Chapter 11 Damon's Discovery (cont'd)
Damon stands in the doorway, his eyes widening when he sees me. For a moment, neither of us moves. We just stare at each other across the dim storage room, and I can see the exact moment understanding dawns on his face.
"Sage?" His voice is confused, concerned. "What are you doing down here?"
"I—" My mind goes blank. I can't think of a single believable excuse.
"Are those..." He steps closer, his eyes dropping to my overstuffed pockets. "Are you stealing food?"
The word hangs between us like an accusation. Stealing. That's what I am. A thief. Stealing from my own pack because I'm too scared to ask for help.
"Damon, please—"
"Why?" He cuts me off, and now there's something else in his voice. Hurt. "If you needed food, why didn't you just ask? The pack takes care of its own. You know that."
"It's not that simple."
"Then explain it to me." He closes the door behind him, giving us privacy. Making this conversation inescapable. "Talk to me, Sage. What's going on?"
I want to lie. Want to brush this off as a misunderstanding and walk away. But I'm so tired. So tired of carrying this alone. And maybe—maybe Damon is different from his brother. Maybe he'll actually listen.
"I can't tell you here," I whisper. "Not where someone might hear."
He considers this, then nods. "The kitchen. Everyone's asleep. We can talk there."
The walk to the kitchen feels like a death march. Damon doesn't say anything, just walks beside me, his presence both comforting and terrifying. When we reach the kitchen, he locks the door behind us and gestures for me to sit at one of the prep tables.
"Now," he says, settling into the chair across from me. "Tell me everything."
So I do.
It all comes pouring out—weeks of abuse that I've been holding inside. I tell him about Stella's cruelty, about the bruises she carefully hides, about the verbal attacks that happen whenever no one else is watching. I tell him about confronting Mason, about his cold dismissal, about the way he told me to stay away from his mate.
I tell him everything except the pregnancy. That secret is still too dangerous to share.
By the time I finish, I'm crying. Not the quiet, controlled tears I've learned to hide, but full-body sobs that shake my shoulders and make it hard to breathe. All the pain I've been suppressing, all the fear and loneliness and desperation, comes flooding out.
Damon doesn't say anything for a long moment. When I finally look up at him, his expression is a mixture of fury and disbelief.
"Mason knows?" he asks, his voice dangerously quiet. "He knows Stella is hurting you and he's doing nothing?"
"He chose her," I say bitterly. "She's his mate. I'm just... I'm no one."
"That's not true." Damon's hands clench into fists on the table. "You're pack. You're family. What she's doing—what he's allowing—it goes against everything we stand for."
"But who's going to believe me over the Luna?" I wipe my eyes with the back of my hand. "Who's going to side with me against Mason's fated mate?"
"I would." The words are firm, certain. "I believe you, Sage. And I'll stand with you."
For a moment, hope flares in my chest. Maybe I don't have to run. Maybe with Damon's support, I can actually fight back. Maybe—
"We'll go to his father tomorrow," Damon continues, already planning. "We'll tell him everything. Alpha Grey won't tolerate this kind of abuse in his pack, mate bond or not."
And just like that, the hope dies.
"No." I shake my head frantically. "Damon, you can't tell anyone. Please. If Stella finds out I told you, she'll—"
"She'll what?" His eyes narrow. "What else has she threatened you with, Sage?"
I can't answer that. Can't tell him about the baby without revealing why I'm so desperate to leave. Why I'm gathering supplies and hoarding money like my life depends on it.
Because it does. My baby's life depends on it.
"You don't understand," I say instead. "This isn't something your father can fix. Stella is Luna. The pack already loves her. If I accuse her publicly, I'll be the one who looks crazy. Vindictive. Like I'm just jealous because Mason chose her over me."
"Then what's your plan?" Damon leans forward, his voice intense. "You're stealing food, Sage. Small amounts, but consistent. That's not random hunger. That's... that's preparation. You're planning to leave."
He figured it out. Of course he did. Damon has always been perceptive, has always seen things others miss.
"I have to," I whisper. "It's the only way I'll be safe."
"Safe from what? From Stella's abuse? Sage, running away isn't the answer. Let me help you. Let me protect you."
"You can't protect me from this." I stand up, suddenly needing distance. "You're Mason's beta. Your loyalty is to him, to the pack. If it comes down to choosing between me and Stella—between me and your future Luna—you'll choose her. Everyone will."
"That's not true—"
"It is!" The words come out sharper than I intended. "Look at what's already happened. I told Mason what she was doing and he dismissed me. Told me to stay away from her. What makes you think your father would be any different? What makes you think anyone in this pack would choose an orphan nobody over their Alpha's fated mate?"
Damon flinches at the word orphan. It's cruel, throwing my lack of family in his face like that, but it's also true. I have no bloodline here. No powerful relatives who would demand justice on my behalf. I'm only part of this pack because the Greys took pity on a lost child years ago.
"So you're just going to run?" Damon asks quietly. "Disappear in the middle of the night with a backpack full of stolen supplies? Go where? Do what? Sage, you'll be a lone wolf out there. Do you understand how dangerous that is?"
"More dangerous than staying here?" I laugh, but there's no humor in it. "At least out there, I'll only have to worry about survival. Here, I have to worry about Stella killing me and making it look like an accident."
"She wouldn't—"
"She would." I meet his eyes, letting him see the fear in mine. "She hates me, Damon. Really, truly hates me. And she won't stop until I'm gone. One way or another."
Silence falls between us. I can see the conflict on Damon's face—the war between believing me and his loyalty to his Mason, to his pack. He wants to help. But he also doesn't want to believe his Mason could be so callous, that their pack could be so broken.
"Give me time," he finally says. "Don't leave yet. Let me figure out how to handle this. Let me talk to Mason—"
"No!" I grab his arm, desperate. "You can't tell Mason. Please, Damon. Promise me you won't tell him."
"He's my Alpha—"
"And I'm asking you, as someone who's supposed to be my friend, don't tell him." My voice breaks. "If you tell Mason, he'll tell Stella. And if Stella knows I told you everything, she'll make my life even worse. Please. Please, Damon."
He looks tortured. Genuinely conflicted. "Sage, I can't just stand by and watch this happen."
"Then help me leave." The words surprise even me. "Help me gather enough supplies to survive. Help me get out of here safely. That's the only way you can actually help me."
"I can't do that." He pulls away from my grip, running his hands through his dark hair in frustration. "I can't help you run away from the pack. From your home."
"This isn't my home anymore." The truth of it settles over me like a heavy blanket. "It stopped being my home the moment Mason rejected me for Stella."
"He didn't reject you—"
"He did." I cut him off. "Maybe not in the official sense. Maybe he didn't sever the bond or banish me. But he rejected me in every way that matters. And I can't stay in a place where I'm not wanted. Where I'm not safe."
Damon opens his mouth to argue, then closes it again. He knows I'm right. He can see it in the bruises I carefully hide, in the weight I've lost, in the fear that lives in my eyes now.
"I need time to think about this," he says finally. "This is... it's a lot, Sage."
"I understand." And I do. I'm asking him to choose between his brother and me. Between pack loyalty and doing what's right. That's not a small thing.
"Don't do anything rash," he adds, moving toward the door. "Don't leave yet. Give me a few days to figure out the best way to handle this."
I nod, but we both know it's an empty promise. I'm running out of time. Stella is getting suspicious. The longer I stay, the more dangerous it becomes.
Damon unlocks the kitchen door, then pauses with his hand on the handle. "Sage? Why were you really taking that food? The truth this time."
My hand instinctively moves to my stomach before I can stop it. It's only for a second, barely noticeable, but Damon's eyes follow the movement.
I watch as understanding dawns on his face. Watch as his eyes widen and his mouth opens in shock.
"Sage," he breathes. "Are you... are you pregnant?"
And there it is. The secret I've been so desperately trying to hide, exposed in a single unconscious gesture.