Chapter 55: The Betrayal

​TWO YEARS AGO!!

The air inside the private tent was thick with sweat and tension. Damien stood still as his heart beat fast in his chest. Today was not just about winning a title. It was about the girl standing in front of him.

Sofia stood close, her youthful face glowing with pride as she helped him fasten his ceremonial armor. Her fingers brushed his chest as she tightened the leather straps, careful and gentle.

“Make sure you win, Damien,” she whispered, her sea-blue eyes meeting his. “The whole pack is watching.”

“I will,” Damien promised softly.

He leaned closer and lowered his voice as he explained his secret tactic—a risky move he had practiced for months in secret. No one else knew it. Only her.

“When I win,” he added, hesitating, “there’s something I need to tell you.”

Sofia smiled. It was warm and bright, the kind of smile that made his wolf stir with happiness. She rose on her toes and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek.

“Good luck, my champion.”

Damien’s heart fluttered. He wanted to pull her close and tell her everything right then, but he forced himself to wait.

After the fight, he told himself. After I win.

Damien walked into the arena feeling invincible. He tore through the first and second rounds with ease, the crowd roaring his name. But when the final round began—the match against the Alpha heir of the Woods Pack—everything fell apart.

​His opponent moved as if he could read Damien’s mind. Every time Damien prepared his secret feint, the other boy was already there, countering with a brutal efficiency that shouldn’t have been possible. Damien was beaten, humiliated, and left in the dirt.

​Dazed and heartbroken, he ignored the healers and went searching for Sofia. He needed to see her, to tell her he was sorry for losing. He found her behind the stables, but she wasn’t alone.

​She was standing with the Woods Pack heir—the boy who had just stolen his glory.

​”Will you now agree to my request, now that you won?” Sofia asked, her voice trembling. “I told you his secret tactic. I gave you everything you needed to beat him.”

​The Woods heir let out a cold, mocking laugh. He tucked the prize medal into his pocket and looked Sofia up and down with disdain. “Thanks for the help, sweetheart. But sorry… you’re not really my type.”

​He walked away, leaving Sofia standing there in the dark.

​Damien had watched from the shadows, his world shattering. In that moment, he didn’t see a girl he had been madly in love with; he saw a traitor who had sold his secrets because she was infatuated with a rival. He saw the girl he loved trade his honor for a boy who didn’t even want her.

​THE PRESENT!

​”Sofia… I saw you… I saw you with…” Damien’s words caught in his throat when he realized Sofia’s eyes were closing, her body becoming limp.

​”Sofia… open your eyes…” he pleaded as he slapped her arms roughly, trying to make her stay awake.

​Damien’s heart had nearly stopped when he saw her head roll back, her body becoming unnervingly heavy in his arms. He stormed into the hotel lobby, blood-soaked and screaming for the healers.

​In the suite, the silver-haired healer from earlier—the one who had tried to help Sofia through her shock—rushed in. She took one look at the bullet wound and the amount of blood soaking Damien’s hands and immediately went to work.

​”Sofia… listen to me,” Damien choked out, leaning over the bed as the healer cut away the stained maid uniform. He gripped Sofia’s cold hand, his voice trembling with a desperation he hadn’t felt in years. “I forgive you, okay? I won’t punish you for trying to run away. I’ll treat you better. Just… please don’t die on me. I can’t… I can’t do this without you.”

​”Alpha, move!” the healer snapped, shoving his shoulder. “You are crowding her, and your aura is suffocating. Go to the living room. Now!”

​Damien stumbled back, his eyes fixed on Sofia’s pale, chubby cheeks and her shallow breaths. He retreated to the living room, pacing the length of the carpet like a caged beast. Every minute felt like an eternity. He looked at his hands—the blood was drying. He had spent two years hating her for a betrayal, only to realize he never stopped loving her.

​The door finally creaked open. The healer walked out, her expression somber, her eyes fixed on the floor.

​Damien froze. The world seemed to tilt. He saw the grim set of her mouth and the way she held her hands, and his knees simply gave out. He hit the carpet hard, a broken, guttural sob tearing from his throat.

​”No…” he gasped, burying his face in his hands. “No, please….”

​The healer blinked, looking down at the powerful Alpha crumpled on the floor, weeping like a child. She stood there for a moment, her voice dripping with a mix of pity and sharp judgment.

​”So, you love her this way,” the healer remarked, her voice dry. “You love her enough to fall to your knees in grief, yet you treated her like trash?”

​Damien didn’t answer. He just kept shaking his head, his broad shoulders heaving as he mourned the woman he thought was gone.

​”I don’t know why you’re crying like the world has ended,” the healer said, crossing her arms. “She isn’t dead. The bullet passed through the fleshy part of her shoulder. She lost a lot of blood, but she’s a shifter—she’s already starting to mend. She’s awake and asking for water.”

​Damien’s sobbing stopped instantly. He looked up, his face tear-streaked and confused. “She’s… she’s alive?”

​”She is,” the healer said, gesturing toward the door. “But she needs water… I’ll go get it.”

​With that, she turned and left.

Damien swallowed hard, composed himself, and wiped his face. He didn’t want Sofia to even have the slightest idea that he was crying for her.

​Taking a deep breath, he pushed the bedroom door open.

​

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