Chapter 27 Damon
TWENTY-SEVEN
Damon
Watching the car pull away, knowing it was taking away my pack’s chance at happiness, was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.
But I did the right thing. She deserves better.
An alpha who poses her no risk of harm, even if I’ve condemned us to a lifetime of misery without our destined mate.
“Faye?” Ren calls from upstairs. “Faye?”
What comes next will almost be as hard as telling Faye the truth and seeing the pain in her eyes.
“Have you seen her?” Ren clambers down the stairs.
I’ve never seen him so happy and carefree before.
Seeing how Faye brought him out of his shell makes me feel like an even bigger asshole.
I should have been the one to leave, not her, but I know Cole would never separate the pack. “She’s not in the nest.”
I keep looking out of the window, not turning to face him. “She’s gone.”
“Gone?” Confusion bleeds from his tone. “What do you mean? Gone where? It’s the middle of the night.”
“Frank picked her up and took her back to Stella House.”
I can’t look at him. Not yet. I want to hold on to the next few seconds before I have to face his crushing disappointment, knowing that’s entirely my fault.
I always knew I’d be the downfall of the Silverwood Pack.
Laz and the Maverick family have always been so good to me.
They welcomed me into their family with open arms, teaching me about unconditional love—something that I didn’t have in my own home.
However, no matter how hard they tried to make me feel like I was another member of the family, deep down, I still felt like an outsider.
That’s why until Laz encouraged me, I never intended on joining a pack.
After he met Cole, he convinced me that a pack could give me everything I ever wanted, including the family I never had.
In my naivety, I agreed. In turn, I cursed them, and now I’ve cast out their omega.
I only intended to tell Faye the truth about me.
She had to know before she got in too deep.
After seeing how my brothers treated her during her heat, I could tell that bonding was on the horizon.
I fully planned on offering to walk away and leave them all to enjoy their happily ever after, but I didn’t mean to turn her against them.
She feels deceived, and although I’ll have to face the fall-out in the short-term, it’ll be worth it if it keeps her safe from me.
“What’s going on?” Cole asks from the top of the stairs. “Where’s Faye?”
“Damon says Faye left,” Ren replies. “Was there an emergency? Is she okay? Is her gram okay?”
I turn to meet Cole’s gaze, still unable to look at Ren. Cole’s jaw hardens, and his eyes narrow in accusation as realization hits. “What did you do, Damon?”
“I told her the truth.” I blow out a leaden breath. “About me. About my past. About what I did. About my arrest.”
Ren flops into a nearby chair, head in hands. “Shit.”
Cole thuds down the stairs. He looks like he wants to tackle me to the ground and beat the living shit out of me. Part of me hopes he does. I’d welcome it. It’ll beat dealing with the gaping chasm in my chest from where my heart has been ripped out and is now being driven down the mountain.
“Tell me exactly what you told her.” Cole stops just inches from me, hands fisted by his sides. “Everything.”
Cole rarely uses his bark, so it’s enough to make me dip my chin and wince. This is only the third time he has ever used his alpha bark on me, forcing me to comply with his orders.
“I told her I was arrested for hurting an omega.” I shrug. “That I was a monster.”
“That’s it?” Cole holds out his palms. “You didn’t tell her everything!”
“I told her everything she needs to know,” I snap. “She has to know that she’s not safe when I’m around.”
“What’s going on?” Yawning, Laz strolls out of the nest, wearing only a pair of spotted boxers. “Is it time for a midnight gaming sesh? Or does our honeybee need more knots? I’ll be ready to go as soon as I get a coffee—”
“Faye’s gone.” Ren answers Laz yet his seething glare penetrates me and only me.
“Damon scared her away by telling her about Roxanna.” He stands, shaking in fury.
I’ve never seen him angry before, and I fucking deserve it.
“Why did you have to ruin everything? She wanted to bond to us. She wanted to bond with you!”
“She needed to know the real me,” I sigh. “And she made her choice. The right one. To leave.”
“Hold up!” Laz’s now stomping down the stairs, fully awake. “You told her about Roxanna?”
“And he left out all the key facts.” Cole glowers at me. “How many times do we need to tell you? It wasn’t your fault! Roxanna was an alpha chaser!”
“She’s blind in one eye.” I ignore him. It doesn’t matter how many times they try to convince me otherwise. I’ll always blame myself. “That’s on me.”
“It’s bad enough that you seem intent on torturing yourself about this, but why do you have to make everyone else suffer too?” Ren explodes, anger rolling off him. “This isn’t just your pain you’re carrying!”
He suddenly lunges at me, punching me in the chest. Even though Ren’s strong for his lean build, I have double the muscle. I let him pummel into me. His glasses almost fall off his nose as he takes out his frustration on me while I stand and take it. This is what I deserve.
Cole grabs Ren and hauls him off. “Enough, Ren.”
“But he ruined everything!” Ren’s chest heaves from exertion, his knuckles already red. “He sent her away!”
“Why did she leave without saying goodbye?” Laz frowns. “That’s not like Faye. I get why she’s pissed and upset at Damon, especially because of her family history, but what about the rest of us?”
Cole crosses his arms, a dejected expression on his face. His fury seems to morph into bitter disappointment, which is even worse. I may as well rip off the Band-Aid and tell them.
“She knows you all knew about it,” I confess, unable to look at their faces. “She thinks you hid it from her so you could trap her into bonding.”
“But we’d never do that!” Ren’s shoulders slump in overt anguish. “She has to know that. And now she’s alone in heat. What if another alpha finds her?”
“She’s back at Stella House now,” I tell him. I tracked Frank’s car on my phone and called him to confirm that she arrived back safely. “She’s better off there than around me.”
“We can tell her the truth. She’ll understand,” Laz mutters, more to himself than anyone else. “She’ll forgive us.”
“We should go to Stella House,” Ren decides, already heading for the door. “To explain and tell her the full story.”
“No,” Cole calls out to his back. “Even if we wanted to speak to Faye, we’ll get kicked out of SVU if we step one foot inside OV without permission.”
“I don’t care about SVU!” Ren cries. “I care about Faye. She’s our omega, and she’s hurting. We need to be with her!”
I feel it too. The magnetic draw pulling us together. Knowing that she’s hurting—both physically and emotionally—and there’s nothing I can do is torture, but it’s a necessity. The others will see that eventually.
“I agree with Ren.” Laz grabs his coat, getting ready to march out into the night. “We need to go. Now.”
“No one is going anywhere,” Cole barks, blocking the exit.
Laz halts, and Ren winces, fighting an internal battle.
“We are going to make this right.” Cole sounds confident. “Faye is our omega. Our scent match. We will fix this.”
“Throw me out of the pack,” I say. “Let me leave. She may forgive you, then.”
“And let you off that easily?” Cole laughs drily, shaking his head. “As tempting as that offer is right now, you’re one of us, Damon. Faye is your omega as much as she’s ours. A pack is a lifetime deal, so you’re going to help us get her back.”
“Don’t you see this is best for everyone?” I link my hands behind my neck, looking to the ceiling for guidance. “She could never want me now.”
“She’s our scent match!” Ren exclaims. “What’s best for us is to be together. Everything was going so well—too well—yet you didn’t even give her a chance!”
I didn’t need to. What’d be the point? As soon as she learned the truth about me, she’d be gone. Tonight only proved me right. It doesn’t matter that she’s my scent match. She saw the real me and ran.
“I did this for her.” I look into each of their eyes, imploring them to understand. “Why can’t you see that?”
“Damon.” Laz shakes his head. He’s been my best friend for as long as I can remember. The sun to my storm. I’ve confided in him more than anyone. “If we lose her for good, I’ll never forgive you.”
I turn my back on them. I can deal with their lack of forgiveness if it means never having to live with the crushing worry of hurting her.