Page 4 of Beyond Fate

The mounting aggression inside Damon was really starting to wear thin. He was normally a chill guy, but now all he wanted to do was drive his fist through Nazaryth’s face.

Suddenly, Nazaryth flew backward then up, his wings flapping as he smirked down at Damon. “If you want to swing at me, you have to reach me, pup.”

“Do I look like a pup to you?” Damon snarled, trying to figure out how to work the damn things. The right wing flapped, but the left one sort of drooped.

“Concentrate.” Nazaryth spun flawlessly in a circle.

“I can’t do it!”

“Your whining might give your wings some lift.” He winked.

Damon closed his eyes and took a deep, cleansing breath, trying to purge the hostility right out of him. “You’re the experienced one, not me,” he gritted out.

Nazaryth flew close to the ground, as if daring Damon to come after him. “Fine, lesson over.” He touched down. “If you decide to try on your own, do yourself a favor and make sure it’s on level ground.”

Then he took off, soaring through the air and over the forest, disappearing from sight.

“Pull yourself together. You can’t act this way around your family,” he grumbled to himself. “They probably look at you as a monster now.”

Closing his eyes, he concentrated on tucking in his wings. Nothing happened.

“To hell with it. I’ll just sleep outside.” Damon’s family would probably sleep better without a freak under the same roof anyway.

Chapter Two

Damon rolled over and curled into a ball, breathing out slowly as he fought against the thirst burning in his throat and causing his stomach to cramp with pain. He wasn’t even sure how long he’d been lying in bed, but the intense pain had him sweating like crazy.

What was so messed up about this was the fact that, when Raidh had been attacked by vampires, Damon had prayed his mate was anyone but a bloodsucker. The universe had said “Hold my beer” and made Damon one instead.

On the bright side, his mate hadn’t been a vampire.

He was Unseelie, a dark fae. Nice sense of humor, fate. By the way, fuck you.

Damon should have just kept his mouth shut.

But things just kept piling up. His wolf was still acting like a psycho and felt bigger inside of him, stronger, snarlier, causing Damon to snap at everyone.

It wasn’t as if he was being an asshole on purpose. His heightened aggression wasn’t something he could control, but it did make him feel like a ticking time bomb.

It wasn’t a feeling he welcomed either. In fact, Damon desperately wanted to give Maverick and Zeus their blood back. If only it worked that way.

“Damon,” Jaytee called out from the stairs. “Dad sent me up here to tell you breakfast is ready.”

Thankfully, he hadn’t come to the bedroom door. Damon didn’t want his twin seeing him like this. He didn’t want any of his family to see how bad it was getting. They’d only force him to feed.

Which presented other issues.

A growl ripped from his parched throat when he heard the sound of fluttering wings growing closer. Damon knew who it was before the oversized pesky fly flew into his room.

“How’re you feeling, Mr. Grumpy Socks?” Elvine asked as Damon opened his eyes and glared at her. She was hovering just inside his bedroom, her colorful delicate wings fluttering rapidly behind her back as she snooped through his things on a top shelf.

Speaking of one of the issues.

Fae blood was magical and gave off an irresistible, alluring aroma. The first time Damon had felt its effect was when he’d met Raidh, but it had only happened once and never again with Jaytee’s mate.

However, with Casimir, the temptation was constant. But even after Damon’s initial feeding from Casimir, the underlying scent wasn’t as potent as it had been with Raidh.

Which was strange considering anyone with fangs who drank blood couldn’t resist the scent. Maybe the powers he’d gained diluted his craving for fae blood.

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