Chapter 69 69
Aurélie POV
I jolt into a low crouch, muscles coiling instinctively as my wolf surges forward until the sharp edge of alertness softens with the scent that reaches me.
“Just a fox,” I murmur.
Maurice inhales the air, then nods, relaxing beside me.
Still keeping low, he moves closer and settles against the tree. “So… keeping his children from him. Was that meant as punishment?”
I stiffen. “Punishment?” I echo, confused by the direction of his thoughts.
“For attacking your pack.”
My brow arches sharply. “You heard about that?”
“The attack, yes. Everyone did.” His lips twitch as he continues. “But there’s been talk rumours that Damien was the one who orchestrated it…”
He lets out a quiet chuckle.
The sound slices straight through me.
“You think that’s funny?” I hiss, fury bleeding into every word.
His hand flies to his chest. “No—no, of course not. That came out wrong.” He exhales. “I just… Damien doing something like that? I find it hard to believe.”
“How so?” My spine goes rigid, every sense tuned to him now.
“Damien is ruthless,” Maurice says carefully. “But he isn’t evil. He’s not his father and he’s spent his entire life making damn sure of that.”
The words settle heavily. Maurice enjoys provoking Damien, mocking him but beneath it all, I can hear the admiration he tries to disguise. Which means his judgment isn’t impartial.
“I know what I saw, Alpha Maurice,” I say quietly, venomously. “Those images are burned into me. Into my memory. I’ll carry them to my grave and beyond it. Even on my deathbed, they’ll come back to haunt me. You weren’t there. You didn’t see what I did.”
Nothing not even the Moon Goddess herself could convince me otherwise.
“So… you were punishing him?” he asks gently.
“I was protecting what was mine,” I snap. “Protecting my children even from him.”
I turn slightly, anger tightening my chest. “I didn’t leave my pack on a whim. I was forced out. By the very woman Damien calls his mate the true Luna of Bloodnight. I still don’t understand why he hasn’t marked her.”
Maurice scoffs. “You truly believe they’re mates?”
“Yes.” My voice is bitter. “When she returned, he couldn’t keep his hands off her. He shut me out completely. Whatever bond we had through marriage didn’t stand a chance against theirs.”
“I’ve only ever seen him possessive of you,” Maurice starts then abruptly lifts a hand. “Shh. Wait.”
He leans forward, listening.
The sound of movement cuts through the trees.
Damien.
My breath catches as he emerges from the brush dragging a man by the throat.
Damien’s chest rises and falls rapidly, his aura crackling with restrained violence. He’s been forced to use his training properly use it.
He throws the man to the ground at my feet.
The male gasps, choking, eyes wide as they lock onto mine.
Before he can scramble away, Damien slams his boot down on the man’s throat, pinning him mercilessly.
“This,” Damien snarls, “is the boy’s mother. Tell her what you told me.”
“Please,” the man wheezes. “I have a family”
“Bullshit!” Damien roars, pressing harder. “If you had a family, you wouldn’t be involved in kidnapping a child!”
“Okay—okay!” the man cries. “The boy… he’s being kept in the pub.”
“Who hired you?” I demand, my wolf surging forward until I feel her staring through my eyes.
“I don’t know,” he sobs, hands raised. “Everything was through emails and phone calls. Only the two leaders ever spoke to the contractor.”
That confirms Théo’s intel. Dominique is in the pub.
My pulse spikes. We need to move.
“If I let you go,” I say coldly, “will you return to your family?”
“Yes—yes, I swear. I promise.” His gaze flickers. “I mean… yes, Luna.”
I release my aura fully, crushing down on him. He mistakes it for Luna authority doesn’t understand the dominance of a female Alpha.
“Let him go.”
“Aurélie” Damien starts.
“You killed the others,” I snarl. “Now let him go.”
Damien’s storm-dark eyes lock onto mine. For a moment, I can see him weighing the choice debating whether to press down harder or obey.
“Damien,” I growl, a warning threaded with steel. Do not challenge me when it comes to my children.
Slowly, reluctantly, his foot lifts.
The man scrambles upright and bolts
Then a phone rings.
He freezes, fumbling the device from his pocket.
Damien moves faster than thought.
In one swift, brutal motion, he snaps the man’s neck.
The body crumples to the forest floor.
Damien snatches the phone before it hits the ground and brings it to his ear.
“Hello?”
Silence.
The line is dead.
He tosses the phone aside.
“I told you to let him live,” I growl, fury boiling over.
“He would’ve warned them,” Maurice says calmly, stepping closer. “He’d have compromised our position. Damien did the only thing he could.”
His words sting but I know they’re true.
And somewhere in the distance, my son is still waiting.