Page 70 of The Alpha Wolf’s Secret Baby Boy

Aoife approaches us just as the council members spread out, and reaches for my hand when that sinister voice begins to chime in my head.

Enemy…

I glance at Damian one more time to strengthen my resolve, to silence the voices and place my hand in Aoife’s, hanging on to the reasons I need to go through with this. To hang on to the reason I need to survive.

Somehow, I find it in Damian’s blue eyes, and welcome the help Aoife offers as she leads me to the fire trench.

Damian sticks close to me as we’re instructed to get to our knees, the crackling fire illuminating his face in warm ribbons of gold, and my heart squeezes.

Ten years that used to feel like a brave sacrifice suddenly feel like a mistake. As Aoife brings a wooden mug filled with an array of earthy aromas to my lips, this begins to feel like a moment of penance.

What if the mistakes of the past can’t be rectified?

What if I can’t forgive myself for keeping Damian away from our son?

What if I can’t trust him again?

Except, I can trust Damian. It’s why he feels like the grounding force in this experiment as I drink the contents of the mug and feel it burning down my throat.

Despite everything I did to hurt him, he still mated me. He still came for me when I ran off to find Daniel myself. He came to see me after I attacked him. And even when I lashed out at him yesterday, he didn’t give up on me.

All the insecurities I’ve held on to for a decade dissipate as Damian takes my hand and we both stare into the fire as the witches begin their chants.

The only flicker of dread I feel is that I don’t make it out of this. But then I’ll know that my sins were unforgivable.

“We cannot be certain of the outcome of this ritual,” Aoife says as she rises to her feet and joins her sisters by holding their hands. “This is why your fated mate will be right here, as you journey within and find the strength to release the dark magic. Use the strength of the mate bond. It is the strongest force for a werewolf.”

I nod as Damian squeezes my hand, and Aoife joins the chanting in front of the forest. Closing my eyes, I succumb to the effects of the witches’ potion, finding myself shrouded in dark whiffs of smoke that seem to draw me into a trance.

Weapon…

Destroy…

The eerie voices in my head chant as if fighting Aoife’s voice, but there’s one question that remains, as if spoken by my inner wolf who’s trying to return.

What if the only thing stronger than the darkness inside me is the love I’ve spent ten years trying to bury?

Do I even deserve that?

As the claws of darkness pull me further, there’s a single white dot that flashes far away. Almost too far, until another voice enters my mind.

“Welcome, my child,” the voice speaks, and that’s when I gasp, feeling the warmth of something ancient, something that feels like a mother’s love ripping away the claws of darkness from the corners of my soul.

The whispers that have tormented me since the warehouse begin to fade beneath that impossible tenderness, until there’s room to hear my own heart again.

And that’s when I finally understand.

I still love Damian Walker.

Chapter 19 - Damian

Poppy’s hand goes limp between mine, and panic rises like acrid bile in my throat as I snap my head to her.

That’s when her head flies up, her eyes turning milk white and her fingers in my hand twitching.

“Poppy?” I whisper, dread settling in my gut as I snap my head to the witch.

Aoife warned me about the dangers of this ritual—a method of extracting the poisonous magic Poppy had been injected with. It’s a ritual that has never been performed before, pulled from the aging pages of an ancient witchcraft text known to the witches as a grimoire.