Chapter 219 219
Pain.
Blazing, merciless pain tore through his body in violent bursts. Each wave that crashed over him was harsher than the one before, leaving him gasping in agony.
The pack doctor had done everything they could. The bullet had been removed, and his wound carefully bandaged. But the damage caused by wolf’s-bane was severe. The poison had weakened his natural healing abilities, slowing the recovery that should have come easily to a wolf like him.
He had barely regained consciousness.
And through the haze of pain clouding his mind, only one name kept slipping from his lips.
“Jacq…”
Her name came out as a faint whisper from his cracked, dry lips.
Sofía sat beside her son’s bed, tears flowing endlessly down her face as she watched him suffer. Charlotte stood nearby, silently crying, while Eugénie remained beside Dominique, who was trying his best to comfort her.
Fernando stood close to his wife, his arm around her shoulders. Alexandre leaned against the wall near the door, his expression tense and grim.
Cécile had stayed back in the city with Mathieu.
The boy knew nothing about any of this.
Damien groaned weakly as fragments of memory slowly clawed their way back into his mind. A deep, hollow emptiness wrapped around his heart as he shifted restlessly on the bed.
“Jacq…” he murmured again.
Suddenly, his eyes flew open.
He tried to sit up abruptly, but the movement sent a bolt of pain ripping through his stomach. A groan escaped him as he clutched the wound tightly.
Sofía immediately pushed him back down, gently rubbing his shoulders.
“Easy,” she whispered through her tears.
Damien blinked rapidly, his gaze darting around the room as he searched desperately for one person.
When he didn’t see her, something inside him shattered.
Ignoring the agony burning through his body, he forced himself upright again, gripping his wound as he sat up straight.
His head snapped toward Dominique.
Their eyes locked.
“Where is she?” Damien asked calmly.
Dominique felt the crushing weight of that gaze.
And for the first time in his life, he had no words for his brother.
Guilt gnawed at him mercilessly.
He hadn’t arrived in time.
He hadn’t saved Jacqueline.
“Calm down, Damien,” Alexandre said, stepping forward before Dominique could speak.
“Where is Jacq?” Damien repeated, his voice still eerily calm.
But the dread tightening around his heart was suffocating.
Alexandre didn’t answer.
Dominique looked away.
Damien’s stomach dropped as if he’d been thrown into a bottomless pit.
“Tell me!” he barked.
“Damien, dear… please calm down,” Sofía pleaded, trying to soothe him.
But he was beyond calm.
He was furious.
Desperate.
Dying inside.
“Where the fuck is she? Dammit say something!” Damien roared, his face twisting in pain as the strain pulled at his wound.
“They took her,” Alexandre said quietly.
For a moment, Damien felt as though the entire world had slipped through his fingers.
“When we arrived, it was just you and the bodies of two dead wolves,” Alexandre continued. “I stayed with you while Dominique followed her scent deep into the forest. It led him to the road… and then it just disappeared.”
The words echoed in Damien’s ears.
Suddenly his throat went bone dry.
His lungs forgot how to breathe.
His chest felt unbearably heavy, as if thousands of pounds were pressing down on it.
He stared blankly at the wall, his eyes distant.
Images replayed in his mind.
Jacqueline throwing herself in front of him.
Shielding him from the wolves.
Even when she hadn’t known for certain it was him.
His heart twisted painfully as he remembered her sobbing his name while clutching his fur.
She hadn’t been afraid of him.
She had recognized him.
Even in that form.
A hard lump formed in his throat.
And then the memory struck him like a knife.
He had watched helplessly as they dragged her away.
Henri’s voice echoed in his mind.
He would hurt her.
“I had to save her…” Damien muttered hoarsely.
In a sudden burst of desperation, he ripped the IV from his arm and swung his legs off the bed.
He didn’t even have the strength to stand properly.
Yet he staggered toward the door anyway.
Alexandre stepped forward immediately, blocking his path and gripping his shoulder.
“Damien, you need rest. Our warriors are searching for her. The tech team is trying to track her location,” Alexandre said calmly.
Damien violently shrugged his hand away, shooting him a ferocious glare.
From behind, Dominique grabbed his shoulder, stopping him.
“You can’t save her like this,” Dominique said firmly. “You’ll only get yourself killed right in front of her.”
Damien turned on him, rage burning in his eyes. His jaw clenched so tightly it hurt.
“That bastard wants our pack in exchange for her,” Damien growled. “He said he’d hurt her because I killed two of his fucking men.”
The room grew even more tense.
Everyone knew the truth.
Even if Damien surrendered the pack, Henri would never honor that deal. He would slaughter them all including Jacqueline.
Damien would never sacrifice his pack.
But he would never abandon her either.
He would save her.
No matter what it cost.
“You need to regain your strength,” Dominique said sharply. “Once we find her, we’ll go after her. In your current condition, you’ll only be a burden.”
The words were harsh.
But they needed to be said.
Damien’s eyes glowed faintly as his wolf stirred inside him, struggling to break free despite his weakened state.
As anxious as Damien was, his wolf was even worse.
The thought of Jacqueline being held captive by those monsters was unbearable.
She didn’t even know what they were.
What he was.
Fernando sent a mind-link to everyone, silently asking them to leave the room.
One by one, they obeyed.
Before leaving, Fernando placed a firm hand on Damien’s shoulder and squeezed gently his silent promise that they would do everything in their power to bring her back.
Then he closed the door behind him.
The room fell silent.
Damien stood there for a moment before the last of his strength gave out.
He braced his hand against the bed and slowly sank to the floor, clutching his stomach as pain tore through him.
His eyes burned red.
His heart felt as if it were bleeding.
Why?
Why the hell did despair have to crash into his life the moment he had finally begun to taste happiness?
The mere thought of Jacqueline trapped in their vicious hands made his chest ache unbearably.
The back of his eyes burned as horrifying possibilities stormed through his mind.
She was so fragile.
So delicate.
She had already endured so much suffering.
Just when peace had begun to reach her… his enemies had taken her.
His wolf snarled inside him, filled with savage rage.
If anything happened to her, he would burn the entire world to ashes.
Henri would die a slow, brutal death.
Damien would make sure of it.
All he could do now was pray they found her soon.
And if those bastards had laid even a single hand on her
they would pay a deadly price.
“Stay strong, Jacq,” he whispered hoarsely into the cold breeze drifting through the window.
“I’ll save you.”
His words disappeared into the wind, carrying with them the desperate hope that somehow… somewhere… his promise would reach her soul.