Chapter 43 - Dinner With The Commander’s Family

The girl rolled her eyes, and turned inside, but blocked the door without allowing Echo and Damon in, "Mom, dad, how many Protectors did you invite? What's next the whole mansion will show up at our doorstep."

While Echo was ready to turn around and leave the very unwelcoming family who had invited them, the commander came to the door.

"Inside! Now! Go help your mom!" the commander ordered the girl, who didn't hesitate to glare at Echo and Damon, before vanishing into the house.

Echo tilted her head as she glared at the commander with crossed arms. If she had known that she had to spend time at dinner with a family who was going to glare at them the whole time she would have easily avoided showing up.

The commander did not even turn to glance at their guests, and he just threw out the words, "Come in!"

Echo walked in, picking the cub, who was patiently sitting at her feet. She turned back to glance at Damon with a sweet smile, who pursed his lips as he followed her.

Though the commander did not take much notice of Echo, he made sure to glare at Damon, who did not back down either.

"Hi! You made it," Jasmine smiled, walking towards Echo and Damon. She had a broad smile on her face, as she hugged Echo. "Come sit down. I just finished making the table. Jane and Sebastian are here too."

Echo smiled back at Jasmine, and turned to Damon. To her surprise, both Damon and the commander were stuck in a staring contest. Despite having a similar glare, the two had a totally different aura. Damon looked like he would rain hellfire on everyone, while the commander had a stone cold glare.

Turning to Jasmine, Echo raised her eyebrows. Jasmine just smiled, and turned back to the two men.

"Let's go eat!" Jasmine raised her voice, making sure to glare at her husband.

Echo gently kept the cub on the ground, and looked at the commander and Damon. Damon's eyes turned dark as he tilted his head ever so slightly. The commander was not intimidated at all, but turned to his wife.

Echo held Damon's hand. She thought he was angry, but he was rather calm. His eyes turned back to normal when he looked at Echo, and even gave her a slight smile when she held his hand.

"You okay?" Echo asked, leaning her head closer to Damon.

"Never better, love," he responded in a soft voice, and entwined his fingers in hers.

Echo smiled at the little action he did. She looked down at their hand, and back at his face. She felt her heart leap, as he was proudly holding her hand, and didn't even want to let it go. She wished she could show the moment to everyone in the world, but she snapped out of her trance when she heard Sebastian's voice.

The commander walked past his wife, towards the dining area. Sebastian and Jane were seated at the table, alongside Ryder.

Echo and Damon followed Jasmine to the dining area. As soon as they sat down two young girls rushed to the dining table, and sat beside the commander and Jasmine. Echo recognised one of them as the girl who opened the door for them. The other girl looked like she was in her early teens.

Jasmine introduced the two girls to Echo and Damon, "Calixta, Ember, say hi to Echo and Damon."

A forced smile formed on Echo's face, and the girls smiled at her too. Damon nodded his head slightly with a stoic expression.

The rest of the dinner was rather awkward. Jane and Jasmine made small talk. Sebastian glared at Damon a few times, who ignored him. The commander was keeping a close eye on everyone at the table.

'Ugh! This is going to be a long dinner,' Echo thought to herself. She glanced at Sebastian and the commander, realising that they were staring at Damon who was casually having dinner. His face was void of any emotion.

Finally Sebastian spoke as he made eye contact with Echo, "So you send me to the Healer's Room and don't even apologise?"

Echo chuckled at his question. He asked her for a fight, why would she have to apologise to him?

"Weren't you the one who challenged me?" Echo replied back with a question. She cut the meat on her plate and gently chewed on it.

Calixta's eyes widened, "Wait! You put him in the Healer's Room?" she asked with excitement written all over her face.

Echo nodded with a smirk. She never thought that she would see a smile on Calixta's face.

"So you're the warrior sent by the witches?" Ember asked with the same energy as Calixta.

Before Echo could reply, the commander did, "Didn't I tell you not to bring this up at dinner?" He turned to the girls with a cold look on his face.

"I don't see anything wrong with this… conversation," Sebastian added. The commander turned to him with a glare, but it did not worry him at the slightest.

Echo sighed. She didn't want an argument to break out at the table. Smiling awkwardly, she leaned back on her seat, looking around for Hunter. She had not seen the cub for a while, and it was making her anxious.

Where could the cub have gone? What was she even thinking by running around in the commander's house? Echo felt her heart clench. If the cub did something, she would be responsible for it.

The thoughts in her head made her forget about the ordeal at the table. She snapped out of her thoughts at the sound of a shriek.

"Ahh! Why is there a tiger in our house?!!" Ryder screamed at the top of his lungs. He was staring behind Echo and Damon.

The commander's eye widened as he instinctively stood up, and his sword appeared in his hand. Sebastian stood up with his sword drawn too.

Echo turned around to see a large tiger, with black and white stripes. She immediately stood up, and caught the commander's sword as he tried to attack the tiger.