CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: MARK OF A LIE
1033 Words
Damien's POV
My chest stayed tight the second I walked into the hall.
The air is already too thick. Bodies packed close, fur brushing silk. My ribs pressed against my shirt with every breath, like the room itself had gotten heavier since I stepped through the doors.
Around me, the wolves breathed easier for being here. Their shoulders loose, their voices pitched high with relief that their Alpha wasn't broken after all.
Clara's hand found my chest. Her fingers curled into the fabric, knuckles digging in until I felt the pressure. One impulse told me to pry her hand loose. The other reminded me what she'd given up for this moment. A wolf torn out and handed over so she could stand here. In our world that meant a crown. That meant me.
"Damien," she whispered, tilting her head. "I just want you to be happy. Are you ready? For us?"
Her voice pitched a half step higher than usual. Her thumb moved against my chest in a small, repeating circle she didn't seem to notice.
I reached for the pull under my ribs, the one that should have dragged my head toward her and locked it there. My chest stayed quiet. No tug. No heat. Only cold weight settled low in my stomach.
"If you're the one who pulled me back from the edge, the mark belongs to you."
My mouth went dry. A smile crossed her face and vanished too fast, replaced by an expression I'd seen before on people asking for something they knew they didn't deserve.
Past her shoulder, Kael leaned against a pillar. His eyes didn't blink. My chest tightened at the sight of him. Beneath the scar tissue where my bond had lived, the pull toward Sienna tightened. Buried too deep for me to reach it.
"I, Damien Adrian, claim Clara Arizona as my mate."
I lifted Clara's hand above our heads.
The hall erupted. Howls cracking against stone, fists beating wood. The pack roared with relief that their Alpha wasn't broken after all. Clara's face lit up with triumph, though her grip on my hand didn't loosen even after the noise started to die down.
"Let the ritual begin."
The elder approached with a candle. I gripped Clara's shoulders. A tremor ran through her, faster than a normal pulse.
"Ready?" I pitched my voice to carry. "If the bond is false, the ritual ends you. You have no wolf left to buffer the shock. If your soul isn't a match, you become a shell. A vegetable. You know the risk."
Her scent shifted. Something sharper underneath. Her nails dug into the elder's sleeve until the fabric bunched under her fist.
"Anything wrong?"
Her throat worked. She pulled air through her nose, held it too long, then let it go. "No. No, Damien. I'm your Luna. Do it."
She tilted her head back and exposed her throat. I leaned in. Heat radiated off her pulse point, carrying fear underneath it. Sharp and wrong. My canines pushed against my gums. Hunger rose in my gut. My teeth grazed her skin.
"Damien, NO!"
My mother's voice cut through and killed every other sound. Every set of eyes in the room turned on me.
Kael pushed off the pillar and crossed the floor slow and deliberate.
"Brother." He snapped his fingers. "Performance issues? Or is the beast finally realizing it's been fed a lie?"
"Shut up, Kael." I turned back to Clara, who was shaking now, both hands hovering over the spot on her neck. "What did you do to Sienna? Why is the bond screaming for her?"
"Damien, what are you saying?" Clara's voice cracked. Tears started tracking down her cheeks. "I gave up my wolf for you. I gave up everything. Don't you care?"
"Then why can't I feel you?" I closed the distance until my shadow fell over her. "Tell me the truth. Now."
"She's telling you she loves you," Kael cut in. "But you don't value the sacrifice. You're an empty Alpha with a starving wolf. Thirty days, Damien."
He raised his hand and ticked his fingers down one at a time. "Thirty days before the pack realizes their leader is a hollow shell. Thirty days before the succession moves to the next in line."
I spun toward him. My claws slid free. "Don't push me, Kael. I'm still the Alpha."
"The law doesn't matter when the mind is gone," Kael said. Unbothered.
Clara's hand closed around my forearm, her nails pressing in. "Sienna ran away. Your mother tried to stop her, but Sienna was angry. She pushed her. She's the reason your mother is dead." Her voice caught. A shaking finger lifted toward the oak doors where Clement stood.
He was my Beta. The man who'd held a line with me on three different borders. He walked forward with his face arranged into grief.
"Clement," I said. "What happened?"
"The girl ran, Alpha." His gaze stayed fixed past my shoulder. "Sienna saw you petrified and panicked. Your mother tried to keep her inside the wards. Sienna broke through. She's gone."
The words landed in my chest. Clement didn't lie to me. But if Sienna had killed my mother, why did my chest hurt so much?
"It's alright, Clara." My tongue felt coated in ash. I looked at Kael. "The marking is cancelled. We do it another day. Clement, clear the hall and tell me where my mother is kept."
"Damien, I knew you'd stay." Clara pressed herself against my chest, her arms locking around my waist.
"Yes, Alpha," Clement said.
Kael held still one beat longer than necessary. A smile crossed his mouth before he turned and disappeared into the shadows.
I stood in the center of the emptying hall with Clara's weight still against me, my eyes drifting toward the oak doors at the far end. The light shifted, and for a moment she was there. Sienna. Her hair wild, her eyes steady. A sword hanging from her hand with something dark running down the blade.
My hand lifted toward her without permission. My pulse slammed. Then the image was gone. Nothing left but the ring on my finger, pulsing warm against my skin.
- Writer
