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Chapter 968: The power of darkness [Bonus chapter]

Damon\'s hand slid slowly down her cheek, and he wondered if his messed up senses caused him not to feel the sparks of their bond.         

His fingers paused above the mark on the left side of her neck.     

That was his mark right there. He spent countless hours awake, staring at it while Talia was sleeping.     

She looked like Talia, sounded like Talia, and wore his mark, but something seemed off. What was it?     

Damon raised his hand, and she flinched.     

"You want me to take you home?"     

"Yes," she confirmed.     

"Where is that?"     

The female paused. "To the Dark Howlers pack."     

In the next moment, Damon grabbed her neck as his expression frosted.     

She wanted to squirm out of his hold or defend herself somehow, but she was tied to the tree, and the only thing she could do was talk.     

"No, no," she squeaked. "I meant… home to… the Midnight Guardians pack…"     

Damon continued squeezing until he felt the vibrations of bones snapping under his palm.     

Her eyes widened in horror, and then her head bobbed as she breathed her last.     

"Now, now," Gregory drawled from the back. "I heard that Alpha of the Dark Howlers pack is a cruel man, but I didn\'t know that you would kill indiscriminately. Only a savage would kill his mate."     

"Everyone who goes against my mate and me deserves death," Damon said while turning to Gregory. "I thought my task was to leave with Talia. I didn\'t realize you would play dirty and use an impersonator."     

"How can you be so confident she was not Natalia?"     

Damon smirked. "Your disguising technique is good, but you can\'t fake a person."     

Gregory narrowed his eyes at Damon. "What if that was someone you care about?"     

"The only one I care about is Talia. Others that are close to me would know that impersonating my mate means death."     

Talia watched this from the side, and her heart expanded with warm and fuzzy emotions. Damon was overprotective and overbearing, but the truth was that he knew her well. She would never allow being used as his weakness, and she wouldn\'t ask him to take her home because her home was Damon.     

Declyn looked at Talia suspiciously. "How can you smile when your mate killed you?"     

"You won\'t understand."     

"Explain."     

Talia had no intention of engaging in chatter. She wanted to go to her mate. "Is the trial over?"     

Declyn was not sure what Gregory had prepared for Damon, but he knew that if he let Talia interfere, Gregory would change his plans. This game was for Gregory\'s entertainment, and once his patience ran out, Gregory would expose himself as a male willing to go to any lengths to get what he wanted. And he wanted Talia.         

"You will know once it\'s over," Declyn responded cryptically.     

Even the spectators from the side could see that Damon\'s temper was about to flare. He was done playing.     

Damon\'s expression hardened. "I gave you the benefit of the doubt, but I\'m done. You lied to me about the rules of this charade. Did you also lie about Talia being here? Where is she!?"      

"Will it make a difference if she is here?" Gregory asked.     

"Not really. Today will be your last day either way."     

Gregory\'s eyes darted to his right to see Talia and Declyn there. Damon also looked in that direction, but he couldn\'t see anything out of place.     

"You think you can kill me? What if I told you that you can\'t put a scratch on me?" Gregory asked mockingly.     

Damon was about to respond, but he found himself unable to move. It was like his every muscle froze and started prickling painfully.     

"You mortals should learn your place," Gregory said in a low voice while walking unhurriedly toward Damon. "You are overconfident because you are the strongest fish in your little pond."     

Gregory grinned, exposing his teeth. "Welcome to the ocean."     

Damon groaned as his face contorted in pain. This hurt more than being stabbed with a wolfsbane-laced knife. His body bent, but he refused to fall to his knees.     

"That\'s it," Gregory said, and he leaned closer to Damon, his voice just above a whisper because he didn\'t want Talia to hear this part. "Resist. Resist with all your might. If you just give up, you will spoil my fun. I won\'t kill you. I will let you live so you can see Natalia standing by my side as my woman."     

Damon\'s eyes flashed in anger. What did the bastard say? He wanted to take Talia away? That\'s not happening.     

\'Old guy!\' Damon shouted at his wolf. \'If you have any tricks up your sleeve, now is a good time to come out clean!\'     

\'I\'m giving you everything I can!\' Sapa shouted back. \'Whatever this guy is doing, it\'s suppressing me to the power of a pup!\'     

Damon\'s mind exploded. A pup!     

If anything happened to him, who would take care of Talia? Who will take care of his pup? He would love it to be a girl, cute as Talia, but he wouldn\'t hate it if it were a boy either.     

Will he fall here so that Talia needs to raise their child alone? There were rogues and so many other issues, and he couldn\'t leave Talia to deal with managing two packs without him. And then there was this old creep and his lust for Talia. Unacceptable!     

Ever since his parents died, Damon was lost in a routine of work and empty pleasures, and then Talia came and filled up all the holes he was unaware he had. Yes, he helped her leave the attic and train and learn, but he did it for himself because seeing Talia happy made him happy also. He lived for the moments when her honeyed eyes full of wonder would smile at him, and he would give anything to see that again.     

The thought of this asshole forcing himself on Talia was driving Damon to the brink of insanity.     

Anger, dejection, and helplessness mixed to form something new, and blazing heat formed in the pit of Damon\'s stomach, rapidly expanding to burn him alive. Unknown energies swelled and condensed, threatening to wreck his body.     

"You… fucker…." Damon squeezed through his teeth and raised his head.     

Gregory\'s expression flashed with surprise when he realized that Damon\'s eyes had turned pitch black. And it was not just eyes. There was a layer of darkness concentrating around Damon; combined with Damon\'s fierce expression, it made him look like the Devil himself.     

"AAAAA!"     

Damon shouted as the darkness from him exploded in all directions, causing a gust of wind that canceled everything.         

Damon heaved as he straightened his posture and his hands balled into fists, crackling with the energy he had never felt before. It was like being reborn, and it came with a sense of complete dominance over all living creatures.     

Talia stared at the scene with excitement that overtook her senses, and she didn\'t notice that Declyn fell to his knees.     

For Talia, this was more than Damon breaking from Gregory\'s influence. Talia could pick up all scents in the area and feel the trees and bushes, and there was their mate bond that filled her to the brim with admiration and love, and she just knew that her Damon was back.     

Did he finally awaken his ability? It looked like it.