Chapter 9
Chapter 9
The sun had barely crested the hills, yet the pack house was filled with screaming, from Nathan.
Damien rubbed the bridge of his nose, the same pressure pulsing in his temples that had been there since Alice left.
“Please, just give him the blanket,” Damien barked at the two maids standing awkwardly in the hallway. “How hard can it be to calm a child?”
The older maid stepped forward, her eyes lowered. “We tried, Alpha. But he says it’s not the right
one.”
“Then find the right one!”
“It’s… Lady Alice’s.”
Damien stilled.
The maid continued, “He only uses the one she wraps him with. It has a certain lavender scent she rubs into it at night. We tried mimicking it, but he keeps throwing it back.”
Another scream came from the room. “I don’t want this blanket!” Nathan’s voice cracked with desperation. “I want the blue blanket!”
The younger maid’s hands shook. “We’ve given him food, toys, everything. He keeps asking for the water she fetches from the east spring. And he won’t take his medicine unless we get it. He says it’s wrong when we do it.”
“The east spring?” Damien said in shock. “But that’s like two days away from here.”
“She usually brings them back in large drums and stores them,” the maid replied.
Damien sighed, frustrated. He moved past them and pushed open the door.
Nathan sat in the center of the room, red-faced and wild-eyed, surrounded by crumpled pillows and overturned bowls. His hands were clenched around his knees, his chest heaving.
“I want my blanket,” he whispered again, barely a sound.
“Nathan,” Damien said, stepping closer.
He turned to him, his eyes watery and raw. “She always comes when I cry. Why didn’t she come this time?”
Damien didn’t know how to answer.
“She sings the song,” Nathan whimpered, his voice cracking. “The one about stars and safe places. You don’t sing. No one sings like her.”
“I know,” Damien said quietly, kneeling before him. “But Alice is—’
He didn’t finish the sentence.
“You wanted her gone too,” Nathan said.
Nathan screamed again. “But no one does these things like her. When she does them, she can go back to wherever she wants.”
In that moment, Damien truly saw it. This wasn’t a tantrum. This was grief.
The Lung’s vandetta
1/2 27.99
4:05 pm
His son wasn’t just crying for comfort. He was crying for the only person who had ever made him feel safe-and she wasn’t coming back.
They both treated her harshly, despised her, and acted like she didn’t matter. Nathan must’ve realized that no one can do all those things like Alice. And now, he wanted her.
Damien stood and turned to the maids.
“Find the blanket. I don’t care where it is. Find it. And try the east spring again. Bring that water. don’t care how many days it takes.”
The maids nodded and scurried away.
As Damien stood at the doorway, watching his son curl into himself and cry like the world had ended, he whispered-more to himself than anyone else-“Alice… what have you done to us?”
By midday, Nathan had finally been ‘subdued. He stood up all of a sudden and accepted the blanket the maids brought. He had a fierce look but said nothing to anyone.
Damien paced in front of the long table, his arms crossed and his eyes unfocused. He hadn’t eaten, hadn’t slept, and the only thing gnawing louder than his stomach was the fear clawing through his gut.
Then the door opened.
Beta Zane stepped in.
Damien turned sharply. “Where have you been?”
Beta Zane lifted a brow. “Tracking.”
“For two days?”
Beta Zane dropped his bag on the table with a thud. “There was a report from a trader who thought he saw her near the southern ridge. I followed it. But it was a false lead.”
Damien’s fists clenched. “Do you think this is a game?”
Beta Zane didn’t flinch. “No. But I think you’re too busy blaming everyone else to see what’s in front of you.”
Damien’s voice dropped, low and taut. “What’s in front of me is a pack on the verge of collapse. A child who won’t stop screaming. A house that’s falling apart because the one woman who kept it together vanished.”
Beta Zane leaned against the wall, folding his arms. “Then maybe you should’ve thought about that before you let her go.”
Damien’s glare darkened, but Beta Zane didn’t back down.
“She won’t come back,” he said.
“I don’t care,” Damien muttered. “I only want her to return and take care of the issue with Nathan before she leaves again.”
Beta Zane gave a bitter chuckle. “Sure. But do you think any maid can replace her presence in Nathan’s life?”
“They only need to learn how she cares for Nathan, that’s all.”
Chapter 9
213 28.9%
4:05 pm &
Damien looked away.
Then he exhaled. “Has she been found?”
Beta Zane’s expression sobered. “No.”
Damien slammed his palm on the table. “You find her, Zane. I don’t care how far you have to go. You find her.”
Beta Zane straightened, his face unreadable. “And if she doesn’t want to come back?”
“She doesn’t have a choice,” Damien snapped.
Beta Zane didn’t argue. He nodded once.
Then Damien walked to the window.
“We don’t have time,” Damien said quietly. “The Red Fang. They sent word this morning. We must find Alice before they get here.”
Zane’s jaw tightened. “Why do you think they’re after her?”
“He claims she’s his bloodline. I bet he made a mistake. Helena wasn’t born royalty-there’s no way Alice is,” Damien said.
Zane stayed quiet.
“But if she happens to be…” Damien grinned. “It will be a good opportunity to make a nice trade with Red Fang, don’t you think?”
