Page 72 of Forced Alpha Bride
“Ah, alpha,” Mitchell says, coming up beside us. “There’s something you need to see.”
What now?
I don’t want to see the carnage, but I can’t seem to look away. All around me are bloodied bodies and people screaming with grief and loss. Regina doesn’t stop wailing, and my heart breaks for her.
She loved him so much. I knew she was close with her guards and took good care of them, but I never imagined she thought of them as family.
I glance behind me to see Isla backing away, her face white and her hands over her mouth. Krista has her arms around her mother, her eyes wide with shock as she leads her back to the manor.
We fucked up. How could we let this happen? I’m the luna—it’s my fault, too!
My chest tightens uncomfortably as I remember backing Damon up when he gave the order to wait.
This will haunt me for the rest of my life.
I turn to follow Damon, taking quick strides so I can catch up with him and Mitchell. At the far end of the courtyard, there are three bodies laid out. No one is crying or wailing over them.
Why? Who are they?
As we get closer, Damon’s step falters, and I reach for his arm. He brushes me off, his eyes fixed on the three covered bodies.
“Show me, Mitchell!” Damon demands, his voice cracking.
Mitchell hurries forward and pulls the covers back. Damon gasps with shock as they are revealed. I don’t know who they are, and at first, I’m confused.
Then Mitchell reaches the last body and reveals a face with a name I couldn’t forget.
Austin!
With an anguished cry, Damon falls to his knees, grabbing Austin’s dead hand.
“Oh, my brothers, what have I done!” he bellows.
These are Damon’s men… and they were killed by Valentine Creek.
Chapter 22 - Damon
I force myself to look closely at the faces of my fallen brothers, letting rage and grief rise within me. Clinging to Austin’s cold hand, I swear to him that his death will be avenged.
This is my fault.
“Damon,” Winnie says softly. She puts her hand on my shoulder, and I roughly shake her off.
This isn’t just because I hesitated to move against the Creek. It’s because instead of taking to the hills myself, I let my cock lead me after Winnie!
I close my eyes, my hand tightening around Austin’s. The pain ripping through my chest right now is worse than anything I’ve ever felt before. Even the loss of my mother.
I was fifteen when she left me with Uncle Leroy. When I stood over her grave, I was sad but also relieved. We suffered terribly trying to fit into the town that had so brutally rejected her. Leaving to be with Leroy was a relief, and I felt like my mother was finally beyond pain.
That didn’t stop me from wanting vengeance in her name, though.
Losing my brothers is an entirely different kind of loss. I’ve fought back to back with these men, lived through utter hell with them. Seeing them fall in this way—senseless, avoidable deaths—tears my soul to shreds.
“Damon,” Mitchell says. “We need our alpha now.”
I look up at him, my body rigid with fury. I expect Mitchell to be giving me a look that plainly screams ‘I told you so,’ but instead, he looks wounded, even sympathetic.
“I am sorry, Alpha,” he says gently. “I know what a shock this is for you. These men were your friends, as well as your personal guard. You were trying to do the right thing, and I appreciate that, but surely now you must understand the truth of Valentine Creek.”
