Chapter 221 Damning it all
chapter 221: damning it all
Damon's POV
We waited for two more hours before we moved, 3 hours behind our fighting force. heading for the north.
we didn't wait, we didn't hesitate.
After getting the alliance alphas to our side, all the forces were quickly mobilized and the plans were set in motion.
Everything was moving as planned.
Selene's intelligence suggested the Queen would take the bait. She was arrogant, confident in her superiority, convinced that no force could challenge her reign. So when our decoy army attacked from the northern ridge with flags bearing the unrighteous alliance colors, she did exactly what we predicted.
She mobilized her entire force and marched to meet them.
I watched from the eastern cliffs as her army moved like a dark tide across the valley below. Thousands of warriors, all bearing her crest, all moving with military precision. At their head rode Millen herself, armor gleaming in the afternoon sun, every inch the conquering queen.
"She took the bait," Selene murmured beside me, her voice carrying a note of grim satisfaction. "Just like I said she would."
But even as our plans were going smoothly, one thing kept on telling me that, perhaps it was progressing too easily.
It was a feeling in my gut that wouldn't leave me no matter how hard I tried not to.
"They will hold." Selene's voice reached me. "James may not trust me, but he is a good and capable Beta."
I turned to look at my sister, but on a second thought, I decided to hold my words.
Daphne crouched beside us, her medical pack already strapped to her back. She looked younger than her years at that moment. On the outside, she looked calm and composed ,but I could smell her anxiety even from miles away.
"How long do we have?"
"Two hours," Selene replied. "Maybe three if James can draw out the engagement. After that, the Queen will realize she has been deceived and turn back."
"Then we better move fast." I rose, checking my weapons one final time. We only have two hours to rescue Milo.
And I was already getting restless. My wolf wouldn't stop thrashing around, as if the closer we are to our mate, the madder he becomes.
We approached the fortress from the west, a hidden pathway. Selene had revealed her plans too.
We moved in silence, Selene leading with the two Silent Dancers flanking us like shadows. These warriors were different from regular pack soldiers. They moved without sound, communicated through hand signals, and carried weapons I had never seen before. Curved blades that seemed to drink light, throwing stars with edges so sharp they whistled through air.
The tunnel entrance was worse than I imagined. Half the stone had collapsed inward, leaving only a narrow gap barely wide enough for one person to squeeze through. The darkness beyond was absolute, carrying the smell of stale air and something else. Something that made my wolf growl low in warning.
"This is the only way in," Selene said quietly, reading my hesitation. "The main gates are too heavily guarded, and the walls are patrolled constantly. This tunnel leads directly to the lower levels where they keep prisoners."
"Where they keep Milo," I corrected.
"Yes." She met my eyes. "But Damon, you need to prepare yourself. Whatever we find in there, whatever condition he is in, we cannot afford to lose control. One mistake and we all are dead meat."
I wanted to argue. Wanted to tell her that nothing could prepare me for seeing my mate hurt, imprisoned, possibly tortured. But she was right. Emotion was a luxury we could not afford.
"I understand," I said instead.
The tunnel was a nightmare of tight spaces and unstable stone. But after what felt like hours but was probably only thirty minutes, we emerged into a storage area deep within the fortress. Crates and barrels lined the walls, all stamped with the Queen's crest. The air was warmer here, carrying the scent of lamp oil and preserved food.
Selene held up a hand, signaling us to wait. She pulled out a small communication device, one of the few pieces of advanced technology I had seen the silent dancers wield. "Calling contact. Code seven seven three."
Static. Then more static.
Her expression darkened. "Calling contact. Respond."
Nothing.
"Your insider?" I asked quietly.
"Should be responding." Frustration crept into her voice. "I arranged for someone on the inside to disable certain security measures, to guide us to where Milo is being held. Without them..."
"We are going in blind," Daphne finished.
Selene tried the device twice more before giving up. "Change of plans. We move through the lower levels, checking each cell block until we find him. Stay close, stay quiet, and if we encounter guards..."
One of the Silent Dancers made a slashing gesture across their throat.
We moved deeper into the fortress, and with each step my anxiety grew. The corridors were too quiet, too empty. Where were the guards? Where was the bustle of a functioning military stronghold?
Everywhere looked deserted, almost like it was a…
Then I heard it.
A scream. It was distant but unmistakable, coming from somewhere above us.
My wolf exploded against my control before I could figure out what the cry meant.
“Our mate!!” dax growled,
My blood ran cold. Without thinking about anything else, I ran toward the sound of the cry.
"Damon, wait," Selene hissed, but I was already moving.
I took the stairs three at a time, following that terrible sound through corridors that blurred past. Behind me I heard Daphne calling my name, I heard the Silent Dancers trying to keep pace, but I did not care. The plans be damned.
Every instinct I possessed was screaming that something was wrong, that Milo was in danger right now.
The trail led me to a metal door reinforced with iron bars. I hit it with my shoulder, once and it burst inward. Maybe if I was not in a hurry to get to my mate, I would have been surprised at how easily the metal doors came off the hinges.
I stopped cold on my tracks, as my eyes scanned the room.
Medical equipment everywhere. Tables with restraints. Instruments I recognized from field hospitals, others I had never seen before. The walls were white, or should I say, was…
That was when I saw it.
The bodies.
Doctors in white coats, all dead, all killed with brutal efficiency. Throats cut, chests pierced, faces frozen in expressions of terror. Blood pooled across the white floors, so much blood it looked black under the fluorescent lighting.
But no Milo.
The examination table in the center of the room had restraints hanging loose, leather straps cut cleanly through. There were marks on the metal surface, scratches that might have been from desperate struggling.
“Our mate!!
I sniffed deep into the air. My wolf was going insane, pacing, snarling, demanding to know where our mate was. Whatever remained of the bond between us hummed weakly, but that was just it. No direction, no leads.
I couldn't locate my mate, even knowing that he was too close.
"Damon." Daphne's voice came from behind me, breathless from running. "What happened here?"
"I do not know." I moved through the room carefully, stepping over bodies, searching for any clue. "Someone killed them all. Recently, by the look of it. The blood is still fresh."
"But where is Milo?"
That was the question, was it not? Where was my mate? Has someone rescued him? Or had something worse happened, something I could not bear to imagine?
I was about to respond when I heard footsteps behind us. Heavy, measured, deliberately loud enough to announce their presence.
I spun, weapons drawn, ready to fight or kill if necessary.
A figure stepped through the doorway, silhouetted against the corridor lights beyond. Tall, broad shouldered, with soldiers that flanked his left and right. moving with the confidence of someone who belonged here. As they stepped into the light, harsh medical lighting revealed their faces.
Aldrich.
The Queen's second in command. The man who should have been with the main army fighting our forces to the north.
He looked at the bodies scattered around the room, at the blood painting the floors, then his eyes came back at me but this time, there was murder in his eyes.
Then he smiled, a dry smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"Well," Aldrich said, his voice carrying dark amusement. "This is an unexpected surprise.”