Chapter 2 Meet Damon Moreno!

Damon looked outside his car's window as he caressed his jaw in deep thoughts, with his other hand absent-mindedly stroking his thigh.

He was getting mated in six days, to his family friend of fifteen years, and to say he was still trying to come to terms with the idea was an understatement. Damon had tried to push off the wedding as far as he could, until he decided he was ready, but his Grandmother had quickly caught on with his tricks, and had decided that, he got married that year.

As she complained, Damon was getting older as the years flew by, which had caused the alpha to snort, as he was just thirty-three years old. Also, he knew some of his alpha friends didn't get married, until they were well into their late forties

It wasn't as if his intended mate was ugly or anything, he just couldn't feel any magical spark of affection for her, even though Natalie was a very pretty and kind omega. He tried his best to like her back, but his efforts were futile and though, Natalie claimed to be fine with it, Damon felt guilty sometimes, when he realized that Natalie was going to be stuck in a loveless marriage with him like his parents.

Damon's Grandmother had almost guiltily tricked him into becoming mates with Natalie back when the alpha just clocked eighteen years of age, claiming that Natalie's parents had helped resuscitate and stabilize their company, back when it used to be in a state of flux, and she wanted to repay them, but Damon had managed to stall for thirteen more years, making up excuses and furthering his education, but he eventually discovered the real reason two years, after his engagement and temporary bonding with the female omega.

It was because of a silly drunken promise his late father had made with Natalie's dad, when Natalie was born that he would give up his first son to the first child of the Lynox clan and blue moon park.

He sometimes wished he was in some sort of a trance, and that he would wake up free, without a marriage obligation, but he knew that was as impossible as a basket getting filled up with water.

"Damon? Moreno!" Scarlett, his best friend since high school, and the assistant director of his software development company nudged him back to reality.

"Oh! Hi?" Damon muttered as his eyes flocked lazily over to gaze at the beta.

"What were you thinking so deeply about? Are you still worried about your mating? If you don't feel like getting mated, just walk up to your mum and tell her how you feel, I'm sure she'll understand, you're always so out of it nowadays. Yesterday, you almost drank my mug of coffee forgetting you've always had an anaphylactic reaction towards it, at this rate, you may just get yourself killed." Scarlett huffed as she reclined backward.

Damon had made it a mandatory routine for Scarlett to always ride with him to work, even though the beta had her own luxurious car.

Though the alpha would never admit to the fact that, he was extremely lonely and his best friend reduced that burdensome feeling, just by her presence. Her gentle, fresh laundry smell reminded him of how his late dad used to smell back when he was alive, and he was younger. He used to creep into his dad's arms when he had a terrible nightmare or when there was a terrible bout of a thunderstorm.

The bittersweet thought of his late dad made Damon sigh, as nostalgia coursed through his veins.

"I'm fine, thanks for caring," Damon answered sharply, after clearing his throat as he looked down at his wristwatch. He still had about four more hours until the torturous pre-wedding dinner he was obligated to have with Natalie, which his birther had organized in his name as a surprise for his fiancée.

Damon swallowed harshly as he heaved a sigh of exasperation, he wasn't even mated yet and he was already so frustrated with what was currently happening.

"Damon, I care about you a lot like a big brother and I want the best for you, please try to be happy if you can't tell me what's bothering you, okay?" Scarlett mused.

"Okay, Lettie, don't worry your little head over this, I'm really fine, I'm just trying to acclimatize myself with everything, it'll be okay in the end, I'm sure of it," Damon reassured the female beta, indirectly bolstering himself too.

"You said so, if you keep going on like this, I may meet up with Margaret and report her Grandson to her, you know she asked me to keep tabs on you." Natalie nagged which made the alpha roll his eyes in mock ire.

"Scarlett, I'm fine. Please don't meet up with my Grandma to make her hasten the mating ceremony further." Damon suspired brusquely as he massaged the stressed crease of his eyebrows.

"We're here!" Damon uttered in relief as he hurriedly hopped out of his car. In a bid to escape Scarlett's further interrogation, he walked sharply in long strides to hinder the beta from catching up with him.

"Wait for me, you long-legged bastard!" Damon heard Scarlett yell, as she struggled in her huge ass almost eight inches heels, that she was obsessed with due to her dainty physique.

Damon repressed the urge to laugh at her helplessness as he hastened his pace to reach the entrance of the company.

The security guards bowed at him as soon as they sighted him, and he just responded to them with a short wave, before briskly continuing in the direction of his office.

"Damon, you asshole!" Scarlett panted as she soon caught up with Damon, whose lips quivered in a smug smile as he reduced his pace, to allow the beta catch up with him.

"I will be in my office, don't come in, unless it's something extremely important or life-threatening," Damon muttered, before trekking into his office, stifling the urge to laugh at the petty insults that, Scarlett hurled at him.

Damon let out a deep breath as he plopped down on the armchair in his office. He longed for a person who could fill the deep ache in his heart, and understand him. The alpha wanted someone, who would try to get to know him little by little, and not a person, who was only swayed by his physical appearance.

Whenever he saw how happy some of his friends were with their mates at their weddings or a business banquet, the alpha internally wished and hoped, that he would at least get a chance to experience such a heartwarming love once in his lifetime.

But, the alpha knew he would just have to wish for that to happen to him, in his next life, seeing as there was no way out of the torture of a lifetime that, he was going to get himself into in some days time.

He ran his hands through his auburn hair for the umpteenth time, as he loosened his tie a bit, in preparation to go over the files and proposals for that day, after pulling himself out of his self-pitying thoughts.

A knock was heard on the door after a while, which distorted his concentration and Damon jerked his head upwards to answer it, dropping his pen on the table.

"Come in," Damon uttered, and a mass of long dark hair appeared, before the smiling face of his fiancée, Natalie, emerged, which made the alpha fake a smile to usher her in.

"Surprise!" Natalie giggled as her tall, lean body approached his desk. She dumped her bag on the couch, before moving over to Damon, who was internally cringing at everything his fiancée was doing, but still managed to keep a sweet smile deeply rooted on his features.

"How have you been, my dearest honey?" Natalie asked as she sloppily kissed Damon who languidly kissed back, before she withdrew her lips and shifted the files, that the alpha had been working on further away from him, and then she rooted herself on the desk, in between the alpha's seated form.

"I'm good, you seem quite happy, you got a million bucks deposited in your account?" Damon asked, trying to feign interest in Natalie as his hand slowly caressed her narrow hips in an awkward way.

"No, I'm just happy to see you, I've missed you a lot, you know, it's quite unfair that I get to see you once a week and we're getting mated in a few days." Natalie pouted, twirling the long strands of her curly hair with her fingers.

"I'm sorry, I've been engaged with a lot of contract signings, you know we are launching a new app soon, so there are a lot of preparations ongoing." Damon retorted, which made the female omega's pout deepen, and Damon desperately wished for Scarlett to sense his uneasiness and barge into his office, under the guise of an emergency.

"I heard you arranged a date for us today, I'm sorry I don't think I can be there though. I have my final dress fitting by exactly that time and after that, I have to go to the spa and go for the ca-"

The landline phone on Damon's desk rang, which put a temporary end to their discussion much to the alpha's solace.

"Yes, Scarlett?" Damon uttered as he placed the phone against his ear, trying not to show his relief at the interruption.

The news Damon heard made him rise from his seat immediately, with a frown etched on his face, which startled Natalie as she looked up at him in confusion.

"What do you mean by that? I will be there right now." Damon said, and placed the receiver back on the speaker box.

"Nattie, I'm so sorry, but I have to leave urgently for a meeting. Our almost developed app ju-"

"Okay, baby, I'm sorry again, that I won't be on the date, I'll make it up to you during our honeymoon." Natalie giggled flirtatiously as she wiggled her brows, and seductively bit her lower lip. The expression his fiancée had on her face almost made Damon barf the contents of his stomach.

"Er-uhm, I need to go now." Damon reiterated with a plain expression.

"Oh! my bad, let me excuse you, I'll be on my way now, darling, take care," Natalie said, and bade the alpha farewell, by placing a wet kiss on his cheek, which made Damon stiffen.

"Try to loosen up a bit alpha, you don't act like the Trueblood that you're at all, apart from the domineering physique, you're so gentle and tender even in bed." Natalie teased Damon who feigned a chuckle.

"Anyways, don't let me keep you waiting," Natalie said as her phone rang with a notification, which made her smile as she hurried over to the couch, to pick up her formerly discarded bag.

"Bye, baby." The omega yelled as she slipped out of the door, and a sigh of relief escaped the Trueblood's lips.

Scarlett briskly shuffled to the office, with a cunningly suspicious grin on her face.

"So, how did the game code get leaked? Was it the intern?" Damon asked, with an impatient frown on his face as he almost leaped over to Scarlett, while ignoring the unbothered expression on her face.

"What game code?" Scarlett threw back, with a smirk.

"Didn't you call me to tell me about the game code that got leaked?"

"I did? I can't seem to recall ever doing that."

"Be serious for once, goddammit!" Damon barked as his forest green eyes, angrily bore into Scarlett's soul, which took the beta slightly aback. Even though betas were made to never submit to an alpha, Damon's Trueblood pheromones were extremely powerful on any rank of werewolves.

"Okay fine! I was just teasing you, I did it to get you out of the situation, I saw Natalie walking into your office, and I know how pensive you get with her. Plus you look like you are about to slam your head into a wall." Scarlett muttered.

"You scared me for nothing, I was about to fire the engineers," Damon said.

"I'm sorry. Though, I don't think you should speak to your savior in that manner." Scarlett scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest, which made the alpha shake his head.

"Sorry," Damon mumbled.

"Damon, you know when you both get mated, you won't be able to easily scamper out of some situations and you are really sure you want that girl as your eternal mate," Scarlett stated.

"Yes, I have no other option now, do I?" Damon huffed as he walked back to his desk and sat down behind it.

"You may leave now, we shouldn't discuss stuff unrelated to work during work hours." The alpha instructed as he rearranged the files on his desk.

Scarlett just gazed at her best friend, with sympathy and pity deeply rooted in her eyes and sighed, before leaving Damon's office.

Damon stared at the door as it closed behind the beta, and held his face in his hands as he glared frustratingly at the paperwork in front of him, with different thoughts wrestling in his head. He knew everything Scarlett laid out, was nothing but the truth. The alpha pondered within himself, on how he was going to relate and get along with Natalie, when they began living in his penthouse as mates.

At least, he wouldn't have to see Natalie after work to compound his stress. Damon thought in self-consolation.