Chapter 42

Chapter 42
Damian’s POV

From my office window, I saw the crowd forming on the training grounds. At first, I thought it was just another sparring match gone wrong, but then I caught a glimpse of her. Elara. Kneeling on the ground, her hands on Jason’s chest.

I was already moving before I realized it, the door slamming behind me as I strode down the stairs and out into the open yard. The air was tense, thick with whispers. Wolves parted as I approached, but no one spoke. All their eyes were on her.

Jason was breathing easier now. The shaking had stopped. He sat up, clutching Elara’s hand like it was the only thing holding him to this world. His voice was hoarse but steady. “She saved me.”

The words echoed in my skull.

Elara looked up, her face pale, her eyes glassy. She looked at me like she wasn’t sure if I would be angry or proud.

I wasn’t sure either.

The pack murmured. A low hum of uncertainty. I caught pieces of it—Giftmaker, dangerous, powerful. Wolves glanced between her and me, their expressions torn. Some looked at her with awe. Others with suspicion. And a few with outright fear.

I stepped forward, putting myself at her side. The crowd fell quiet.

“Elara is under my protection,” I said, my voice carrying across the grounds. “What she did here wasn’t an attack. She healed him. She gave him control.”

Jason’s trainer nodded reluctantly. “It’s true. I’ve never seen a bitten wolf recover that fast.”

The words should have helped. But not everyone was convinced.

From the back of the crowd, Joran stepped forward, his arms crossed. His voice was sharp enough to cut. “Or she nearly killed him. We all saw the boy writhing. For all we know, she’s the one who set his wolf off in the first place.”

A murmur of agreement rippled through a small knot of wolves standing near him.

Elara flinched. My chest tightened at the sight.

“She didn’t hurt him,” I said flatly. “You saw the truth of it.”

Joran smirked. “We saw power. And power like that doesn’t belong in the hands of an omega who doesn’t answer to this pack.”

“She belongs to this pack,” I snapped.

The crowd stirred. Some nodded. Others shifted uneasily. The line was clear now, drawn across the yard. Half believed. Half didn’t.

Elara’s hand brushed mine, light and hesitant. I could feel her pulse through her skin, fast and uneven. She was trying to be steady, but I could see the way her shoulders trembled.

“She saved him,” Jason said again, louder this time. He looked at Joran with a defiance that surprised me. “If she hadn’t, I’d be lost. She helped me. You can’t twist that.”

Pride flickered in my chest at the boy’s courage, but Joran didn’t back down. His eyes slid to me. “And if tomorrow, she loses control? If her power turns on us instead of helping? Will you still stand in front of her then, Alpha? Or will we all pay the price for your blind faith?”

The silence that followed was heavy. I could feel the question settle into the wolves around us, pressing into their doubts.

I wanted to tear Joran’s throat out. Instead, I forced myself to stand taller, my voice low but steady. “This isn’t blind faith. I’ve seen what she is capable of. And I will not let fear rule this pack. Not again.”

Joran’s jaw tightened. He gave a mocking bow and stepped back into the crowd, but his words had already sunk deep.

I looked at the wolves around me, searching their faces. Some avoided my gaze. Some met it with open trust. But too many still wavered.

Elara shifted closer, her voice low enough only I could hear. “They’ll never accept me.”

I turned to her, gripping her hand tight. “Then we’ll make them.”

Her eyes lifted to mine, and for the first time all day, I saw fire there instead of fear. She nodded once, her chin lifting.

The crowd began to break apart, murmurs following them as they drifted back to training or into the packhouse. But the divide was still there. I could feel it like a crack running through stone, waiting for the right pressure to split us wide open.

Sarah appeared at the edge of the grounds, her expression unreadable. She didn’t speak, but the look she gave me said everything. Time was running out.

I pulled Elara against my side, keeping her close as we walked back toward the house. Every step was heavy, every glance from the pack heavier still.

They wanted answers. They wanted certainty. But all I had to give them was a promise.

A promise that I would not let her fall.

And a promise that anyone who tried to tear her away from me would bleed for it.