Chapter 191 191
Damien stood inside the training complex, his gaze sweeping across the recruits assembled before him.
Earlier, he had ordered them to form pairs. The last time he had done that, he made them cooperate as teams, so this time each recruit had instinctively chosen someone strong someone they believed would make their team more formidable.
Damien watched them silently for a moment.
“Now… spar,” he barked.
For a brief second, surprise flashed across their faces. Then wide smiles followed.
It was an unexpected twist.
They had carefully chosen powerful partners to strengthen their teams, only to realize they would now have to face those very partners in combat.
Within seconds the room erupted with movement as the recruits began sparring, fists and feet moving in disciplined rhythm while Alexandre observed them from the side.
Dominique stepped toward Damien.
With a small tilt of his head, he silently invited Damien to attack first.
Dominique bent slightly, lowering his stance as Damien lunged forward.
Damien was already wound tight from everything that had happened the night before.
All he had wanted was to stay beside her to comfort her, to be her shelter. But she had asked for solitude. Asked him to leave.
He hated it.
Every instinct in him had rebelled at the thought of leaving her alone, but he had respected her wishes and stepped away, giving her the space she needed.
“So… how was it?” Dominique murmured under his breath as he slipped easily past Damien’s first strike.
Damien shot him a sideways look, confusion creasing his brow.
“How was what?” he muttered irritably.
Dominique’s grin widened.
“You got your cherry popped, didn’t you?”
He waggled his eyebrows in teasing mockery.
Damien’s jaw tightened, his molars grinding together as he shot his brother a lethal glare.
“Shut the fck up,” he hissed, charging again.
Dominique dodged the second attack as well, but Damien managed to drive his elbow sharply into Dominique’s ribs.
“She smelled like you last night,” Dominique snickered. “Don’t pretend.”
The remark scraped against Damien’s nerves like a blade.
“I said” his voice dropped into a dangerous growl, “shut. the. fck. up.”
Dominique merely chuckled, completely unfazed.
“All grumpy and brooding. Not exactly how a man looks after losing his virgin”
He never finished the sentence.
Damien’s fist collided with his face.
Dominique staggered back slightly, muttering a curse as he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
“You trying to die?” Damien spat, fury simmering in every word.
Dominique only laughed softly, shaking his head.
“So what’s the deal then?” he pressed, the teasing glint still dancing in his eyes. “Is she yours now? Off-limits for the rest of us?”
He knew exactly what he was doing poking at Damien’s temper, dragging out the reaction he wanted. Damien rarely let people see this volatile side of him. With most people he was composed, restrained.
But with Dominique… and Alexandre…
The mask slipped.
And for their sisters and their mother, he was always gentle.
“She’s mine.”
The words tore out of Damien in a vicious growl.
Everything around them froze.
The sounds of sparring halted.
Every recruit turned toward him, staring with wide eyes and slack jaws.
Even Alexandre stood there smirking.
Damien muttered a curse beneath his breath.
“What the hell are you all staring at?” he thundered.
The recruits immediately snapped their heads away and resumed sparring as if their lives depended on it.
Dominique looked entirely too pleased with himself.
Throwing his brother one last murderous glare, Damien turned and stalked out of the indoor arena.
He headed toward the woods.
Once he was deep enough inside, he stripped off his clothes and shifted.
His body twisted and reshaped until the massive wolf stood where the man had been.
The wolf shook its fur, restless energy thrumming through its muscles.
It clawed violently at Damien’s insides like a caged predator.
The wolf had wanted Julien dead. It had demanded blood.
But Damien had held it back.
He couldn’t allow Jacqueline to learn the truth about him yet.
After he had taken her into his arms the previous night, the wolf had been calm—almost euphoric.
But the moment they returned and she asked him to leave her alone…
The beast had erupted again.
That alone explained the foul mood gnawing at him.
He had been incapable of focusing on routine tasks, which was why he came to the training complex in the first place to burn off the storm building inside him.
And Dominique had only added fuel to it.
Every time Damien thought about that night, images of Jacqueline flooded his mind.
Her face.
Her body.
Her softness.
The memories made his wolf restless again.
She was beauty itself something words could never truly capture.
Alexandre had handled the aftermath perfectly.
Julien’s death had been hidden beneath the narrative of a devastating fire. By the time authorities arrived, the body had been reduced to ash.
No evidence.
No trail.
Nothing.
The wolf ran freely through the forest, the cool wind sweeping through its thick fur.
The run eased some of the tension coiled inside him.
Eventually Damien shifted back.
After dressing again, he made his way home.
The television was on when he entered.
Everyone stood in the room, watching the news in heavy silence.
Mathieu was there too, Sofía holding the boy close against her side.
Damien walked toward them and crouched down in front of the child.
Gently, he took Mathieu by the arms and turned him to face him.
The boy’s eyes were swollen with tears.
Before Damien could say anything, Mathieu threw himself forward and clung tightly to him, sobbing.
Damien stiffened for a moment, caught off guard.
Slowly, awkwardly, he placed a hand on the boy’s back and rubbed it in small comforting circles.
Nearby, Sofía wiped at her own tears.
Seeing the two siblings endure so much pain was breaking her heart.
“Maybe God didn’t want your father to spend the rest of his life behind bars,” Damien said quietly.
Charlotte and Eugénie were crying openly.
Fernando, Dominique, and Alexandre remained silent, their expressions unreadable.
“Now he can finally be with your mother,” Damien added gently.
Mathieu pulled back slightly, rubbing his eyes.
“You need to be strong,” Damien told him softly. “Your sister needs you. Go bring her here so she can hear what happened.”
The boy nodded, his glassy eyes wide.
He ran upstairs toward Jacqueline’s room.
A few minutes later, she appeared.
She stood there like a lost bird, staring blankly at the television as the news played.
Her gaze lifted.
For a brief moment their eyes met.
Then she looked away.
And turned.
Still holding her brother’s hand, she hurried away again.
The sight tore at Damien’s chest.
Inside him, the wolf growled fiercely, clawing and demanding that he follow her.
Hold her.
Comfort her.
But Damien forced himself to stay where he was.
She needed time.
And he would give it to her.
No matter how much it hurt.
Eventually he went up to his room.
The moment he entered, Coco chirped loudly from inside his cage.
Damien walked over and sank onto the couch beside it.
“I’m going to let you go,” he murmured softly to the bird.
“You deserve freedom… just like Gabrielle.”
And with that thought settling in his mind, Damien finally decided he would tell Jacqueline everything about Gabrielle.