Caged Between The Beta & Alpha
Chapter 104

DAMON

It was a few days since everything had gone down.

Me and Liam were in Nina’s room, that had been cleared out. We hadn’t found anything more from her room, which was so damn clean you could smell it. The room had been emptied, giving her stuff to her grandmother if she wanted them. She refused and said to get rid of then, although I knew that was more her respect towards the pack because she was devastated at her granddaughter’s truth and death.

To think she was living here with so much hatred in her life…

I walked over to the window. It looked out towards the training grounds, and I wondered how much time she spent here watching us, or Liam. Even in such a place, behind such an innocent mask, there was a killer, burning from within with hatred and vengeance…

There are all types of masks that those around us wear; masked by our fake smiles and passive expressions, the lies hidden inside, the pain we hide to pretend we are normal… the jealousy, the bitterness, the sadness… We all wear them.. I did too.

Lately though, I’ve talked about how I felt. Maybe it took Liam marking Raven to make me snap, but it worked. It had been a turning point that perhaps I needed, I just wished it hadn’t been something so horrible as that to finally make me step up.

Liam crouched down by the skirting board and I glanced over at him.

‘What is it?”

He stood up again, holding a small photograph.

Who would have thought that piece of scvm had a child.

“I know…” I said, glancing at the picture for a moment. “If only she actually asked someone the truth, rather than just wrap herself up in lies and her assumptions.”

“I’ve assumed stuff, so I can see it happening.” He said, sighing as he opened his hand, his aura surging around it. I watched in shock as the photograph began to shrivel up as if it was burned by the blue flame-like aura.

Whoa. !”

He gave me a small smile.

“I guess I have some similarities to Kiara. !”

“How did you hone it on just your hand…”

He shrugged, dropping the burned paper to the ground.

“I’ve always been more in control than Kia, besides, she carries the Asheton power whilst I think I’m definitely more Deimos.”

“You are the Deimos prince.” I said, crossing my arms.

“I don’t like that title; I think I’ve used titles enough to last me a f*****g lifetime.” He said, sighing as he crushed the remnants of the picture beneath his boot. “You are an incredible Beta Damon… One who has stepped up to the job the moment your father passed away, but I know if I just say I don’t think of you as anything less than me, it’s worth nothing. So … I want to show you something.”

He j3rked his head towards the door and I raised an eyebrow as we both left the room and packhouse, heading towards the north side of the pack into the trees. It was nice to see the children playing around the pack again.

“Is this like a surprise set up in the middle of a forest, where you are going to confess your undying love?” I joked.

“Not exactly.” He smirked, as he headed towards the river. I frowned as he crossed the bridge and kept walking.

“Ok, are you planning on killing me in the middle of nowhere?” I asked.

“Definitely not.” He replied as we walked through the trees, not stopping for a good ten minutes until he suddenly slowed down.

I raised an eyebrow, looking around, we were on pack grounds that were only really used for running.

“What are we looking at?” I said, glancing around.

“We are looking at the future home of the Blue Moon Pack.'” He said.

I frowned; this was B***d Moon territory…

“Are you changing the pack name?” I asked, looking around.

This location was big, but I’m sure our current location was larger. Why would he move this way?

He chuckled.

“No, The Blue Moon is going to be the B***d Moon’s sub pack, led by its own Alpha… Alpha Damo Nicholson, my brother.” Liam said quietly, my eyes snapped up to his. His words resonated in my head and I was shocked to see the glitter of emotions in his eyes.

My heart raced as I stared at him. There was no guilt in his eyes, simply sadness and sincerity.

“I wish I could keep being selfish and keep you by my side forever, to have you as my Beta, but you are worth far more… and the pack’s growing too large.

To start with, it was two packs combined. With what happened, it’s clear a pack of this size is far too great to be run by one Alpha and so I thought who more fitting than you… You have always been loyal to me, come whatever, but I don’t want you bound by my side when you are worth so much more… So… this is going to be our sub pack. We will break the far wall and you will take two-fifths of the territory, I’ve discussed with Dad about buying the land around to the west, so we can spread both packs over more ground. You can start planning what you want and how you want the pack arranged. Once we decide how we split the pack, with the members approval of course, we will get two-fifths of the pack moved here under your command.”

It was too much to take in, me as an Alpha? I never… considered that… I ran my hand through my hair, staring at the land. The vision of a packhouse and how I’d set it out already filled my mind.

I looked at Liam, who was watching me with a small smile on his face. I knew he probably knew it was hard for me to see them together, but I also knew he was doing this for me and not to get rid of me. He made mistakes, but it was like everyone kept telling me that I was more than I felt, Liam included… I had always been second to him, and here he was giving me the rank of Alpha, telling me we were equal… brothers…

We made mistakes, we hurt each other. But was one woman enough to destroy it all?

I knew the answer to that… No, and I knew with time; things would get better.

“I don’t know what to say..”

“You don’t need to say anything, maybe this way the packhouse rooms can have their own bathrooms. Do you know there’s one pack member who has anonymously left a long essay explaining why the packhouse needed renovating… Damn it was long…”

“Robyn, guaranteed, only she would take the time to write an essay to argue her point…”

He chuckled.

“When I saw how neat and professional the letter was, I had a feeling it might be her.”

That’s Robyn for you. I guess I have a lot of work to do then.” And something to keep my mind busy, perfect.

“Yeah, you do.” Liam said, “So tell me, Alpha Damon, what’s the first step?”

“Getting an assessment and some building plans in place, man, you know I hate paperwork. Wait, as Alpha, that means a sh!t-tonne of papervwork.

“Yeah, it does, but I’m here to help you each step of the way. If you don’ t like the legal work, I can help with that.” He said shrugging.

“Thanks.. But who will you have as Beta then?”I asked, frowning.

D*mn that was my title…

Liam shrugged,

“I was thinking Zack, and then maybe make Robyn as Delta? The girl’s smart, unless you want her..” He said, now sounding awkward as if he just realized what he had said. “Sh!t, I didn’t mean to take..

Forget me.'”

I smiled at that.

“Didn’t mean to take all my women?” I joked. “Well, me and Robyn are over, Raven was never really mine, I think I realise that now. But she’s still my friend so … you ain’t taking anyone from me. Robyn is a good option, I guess that means I’ll have to choose a Beta and Delta too… “

“Yeah, we could do an assessment and see what everyone’s stats are.” Liam said as we both began walking along, taking in the terrain as we discussed this.

I nodded. “That’s an idea.'” I said, giving him a genuine smile. “Thanks, Liam.””

“No need to thank me.” He replied smiling.

The Liam I knew.

“Race you to the bridge?” I suggested.

“Game on!” He said, readying himself.

“Oh, and one more thing, don’t let me win.” I said, making his dazzling blue eyes widen in shock.

You…”

Yeah, I knew… You let me win, Liam, all those times …”I said quietly.

He looked up at the shining sun and smiled.

“Actually Damon.. I don’t need to let you win, because, with everything we’ve been through, it shows as a person, you are the true winner.” His words were sincere, and this time I didn’t deny them or shake them off.

You are so much more… Those words echoed in my mind as I looked at Liam.

We both are.'” I said, “”Go!”

We broke into a run and although I said to him not to let me win… It was ok to play dirty, right?

I elbowed him hard, barrelling past him as he stumbled, both of us laughing as we ran towards the bridge.

I was right, things were definitely going to get better.