CHAPTER 176: CHAPTER 176 WHAT DO I WANT?

(Damon POV)

I shoved Rhydian’s hands away, Beowulf had already been pacing restlessly inside my head.

"Why don’t we just kill him? He must have bad intentions towards Ember... and besides, why does he already feel like a competition? I don’t like him, Damon, why don’t we rip his head off huh?" Beowulf growled.

"I said don’t touch me." I snapped at Rhydian. His sharp cold blue eyes met mine... if he is thinking of intimidating me, he should think again.

I looked at the spot where Ember had been standing and she wasn’t there anymore.

My gaze turned cold and distant, who would have thought that this day would come? Where I pretend to be weak only to get close to a woman I once rejected?

’Ember.’ Every inch of my body longed for her, and I could already see some trace of her in the princess.

"Allaric, help me inside." I mindlinked him.

"Oh, is the drama time over? Who would have thought our lycan king is excellent at acting?... maybe we should build a theatre for you." He replied through the mindlink, then he leisurely rose to his feet, throwing the last dried fruit in the air before catching up with his mouth.

"Hurry up?!" I growled through the mindlinked.

"If only the princess could see what you really are." he scoffed, then he threw my arms around his shoulder.

"I think your neck is sore... You’ll have difficulty sleeping tonight!!" He shouted so the princess would hear him.

"Ouch... it really hurts." I groaned dramatically.

"Hehehe. Father, if the werewolves see you like this they would clean their eyes to make sure you are not a doppelganger." Theo teased through the mindlinked.

"I believe they would die first of a heart attack, especially elder Dominic. I mean I have been your father’s best friend for centuries and I have never seen him like this... the power of a woman." Alaric laughed hard through the mindlink.

"You both should shut up or else I will teach you a lesson you will never forget." I snapped at them through the mindlink.

"But are you sure she is really Ember.."

Before Allaric could finish his question, Beowulf interjected. "Of course she is Ember, You and Theo should help us win her heart, else this handsome devil that pretends to be an angel will snatch her from us... this is war."

"Handsome devil? Why are you complimenting him, Beowulf?" I snapped at him as the bitter taste of jealousy spread through my chest. "If anyone should be referred to as a handsome devil, that should be me!"

"That was a slip of the tongue... I meant ugly devil. He is nowhere as handsome as you!" Beowulf rolled his eyes inwardly.

"Hehehehe." Alaric laughed through the mindlink, and almost dropped me down on the floor. My hands held onto his shirt as if my life depended on it.

Rhydian, who was trailing behind us, had a confused expression on his face, although he could not hear anything we were saying... but by our expression and change of aura, he knew something fishy was going on.

I kept my eyes half-lidded, my head leaning slightly against Alaric’s shoulder like I was too exhausted to lift it on my own. A performance, of course, but one I had perfected.

The moment we crossed the threshold into the room, I let out a groan. "Put me on the bed gently," I whispered through the mindlink. "We don’t want our dear knight thinking I’m capable of walking."

"You’re heavy," Alaric muttered under his breath, lowering me onto the thin mattress like I was made of glass. "And dramatic."

"Thank you," I replied shamelessly.

Rhydian stepped in a second later. He didn’t say a word, but his eyes scanned the room, before landing on me.

Then he rested his back on the entrance door.

Alaric and Theo lay on a mat.

"I can’t believe a prince and Gamma like me, is lying on the ground," Theo grumbled through the mindlink.

"Bear with it, your father is trying to woo a princess." Alaric snickered.

"We need to make her remember me," I joined them.

"So she can remember how you rejected her and let your pack chase after her until she fell off the cliff?"

Alaric’s words made me growl ferociously through the mindlink. "I had to reject her and you knew why!"

"Exactly, then why are we here trying to make her remember you? Why not let her go since you have already rejected her? Okay, let’s say she happens to remember you, what next? Beg for her forgiveness and bring her back to the Bloodshade pack? Will the werewolves accept her after everything? And would she want to go back with you?" Alaric’s teasing voice turned serious.

"If you know you can’t love her and protect her as your mate because of her bloodline, what is the point of us doing this?" He added.

Beowulf howled in my head. Those questions... they were exactly the ones I have been avoiding all this while. Will I be able to take her as my mate again? I wasn’t sure, because I could not find it in my heart to forgive what the fae princess had caused in the past.

So why can’t I just let go and let her live her life, now that she doesn’t have any memories about me?

I don’t know, but I just can’t. And I don’t want anyone near her, especially that fae guy.

"Father, what do you really want to do now? You got hurt badly that you even went feral... Are you sure you want to pursue the princess? Will the pack accept her?" Theo pushed his glass pack as he stared at the ceiling.

I have never felt this conflicted in my life. Caught in a circle between love and hate.

"She is our mate, Damon, we will not abandon her again! Remember our promise, we failed her the first time, we will not fail her again."