Fated To Not Just One, But Three

Chapter 329: My Decision
Damien’s POV

My hands trembled, not from weakness, but from the force it took to stop myself from putting a hole through the wall. I had just walked out of an operating room, given a part of myself for my son, and instead of relief, all I could taste was the bitterness of the years I’d lost. I stared at Sofia, every breath like a growl I had to choke back. She stood there, clutching herself like she could hide from the truth, from me. My wolf clawed against my skin, furious and wild.

"You don’t understand what you’ve done," I said, my voice low but vibrating with barely restrained fury. "You stole moments I can never get back. His first steps. His first words. The first time he called for his father—" My voice caught, and I hated myself for it. I swallowed hard, shoving the weakness down. "Those are mine, Sofia. They were mine, and you threw them away."

Her tears fell harder, her lips trembling, but it didn’t soothe me. If anything, it fueled my anger.

"I thought—" she began, but I cut her off with a sharp, bitter laugh.

"You thought you knew better than me? You thought you had the right to decide I didn’t exist in his life?" I stepped closer, close enough that she had to tilt her head back to meet my gaze. "I am his father. And if you think for one damn second I’m going to step aside and let you keep him from me again, you’re out of your mind."

Her breath hitched, but she didn’t move away this time. She stood there, rooted, as if my words pinned her in place.

I leaned down slightly, my voice dropping to something cold, something that made her shiver. "You can hate me. You can fight me. But you will never—never—take him away from me again. If I have to burn down the world to make sure of that, I will."

For a long moment, the room was nothing but the sound of her unsteady breathing and the pounding of my own pulse. My wolf settled slightly, satisfied with the truth laid bare, but my rage was far from gone.

I straightened, my jaw locked. "From this moment on," I said slowly and deliberately, "he’s with me. I don’t care about your excuses, your fears, or our family’s damn feud. He’s mine. And I will be in his life—every day, every second—whether you like it or not."

Her eyes widened as the realization dawned on her that this wasn’t a negotiation. "I’m taking him back home with me and it’s left for you to decide if you want to come with us or not," I spat.

even as the words left my mouth, I

her with me every day since the moment she left, since the moment I realized she’d taken not just my son but a part of me I could never

truth was, they’d

lashes clung together from tears. My wolf howled in my chest, wanting—needing—to close the space between us, to wipe those tears, to pull her against me and bury my face in her hair until the scent of her was burned into me

But I didn’t move.

I couldn’t.

decision I’d already made would shatter. I needed her to

jaw ached from clenching too hard. Every shaky breath she took chipped away at

I let her see it—the truth I was trying to hide. The love. The longing. The part of me that had never

before she could read it all. Before she could use it to

visit him whenever you want," I said, my voice a low growl meant to mask everything else inside me. Then I turned my back to her, because if I

I saw her, I released a deep sigh and approached her. "Thank you for your help,"

say to her. "I’m sorry for all the things I did to you... I know apologizing will not change the fact that I did terrible things to you, but

She just stood there, her eyes steady on mine, as if she was

a weight that made

brows knitting. "She kept my son from

all you want, but you can’t deny the fact that most women would

wanted to admit. My jaw