CHAPTER 31: CHAPTER 31: BROKEN, BUT YEARNING

DAMIAN’S POV:

"Y-yes," Harleigh says, her voice shaking and her sad eyes lowering to the floor.

It’s not easy to pretend I’m enjoying everything I’m doing to her when, deep inside, I’m breaking just as badly. But being soft and gentle with her didn’t work before, so now I have to show her a different side of me - the side I never thought I could pull off until she left me for Torrin.

Harleigh and I join dad and the Crimsonbane werewolves as they discuss plans for the upcoming double wedding.

Dad fakes his excitement, while Alpha Cassandra can’t hold hers back. To her, love and bond don’t matter. What matters is becoming a Luna even though many will see her infertility as her weakness and uselessness.

"Harleigh and I should shop together to find our wedding dress!" she exclaims.

Harleigh barely glances at anyone, her hands fidgeting on her lap.

The tension thickens when Alpha Cassandra speaks again.

"This is the first time I’ve seen a sad bride-to-be. Don’t tell me you wanna marry both your fated mates? But you can’t do that, can you? I mean, Alpha Torrin abandoned you now.... Not to mention his entire pack."

Harleigh’s hands and jaw clench. Still, she manages a fake smile this time. "No, it’s not that. I’m just tired. Please excuse me. I’ll be in my room now." She stands and adds, "I’ll be looking forward to buying our dresses together, Alpha Cassandra."

I escort Harleigh upstairs. There’s an urge to continue punishing her, but my conscience and my love for her demand I stop... at least for today. Punishing her isn’t my only goal. Regaining her love is too.

Later that night, while dad meets with the council in the study room, a Delta storms in, pretending to be apprehensive. He pretends to whisper what he and dad discussed a few days ago.

Then,...

Dad feigns shock as he announces another of his big lies. "Torrin has been killed by rogues!"

Murmurs erupt among the council, though a few members, like Beta Samuel, don’t seem bothered. Either they no longer care about Torrin, or they don’t believe dad’s lie.

I must keep an eye on them and make sure no one betrays us the way we betrayed Torrin.

We all rush outside.

Moments later, one of the patrol cars pulls up. Two Gammas unload a heavy body bag and unzip it for the council to see an unrecognizable, decaying corpse of a man with the same body type and size as Torrin. He wears one of Torrin’s favorite coats, that’s now smothered with dirt and blood. In it pinned the metal sigil of our pack.

"All our pack members must know about this," dad commands. "Put it on the news, TV, or newspapers. Then we’ll have a proper burial for Alpha Torrin first thing in the morning."

Overnight, the entire pack mourns the fake loss of the Alpha who is yet to die.

Dad and I return to the study room, but instead of celebrating now that no one is watching, he’s anxious.

"How long do you plan to keep Torrin alive?" he hisses. "I can’t lose everything I’ve worked for because of these unnecessary delays."

"We’ll kill Torrin when Harleigh marries me and bears my child," I reply.

He grunts, and sarcastically asks, "Will those make your wolf return?"

"My wolf didn’t disappear," I say, exhaling sharply. "I can see it whenever I think and close my eyes. I just can’t summon it... until now."

"I think you should seek the multi-eyed seer’s help again," he replies.

That’s probably a good idea. She may give me many more elixirs to fix all of my problems.

I drive toward the Forbidden Woods and meet the multi-eyed seer again, who’s just as contemptuous as last time.

"It seems your heart is more anxious and fearful now than the last time you came to me," she says.

"I need three elixirs from you," I demand. "One that can make me summon my wolf again. One for Torrin since the first was fully consumed. And the most important of all, one that can fix Harleigh’s bond with me."

"Ooh! You must be forgetting that I’m not one of your lower-ranked wolves you can boss around anytime you want. And I’m not a genie who grants unlimited wishes," she says.

"I’m desperate, please," I beg.

Her blood-curdling laugh echoes through her gilded home. "Can’t you see? You’re already paying the price for the elixir I gave you before. Are you sure you can still face the new consequences if I give you more?"

I swallow hard, acknowledging her warning. "Fine. If you don’t want to help me directly like last time, then at least tell me how I should get my wolf and Harleigh’s love back."

She turns serious, all her eyes shifting grotesquely at once. "Love can’t be forced. It must be earned. You can either regain Harleigh’s love or move on from her and survive the effect of completely losing what remains of the bond still inside you. Fulfill either one, and your wolf will respond to your call again."

"And if I fail at either one?" I ask, anxiety clinging to my voice.

"Then continue to suffer... until death claims you." She laughs again and snaps her bony fingers.

In an instant, I’m thrown back into the middle of the woods, and the gilded banyan tree is nowhere to be seen.

"I’m not gonna suffer forever! If I have to sell my soul to you or anyone worse than you, I will!" I yell at the top of my lungs, disturbing the small non-shifting animals nearby.

When I feel a little better, I climb my car and speed away.

Back at the Alpha’s mansion, Harleigh is already asleep in her bedroom.

My hand trembles as I touch her beautiful face.

"I’m sorry. I didn’t wanna do this to you, but I have to. You may have lost your fated bond with me, but mine still clings to me. If I let it go, I may lose my wolf completely or die. I can’t let that happen. That’s why I need you back. I need you to accept me, even if not as a fated mate... just a chosen one. Maybe that could save me."

I kiss her forehead and whisper, "I love you, even if the entire world is against it," before leaving the room.

Since sleeping has become impossible after my encounter with the seer, I head to the pack’s underground prison where Torrin is locked up just to feel at ease that he’s never gonna come between me and Harleigh again... that getting what I desire is possible without any kind of elixir.

But instead,...

Anger surges through me when I find the Gammas outside his cell sleeping.

I punch them in the face, forcing them awake.

Shocked and embarrassed, they scramble to their feet.

"If you hate your job, then just quit!" I growl.

None of them can meet my burning glare.

Then,...

I notice Torrin’s wounds healing faster than they should.

When I rub my fingers over them, they’re sticky. I lift my hand to my nose and murmur, "Ointments?"

His breath also carries the scent of herbal medicine and mushroom soup.

Someone came here to heal and feed him?!

Whoever it was probably failed to find the keys to his chains. Otherwise, Torrin would’ve escaped again!

I turn to the Gammas. "Install CCTVs in and out of this cell now!"

They can barely run straight, making me assume that they’re drugged and didn’t just fall asleep.

I clutch Torrin’s jaw and forcefully lift it so he’s facing me. "Tell me, who came here for you?"

"I don’t know them. Even if I do, why would I tell you?" he counters weakly.

Them?! It wasn’t just one?!

"I don’t know what I did to you, or why you want me to suffer," he says between heavy breaths. "But if you came here hoping to hear me beg for my life, then you’re wasting your time."

I smirk wryly. "Oh no. You don’t have to beg, because you’re gonna die anyway. Nothing you do can stop that."

He chuckles haughtily. The sound grows louder and louder until I shove a piece of his torn cloth into his mouth just to silence him.

Once the CCTVs are installed half an hour later, I assign three more Gammas to guard his cell. "Be vigilant. There are traitors lurking near. They’re probably the same ones who messed up Dr. Reyes’ laboratory a few days back."

I head back to Harleigh’s bedroom, my heart continues to burn with anger. My instincts tell me she’s one of those "them" who tried to free Torrin.

The loud thud of her bedroom door jolts her awake. Fear flashes across her face as she sinks back against the headboard.

"What’s going on?!" she asks.

I clutch her arms tightly, making her moan in pain. "Did you go to Torrin’s cell?! Did I not tell you not to?!"

"How could I when there are Gammas guarding me twenty-four seven?!" she shoots back.

That’s a strong alibi, but still hard to believe since she’s escaped before without the Gammas noticing.

When I shove her away while releasing her arms, her phone that’s hidden underneath the mattress, accidentally falls to the floor.

She lunges to grab it, but I snatch it first.

Fear amplifies across her face as I wave her phone in my hand. "Put your password on and let me see what you’re hiding here. Or else Torrin dies tonight."