Damien’s POV
Lucas turned toward the door. Ready to leave. Ready to get away from this ss.
"Wait."
He stopped. His hand on the doorknob.
"Find Gabriel."
Lucas turned slowly. "What?"
"Gabriel." I stood up. My legs felt steadier now. Anger had a way of burning through weakness. "Find him. Now."
"Damien, what—"
"He’s probably hiding." I walked to the window. Stared out at nothing. "Hiding like the coward he is. But find him anyway."
"Why?" Lucas stepped closer. "What the hell is going on? Now Gabriel? What happened?"
I looked at him. Really looked at him. My best friend. The one person who’d never lied to . Never betrayed .
He deserved to know. Part of it at least.
I said. "Emma. Your cousin Emma."
His face went blank. "Yeah. So?"
"You might want to find her too." My voice ca out cold. Flat. "While you’re at it."
"Emma?" He frowned. "Why would I—"
"Because I’m going to deal with all of them." I turned back to the window. "One by one. Gabriel. Emma. Every single person who thought they could destroy my life and get away with it."
Silence.
Then: "Damien. What did they do?"
I couldn’t answer. Couldn’t put it into words without wanting to put my fist through the wall.
The hotel. The drugs. The setup. Emma’s pregnancy. Sera’s face when she found out.
All of it orchestrated. All of it planned.
By my own brother.
"Just find them," I said.
"I need more than that." Lucas’s voice got harder. "You’re asking to hunt down my own cousin. I need to know why."
"She’s pregnant."
The words hung in the air.
Lucas went very still. "What?"
"Emma. She’s pregnant. Seven months. Told everyone it’s mine."
"Jesus Christ." He ran a hand through his hair. "Is it?"
"No." The word ca out sharp. "I don’t care what the tiline says. I don’t care what she claims. That baby isn’t mine."
"How do you know?"
"Because I never touched her!" My voice rose. "Because that whole night was a setup! Because Gabriel drugged and Emma staged the whole fucking thing!"
Lucas stared at . Processing. "You think Gabriel—"
"I know Gabriel did this." I turned to face him fully. "I know he’s been planning this. I know he’s working with Emma. I know they’re trying to destroy everything I have."
"That’s..." Lucas shook his head. "That’s insane. Why would Gabriel—"
"Because he hates ." The truth ca out. "He’s always hated . Hated that I’m Alpha. Hated that I have everything he thinks he deserves. So he decided to take it all away."
Lucas was quiet for a long mont. His face doing sothing complicated.
"If you’re right," he said finally. "If this is true. What are you going to do?"
"Whatever it takes." I t his eyes. "Whatever it fucking takes to get my wife back. To prove I didn’t betray her. To make everyone who hurt my family pay."
"Damien—"
"I need you on this, Lucas." My voice dropped. Got serious. "I need you to trust . Can you do that?"
He studied my face. Looking for sothing. Truth maybe. Or sanity.
"Yeah," he said finally. "Yeah, I’m with you. Always."
Relief hit hard. "Thank you."
"But if we’re doing this, we do it smart." He crossed his arms. "No going off half-cocked. No making things worse."
"Agreed."
"So what’s the plan?"
I walked back to my desk. Sat down. Started thinking it through.
"Gabriel first," I said. "If you can find him. But he’s probably in the wind by now. Knows I’ll co after him once everything falls apart."
"So we start with Emma."
"Yeah." I nodded slowly. "Emma’s still here. Still close. She has to be. She wouldn’t go too far. Not with the baby."
"You want to bring her here?"
"Yes." The word ca out certain. Final. "Bring her to . I’ll get the truth out of her."
Lucas shifted his weight. Uncomfortable. "And how exactly do you plan to do that?"
"I’ll find a way." My voice went cold. "Trust . I’ll find a way."
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