Mated to My Fiancé’s Alpha King Brother - Chapter 256

Chapter 256: Chapter 256
Damien’s POV

The forest was too quiet.

That’s the first thing I noticed as we moved through the trees. The kind of quiet that made your skin crawl. Like every animal with half a brain had already run.

Smart animals.

“Alpha.” Marcus appeared at my side. His voice low. “We’ve cleared about two miles. No sign of rogues yet.”

“Keep moving.” I scanned the treeline. “They’re out there. Watching. Waiting.”

Five days on this border. Five days of skirmishes and false alarms and waiting for Voss to make his real move.

He was planning something. I could feel it. That pressure in the air before a storm breaks.

“Spread out,” I ordered. “Twenty-foot intervals. Eyes up. Watch for—”

The scream cut through the silence.

Sharp. Agonized. Unmistakably one of ours.

“Move!” I was already running.

Marcus and three others followed. We crashed through underbrush. Branches whipping past. The scent of blood hitting me before I saw anything.

Then I found him.

James. Twenty-two years old. Been with the pack less than a year. Lying on the ground. His leg caught in something metal. Jagged. Wrong.

A trap.

“Shit.” Marcus dropped beside him. “James, don’t move—”

“It hurts!” James was crying. His face white. Blood pooling beneath his leg. “Oh God, it hurts so bad—”

I knelt on his other side. Assessed the damage. The trap had clamped around his calf. Metal teeth buried deep. Bone probably broken. Tendons definitely severed.

“Get the medical kit.” I kept my voice calm. Steady. Even though rage was burning through me. “Now.”

Someone ran. I heard footsteps crashing away.

“Am I going to lose my leg?” James grabbed my arm. His grip weak. Shaking. “Alpha, please—”

“You’re not losing anything.” I looked him in the eye. Made sure he believed me. “But this is going to hurt. Understand?”

He nodded. Barely.

The medical kit arrived. I pulled out morphine. Jabbed it into his thigh. Waited thirty seconds for it to start working.

“Marcus. Hold him down.”

Marcus moved to James’s shoulders. Pressed. Firm but gentle.

I examined the trap mechanism. Old. Rusted. Designed for bears probably. Whoever placed it here knew what they were doing.

Knew that wolves would be running through this area. Knew we’d be focused on the trees. On ambush from above. Not the ground.

Smart. Fucking smart.

“On three.” I gripped the release mechanism. “One—”

I released it on one. No point in dragging it out.

The jaws sprang open. James screamed anyway. His body arching. Marcus holding him down.

Blood gushed. I grabbed gauze. Pressed hard against the wound. Stemming the flow.

“Get him back to base camp.” I wrapped the leg tight. Quick. Efficient. “And sweep this entire area. Every inch. I want every trap found and disabled. Clear?”

“Yes, Alpha.”

They carried James away. His screams fading into the distance.

I stood there. Blood on my hands. Rage building.

Voss. This had Voss written all over it.

Traps weren’t rogue tactics. They were coward tactics. Setting snares for people who couldn’t fight back.

“Alpha.” One of the scouts approached. His face grim. “We found six more. In a grid pattern. Covering about half a mile.”

“Disable all of them.” I wiped my hands on my pants. “And tell everyone to watch their step. Voss is playing games.”

“Sir.” The scout hesitated. “If he’s using traps… that means he knows our patrol routes. He knows where we’re searching.”

I’d already thought of that. Which meant we had a leak. Or Voss was better at reconnaissance than I’d given him credit for.

Either way, we had a problem.

—

The sweep took three hours.

Three hours of painstaking work. Checking every shadow. Every patch of disturbed earth. Every place a trap could hide.

We found fourteen total.

Fourteen traps. Each one carefully placed. Each one designed to maim. To slow us down. To make us afraid of our own territory.

By the time we finished, the sun was setting. Long shadows stretching through the trees. The temperature dropping.

“Back to camp.” I ordered. “We regroup. Plan our next move.”

The walk back was tense. Everyone watching the ground now. Jumpy. Paranoid.

Exactly what Voss wanted.

My phone buzzed in my pocket.

I pulled it out. Battery at thirty percent. Service was shit out here but occasionally a message would push through.

Sera.

**Sera: Just let me know you’re alive.**

I stopped walking. Stared at those six words.

She was worried. About me. Even after everything. Even after the divorce papers and the separation and all the pain I’d caused.

She still cared enough to check if I was breathing.

My chest felt tight. Like someone was squeezing my heart.

“Alpha?” Marcus looked back. “You okay?”

“Fine.” I shoved the phone in my pocket. “Keep moving.”

—

Base camp was organized chaos.

Warriors coming and going. Medical tents treating injuries. Supply stations handing out food and ammunition. The constant hum of activity.

Lucas met me at the command tent. His face was drawn. Tired. We’d been running on three hours of sleep a night for days.

“James?” I asked.

“Stable. They’re evacuating him to the pack hospital. He’ll keep his leg but he’s done fighting for a while.”

“Good.” I dropped into a chair. “What’s the status?”

Lucas pulled up a map. Red marks indicating rogue sightings. Blue marks showing our patrol routes.

“They’re probing our defenses.” He pointed to the eastern sector. “Small groups. Hit and run. Testing where we’re weak.”

“And?”

“We’re stretched thin.” His finger traced our lines. “Every time we reinforce one area, they hit another. It’s like they know exactly where we are.”

“They do know.” I explained about the traps. About the grid pattern. About how perfectly placed they’d been.

Silence fell. The only sound was the camp outside. Voices. Movement. Life continuing despite the danger.

“How are the kids?” Lucas asked suddenly.

I opened my eyes. “Fine. Sera’s with them.”

“She came back to the house?”

“Temporarily. Just to take care of them while I’m gone.”

“That’s good. Right?”

Was it? I didn’t know anymore. Maybe she was just being a good mother. Maybe it meant nothing.

Or maybe…

I pulled out my phone. Looked at her message again.

**Sera: Just let me know you’re alive.**

My thumb hovered over the keyboard. What should I say? How much should I tell her?

The truth? That we’d almost lost a warrior today? That traps were scattered through our territory? That tomorrow might be the day everything went to hell?

No. She had enough to worry about. The kids. The pack. All the responsibilities I’d dumped on her by leaving.

She didn’t need my problems too.

**Me: I’m okay. Sorry for not checking in sooner. Border situation is complicated but we’re handling it. Kids doing alright?**

Better. More honest without being alarming.

I hit send before I could second-guess it.

The message showed as delivered. Then read.

She’d seen it. Was probably typing a response right now.

I waited. Staring at the screen. Watching those three dots appear and disappear. Appear and disappear.

Finally, a message came through.

**Sera: Kids are fine. Adrian asks about you every day. Lily made you a drawing. They miss you.**

**Me: Tell them I miss them too. I’ll be home soon.**

**Sera: Be safe.**

—

The night was cold.

I walked the perimeter alone. Checking guard posts. Talking to warriors. Making sure everyone knew tomorrow’s plan.

Most were ready. Eager even. Tired of waiting. Tired of reacting. Ready to take the fight to the enemy.

A few were scared. You could see it in their eyes. The knowledge that tomorrow might be their last day.

I talked to those ones longer. Reminded them of their training. Their pack. Their purpose.

“We’re fighting for our families,” I told one young warrior. Barely nineteen. “For our homes. For our way of life. That’s worth fighting for. Worth dying for if necessary.”

He nodded. But his hands still shook as he gripped his weapon.

By the time I finished the rounds, it was past midnight. The camp had quieted. Most warriors sleeping. Saving their energy for tomorrow.

I should sleep too. Should rest while I could.

I walked toward my tent. One of the larger ones reserved for senior commanders. Not because I needed the space. Just because it was expected.

Inside was a cot. A sleeping bag. A small camp stove. Basic supplies.

I sat on the cot. Pulled off my boots. Lay back fully clothed.

Sleep wouldn’t come.

Tomorrow I’d—

A sound outside. Footsteps. Running.

I was up instantly. Boots back on. Out of the tent before whoever it was reached the entrance.

One of the perimeter guards. His face pale. Breathing hard.

“Alpha!” He gasped. “Sir, we have a problem.”