She played the helpless victim card that had worked so many times before.
Pathetic sniffles punctuated her words as she trembled performatively.
But Damien had finally seen through her act.
“Enough of your lies! I’ll find the truth myself.
The line went dead.
Before Emily could delete anything, his enforcers burst through her door.
They seized her phone, bringing it straight to their Alpha.
What Damien found on her phone made his blood freeze. Not just a few taunts, but a calculated campaign of cruelty spanning months.
Photos of Emily wearing Sierra’s clothes, lounging in their bed.
Videos of her mockingly using Sierra’s personal items.
“He says my wolf calls to his in ways yours never could.‘
Your side of the bed still smells like you – it makes everything more exciting.”
“He promised to mark me properly once you’re gone. A real mate for an Alpha King.”
Each message was time–stamped, showing Sierra’s silent suffering as the betrayal unfolded.
Damien’s hands shook as he scrolled through endless evidence of his treachery.
Emily had even photographed herself wearing Sierra’s mating necklace.
“It looks better on a real wolf, don’t you think?”
The casual cruelty made him physically ill.
His vision went black as reality crashed down.
What kind of monster was he, to let this happen? To participate in this torture of his true mate?
If she had done this to him, sent him photos of her with another male…
He would have torn the world apart.
Damien’s face went ashen as guilt consumed him.
Hours passed as he read every message, torturing himself with evidence of his betrayal.
When he finally looked up, his handsome features had transformed into something terrifying.
Lethal power rolled off him in waves, making the air itself feel heavy.
“Damien? Damien, are you there?”
A woman’s voice called from outside.
His heart leaped traitorously. In his delirium, he clung to desperate hope.
Maybe Sierra had returned? Maybe this was just her revenge?
When he turned, hope dying in his eyes, she stood smiling in the doorway.
She hadn’t even bothered hiding her triumphant expression.
Damien’s eyes blazed blood–red, his Alpha power filling the room like poison gas.
“You! You drove her away!”
His voice promised death. Even the strongest wolves would have cowered.
Raw power struck Emily like a battering ram, sending her crashing into the stone wall.
Blood trickled from her split lip as her face swelled grotesquely. Good.
“Damien, please!” She crawled toward him, blood mixing with tears. “Everything I did was fór us! I love you so much I couldn’t bear watching her trap you with her weakness!”
She clutched at his legs, tears mixing with blood.
“Love?” His laugh was brutal. “You worthless bitch. You dare speak of love after tormenting my mate?”
3/4
+25 BONUS
Pure contempt dripped from every word as he stared down at her.
“I told you Sierra was my life. My soul.”
“You drove her away and thought you could take her place?” His voice dropped to a whisper. “You’re not fit to breathe the same air as her.”
His eyes held no mercy as he kicked her across the room like the garbage she was.
She crashed into the far wall, coughing blood onto the floor.
Damien didn’t even look at her as he ordered his beta:
“Take her to the punishment caves. Life sentence. No mercy.”
Through our fading bond, I felt his command and sucked in a shocked breath.
The punishment caves were legendary – reserved for the worst criminals in wolf history.
Wolves who had slaughtered entire packs. Betrayed their own kind to hunters.
Prisoners endured endless torture there. Daily beatings. Starvation. Silver chains that slowly poisoned their wolves.
The physical agony was horrific, but the isolation from pack bonds drove most insane.
No wolf had ever survived more than a year in the deepest level.
I’d heard whispers that every prisoner begged for death within weeks.
Death would be a mercy compared to that existence.
And Damien was condemning Emily to that fate?
The reality finally shattered her.
“Damien, please! I was wrong – I’ll do anything!”
Her screams turned hysterical.
“Not the caves! I’m carrying your pup! Please, I’m sorry! I’ll apologize to Sierra! I’ll leave the territory! Anything but the caves!”
But Damien watched with dead eyes as the beta dragged her away.
Her desperate screams echoed down the halls until distance swallowed them.
He never looked at her again.
His mate was gone, and nothing else mattered now.
