The Mermaids' Mate

Chapter 24

~3 days later~ DAMIEN POV~

"Are we done for today?" I asked my mother. I didn't want to be here anymore. She had forced me to attend a stupid rehearsal with Tasha. Now. Of all days. She had to pick now. About twenty pack members gathered around to watch the rehearsal. Some have started to leave and return to their homes.

"Why are you acting this way? This should be the best day of your life. Your first rehearsal for the Alpha ceremony. And with Tasha at your side, you two will make a perfect couple." She replied, fixing my suit. I hated when people touched my suits.

I glared at her to know there was nothing to be happy about. My mate was lying unconscious in the pack's clinic after she had just slit her wrists. The doctors said it was a miracle she had survived. But she wasn't waking up, which wasn't good for me and my wolf. He had barely said anything these past three days, and it was starting to worry me.

"Well, now that you're here, Luna, maybe you could convince Damien to let me move in with him?" She whispered so the remaining pack members didn't hear.

Was she serious? She was responsible for putting Nexy in the fucking clinic, and she wanted me to let her sleep in the same bed as me? Unbelievable. I started walking towards Mike ignoring both of them.

"Damien, come back so we can talk about this." My mother said with a smile, not wanting to alert the pack members that something was wrong.

I stopped dead in my tracks and glared at Tasha. "Is there something wrong with your current living situation Tasha?" I raised my voice so the few pack members could hear.

"Um. Damien." She looked around uncomfortably.

"Is there something wrong?" I repeated myself. People stopped to look at us, wondering why their future Alpha and Luna were arguing.

"No, Damien." She muttered.

"I made it very fucking clear that we would not live together!" I yelled at her.

"Damien. Stop shouting at your mate." My mother scolded me.

"My mate? Do you really want to talk about my mate right now?" I shot back at her. Angry that she would dare call Tasha our mate. Even my wolf growled for the first time, hearing my mother refer to Tasha as that.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about, Damien. I am your mate." Tasha rushed over, wrapping her arms around me, but I pulled her away. Irritated that she had gotten makeup on my shirt.

"I told you often, do not touch my suits, Tasha." I scolded her in front of everyone.

Mike looked at my white shirt, now stained with makeup, and shook his head. "You fucked up, Tasha. Everyone knows Damien hates it when you touch his suits. That is his number one rule."

"Looks like Tasha will be paying for some expensive dry cleaners." Mike's dad, the current Beta, said, laughing, as he chatted with a few pack members who nodded in agreement. "Those are some expensive suits, Tasha, and as his mate, you should know by now how much he hates it."

Mike's dad, Robert, knew the truth about my real mate. All the other pack members assumed Tasha was my mate because my mother told them some thought she wasn't by the way I treated her. At this point, I didn't care if they knew the truth. I wanted them to know.

"Sorry," Tasha muttered. Since that day, she had been distant and quiet, making these past three days a little bearable not having her around.

I shook my head, irritated by her and my mother. Today of all fucking days. For the past three days, I've barely left Nexy's side. I would watch over her, hoping she'll wake up. I would hold her hand and sometimes talk to her, praying she could hear me. Her parents and the doctors were the only ones allowed in her room. I wouldn't even let Amy and Melissa visit her. Mike or Luca would stand at her door guarding her when I wasn't there. I didn't want her alone for even a second.