---- Chapter 33 Damien POV: | looked at the whimpering pup in the nanny's arms. His skin was flushed, and | could smell the faint, acrid scent of Silver. He wasn't my warrior's son. He wasn't my responsibility. He was the living symbol of my greatest mistake. But he was still a pup. Innocent. "Take him to the medical wing," | told the nanny, my voice heavy. "I'll be right there." | sent the exhausted Omega to get some rest and took the child myself. In the Healer's sterile room, | watched as she gently cleaned the small red welts on his skin. He cried, a thin, reedy sound that tore at something deep inside me. The Healer told me the Silver poisoning was minor, but it would take time to purge. | sat by his cot all night, placing my hand over his small chest and pushing my own Alpha energy into him, a slow, steady pulse to help his body fight the toxin. It was a strange power we Alphas possessed, the ability to lend our strength to the weak, a power | had so rarely used for anything but conquest. It was a strange form of penance. Caring for the child of the woman who destroyed me. ---- Just as the sun began to rise, the Mind-Link chimed in my head. A Mind-Link was a sacred connection, a silent language shared between pack members, a stream of thoughts and emotions. It was meant for loyalty and love. Lyra's use of it felt like a violation. "Are you up? Don't be late. | want to get this over with so | can get on with my life." There was no question about the pup. No flicker of maternal concern. Just impatience. "I'll be there," | sent back, my mental voice flat and dead. | made sure the pup was stable and left him in the care of the Healer and the nanny, promising them they would be well- compensated from what little | had left. Then | walked to the Hall of Elders. Lyra was already there, tapping her foot impatiently. She was dressed to impress, her makeup perfect. She looked like she was heading to a party, not ending a bond. The ceremony was quick and impersonal. A few words from an Elder, a signed document. There was no spiritual agony, no tearing of a soul-bond like the one | had inflicted upon myself with Elara. It was just paperwork. The severing of a lie. The moment the Elder declared the bond dissolved, Lyra turned without a word. A sleek, black car | recognized as belonging to Marcus, the Alpha from the bar, pulled up to the ---- curb. She got in, blew me a mocking kiss, and was gone. A wave of exhaustion washed over me, so profound | almost buckled. It was over. The lie was purged. But the real work was just beginning. | went back to the Alpha house, which was no longer mine. | called my Beta, Mark, and the few loyal members who remained. | told them | was dissolving the Bloodstone Pack. | signed over the house, the lands, and what little liquid assets | had left to them, to divide as they saw fit. "Alpha, you can't," Mark pleaded, his voice cracking with emotion. "This is our home. We built this." "| destroyed it," | said, my voice hollow. "This is all that's left to do." | packed a single bag, my pockets empty, my title gone. | was no one. But as | walked away from the life | had built and destroyed, a single, desperate thought propelled me forward. | had to get back to Moon Island. | had to find Elara.