Chapter 193 Shattered trust
Chapter 193: shattered trust
Damon's POV -
Caroline's laughter echoed across the border as my mind raced to process her words. Behind me, I felt my pack's tension ratcheting higher, especially James, who had moved closer protectively.
"His name is Milo," I said firmly, though doubt was beginning to creep in like poison. As if like an autopilot, I started remembering his weird suspicious behaviour he had been putting in lately.
"Milo is what he was called, because his parents couldn't bear the thought of calling him his real name." she said, examining her nails casually.
“Why?” I gritted my teeth so hard I felt it crack. I know I shouldn't be asking, hell, I should signal my hidden armies to start attacking immediately, but something about everything felt off… it was like a nagging feeling at the bottom of my stomach.
“Because he was a loser, a disappointment and a shame to his bloodline, and that of his ancestors.”
My heart clenched painfully, even though I didn't know why yet.
Maybe it was the kind of smile that was plastered on her face. The evil type that is always attributed to when she is genuinely happy.
My stomach sank even further, my wolf gave a heartbroken cry, as if he had already envisioned the future.
"His real name is Mikhail. Prince Mikhail of the Northern Kingdom. The Queen's brother brother."
The ground seemed to shift under my feet, following Caroline's words.
Brother? The Queen's brother.
"You're lying."
"Am I?" She pulled out a photograph, old and slightly faded. "Look familiar?"
I took it against my better judgment. It showed two children, one with white hair and pale purple eyes, the other smaller, darker, with features that I would forever recognise even in my dreams. Milo! maybe seven years old, dressed in royal finery.
"This proves nothing," I said, though my voice was less certain, now.
"Doesn't it? Haven't you wondered how an omega could awaken such power? Why did the Moonblessed gifts choose him? It's in their bloodline, Alpha Damon. Every generation, one is chosen. This time, it was my dear brother."
"Even if this is true," James interjected, "he's still Damon's mate. Caroline you have a minute to leave this instant, else…
“...Else what,James,” she cutted him off, surprisingly calm.
"Tell me, Alpha, has your omega been acting strangely lately? Distant? Secretive? Touching something hidden in his chest when he thinks you're not looking?"
My blood went cold. She had just described Milo's behavior perfectly this past week.
"That would be the anchor amulet," she continued. "A clever little device that allows certain... suggestions to be planted. Nothing too overt, mind you. Just enough to guide decisions, suppress memories, encourage certain choices."
"You're saying he's been controlled?"
"I'm saying he's been guided back to his true purpose." She stepped closer to the border. "You see, there's a prophecy about two true alphas meeting. Would you like to hear it?"
I said nothing, but she continued anyway.
"When two true alphas share the same space, one must destroy the other. It's the way of nature, the balance of power. Milo was born an omega, a cosmic joke considering our bloodline. But with his awakening, he became something else. Something that could match a true alpha." Her eyes gleamed. "Something that could destroy one."
"He would never hurt me."
"Wouldn't he? Even to save you?" She laughed again. "The prophecy doesn't say the destruction must be violent. Sometimes the greatest destruction comes from love itself. A betrayal so complete it shatters everything. So little it shatters the delicate balance between man and beast.”
“We all know how self sacrificial milo is, so annoying.”
"You're trying to manipulate me."
"Am I? Or I am trying to prepare you." She gestured to her forces. "This isn't an invasion, Alpha Damon. You have always been hot headed to think strategically instead of your muscles… This is where the queen wins.”
"Over my dead body."
"If necessary." She shrugged. "Though I think you'll find that's exactly what Mikhail is trying to prevent. You see, the only way to break the prophecy is for one alpha to choose the other's life over their own. I guess you can connect the dots at this point.”
A cold realization washed over me. "The safe house. This is a diversion."
Her smile told me everything I didn't want to know. "Dont worry, my love. By now, Milo is perfectly safe where he belongs, with his real family.”
I spun around, already shifting, but James caught my arm. "It could be a trap. She could be lying to make you leave the border undefended."
But through the bond, I felt it like a spike of pure emotion. Milo's anguish, his fear, his devastating sorrow. And two words whispered across our connection: "I'm sorry."
I jerked my arms away from him, and ran. I abandoned the border, my responsibilities, everything except the desperate need to reach him. I shifted mid air, my wolf running the fastest it had ever gone in its entire life. My wolf form ate up the distance, but I knew I was already too late. I could feel him getting farther away, the bond stretching but not breaking.
The safe house was in chaos when I arrived. Wolves lay unconscious but breathing, scattered across the ground. The tunnel entrance had been blown open, and inside I could smell blood and betrayal.
A tight painful sensation coiled around my chest, as I slowly went deeper into the wrecked safe house.
I finally made it to the center of it all.
My blood turned to ice. All around were bodies of my soldiers, all killed with their throat slit open. Bodies of Innocent pack members were scattered all around the floor.
I felt hot bile rise in my throat, but I endured it. My eyes searched, but he was nowhere to be found.
My eyes flickered to movement in the midst of the rumbles.
“Daphne!” I rushed to her,
Daphne was propped against a wall, holding her ribs. When she saw me, her face crumbled.
"Daphne, what happened?"
"Milo," she gasped out. "It was Milo. He... he let them in. Told us to stand down, that fighting would only get us killed."
"That's not possible."
"I saw it, Damon. He walked out with them. Willingly." Tears streamed down her face.
“Noo, no…”
"He was crying," Daphne added quietly. "The whole time, he was crying. He kept saying he was sorry, that this was the only way."
I forcefully shifted back to my human form, not caring about my nakedness.
“There had to be something…”
" D…damon, there's something else." She struggled to sit up, "The woman who came for him, she called him brother."
My body stilled.
The photograph flashed in my mind. Caroline's cruel smile. It was not a bluff all this time.
Caroline, had said the truth…
"Milo is working with his sister… He betrayed us, Damon."
A broken, sad, angry- filled howl ripped out of my throat.