Chapter 155 Consumed by fire
Chapter 155: consumed by fire
Damon pov
Fear, sheer terror was written across all their faces.
“Abomination”
“He is a monster”
Shocked gasps and angry murmurs came from the crow like a knife that was being twisted deep into my soul.
Mothers grabbed their children. Warriors reached for weapons they didn't have.
Fear, So much fear.
I wanted to run again.
But then, a small voice:
James stepped forward from the crowd, and his voice carried across the clearing. "Your Alpha has returned."
Nobody moved, Nobody cheered, They just stared at me.
I could feel Milo's frustration through our bond, hot and sharp. He stepped forward, his small frame dwarfing next to mine, but that same mysterious aura surrounded him commanding attention.
"Your Alpha sacrificed everything for you," he said, his voice ringing clear. "He pushed himself beyond his limits, beyond what any wolf should endure, to save as many as he could. And this is how you welcome him back?"
An elderly wolf spoke up, his voice trembling. "That is not our Alpha. That is a beast."
“The monster attacked us”
The word hung in the air like poison. Beast. Monster, Everything I had been trying not to think about myself, was written across their faces.
“It was the curse that took over him. It was the plan of the council…” Milo tried, but the people were not listening.
"He is right," another voice called out. "How can we follow something that cannot even speak to us?"
My head dropped lower. They were right. I could not speak to them, could not reassure them, could not be what they needed.
But then Milo did something unexpected. He laughed. Not a happy laugh, but bitter and sharp.
"Cannot speak to you?" He turned to me. "Tell them what you told me last night, Damon. About how you failed them."
'What? Milo, I cannot…'
"Tell them!" he commanded, and I felt the power in his words. When had he learned to command like an Alpha?
The words pushed through our mate bond, and somehow, Milo was able to project out my thoughts to them. His voice carried my thoughts to the pack.
"He thinks he failed you," Milo said, but everyone could hear it was my words, my shame. "He thinks he is weak because he could not save everyone. Because he could not prevent the attack. Because he became this to try to protect you, and it still was not enough."
The crowd shifted, uncomfortable.
"He has been carrying your dead in his heart," Milo continued, still projecting my thoughts. "Every face. Every name, He knows them all. Sarah who loved to sing. Marcus who just had his first child. Elena who was supposed to mate next month."
Tears appeared in some eyes. They had not expected me to remember, not to talk or care about trivial matters, because in my world, there was no room for weakness. To them I was the cruel Alpha, the Alpha who.had no human heart, no compassion, the Alpha who had killed and is not shy to kill more… and that alpha they have been seeing until now.
A woman stepped forward from the crowd. I remembered her name, Margaret. Her arm was in a sling, her face bruised. "You saved me and my daughter from the hands of a group of feral wolves.” she said quietly. "You helped us, even when you didn't know us, and for that I am forever grateful."
My mind went years back, when I had met a group of ferals surrounding a stranded mother and daughter…
"He saved me too," a young warrior added. "I was being chased by warriors from a righteous pack, he fought them off for me and brought me to this pack, for that I am ever grateful."
"And me," another voice.
"And my son."
"My mate."
One by one, voices rose from the crowd. Stories of rescue. Of sacrifice. Of an Alpha who had bled for them, fought for them, became something monstrous for them.
Their emotion and sincerity was so much that I felt my eyes tear up, for the second time, since forever.
An old wolf, Gregory, limped forward on a cane. "I have lived through different pack wars," he said, his voice carrying the weight of years. "I have lived in three different packs, gone under different alphas, who ruled through fear. Others ruled like it was their birth right, but you, who single handedly formed your own pack, established rules that favoured the rejected and banished from other so called righteous packs…" He looked directly at my red eyes. "That is not the mark of a monster. That is the mark of a true Alpha."
Something shifted in the crowd. The fear was still there, but underneath it, something else grew. Respect, maybe, or understanding.
The tears that had been welling up almost dropped.
A small voice piped up, cutting through the quietness, "Alpha Damon?"
Everyone turned. Little Emma, maybe five years old, had escaped her mother's grip. She walked toward me with the fearlessness only children possess.
"Emma, no!" her mother cried, but James held her back.
The child stopped right in front of me. My massive form could have crushed her with one careless movement. She had to crane her neck all the way back to look at my face.
"Mama says you turned into a monster to protect us," she said. "Is that true?"
I nodded slowly, carefully.
She studied me with those serious child eyes. Then she reached up her tiny hand. "Thank you for protecting us, Alpha. Even if you are scared now."
Her small fingers touched my fur, gentle and trusting.
I carefully, so carefully, lowered my head to sniff her.
She giggled.
"See?" Milo said. "Still your Alpha. Just... bigger."
An old wolf stepped forward. The same one who had spoken before.
"I remember my grandfather's stories," he said, his eyes distant, "About the blessed ones. The ones who could become beasts to protect us."
He walked closer, supported by a crane.
"You became this for us?" he asked me.
I nodded.
"You fought the Queen's army like this?"
Another nod.
The old wolf knelt.
"Then you are no monster. You are our protector."
Boom! Boom!
One by one! Knees hit the ground, in a loud sound.
Not all. Some were still too scared.
But it was enough.
A young wolf asked, "Can you change back?"
I shook my head sadly.
"The curse is too strong right now," Milo explained. "But we're working on it."
"What do we do?" someone asked. "The Queen is still out there. We're weak."
James stepped forward. "We survive. We rebuild, we get stronger."
"With a beast as our Alpha?" someone said fearfully.
"With the strongest Alpha in all the lands," James corrected. "The Queen's armies ran when they saw him. They're scared of him. That fear protects us."
More people came forward. Slowly coming out of their shells.
The little girl's mother finally came to get her.
"I'm sorry, Alpha," she said, bowing.
I tried to make a sound that meant "it's okay."
The girl waved at me as her mother carried her away.
"Big puppy bye-bye!" she called i
Some people actually smiled.
"We need to organize ourselves together," James said. "Fix the camp. Help the wounded, and bury our dead."
“Tomorrow, we will organize a pack run in memory of our border and sister that have fallen into the war.” Milo projected my thoughts to them.
Sounds of approval and acceptance came from the crowd.
People began to move. They had work to do.
But before they left, many nodded to me.
Not love. Not yet.
But acceptance.
It was enough for now.
"See?" Milo said coming up to fall in steps with me, "That wasn't so bad."
I looked down at him.
My mate. My brave, impossible mate.
He'd done this. Made them see past the monster.
"Come on," he said. "Let's go help. Even big puppies can carry supplies."
“You…” I growled inside our mate's bond, but he was already running away from me, his laughter ringing in my ears like the most pleasant music I have ever heard,
And maybe, in my world of darkness... the light at the end of the tunnel.