Damien's POV
I leave the courtyard with the taste of her fear still sharp in my mouth. Brie’s words sit under my skin like burrs. She thinks I hunted and bullied her and I wanted the same thing my father wanted.
The great hall still hums with voices and the smell of spilled ale. I cut through it without slowing down.
Warriors glance up and grin. I ignore them.
The study door stands half open with light spilling across the stone floor. I push it wider.
My father sits behind the heavy oak desk, a glass of dark liquor in one hand. My brother, Lixas, leans against the bookcase, his arms folded, watching everything with that quiet calculation he never bothers to hide.
My father looks up. “There he is. Come to report how soft the omega’s neck felt?”
I close the door. “I come to talk about
