His Blue Moon Princess
Chapter 20

I'm totally panicking right now. A shackle is running from one of the bed's feet to my ankle, with a big leather bracelet holding it up. Why the hell am I chained to this bed? I look at Tonia, trying to get a decent, logical answer to what is going on, but she just seems "Nora, I... Sorry, I couldn't stop him..."

really uneasy.

"Tonia? ...Don't tell me this is Damian's idea."

Her silence is more than eloquent for me, but I can't believe her. Is he crazy? Why would he chain me to the bed like a dog?! I try to force on it, but of course, it won't go off. He can't do this to me! I get out of bed, only to realize the chain is about ten feet long, just enough for me to reach my bathroom. I take my head in my hands, unable to believe what's happening.

"Nora are you okay?"

"I'm not, Tonia! Why would he do this?! I'm chained to a bed!"

She really looks sorry, exchanging glances with her brother.

"I swear I tried to stop him, Nora, but he didn't listen. He said he doesn't want you out until they have caught that guy, Marcus."

Oh my Goddess, is it because of what I told him? Did he freak out because I told him the details of when Marcus assaulted me? I remember his last words before I fell asleep. He really meant it. He won't let me out until they have caught him. But he didn't have to chain me to that bed like some animal! I try pulling on it, but Tonia intervenes to stop me.

"Stop, stop, Nora, you're worrying me. You really shouldn't be moving around so much when you collapsed earlier..."

"Tonia, I don't care! I don't want to be chained! Not by Damian or anyone else! Where is he?!"

"He's not here, he had to go back to work. He left about half an hour ago..." "Call him."

I am looking straight at her, making her clear I won't stop until I can actually talk to him. She sighs but takes out her phone. I'm so angry, I'm almost shaking right now. She gives me her phone, and within a minute Damian is at the end of the line. "What is it?"

"Damian, you can't chain me to a damn bed!"

"I'm in a meeting right now."

"I don't care! You just can't do this! You undo it right now! I can't believe you did something that crazy to me!"

"You are safe where you are, Nora. I don't want to risk you sneaking out on Tonia and Bobo again and getting yourself in danger."

"Damian, I promise I won't do that again without telling you. I swear. But I don't want you to force me like this. I don't want to be chained like a dog!"

"No."

"Damian!"

But he hangs up on me without letting me finish. I let out a s****m of frustration. How can he do this to me! I know I shouldn't have snuck out, but that doesn't mean he can go ahead and do something like this to me!

Tonia is nervously playing with one of her braids, visibly feeling really sorry about the situation.

"Do you have a key to this thing? Answer me honestly."

"No, baby girl, I swear I don't. The Boss knows I was against this, so he won't trust us with a spare key."

"Bobo, can you break this bed?"

He lets out a growl and shakes his head. I can't blame him. This thing is obviously too big, but I had to ask. I sigh. I can't believe this....

I need a clear head. I grab new clothes in the closet and head to the bathroom. It really is long enough for me to take a shower with this horrendous thing still hanging on my ankle. I take my time in the bathroom, washing my hair and body with cold water to try and think. I'm too angry to make good decisions right now.

While under the water, I keep thinking about what to do. I can't let Damian do this. I know how stubborn he is, but I just can't let him win. I understand I went too far, but this is not security, this is a punishment.

I get out of the shower and start dressing up. I randomly picked some black lingerie, but I realize this shackle is a nightmare to even put my panties on! I can somehow manage to pass the underwear through the hole, but that means I can't even wear proper pants as long as I have this thing on! By chance, I choose a sweater dress that I can actually put on with no difficulties, but I'm still mad!

I glare at my reflection in the mirror, with my wild black curls falling all over my shoulders. I look like an angry panther, and my scar seems somewhat broader since I'm pissed. But I also realize my eye color has slightly changed. From a natural dark blue, my wolf's recent awakening has given it a nightly shining shade, like two sapphires. Even if I like this change, it doesn't minimize my anger one bit.

I'm not going to go along with this change. ... But what should I do?

*** 3 days later***

*Damian*

"Nora, please."

She is sitting across me on the bed, but she still ignores me. Her eyes are fixed on the sunset outside. It's already been three days. I can't take it anymore.

"Nora, I don't mind if you give me the silent treatment, but you have to eat. Please."

She's already so thin-why does she have to be on a hunger-strike now? She fainted just three days ago! Tonia said she only exits her bed to go to the bathroom and change. I look at the chain on her ankle, and something indescribable pierces me. I know.

I know she's angry at me for doing this to her. She was furious on the phone, and since then, she hasn't talked to me. Not a word. She only speaks to the siblings, and that's it. Bobo is laying behind her, like a big cushion, supporting her as she sits. I have to tame my wolf, since he doesn't like another male touching her, even though Bobo is not a threat in that way. He is just protective of Nora, as usual. They all are. She looks so fragile, like she could break at any moment. Yet, nowadays she has this fierce look in her eyes; her inner wolf makes them shine with this beautiful blue.

I wish she could understand.

How much I want to protect her. How unbearably precious she is to me. I want to shield her, protect her, hide her from the world where no one can ever harm her. I have lost her once. And for ten years I had to endure the pain of not being able to protect her. How did she endure it all? My wolf went mad every single time something happened to her, it was infuriating. Knowing she was in pain, suffering somewhere, and not being able to do a thing. I have searched for her for so long. Now that she is actually here, I'm terrified with the thought of losing her.

I want to s*******r them.

Find every single person who ever dared to lay a hand on her and kill them with my own hands. She is too gentle for this, she doesn't understand. How much I hate them, how hard it is for me to contain this violent part of myself. When she went out... Oh Moon Goddess, I could have ordered for that wretched Clan to be destroyed within seconds, just for the sake of her coming back safely to me. Nora doesn't know how much blood these hands are tainted with. She doesn't know all I've done to be where I stand now, and yet, I can't regret a thing when she is right in front of me now. Just looking at her makes it all worth it.

And yet my mate is perishing because she hates what I've done. But I'm terrified. With the thought of her being in danger again. I was furious at Liam. How could he bring her back there? If he wasn't my brother, I.... But she came back now. She is here, where I can see her, where I can protect her.

"Nora, look at me, please."

When she finally looks at me again, I'm taken aback by how much I feel for her. Her pale skin, her thin body. The way her fingers play on her long, curly black hair. The way she can't help but blush slightly whenever our eyes met. Her thin lips.

I breathe in, trying to hold it in.

I take her hand, and surprisingly, she doesn't repel me. Her fingers are so thin and pale compared to mine, like a child's. I take them closer, and slowly kiss her palm. Nora smiles gently, and it's hard to remember she's actually mad at me... Is she? I don't see any anger in her eyes, it's like... She's just waiting for me. I breathe out a sigh.

I know what she wants, but... It's hard. She might want to leave again. And we still haven't found that scum that dared to touch her. Oh, I can't wait for Liam to replace him. Once he is found, he'd better be alive, because I want to kill him with my own hands. I won't let him get to her. Not him, or anyone. I'll protect her. I'll protect Nora whatever it takes. And this time, no one will take her from me. No matter what, I'm not losing her. Never again.

Now I am strong enough for that. It's not like before. No one can stop me, and those who try will regret it.

But Nora is getting stronger, too. I can feel it. Now her wolf is fully awake, and she is definitely getting fiercer. Nathaniel thinks I should trust her more, but... I don't want to expose her. Can't she just stay here and live peacefully? She hates it, I know. I know. I sigh, and my hand goes to her shackle. I use my strength and tear it in a few seconds with an annoying metallic sound.

"...Thank you."

Moon Goddess, it is so good to hear her soft voice again. She gets dangerously close to me and puts her hands on my face. I don't know how much more I can bear before my wolf goes crazy. We want her. We want her so badly, it's hard to keep it in. But I don't want this. I don't want to hurt or frighten her. Somehow Nora seems to have accepted a mate like me, and I don't want to lose that.

Boss, she needs to eat....

Leave us.

Tonia and her brother exit the room without discussion. Nora sees them going, but she doesn't say a thing; she's focused on me. Her cold hands on my neck are enough to drive me crazy-how can she not realize that? She is sitting facing me, and I have to fight my wolf every second to not push her on this bed and make her my mate for real. I want her. I want her so, so badly.

But without even knowing how cruel she is, she just smiles at me and whispers. "Damian, I promise I won't leave again without telling you. But you can't, ever, do that to me again. Don't restrain me. It's like I'm back in that basement all over again." The basement. They had her locked in a f*****g basement. When my brothers told me, I was that close to going there myself. If Nathaniel didn't have a plan for them already, I would have gone there and torn that scum Alpha to shreds.

I nod. Nora is right. If I lock her up, even if I can persuade myself that it's for her own good, I'm no better than them. I lean towards her and kiss her forehead. I love that smell of hers. She smells like summer rain and wildflowers. "Okay, I promise, but... Don't do something like that again. Take Bobo and Tonia with you, and tell me, or Nathaniel."

"So, you are okay with me going out again?" She asks, suddenly smiling brightly.

I want to say no. I really do. Stay here, stay safe. Where I can see you. Nora has no idea what a battle it is going to be once she steps out there. You have yet to experience how dangerous of a world we live in, Nora. Can't she see I just want to protect her? No, she can't. Because she has lived trapped forever, and now she has a wolf inside her urging her to go out there and take her stand. Nora has an Alpha heritage; I've realized it. It's in her eyes, the way she doesn't avoid others gazes and how she speaks, asserting herself more and more. But now, she is just a soon-to-be-eighteen girl, looking at me with joy and excitement.

I nod. "Yes, I am. Nora, just promise me to not do such a reckless thing ever again."

"I won't, I swear. All I want is for you to trust me. Look."

She places a bit more space between the two of us, and I see her control breathing and closing her eyes. I hear the sound of clothes tearing up, and most beautiful wolf I've ever seen now sits right before my eyes.

She is... breathtaking. A gorgeous white wolf, with piercing blue eyes and a slender figure. She looks at me, and my wolf almost loses it all from seeing his counterpart for the first time. How can she be so heavenly? White wolves with blue eyes are the rarest. Werewolves' eyes change color when they shapeshift, so we match actual wolf eye colors with natural colors like brown, gray, yellow, or green. But blue is very rare, as it is the pup's eye color. But not only does Nora keep her beautiful blue eyes, but she also has pure, spotless white fur. In our oldest legends, white wolves are said to be the most loved by Moon Goddess, her blessed children. And Nora is one. I'm not even that surprised by her other appearance.

"You're beautiful...." I whisper to her.

The white wolf comes closer, and I gently caress her head. But her paw is on the chain, pushing it towards me. That's when I understand.

She could have escaped. Long ago. In her wolf form, she is thin enough taking her ankle of the shackle, and it would have taken two seconds. But she didn't. She stayed to prove she was just waiting for me to trust her and free her myself. I sigh. I'm such an idiot... Suddenly, I feel her changing again, and I close my eyes while taking off my t-shirt to give it out to her. Nora is blushing, and unbearably cute as she wears this oversized top.

"Thank you," she says with a smile.

And I can't take it anymore. I grab her waist and draw Nora to me in a kiss I've waited way too long to give her.