Chapter 108: You are not my father
AYLA
"Do you feel better now?"
Damon’s voice came from behind me.
His arms circled my waist beneath the water which had gone lukewarm an hour ago.
I bit my lower lip.
It was late now, judging by how dark the room was getting. I could not believe what we had just done or the sounds that had torn out of my own throat. We had gone at it for hours before sleeping in each other’s arms and now we were in this bathtub, washing away the remnant of a sex filled day.
And yet, beneath the shame I was feeling about how willing I had been, there was the fact that I did feel better.
Sated was the word.
The fever that had burned beneath my skin for two days had finally stopped and the ache between my thighs was no longer a roar but a pleasant, humming soreness. My fingers found the place he had marked me.
"Yes," I whispered. "I feel better."
"Told you."
His mouth found the curve of my neck. I tilted my head without thinking, offering him the soft skin there, and felt him smile against me.
His hands moved over my body beneath the water, tracing the slope of my shoulder, the dip of my waist and the flare of my hip.
"You are beautiful," he murmured.
He turned me to himself and began kissing me again. His hands slid to my hips and pulled me onto his lap, and I felt him stirring against my thigh, already hard again, and my body answered.
The water cooled around us while the heat between us climbed.
I did not know how long we stayed like that.
Kissing, his hands everywhere while my fingers tangled in his wet hair.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and we both froze.
"My lady." A guard’s voice came. "Alpha Kieran approaches."
My eyes flew open.
I looked at Damon whose lips had curved in a wicked smile.
"Move," I hissed.
I scrambled out of the tub and snatched my robe from the hook, yanking it on and I was halfway to the door when I remembered Damon’s presence on my room.
"Stay here." I told him. "In here and do not make a sound."
Damon leaned back against the rim of the tub, utterly unbothered. "You are my mate. My father would not have a problem with seeing me in your chambers."
"No." I jabbed my finger at him. "You stay here."
"Fine" he chuckled.
I walked out of the bathroom, pulling my robe tight around me just in time to hear Alpha Kieran dismiss the guards at my door.
He walked into the room and started when he saw me, dripping wet.
"Did I interrupt something?" he asked.
"No, my lord." I said too quickly. "I was just taking a bath before I heard of your arrival ."
He nodded but said nothing, his eyes taking in the scattered bed and puddle of water I had tracked everywhere.
I wanted to sink through the floor.
"Is everything okay, my lord?"
"Everything is fine," he muttered, stepping closer.
My heart hammered in my ribs as he stopped walking and his hand rose to touch the side of my face.
I went still as he stroked my face, his eyes sad.
"I cannot believe I did not recognize you sooner." His voice cracked. "I am so sorry."
He had tears gathered at the corners of his eyes.
What is going on? I frowned in confusion.
He pulled his hand back and stepped away from me.
"I am here to tell you something very important, Ayla."
"Of course, my lord." I nodded.
"You heard the priestess." He turned toward the window, his back to me. "Your powers come from an Alpha bloodline."
"Yes, my lord."
Maybe my mother had confessed and he was here to tell me he found who my father was, I thought.
My heart hammered in anticipation.
"I am your father, Ayla. It is from my bloodline that you came."
I stared at him, the room suddenly tilting around my vision.
"I know how this must seem to you." He continued quickly, turning around to face me. "And I know how shocked you are. Quite frankly, it has taken me days to even understand or come to terms with it. But you...you are my daughter."
I was shaking my head before he finished.
"Is that what my mother told you?"
"She did not need to tell me anything. The truth is..."
"She is wrong." I cut in. "You cannot be my father. She is lying somehow. My mother is lying."
"Ayla..."
"No." I stepped back. The floor was cold under my bare feet. "No. No."
He sighed.
"I am going to leave you to process this, Ayla. But it has been confirmed even by the Moon Goddess herself."
I could not bring myself to speak.
How?
How was he...
"Listen to me, Ayla. No one has to know for now. You can imagine why I would say that, can’t you? This is a very sensitive matter and with everything that has been going on with the people. I cannot force this on them so soon but I am going to make sure I take care of you as I should have been doing since the moment you were born."
I could barely understand his words against the roar in my ears.
How long has my mother known? Did she let me call Soren my father and treat me like dirt whilst knowing the truth?
All those years of being a lowly Omega while I carried the Alpha’s blood?
They are wrong... they are all wrong!
there has to be some other explanation.
"Ayla?"
I raised my eyes to meet Alpha Kieran’s.
"I truly am sorry for not recognizing you."
I said nothing, merely watched him walk out of my room, the door clicking shut behind him.
Then I sank to the floor.
The bathroom door opened and Damon stepped out.
He was dressed now and judging by the look on his face, he heard everything.
"What the hell was that?"
I looked up at him.
"I want to be alone" I muttered.
"Ayla..."
"Leave!" I snapped.
Damon hesitated for a moment.
"Please... just go" my voice broke.
I waited until he was gone too before the tears finally came.
If I really was the Alpha’s daughter, did that mean I mated with my own brothers?