Chapter 206 Secret letter
Chapter 206: secret letter
Damon pov
Shocked silence crashed over the assembled pack like a tidal wave.
I could still hear the echoes of my voice travelling through the air.
"What?" James stared at me in disbelief. "Damon, you cannot be serious."
"I am done." I raised my voice so everyone could hear. "I resign my position as Alpha. I withdraw from the unrighteous pack alliance. they can elect a new king if they want or They can tear each other apart for all I care."
I turned to face my own pack members, seeing their confusion and shock sent pain to my already fractured heart.
But I had to do it.
"I have not been a good aloha and leader to youball. I put you all in danger with my decisions. I forced you into situations that benefited me more than you. For that, I apologize." The words tasted like ash in my mouth. "You are free to go. I am disbanding the pack from today onwards.
"No." Rosalie's voice cracked like a whip. "You cannot disband a pack, Damon. It is the height of disgrace for any Alpha, especially a true Alpha."
"I know what it means." I met her furious gaze steadily. "And I am doing it anyway."
"You are a coward," she spat. "Running away instead of fighting your battles."
"Maybe I am." I was too tired to argue. Too broken to care. "But I will not lead these people to their deaths defending an alliance they never wanted."
I looked at James one last time. "Take care of them. Find them new packs if they want. Or help them form their own. Just keep them safe."
"Damon..."
"That is an order." I turned away before I could see the disappointment in his eyes. "...My last one."
I walked through the silent crowd of warriors, each step feeling like a death march. No one tried to stop me. The alliance that had gathered were probably too shocked to act. They simply watched as I walked back into my castle.
Rosalie called out behind me, her voice filled with disgust. "I had respect for you, Damon. I was willing to risk my pack, to fight and die for the right cause. But you are not worth it. You are just another cowardly broken Alpha after all."
Her words should have hurt. They probably would have, if I had anything left inside me to break.
I made it to my chambers and collapsed against the closed door, sliding down to sit on the floor. The mate bond that had vanished like smoke, still laid empty, no sign of life at all.
I was so tired, I just wanted to sleep and never wake up. My wolf dax continued to give sad whines, but he knows too well that we have nothing else to fight for.
No pack to lead, no people to fight for, no mate to protect.
"I am sorry," I whispered to the empty room. "I am so sorry, Milo. I am not strong enough. Not for you. Not for anyone."
The bond flickered like a dying candle flame. It was like something was pulling from the other end. But that was it, the pull died as soon as it started. Like it never happened.
Disappointment washed through me like never before, followed by rage at myself. I had allowed myself to hope, and just like before, I had my hopes shattered.
It was just my imagination playing an evil trick on me.
Milo POV
The dungeon cell smelled like death and despair. Two days had passed since Aldrich threw me down here, or maybe a week?. Time blurred together in the darkness, marked only by the twice-daily rations of stale bread and dirty water.
My wrists ached from the heavy iron shackles. The chains were just long enough to let me lie down but not stand fully upright. The cold stone floor seeped through my thin servant's dress, chilling me to the bone.
But the physical discomfort was nothing compared to the fear that gnawed at my insides.
Millen was going to take my baby. She was going to kill me. And I could do nothing to stop her.
I touched my stomach gently, feeling the slight swell that was barely visible yet. Two months along. My child was still so small, so vulnerable.
"I will protect you," I whispered. "Somehow. I promise."
The bond laid dead inside me. The silence was even more painful than severing the mate bond. Sometimes I felt the unimaginable pain that had pulsed through the bond, before I severed it completely.
I wake up to the recurring nightmares of it, every single day.
Was he sick? Injured? What was happening to him while I was trapped here? Does he know that I had no choice than to do it?
Footsteps echoed in the corridor outside my cell. I tensed, expecting Aldrich or one of the guards coming to check on me.
Maybe they had come to take me for my execution. But the steps were lighter, more hesitant.
A tray slid under the cell door, pushed by unseen hands. I crawled forward awkwardly, the chains dragging behind me. The tray held the usual stale bread and water.
I drank the water, but it hardly cured my thirst… Just enough to keep me alive.
My attention caught a flash of white tucked under the stale bread.
there was something else. A folded piece of paper.
My heart raced as I grabbed it, unfolding it with shaking hands. The writing was crude but legible.
"You have allies. Midnight. East garden."
My heart almost leapt out of my mouth.
I read the note three times, unsure of what I just read, my mind spinning. This could be a trap. Millen tested me to see if I would try to escape. Or it could be genuine.
I turned it over to see more text sprawled on it.
"you have powers buried inside you, use it to your advantage. Your awakened powers…
Ashbourne wolf "
I froze.