Chapter 198 Broken pieces
Chapter 198: Broken Pieces
milo pov
I looked up to find Millen standing in the doorway. By now, the Council members had left, and we were alone. She walked toward me slowly, circling like a predator studying wounded prey.
"Tell me something, little brother." Her voice dropped low, intimate in a way that made my skin crawl. "Do you really think Damon cares where you are right now? Do you honestly believe he is pining away for his lost omega?"
"I do not want to talk about this," I said quietly, scrubbing harder at a wine stain on the marble floor.
"Of course you do not. Because deep down, you know the truth." She stopped directly in front of me, forcing me to look up at her towering figure. "He has probably already forgotten you. Alphas like him do not waste time on broken, useless omegas who run away from responsibilities."
"I didn't run, I left to protect him," I whispered, my voice breaking despite my efforts to stay strong.
"You left because you are weak." Millen's eyes narrowed, filled with hate. "You have always been weak, Milo. Even as a child, you were the one who cried and hid behind mother's skirts while I learned to fight. While I trained to be strong."
My hands clenched into fists at my sides, the cleaning rag dripping dirty water onto the floor. "If I am so weak and worthless, why do you keep me here then?"
Something flickered in her expression. Something almost like satisfaction, like she had been waiting for me to ask exactly that question. "Because you are my brother. And because there are things you do not understand yet. Things that make you more valuable than you realize."
She circled me again, her boots clicking against the marble. "Something changed in you, did it not? Something happened while you were with him. I can sense it, even if I cannot quite identify what it is."
My blood ran cold. I kept my face carefully blank, focusing on the wine stain as if it was the most important thing in the world.
"Your scent is different. Not just the pregnancy…something else. Something deeper." She crouched down beside me, her voice soft and Dangerous in my ears. "What happened to you, Milo? What are you hiding?"
"Nothing," I said too quickly. "Nothing happened. I am just tired and…"
"Liar." Her hand shot out and grabbed my wrist, squeezing hard enough to form a bruise. "I can always tell when you are lying. You were never any good at it."
I met her eyes, forcing myself to hold her gaze without flinching. The secret of my second awakening… the connection I now had with werewolves, the ability to communicate with them that even most Alphas did not possess…burned inside me like a coal. My wolf clawed inside me, to fight back. But I could not let her know.
If anything I have learned, it's making yourself valuable. At least, I would still be alive to find my escape.
"There is nothing to tell," I said firmly. "You are imagining things."
We stared at each other for a long moment. I could see her mind working, trying to puzzle out what I was hiding. Finally, she released my wrist with a disgusted sound.
"Fine. Keep your pathetic little secrets." She stood, brushing imaginary dust from her robes. "It does not matter. You are trapped here regardless."
Before I could ask what she meant, her hand shot out and gripped my chin roughly, forcing me to meet her eyes.
"Does anyone else know?"
I paused from shock, my hand moving toward my stomach.
“Know what?”
Her eyes trailed to my covered stomach.
I shook my head frantically.
“Good, let it remain that way” millen smiled coldly, and that smile was somehow worse than her anger. "We cannot have word spreading that you carry a bastard Alpha's child. The shame would be unbearable for the family."
She walked to the door, then paused with her hand on the frame. "Clean yourself up. You look pathetic."
The door closed behind her with a soft click that sounded like a death sentence.
I collapsed against the wall, sliding down until my buttocks hit the ground. My whole body shook, but I forced myself to breathe, to stay calm. I had to finish cleaning before I could leave. If I left the dining hall dirty, there would be consequences.
Twenty minutes later, I finally stumbled out of the dining hall, my body aching and my mind numb with exhaustion. The corridors were dark and empty at this late hour. Most of the pack had retired to their rooms.
It was a good thing for me.
I turned the corner toward the servants' wing where my small room was located, my thoughts churning with everything Millen had said. Was Damon really forgetting me? Was my sacrifice meaningless?
I was so lost in my thoughts that I did not see the figure until I walked straight into them.
"Watch where you are going," a familiar voice snapped.
I looked up only to wish that i had not looked up.
The perosn i had collided with was Caroline. She was dressed in training clothes and covered in a light sheen of sweat. Her dark hair was pulled back in a tight braid, and her eyes were cold as the first time i ever saw her.
"Oh." Her lip curled with disgust. "It is you."
"Caroline." I stepped back, wanting nothing more than to escape to my room. "I apologize. I did not see you."
"Of course you did not. Too busy feeling sorry for yourself, I imagine." She crossed her arms.
I made to side step but she moved, blocking my path. "I just got back from visiting Damon's pack. You remember them, don't you? The people you abandoned?"
My heart clenched painfully. "How... How is he?"
"How do you think?" Caroline's voice was sharp as broken glass. "He is a mess, Milo. Completely destroyed. The mighty Alpha brought to his knees by a weak omega who could not handle the pressure."
"I had to leave," I whispered. "You do not understand…"
"Oh, I understand perfectly." She stepped closer, her voice dropping low and venomous. "I understand that you are a coward. I understand that you ran away when things got difficult instead of standing by your mate. I understand that Damon is suffering every single day because of your selfishness."
Tears burned behind my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. "I did it to protect him."
"Protect him?" Caroline laughed, but there was no humor in it. "You broke him, Milo. He barely eats. He barely sleeps. He throws himself into work and training like a madman because it is the only way he can stop thinking about you." She leaned in close, her breath hot against my face. "You destroyed the strongest Alpha in the world. If anything, you should be proud of yourself."
"I never wanted to hurt him," I choked out.
"Aww, darling, such a pity. For a second i was almost moved by those words.” She curled her lips into a snarl, leaning close so that i coukd smell her heavy colong. “Guess who else had to see you for who you truelly are…”
“Noo, i…”
“Damon, your mate you destroyed.” She spat, pushing past me roughly, her shoulder slamming into mine hard enough to send me stumbling against the wall. I watched her disappear down the corridor, her words echoing in my head like poison.
Damon was suffering. Because of me. My sacrifice had not saved him… it had destroyed him.
I barely made it to my room before the sobs came. I closed the door and collapsed against it, sliding down to the floor as my body shook with violent, silent crying. My hand pressed against my stomach, protecting the tiny life inside me even as I fell apart.
"I am sorry," I whispered through my tears. "I am so sorry."
Sorry to my baby for bringing them into this nightmare. Sorry to Damon for leaving him. Sorry to myself for being too weak to do anything right.
I involuntarily reached for the mate bond that was not there anymore. Just an empty and full pain…
What had I done? What terrible mistake had I made?
I cried until there were no tears left, until my body was empty and hollow. Then I dragged myself to the narrow bed in the corner and curled up on my side, one hand still protectively cradling my stomach.
"Your father is strong," I whispered to my unborn child. "Stronger than anyone I know. He will survive this."
"...He has to."