Chapter 209 The conditions
Chapter 209: The conditions
Damon POV
The compound erupted into chaos before dawn. I woke to the sounds of steel clashing and wolves snarling. For a moment I thought the unrighteous packs had attacked despite my resignation.
noo, they wouldn't dare...
my words hung at the back of my throat when I heard James's voice roaring orders, and I knew something else was happening.
I threw on clothes and burst from my chambers to find warriors fighting warriors. Pack members I had known for years were attacking each other in the courtyard below. Blood stained the stones.
"What in the goddess's name is going on?" I grabbed the nearest warrior, spinning him around.
His eyes were wild with battle fury. "The unrighteous packs, Alpha. They launched a full rebellion. They are trying to enter the compound by force."
"I resigned," I said, confused. "I disbanded the pack. What more do they want?"
"Your head." James appeared at my side, his sword already dripping with blood. "The Queen promised them freedom on the condition that they kill you. Apparently, she does not trust you to stay down."
Of course she did not. Millen was too smart to leave loose ends.
I rushed out to meet them, James and the warriors trailing behind me. but outside was worse than inside.
The unrighteous pack Alphas were pushing through the gates with their forces. I recognized
Alpha Chen at the front, his face twisted with hatred. Beside him stood Janet, Dimitri, and Alpha Kael… that bastard who collected wolves' pets as trophies, keeping them caged like prizes.
"Did you really think we would let you walk away?" Alpha Chen called out. "The Queen wants you dead, Damon. And we are happy to help."
I stepped forward into the open, and I must have looked like death itself. My skin was gray, my hands trembled, and each breath felt like swallowing glass. The curse was eating me alive from the inside.
"You dare attack me in my own home?" My voice came out weaker than I intended.
Alpha Chen laughed, but the sound died when he looked at me properly. Really looked at me.
"Wait," Janet said slowly, her eyes narrowing. "Something is wrong with him."
Alpha Kael moved closer, studying me like one of his captured animals. "He is not just weak. He is dying. Look at him properly."
The other Alphas focused on me with new eyes. I knew what they saw… the gray pallor of my skin, the way I swayed even standing still, the tremor I could not hide.
"The curse," Alpha Dimitri said quietly. "It is killing him. The mate's bond breaking must have accelerated it."
A strange silence fell over the compound. Even the warriors on both sides seemed to sense something had changed.
Chen's grin faded slowly. "Well. This is disappointing."
"We came here to kill a legend," Janet agreed, frustration clear in her voice. "Not watch a corpse stumble around."
"The Queen wanted us to execute him publicly," Kael added. "But what glory is there in killing a man who will be dead in days anyway?"
They were going to leave. I could see the zeal vanishing from their eyes. No matter what they were Alphas, and an alphas pride comes first before any other thing. They were actually going to walk away because killing me now would not be satisfying enough.
I didn't know how to feel about the whole situation.
"So that is it?" James called out, his voice tight with rage. "You attack us and then just leave?"
"Why waste energy on a dead man?" Alpha Chen shrugged. "When you collapse in a few days, Damon, we will claim we killed you anyway. The Queen will never know the difference."
The unrighteous Alphas began turning away, ordering their forces back from attacking again. Relief flooded through our warriors. Against all odds, we were going to survive this.
I hoped wrongly…
A sound cut through the morning air that made my blood freeze.
A trumpet. Clear and commanding filled with military precision.
The Queen's battle horn.
Every head turned toward the forest beyond our gates. For a long moment, nothing happened.
Then the trees exploded with movement.
Soldiers poured from the forest like a black tide. Hundreds of them, all wearing the Queen's colors. They moved with military precision, forming ranks that stretched as far as I could see.
And they carried weapons I had never seen before. Guns with strange mechanical parts. Crossbows that cranked automatically. Metal armor that gleamed with magical enchantments.
The emblem of the queen filled the whole horizon, blocking every other thing from view.
"What in the goddess's name..." Alpha Chen breathed heavily, his earlier confidence vanishing into thin air.
A rider broke from the Queen's forces, carrying a white flag. He rode directly between our compound and where the unrighteous packs stood frozen.
"By order of Queen Millen!" His voice rang out clearly. "All unrighteous packs are hereby given two choices. Join her forces immediately and fight against the traitor Damon, or be executed as enemies of the crown. You have five minutes to decide."
"This is insane," Janet screeched. "She cannot just…"
"She can," Alpha Dimitri interrupted grimly. "Look at those weapons. She had planned this for months."
“This was not the arrangement” Alpha kael bellowed angrily but the messenger paid him nor their reactions any attention.
The messenger continued, "These orders come directly from the Queen's chosen commander for this operation. Refusal to comply will result in immediate termination of your packs and seizure of all territories."
Alpha Kael's face had gone pale. "We are trapped. Fight against her, we die. Refuse her, we die."
"But if we help kill Damon..." Chen trailed off.
James moved closer to me. "Damon, we need to retreat. Find a way to escape now."
"There is nowhere to go," I said quietly, watching the Queen's forces surround us.
The five minutes passed in heartbeats.
The messenger raised his hand. "Your time is up. What is your decision?"
I watched the unrighteous Alphas exchange glances. Saw the moment survival instinct won over every other honour or pride.
"We will fight," Alpha Chen, who has become their leader, announced, his voice hollow. "For the Queen."
The unrighteous packs turned their weapons toward my pack entrance. Toward my warriors.
"I am sorry," Alpha Chen said, and he actually sounded like he meant it. "But I will not let my pack die."
"ATTACK!" Kael roared, his eyes gleaming with sudden bloodlust.
The world exploded into chaos.