Chapter 266: Never A Social Visit
I turned around to see Damon staring at me with an unfathomable expression in his eyes. I instinctively reached into the bond to see if I could detect any emotions, but all I got was a tinge of jealousy, along with a faint sense of uneasiness.
The jealousy could be easily explained away by Kyle’s presence. But the uneasiness was rare― in fact, I could count on one hand the number of times Damon had shown any sign of trepidation since I got to know him.
This meant that this was sadly not a social visit, despite my best wishes. Something must have gone wrong somewhere, and I had to be a part of it. I began to shovel more food into my mouth, frantically chewing as much as I could. I had a feeling I wasn’t going to have much of an appetite later.
Meanwhile, Kyle looked utterly aghast at my behavior, his eyes darting from my mouth to Damon’s glowering eyes. He seemed to be wordlessly asking me to greet Damon, but my focus was on demolishing as much mashed potato as possible.
"Kyle," Damon said, and Kyle immediately leaped to attention. It would have been funny if it wasn’t so sad.
"Yes, Alpha!" Kyle exclaimed, grabbing his plate of food. "I was just leaving― you can sit here with Harper!"
"Sit back down," Damon barked out, and Kyle, along with nearly everyone else in the dining hall, did a double-take.
"Alpha?" Kyle asked hesitantly, barely believing his eyes. "Are you not here to... eat lunch?"
I finally took pity on poor Kyle, whose face was shifting between paper pale and rhubarb. That couldn’t be good for his constitution
"He’s here because he wants to talk to me. Isn’t that right, Damon?" I guessed, swallowing my mouthful of food. I glanced at Damon who was still standing behind me, like a particularly impatient sentinel.
"You have food stuck to the side of your lip," was Damon’s unimpressed reply. I flushed in embarrassment.
"Where is it?" I asked, trying to get to it with my tongue. Curse myself for not getting a napkin along with my plates of food. "Is it still there?"
"Of course it is," Damon grumbled. "And you can stop inhaling your food now. People might think I’m ill-treating you."
I decided not to dignify the latter half of his statement with a response. "Just tell me if the food is still stuck," I grumbled back. The barest flare of mischievousness was the only brief warning I got before Damon leaned down.
For one nonsensical moment, I thought he might kiss it off me. I held my breath. I saw how his eyes darted to mine, but then he reached out and swiped the corner of my mouth gently with the calloused pad of his thumb. Warmth spread throughout my body at his sudden display of affection.
Was he truly that jealous of Kyle that he had to do this?
Yet, I couldn’t say that I didn’t enjoy it. For what it was worth, it was a sweet gesture. My newly cleaned lips threatened to quirk up in amusement.
"It’s gone now," Damon smirked. I thought that was the end of it, but then he licked his tongue clean in one quick motion while making sure to maintain eye contact with me.
"I― You―" I spluttered weakly. If my face was flushed before, it was practically a flaming red by now.
I heard several loud, hastily aborted squeaks coming from all around the room, as though someone had trodden on a whole nest of mice. If I paid more attention, I would have found it hilarious that Lucia was the loudest mouse of them all.
Then it sank in. We were in public. Was that why Damon suddenly wanted to display this sort of playful affection that was more commonly preferred by Blaise? Was this his way of getting ahead?
That would make sense. I would have to be blind to miss the brewing tension between the two brothers when it came to me.
That thought had a sobering effect on my mind. I cleared my throat.
"Thanks," I said dryly, trying to sound calm and unaffected. "Now that that’s over, why are you looking for me? Can it wait until I finish lunch?"
I wanted a bit more time to learn more about Fangborne before I spent time with Damon again. I wanted to prove to him that I had taken his words to heart, and I was making the effort to improve myself― to become an accomplished luna that Fangborne could be proud of; that he could be proud to have as a mate.
"I’m literally right behind you. Do you think I would be here if it could wait?" Damon retorted, crossing his arms. "Bring your food along, we have much to discuss."
"Worth a shot." I shrugged to Kyle, who looked like he was torn between flinging himself on the ground to beg for his life or burrowing a hole to hide himself in. "Kyle, enjoy your meal. I’ll see you later."
Kyle only nodded. That poor man probably lost control of his vocal cords. I took both plates and followed Damon back into his office.
I couldn’t help but notice that Blaise was absent as Damon quickly cleared his table free of documents to make room for the plates.
"So... what did you want to see me for?" I asked, beginning to eat in a more sedate manner. I subtly pushed the second piece of pie towards Damon; maybe Jeeves knew all along that I might need enough food to share and gave me portions meant for two.
"Could I not invite you to lunch with no ulterior motives?" Damon asked, but since his desk had no food to speak of, I highly doubted his words.
"You could, but I would not believe you in the least," I said frankly. "Damon, is there trouble?"
"You can say that," Damon said, his voice grave. "Harper, I’m sending you to Thunderstrike."
I choked, accidentally spitting out a mouthful of food at Damon’s face.
