Chapter 7

"You said you saw Evelyn meeting Julian at a hotel twice. You said you had video of the two of them during our Mating Ceremony. I never watched. Pull the video up now."

"I — I deleted it by accident — ahh, ahh—"

She tried to deflect. Damon stomped on her belly. She shook with pain.

"I'm sorry, I didn't — I was jealous of her, I loved you too much. I didn't think you'd actually believe me."

Damon closed his eyes. He crushed the shaking out of his body and walked away without turning.

"Don't go! Save me!" Serena screamed. "Your pup is still inside me!"

"You don't deserve to carry my pup. I only got you pregnant because the Healers said Evelyn couldn't carry again. I just wanted Evelyn to have my pup somehow." Damon said coldly.

"What Evelyn suffered, you'll suffer."

The door closed on Serena's screams.

"Damon. We found him. Julian's in Harborhaven. Ashford Pack just announced the Mating Ceremony."

Damon gripped the phone, wild with joy.

If Julian was Bonding into the Ashford Pack, then there was still a chance to win Evelyn back.

I looked at the gown on me and asked Julian, unsure. "Julian. Isn't this too much? Won't I steal Lady Ashford's thunder?"

He stared at me in the mirror, transfixed. "Lady Ashford sent it specifically for you."

He gave a quiet, pained laugh. "Still calling me Julian. You still haven't said yes?"

I was quiet. Then I heard him say softly, "Evelyn. We were in love once. You left me and went home because of your mother and my father. After all these years, you could give me another chance."

I opened my mouth. Julian's face paled. He said quickly, "It's time. I should go greet the guests."

"Don't feel rushed to answer, Evelyn. Just give me the chance."

I watched his back and gently shook my head.

The door opened. I looked up. "Julian, if—"

I saw who it was. My brows pulled tight and I stood up on guard. "Damon. Who let you in? Where's security?"

"Evelyn." He stared at me, desperate. His eyes were red. He was a shadow of himself.

"I looked for you everywhere. I knew it had to be Julian who took you." His voice broke. "I got the parcel. I know it was Serena, that bitch, twisting everything. I was wrong."

He dropped to his knees, sobbing. "Give me another chance. For all the love we used to have."

"Evelyn, for the time I would've died to save you."

I felt unreal. The man kneeling in front of me, crying like he had that night, was even more broken than before.

He hadn't been this small and terrified even facing death.

"Evelyn. You know how much I love you. That's how scared I was you didn't love me. I made one small mistake. You can't sentence me to death for one small mistake we made along the way."

He sobbed and reached for my hand.

Another hand took mine first.

Julian.

I closed my hand in Julian's as the blood drained from Damon's face.

"You're right, Damon. Just one small mistake. Nothing serious."

I said softly, "But I never made a single mistake. I shouldn't have to pay with my whole life for yours."

"Didn't Julian make mistakes too?! He's Bonding into the Ashford Pack behind your back! Evelyn, this is his Mating Ceremony with Lady Ashford! He's lied to you too!"

I stepped aside so he could see the couple at the center of the floor.

"Lady Ashford is Bonding with her mate today. What does that have to do with me?" Julian said, cold.

Damon froze.

I left with Julian as Damon fell apart.

At the door, I said the last thing I would ever say to him.

"Damon. Hands that betray real feelings pay for it. The rest of your life is your payment. Live through it."

They say Damon was diagnosed with depression the year after I left Ashcroft.

The pills came by the handful. He only got thinner.

Damon's parents had died when he was a pup. His grandfather who raised him was gone by the time he grew up.

Once he was sick, the hangers-on scattered.

A few old friends might have stayed. But after seeing what happened to Mason, no one dared go near him.

He was left to slide into the dark.

After the initial envy and shock, the online crowd started remembering the legendary Mating Ceremony he'd once thrown for me.

As people dug, the story of me, him, and Serena came out.

His name and Serena's were ruined. Pack shares fell and kept falling.

He was past caring. He dumped all his shares.

Serena was taken to a healer by a neighbor and bled out giving birth.

Someone called Damon to the hospital.

Damon looked down at the dark-skinned pup in the blanket. Obviously not his.

He laughed. He couldn't stop. In the end he covered his face and sobbed, only saying one word. "Reckoning."

Everyone talked about how a brilliant young Alpha like him had fallen so far.

The golden heir every Pack admired. At thirty, when an Alpha should be at his peak, he'd lost his mate, his empire, and his health.

Betrayed by the one he loved. Saddled with another male's pup.

All people could say in the end was, "I guess it was his reckoning."

Julian and I had a quiet Mating Ceremony.

A meadow, a small band, and just the two of us, with Lady Ashford and her family.

As we said "I do" together —

Behind a tree, a thin figure flashed past.

I didn't pay it much mind. I tossed the bouquet.

The officiant said, "May you have a long and happy life together."

I whispered it quietly in my heart.

"We will."

The End.