Chapter 99
And Then There Were Four
Chapter 99: Betrayed & Captured Damian.
I wasnât sure what to expect, but everything Kate had told me in my office kept swirling through my mind.
The entire evening I had spent with Ivy and the others, I couldnât help but think how Kate was right.
I needed to be honest with Ivy. I couldnât keep hiding the truth.
I didnât explain everything because some things were too hard for me to explain, but! let her know what I
was doing. I told her I was going, and it was to help fix whatever the hell was going on with me.
Ivy deserved to know, just in case something bad happened. I didnât want her thinking my demise was he r fault. I loved her more than I realized.
Before the sun had risen across the horizon, I had slipped from my bed where Ivy laid sleeping and prep ared to leave. Walking around the room, my eyes darted to her angelic sleeping figure.
She was extraordinarily beautiful in every way possible, and even though she didnât find hersell attractive with her massive protruding belly⦠I did.
In fact, knowing she was pregnant with our children made her that much more desirable. I couldnât get en ough of her, and through the evening I showed her as I pleased her like no other.
Expressing my love for her⦠in case I wasnât able to again.
As I prepared myself to leave, I found it hard to go. The thought of leaving her was excruciating. Especially because I k new there was a chance I may not come back.
Letting out a heavy sigh, I leaned over, kissing the side of her head once more. My lips lingered just a mo ment longer than they needed to before I pulled away and made my way towards the bedroom door.
Was I actually doing the right thing, or was I being selfish by leaving?
I was constantly conflicted and had been for days since I had found the woman who supposedly could he lp me. It wasnât easy moving forward with what I was doing, but I just kept reminding myself I was doing t his for the sake of the pack, for the sake of Ivy, and for the sake of my unborn children, Leaving my bedroom, I quietly shut the door to avoid disturbing her and made my way down the hallway.
After my conversation with Ivy last night, I did go talk to my brothers, and I told them exactly what was go ing on.
They were in shock and disbelief over the situation, saying it wasnât possible, but in the end they knew I
wouldnât make something like this up. If I said it was true, then it was. Talon wanted to come with me in the end.
To have my back, protect me if I needed it, but that wasnât possible.
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I had sworn to the woman I would come alone.
She was an outcast in hiding. An enemy of the council that would be killed if she was found, and though I had found her, I promised I wouldnât give her up.
She didnât trust me, and she had every right not to. Could I possibly be walking into a trap? I had asked
myself that many times.
However, I refused to break trust with this woman if she was the only one who could help me get answers to whatever was g oing on.
Climbing into my car, I didnât waste any time as I made my way down the road toward my destination. It
was over an hour away and still dark outside, so making pace, I let the wheels of my black sedan push fo rward with force, propelling me down the road and onto the highway The entire time I drove, my mind kept playing over everything that had happened since the moment Ivy had walked into m y life. Fate had brought her to us, and with fate we would eventually see what our future had in store.
By the time I slowly began to reach my destination, I pulled off onto a dirt road that lead through a heavily wooded area. When she said seclusion, she wasnât wrong, and as I drove forward, I couldnât help but fee l uneasy.
The more and more I thought about it⦠the more it felt like a trap.
Yet, when the road finally gave way to a clearing in the center of the forest, my eyes landed upon a small brick and wood cabin nestled beneath the trees. Smoke billowed fro m its chimney while candlelight flickered in the windows.
It was a very ominous sight to behold, but considering her life of seclusion, I almost expected more. Perh aps dead carcasses and vines seemingly unhinging the area.
Yet, there were none. It was old, but looked like someone had dropped here it.
Putting the car in park, I stepped onto the dirt drive and closed my car door. With every footstep I took clo ser to the door, predicted my outcome. That was, until the door opened, and I was faced with an old cron e of sorts whose hair had grayed but eyes looked far younger than the outside appearance.
âVivian?â I said, clearly with slight hesitation. âYou came,â she smiled. âI did, and I came alone just as you told me to.â
âI see that. That was wise of you. I do not take kindly to having people at my home who are not invited. Iâ
m sure you can understand why.â Holding the door open for me, she allowed me to step into her home b efore closing the door behind me. Her body seemed more frail than it should be.
âI do understand,â I replied as I watched her make her way towards a chair placed by the fire. âYour gifts are highly sought after, and the council would not have any problem of relieving you of those gifts if they had the chance.â
Hesitating for a moment, her eyes met mine as she slowly nodded in agreement. So you want to figure o ut why you are losing your wolf?â She gestured for me to take my place LI in the seat across from her.
âYes, I can feel that something isnât right. I donât know what it is, but I can feel it, and I know I am dying.â
A small chuckle left her lips as she stared at me curiously. âThat is both correct and incorrect.â
âWould you care to elaborate on that?â
After all, I was here for answers, not to be told riddles. If I wanted riddles, I could have stayed there with
Priscilla and eventually had hoped I figured everything out.
Not drive an hour away by myself to be made to look like a fool.
âI can, but ill explain to you the truth, you cannot change the fate that is coming for you. I want you to real ize you cannot alter your destiny. You must let it take its course.â
Taking a moment, 1 froze in my thoughts, hoping she was simply joking, but after a moment, I quickly rea lized she was not. âYou say once you tell me what you know, even if I wanted to change my fate, I wouldnât be able to.â
âYes. That is correct,â she replied. âYour fate is sealed and what I see will come to pass, no matter the wa y you look at it. It is best that you try not to alter the course and let what is going to happen.â
âVery well,â I said after a moment of letting that information sink in. There was nothing like being told your future is sealed and no matter what you do, youâre not going to be able to change it, which obviously me ans you are going to die.
I knew this day would come, though. I knew I would not live long enough to see my children grow. And whi le that may be the truth, I will listen to what this woman had to say, regardless.
They say knowing your future is a privilege, but I find it to be a curse.
Knowing youâre going to die, knowing the reason why, knowing the events of what is going to happen an d not being able to change it is not a blessing.
Itâs nothing but a curse, and one youâre doomed to fulfill.
âDamian, your wolf is not dying, but⦠you are going to die. Everyone dies eventually. The issues that yo u have, though, are far greater. Your Lycan is gone⦠stripped from you when you protected your brother s from the creature. What you remember of your past isnât true.â
âIâm sorry⦠what? Youâre saying that my memories are false?â Hearing myself ask this question out loud
made me feel crazier than I already was.
All I remembered from that day was my motherâs dying and unleashing a power within me that stopped the darkness. Everything else was stuff Allison had told me in bits and pieces.
âThat is correct. The information you were fed for all these years was lies, Damien. They were all lies. But âI understand, and you said Iâm not dying. Then what is wrong with me?â I asked, hoping for clarification.
âYouâre a very impatient man,â she chuckled, hier gaze boring into me behind calculating eyes. âI can see Furrowing my brows in confusion, I stared at her. How the hell would she know Ivy said that to me?
âDonât look so surprised. I see everything⦠Well, almost everything anyway. So I know what has happene slowly because of her certain circumstances, but you and your brothers help her sustain it.â
âI see,â I replied, pondering over what she was explaining. âHow is it we help her sustain this? My brothers âThat is because they have their Lycan blood and soul. You do not. Yours was stripped from you. So, there âSo my link to Ivy is going to be what kills me. How much time do I have? Are we talking months, days, we I wasnât afraid to die, per se. I was afraid of Ivy finding out that she was the reason I was dying. Everything If she knew the truth, she would never forgive herself.
âYou misunderstand me. That could allow you to die, but that is not how you died, Damien. Your death is o see beyond that day for you.â A glimmer of amusement in her eye caught my attention and for a moment, âWhat do you mean?â
âUnfortunately. If I give you that information, then I will meet my own end. What I can tell you is that you go However, it was too late.
By the time I could even take a step forward, I was shot with tranquilizer guns, and ny vision quickly went âWhat is going on here?! We had a truce, witch!â I growled in fury.
She had betrayed me, and even though I had gotten some information from her, it didnât matter.
Black figures moved about the room as one, in particular, walked towards her, handing her a scroll. âGood âThank you,â she replied before the figure turned towards me with a wicked smile.
I couldnât believe she betrayed me, and as I looked into the figureâs dark eyes, 1 immediately recognized h âThis will not stand,â I snarled at him.
However, my display of aggression did nothing. Instead, he dropped into a crouching position next to me a this one, were you?â