

He nods, and I head off to the bathroom. Thank Moon Goddess I still have the clothes from this morning, because I don’t feel like putting on anything that was in my room if there is any left. I still can’t believe someone did this to the apartment. I shiver just thinking about it. What would have happened if I had gone home during my break? If it was Marcus…

Elena! I suddenly remember my cousin. I haven’t heard from her... I’m under the shower but, now that I think about it, I don’t need a phone, do I?

“Elena?”

“Nora! What is it, too lazy to use the phone now?”

“I’m showering. Plus, Nate is right next door. You still don’t want the brothers to know we know each other, right?”

“No, no. Are you all right, Nora? Your wolf seems all shaken up.”

Quickly, I tell her about all the events since we last saw each other, what happened in my apartment, our suspicions, and about the blood tests, as well. I grab a towel as I finish talking and start dressing up.

“Nora, that’s a lot of information. I’m not so surprised about the blood results, to be honest, I always knew you were more... Well, more Royal than I am. But what happened at your place? That’s really no good.”

“I know, I’m totally freaked out, too, though I don’t want to worry Damian.”

“I understand. But stay close to your mate until they found this psychopath, okay? And you can talk to me if you need help, anytime.”

“Thank you, cousin.”

Cousin...