DAMON

Seamus’s eyes gleamed as though he’d stumbled upon some grand secret. I didn’t like that look on him.

“Wife?” he echoed, dragging the word as though it were practiced poison on his tongue. “And here I thought you were too practical for such rash decisions.”

Rash…decisions!?

I stiffened, rolling my shoulders back. I couldn’t let him know his words had bitten me where it hurt.

“It was necessary.” I hissed out of my lips and began to walk away.

A warning cue that he had better follow and not hang around Grace’s door.

His footsteps fell behind mine and I kept my head straight.

“Necessary.” He smiled thinly. “Funny, I don’t recall being informed. I even heard you paraded her before the pack in my absence, bound her to you in her pack, and now I find her hiding in kitchens like a servant. Forgive me if I’m… curious.”

I didn’t answer. Curiosity was his weapon. The less he knew, the better. Infact, the less anybody knew, the better.

Not when I found out the person who had me cursed in the first place.

We started down the corridor, the sound of our boots echoing against stone.

“Tell me,” he said, his tone light, “is it custom now for queens to swallow widow’smite?”

I froze mid-step. The world had come to a halt.

Widow’smite?!

He stopped too, watching me with wolfish interest. “Ah. You didn’t know.”

Heat flared under my skin, rage filling my blood.

Grace. That stubborn little fool.

My wolf was just about to start blaming me when I silenced him. Something about the way Grace was serious about not bearing my babies caused an admiration to flourish in my chest.

Grace was challenging…and provoking. It’s like she was a test from the moon goddess herself. How long till Damon snapped?

Very damn soon.

Seamus tilted his head, studying me. “From what I hear, that’s not the first time either” my head snapped towards him.

“When?” I questioned and Seamus shrugged. I moved closer, my palms balled to fists.

“Although some servants said they saw her last night. In the kitchens. Chewing widow’smite as though it were candy. Not exactly the image of a dutiful bride, is it?” I could smell the mockery in his words and a growl tore from me before I could cage it. The sound vibrated through the hallway, low and dangerous.

He only smiled wider. “You look surprised. Concerned, even. Isn’t she a sort of allegiance pawn? Don’t tell me you actually care for her. ” a chuckle left his lips and I snarled.

Allegiance pawn?

No. Grace was so much more than allegiance pawn. She was my way of getting retribution and even that isn’t enough.

“She’s my wife,” I snarled. The bond thrummed violently, “She’s mine. And I’ll gut anyone who suggests otherwise.” My wolf and I spoke together.

I wanted to take back my words but they weren’t exactly false. Yes, I hated her family and only wanted to use her to get my cure but she was not just a pawn.

His brows arched. “Even if she’s poisoning herself? Even if she intends to deny you an heir?”

My wolf roared inside me, rattling my bones. I wanted to tear the very stone apart at the thought of her hurting herself.

Our Grace. Our mate. My wolf roared beneath the surface.

I turned fully, facing Seamus.“You don’t know her.” I snapped but he chuckled darkly.

“No, but I know what I see and what I see is a magnet of doom roaming your halls. She will be your ruin, Damon. I felt it the moment I laid eyes on her.”

“Then you should have kept your eyes to yourself.” I fired.

His smile faltered, just slightly. “You would defend her so blindly? Against logic? Against your own blood?”

If he was going to test my loyalty for him against my fated mate. The one thing I know I had no control over then I was going to shock him.

“Yes.” With no hesitation in my tone.

Seamus’s gaze sharpened as if measuring my defense, realizing that the Damon he knew is no longer the Damon standing before him. His brows ticked with a small frown, something uncle Seamus hardly did.

“Perhaps, the joy of being newly married has your mind scrambled. I will forgive this but don’t say I didn’t warn you when she drags you into the abyss.”he warned and I chuckled.

“You better be mindful of your words uncle, lest I forget your place and treat you worse than my servants. I don’t think you’d like your Alpha ripping out your tongue just because you spoke ill of his wife,now…do you?” My voice carried a threat, my eyes glinted with defiance.

For a hot minute, my uncle and I stared deeply at each other. A small chuckle bounced off of his lips but quickly died When he finally realized I was not joking, I watched my uncle’s demeanor shatter.

He swallowed, his body vibrating with something I didn’t care to know.

“You’re dismissed,” I said and turned my back away from him. It took more than a minute before I heard his footsteps fade into the background but my mind was long since gone from my uncle and his irritating conversation.

Fury boiled in my veins.

So that was why she nearly got assaulted in the bathroom last night.

She had been poisoning herself in the highest defiance.

I smirked darkly. The rage spinning into something more sinister.

If she thought she could win with this clever trick then I was about to give her the shocker of her life.

“Send word to the seer,” I said to a guard nearby.

“Tell him to bring bloodbane,” I finished and the guard’s eyes grew wide.

Let’s see how Grace would react when she learns I know about her little escapades and I’ve brought something that would make her wolf yearn for me so hard that Widow’smite would never hold up.