Chapter 190 190
Aurélie POV
“Bloody hell, Damien,” Gaston snaps, his voice already laced with poison. “You let them call another male their father?”
There it is the venom. I knew he wouldn’t hold it back for long.
“What makes you think they’re Damien’s?” I sneer, every syllable sharp with warning. My children are not possessions to be claimed by the Garnier bloodline.
My aggression only seems to ignite him further.
He rises slowly from his chair, deliberately, asserting dominance as he leans forward over the desk. The wood groans beneath his weight.
“Don’t insult my intelligence,” he growls. “The boy especially there’s a powerful wolf beneath the surface. Awakening earlier than usual…” His voice trails off as his gaze shifts toward the door they’d just walked through.
A chill crawls down my spine.
“You need to leave,” Damien cuts in coldly. “Before my men escort you off my land. I’m the Alpha King now not you. That was the agreement.”
His words are clipped, furious, edged with steel as he steps closer. Gaston may be older, but Damien is stronger, faster his wolf would tear Gaston’s apart without hesitation.
“Very well,” Gaston says at last. “I’ll be in touch.”
His eyes linger at my neck for a beat too long before he turns sharply and storms from the office.
I mind-link Fabrice immediately, ensuring he’s positioned at the back of the house, and together we watch through the window as Damien’s father speeds away in a grey convertible, tires crunching against the gravel.
When the echoes of his departure finally fade both from the courtyard and the room I cross the office and close the door, sealing us in privacy.
Damien remains at the window, rigid, as though he doesn’t quite trust that Gaston is truly gone.
“Damien…” I begin.
“He’ll be back,” he interrupts flatly. “I need you gone.”
The words hit like a blade cold, precise, merciless. My breath stutters, my body instinctively recoiling as fear coils tight in my chest. Rejection, sharp and suffocating, rises to the surface.
I try to speak, to argue, but the words lodge painfully in my throat. All that escapes is a gasp as I turn and reach for the door. My fingers curl around the knob, the hinge releasing a faint creak
The door slams shut behind me with a thunderous crack that surely echoes through the house.
“Aurélie?” Fabrice’s voice slips into my mind, alert and concerned.
“I’m fine,” I reply quickly. “I won’t be long… he’s gone.”
“I’ll take the children to visit Denise,” Fabrice says gently. “She’s kept her distance.” Then the link closes.
“I didn’t mean it like that.”
Damien’s lips are suddenly at my ear. His scent floods my senses as his arm circles my waist, pulling me back against him.
“I meant I need you and the children away from here,” he murmurs. “Anywhere but here. He will come back. And it won’t be safe.”
“Damien,” I say softly, turning to face him. “He won’t challenge you. He can’t.”
I’m trapped between the door and his solid frame as silence stretches between us. His eyes close, a heavy breath leaving him, and I hear it then his heart, pounding violently. Fear. Real fear.
“What aren’t you telling me?” I whisper. Damien doesn’t fear easily. For it to grip him like this, it has to be catastrophic.
“He could return,” he admits hoarsely. “Kill me. Then demand custody of Dominique and rule as regent.”
“No…” The word breaks from me in a gasp. “He wouldn’t do that.”
“Aurélie, you heard him,” Damien insists. “In his eyes, I’ve broken my duties as King. I didn’t wage war against you to reclaim the packs. He’ll exploit that. And now he has a reason fuel for his fire.”
He swallows hard.
“Some packs are still loyal to him.”
“Then I won’t leave you,” I say fiercely, clutching his clothing and pulling him closer. “I won’t.”
“I need you to,” he pleads, voice cracking. “I need you to protect the children. To keep them safe.”
“Damien…” A hollow laugh escapes me. This is madness. I could help him stand with him.
“I can’t lose you,” he continues quietly. “Or them. If that means giving up the crown, then so be it.”
“Damien, you don’t know what you’re saying,” I whisper, shaking my head.
“I know exactly what I’m saying.”
His hands come up to my face, cradling it tightly as if committing me to memory, as if this might be the last time.
I don’t understand. My thoughts can’t keep pace with the weight of his fear. Gaston has left. He has no army at his back. He won’t return.
This feels like an old terror resurfacing one Damien never truly escaped.
“Damien,” I murmur desperately. “You need to calm down… I won’t let him kill you. He’ll have to go through me first.”