Chapter 188: Scandal
Dahlia’s eyes were like that of a hawk who had spotted its prey, squinting with her eyes narrowed at the two marks on my shoulder. They had long healed, leaving behind two scars on each side where the fangs had punctuated my skin, but it was obvious that it couldn’t have been anything else other than a mark.
Instinctively, my hand flew to cover the one on my right shoulder, cowering back from Dahlia’s gaze. However, she was quick to move. Her hands reached out like a claw, clamping down on my arm before yanking me over. With my hand in hers, she had a clear view of the marks on my shoulders.
"My eyes hadn’t tricked me after all," she hissed, her voice low with a growl. "You have two mating marks?!"
I could practically see Dahlia’s face turn green with jealousy. She instantly spun her gaze to look at Blaise before her eyes scoured across the room to where Damon was. He had stood up from his seat on the couch and was now staring wide-eyed in our general direction.
Damon’s face had blanched pale when he confirmed that my marks could be seen in clear view. Panic coursed through my veins from varying sources― Blaise’s, Damon’s, and my own. My hands were starting to get clammy and my mouth suddenly tasted bitter. I thought I was going to gag.
Blaise was the first to recover. He quickly corrected his expression, coming over to tug Dahlia’s grip from my hands. When his eyes landed on the red marks across my arm, his gaze darkened for just a fraction of a second, blink and I would’ve missed it. However, there was no denying the flash of anger that ran through me at the same instant.
Gently, he ran his thumb over the marks which Dahlia had left in my skin with her nails, soothing the irritated bit of flesh as best as he could with his touch.
However, Dahlia didn’t care that I had wormed free from her grasp. She crossed the room just as quickly as Blaise did, and without warning, she tore open Damon’s shirt.
Collective gasps rang out in the room, mainly coming from Blaise and I, while Damon stared horrified at Dahlia’s expression.
This was it. We were done for. If Dahlia saw the mark on Damon’s shoulder, she would put two and two together and finally realize that we had been playing her for a fool.
Only, she didn’t.
"What do you think you’re doing?" Damon yelled, holding up the tattered pieces of his clothes. The t-shirt — or what was left of it — loosely hung on his body, the collar ripped to shreds and revealing both shoulders, one of them was where my mark would’ve been.
Yet, no matter how much I squinted, I couldn’t spot a mark. When I turned to Blaise with a questioning gaze, he seemed equally surprised.
"Are you out of your mind?!"
"But... What... How?" Dahlia asked, flabbergasted.
She stepped back in shock, not believing her eyes when she noticed how Damon’s flesh was clean of any marks. Sure, there were old scars and wounds that littered his body, but none of them even came close to resembling a mating mark left by another wolf.
"What did you expect to find?" Damon scoffed, his anger not just for show. "Just because Harper has two marks on her shoulder doesn’t mean that I bear a matching one."
"I... I’m sorry!" Dahlia apologized, the fury and betrayal melting into horror when she realized her mistake. "I just thought―"
"Thought what?" Damon retorted. "That I would choose to marry someone else even when I am already mated with another?"
"I―"
Dahlia was close to tears. Her cheeks were already beetroot red with embarrassment as she shook her head profusely, refusing to meet Damon’s eyes. Panicking, she reached forward and tried to hold Damon’s hand, but the latter quickly dodged.
Damon simply shook his head before storming out of the room, slamming the door behind him on the way out. The remaining three of us jumped a little where we stood when the sound rang out. Eventually, only silence followed.
Dahlia’s shoulders were slumped. She remained where she stood previously when Damon was still present, unmoving as she stared stoically at the floor.
"When you’re married you’ll understand," Blaise calmly said with a serene smile, his expression not once faltering. "In the throes of the moment, I accidentally marked the wrong side of Harper’s neck. We thought it would go away, but it unfortunately stayed. Werewolves can’t have a second mark, anyway, especially if the second isn’t from a fated mate."
Blaise’s voice prompted Dahlia to turn around. I had to bite down my shock when I noticed the tears welling in her eyes, her hands clenched into fists by her side.
"It’s an easy source of misunderstanding," I added, casting a quick glance at Blaise when I caught onto what he was trying to do. "That’s why I try to hide it most of the time. I’ll make sure to cover it up with a bandage for the ceremony."
"The ceremony..." Dahlia echoed forlornly. She sniffed loudly, her eyes turning as red as her cheeks. "Would he still..."
"I’m sure my brother would understand," Blaise said, batting it off. "He’s simply upset that anyone would doubt his loyalty. Wolves mate for life, after all, and if he had chosen his partner, he wouldn’t stray easily."
Dahlia slowly nodded. She raised a hand and quickly wiped the tears from her eyes. "I should apologize to him."
"It might be best to give him some time alone," Blaise advised. "You should get some early rest too. We’ll talk to him. Don’t worry too much about tomorrow."
"That’s right," I said, jumping in. "It’s your big day tomorrow. You wouldn’t want to host the wedding with swollen eyes, right?"
Dahlia could only robotically nod. She walked out of the room with slow steps, barely sparing us a second glance. We trailed after her, poking out heads out of the dressing room to watch as she trudged down the corridor and disappeared past a corner. Only once she was out of view did I turn my gaze to Blaise.
It was no surprise that Dahlia was confused. Even I was, and I know for a fact what I had left in Damon’s flesh― a mark that would last a lifetime.
"How?"
