Chapter 247 The pack bond

Chapter 247 The pack bond
the pack bond

Damon's POV

I didn't know where I was running to. I just knew I couldn't stay in that room, couldn't watch the last shimmer of purple energy fade from Milo's body while everyone looked at me with pity.

My feet carried me to the forest stream, the same clearing Milo had stopped me from spiralling out of control, when I was stuck in my beast form.

The stream was exactly as I remembered it… crystal clear water flowing over smooth stones, surrounded by ancient beautiful trees.

I collapsed to my knees, still clutching his still form.

"I am sorry," I whispered into his fur. "I am so sorry, Milo. For everything. For not seeing you when you were right in front of me. For letting them hurt you. For making you feel like you had to prove yourself. For failing to protect you when it mattered most."

Tears streamed down my face, hot and endless. "You deserved so much better than me. Than this pack. Than any of this. You deserved to be cherished. Protected. Seen. And I failed you in every possible way."

His body remained still and cold in my arms.

"Our son," I continued, voice breaking. "He's so beautiful, Milo. He has your eyes. That same purple that lights up when he's happy. He's going to grow up hearing stories about his father. About how you were the bravest, strongest, most incredible wolf any of us had ever known. About how you burned yourself to nothing to save us all."

I pressed my forehead against his. "But stories aren't enough. He needs you. I... gods, Milo, I need you to come back and yell at me for being an idiot. To roll your eyes at my alpha posturing. To show me how to be a proper alpha. "

Silence answered me. Just the wind through the trees and the sound of my own broken breathing.

Nothing but cold silence answered.

My instincts screamed that something was wrong. Milo couldn't die like this… not after everything he had been through. The explosion should have destroyed him completely, yet his body remained perfectly intact.

That had to mean something.

I reached for the bond again, searching desperately for any flicker of life. Any sign that my mate was still in there somewhere.

But it was just... cold. Empty. Like touching a wall of ice.

"I thought I would find you here."

Selene's voice cut through my despair.

"Go away," I growled. "I don't want visitors."

"I know." Her footsteps approached slowly, carefully. "But I am not here as a visitor, Damon. I am here as your sister."

Something in her tone made me finally look up. She stood at the edge of the clearing, her expression soft with understanding.

"Do you remember," she said quietly, sitting down beside me, "when we were children? Before Father became... what he became."

I didn't respond, but memories flickered unbidden. A younger Selene, holding my hand through thunderstorms. Wiping my tears when I had failed training. Being there when no one else was.

"You used to have nightmares," she continued, her hand reaching out to stroke Milo's fur gently. "And sneak into your room and hold you until you fall back asleep."

"Why are you telling me this?" My voice came out broken.

"Because you are that scared little boy again, Damon. And I am still your sister. You don't have to be strong right now. You don't have to be the alpha king. You can just... break, and let it all out."

And gods help me, I did.

The sob that tore from my throat was inhuman….a sound of pure anguish that echoed across the peaceful waters. I collapsed against Selene as years of carefully maintained control shattered

"He is gone," I choked out between sobs. "He is really gone and I never... I never told him. Never showed him how much he meant. I was so focused on being strong, on being the alpha he deserved, that I forgot to just be with him."

Selene held me tighter, her own tears falling into my hair. "I know. I know it hurts."

"I can feel it," I gasped. "Feel the emptiness where he used to be. It's like... like half my soul was ripped out and I'm just... I'm just bleeding everywhere and I don't know how to stop it."

"You don't stop it," she whispered. "You just learn to live with it. One breath at a time."

"I can't." The admission tasted bitter. "I can't do this without him, Selene. I can't be the father our son needs, can't be the alpha this kingdom needs. He was my anchor. My reason for everything. And now he's..."

"He is right here," Selene said firmly, gesturing to Milo's still form. "His body is here, preserved by whatever magic saved him. That has to mean something, Damon."

"It means nothing," I said bitterly. "It's been two days… Selene.

"Two days," Selene repeated slowly. Her eyes widened. "Damon... two days. Don't you remember?"

"Remember what?"

"Before! When Milo fell into that coma-like state. When you thought you had lost him then. He wasn't breathing normally, barely had a pulse. You said it was like he was trapped somewhere in his own mind."

The memory hit me like lightning.

Milo had slept like this before when he was poisoned. Not dead, but... somewhere else. Trapped in his own consciousness, fighting the effect of the poison that ravaged his body.

"Oh gods." I scrambled to my feet, staring down at my mate's body with new eyes. "Oh gods, what if he is not..m what if?…”

I couldn't say it. In fear that it might all be a delusion.

"It would make sense," Selene said quickly, standing beside me. "But Damon this is different…”

Hope blazed through me, hot and fierce and desperate. "I have to help him. I have to…"

I was already shifting, already running before Selene could respond. I burst through the forest with renewed purpose, my paws eating up the ground as I carried Milo back, towards the pack house.

Hold on, Milo, I sent through the bond, not knowing if he could hear me or not.

“Hold on just for a little while.”



The pack house was in chaos when I arrived. I shifted mid-stride, not caring about my nakedness as I burst through the doors.

"Daphne!" I roared. "Where's Daphne?"

"Here!" She appeared from one of the side rooms, eyes wide. "Damon, what…"

"I know how to bring him back," I said breathlessly. "I know what we need to do."

“Damin, Milo is….”

“Noo, no, don't say it…just hear me out first” i screamed desperately.

Marcus emerged behind her, along with several other wolves who'd been coordinating relief efforts. They all stared at me like I had damn lost my mind.

Maybe I had. But I didn't care at this point.

"When Milo fell into that coma before," I explained rapidly, "his mind was trapped. He was fighting some internal battle we couldn't see. What if it's the same now? What if he's not dead… just trapped so deep he can't find his way back?"

“It's been two today. Are you saying that he is in a coma? ” Marcus asked, I could see the shock and need to believe me in his eyes.

Daphne's expression finally changed shifted from skepticism to something else.

"It's not that… impossible. The preservation of his body, the way his energy is fading so slowly rather than all at once. It could indicate some form of consciousness still present."

"Can we reach him?" I demanded. "Is there a way to... to pull him back?"

She was quiet for a long moment, her healer's mind clearly racing through possibilities. "The pack bond," she said finally. "If he is trapped in his own mind, isolated from everything external, the pack bond might be able to reach him. When Milo had his second awakening, he unlocked the ability to manipulate the pack bond… The pack's deeper than normal consciousness. If anything could penetrate that deep..."

"Then we use it." I turned to Marcus. "Gather everyone. Every wolf who can walk. We are doing a bonding ritual."

"Damon," Marcus said carefully, "if this doesn't work…"

"It has to work," I cut him off. "Because the alternative is unacceptable. Now move!"