Chapter 242: Chapter 242

When we walked out of the meeting room, my head felt heavy. My heart wouldn’t stop racing either. Thorne’s face... his resemblance to Lisa... it was burned into my mind. I tried to shake it off, but Kael’s voice cut through my thoughts.

"Rowan," Kael said sharply as we stepped into the hall. "What the hell is going on? You left me in the dark. You knew something, didn’t you? Spill it."

I stopped walking, rubbing a hand over my face. "Kael, it’s not simple. But... I think I know now."

He frowned, his eyes narrowing. "Know what? Stop talking in circles."

I exhaled. "Belinda. And Fridolf. I should’ve told you earlier. I overheard something when I went to check on Belinda that day."

Kael’s brows knitted together. "What did you hear?"

I lowered my voice. "She was talking to Fridolf. Planning something. I didn’t want to believe it at first, but then her pregnancy was fake and she was in ccahoot with uncle Fridolf. They were the one that poisoned Damon."

Kael’s jaw clenched. "What?"

"She deceived us!" I snapped.

Kael shook his head, his voice filled with anger. "What the heck?! And you left right after hearing all that! We need to arrest them now and make them pay for their sins!"

I didn’t answer. The guilt was already eating me alive. I turned to the guard standing nearby. "You. Bring Belinda and Fridolf to the prison. Now. I want them locked up until I say otherwise."

The guard bowed deeply. "Yes, Alpha." He hurried off.

Kael folded his arms. "And then what? You think locking them up will fix everything?"

I stared at him. "It’s a start. At least then we’ll know where they are."

Kael shook his head but followed me as I walked toward Damon’s chamber. He was still recovering, but he deserved to know.

We entered the room quietly. Damon was lying on his bed, his face pale but his eyes still sharp. He turned his head toward us.

I sat on the edge of his bed. "Damon... there’s something I need to tell you."

Kael leaned against the wall, arms still crossed. "Tell him. Don’t leave anything out."

So I did. I told them everything I heard when I went to check on Belinda, the whispers, the lies, the schemes she was weaving with Fridolf. I explained how it all connected, how it never sat right with me.

Damon’s eyes widened, his fists clenching under the blanket. Kael shook his head slowly, disbelief written all over his face.

And then Damon’s voice cut through the silence. Low. Almost a whisper.

"Do you believe me now?"

We both turned to him. He was staring at us with those piercing eyes, his lips trembling with restrained fury.

"I told you," Damon continued, his voice hoarse. "I told you Belinda wasn’t who you thought she was. I tried to make you see it, but no one listened."

My wolf growled inside me at the mere mention of her name. I hated it. I hated that Damon had been right and I had been blind.

"Damon..." I said, guilt choking me. "You were right. We should’ve trusted you."

"Belinda played you both like fools," Damon said, his voice rising. "She lied, she tricked you, and you let her near Lisa. You let her near my Lisa."

Kael tried to steady him. "Damon, calm down..."

"Don’t you tell me to calm down!" Damon roared, throwing the blanket aside. He staggered to his feet, his body still weak but his rage giving him strength. "Where is Lisa? Where is she?"

Kael and I exchanged a guilty look. Neither of us spoke.

Damon’s eyes darkened. "Where is she?"

Finally, Kael muttered, "She’s... she’s in her chamber."

Damon didn’t wait. He stormed out, dragging himself down the hall with a strength that didn’t belong to a man still healing. His steps were uneven, but his fury carried him forward like fire. Kael and I rushed after him, trying to stop him, but it was like chasing a storm.

He reached Lisa’s chamber door and began pounding on it with his fists.

"Lisa! Lisa, open the door!" Damon’s voice thundered through the hall, raw and desperate. Each hit against the door echoed like a drumbeat, harder and harder until his knuckles began to bleed.

"Lisa, it’s me! Please!" His voice cracked with pain.

I stood a few steps back, my chest aching, my heart heavy with shame. My wolf howled inside me, clawing at me, calling me a fool.

Kael tried to grab Damon’s arm, pulling him back. "Damon, stop, you’ll hurt yourself! You’re still weak...."

But Damon spun on us so fast Kael let go. His eyes were blazing, wild, filled with rage and heartbreak. His voice shook, but it carried enough force to make the guards nearby freeze where they stood.

"What did you do?" he demanded, his gaze locked on me. "What did you do to her?"

My throat tightened. I could barely breathe, let alone speak. But I forced the words out, quiet and rough. "We... we locked her in the prison."

The air shifted instantly. Damon’s face went pale, as if I’d stabbed him. Then his expression twisted, pure rage replacing the shock.

"You did WHAT?" he roared.

Before I could explain, he shoved past me so hard I staggered back. His voice shook the walls. "You locked Lisa in a cell while Belinda and Fridolf escaped? Are you out of your minds?!"

"Damon..." Kael tried again, his tone calm, but it only added fuel to Damon’s fury.

"Shut up!" Damon’s roar cut him off, so loud it silenced the entire corridor. His voice was wild, broken, desperate. "You think you’re protecting her? You’re killing her! You betrayed her!"

His chest rose and fell in sharp bursts, his hands trembling as though he was seconds away from tearing the entire palace down brick by brick. His wolf was clawing close to the surface, I could feel it in the air, heavy and dangerous.

Kael stepped closer, raising his hands in peace. "Listen, Damon. We didn’t mean..."

"You didn’t mean?" Damon snapped, cutting him off again. His eyes glistened with fury and something deeper...pain. "You locked her away like a criminal! You left her to rot while your precious Belinda and that snake Fridolf ran free! Tell me...how is that protection?"

I swallowed hard, my voice low. "We thought...." New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡•𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚•𝙣𝙚𝙩

"No!" Damon pointed a shaking finger at me, his whole body trembling. "Don’t you dare say you thought! You didn’t think. You didn’t feel. You didn’t listen!"

He slammed his fist against the wall beside the door, leaving a bloody mark. His breathing came out ragged, and for a moment, he looked like he might collapse. But instead, he kept shouting.

"She needed you, both of you, and what did you do? You caged her. You hurt her. You betrayed her trust!" His voice cracked on the last words, his anger breaking under the weight of something softer, grief.

Kael rubbed his forehead, his voice strained. "Damon, we made a mistake. But we can fix this..."

"Fix this?" Damon’s laugh was sharp, bitter. "You don’t fix betrayal. You can’t erase the look on her face when she realizes the people she trusted most treated her worse than an enemy."

I had no answer. The shame burned too deep. My wolf was restless inside me, snarling, begging me to admit it.

Damon turned back to the door, pressing his forehead against it. His voice lowered, but it was broken, filled with pleading. "Lisa... I’m here. Please, just answer me. Please..."

He slammed his fist again, then spun back toward us. His eyes were wet now, his body shaking uncontrollably. "If anything happens to her... if she doesn’t come back from this... I’ll never forgive you. Either of you."