009 ~ Damien~

Selene stood where Kieran had left her, one hand pressed against the cold stone wall as she struggled to steady her breathing.

"You still smell like my mate."

The words echoed through her mind like a wound that refused to close.

It was Impossible, the mate bond had died five years ago just like everything else.

She closed her eyes, hoping badly that whatever Kieran thought he sensed didn't matter.

He'd had five years to look for her, five years to ask questions. Five years to prove she had once meant something to him but he had done none of those things.

She wouldn't let one sentence undo years of silence, never! She was too hurt to heal, too broken to forgive. Forgiveness was whole, yet here she was— in fragments of broken trust..

"You look like you need a minute."

The unfamiliar voice broke through her thoughts.

Selene opened her eyes to see Damien standing a few steps away, his hands behind his back. Unlike his commanding entrance earlier that day, there was nothing imposing about him now. He kept his distance, as though afraid she'd mistake his presence for another accusation.

"If you've come to ask whether I'm guilty too," she said quietly, "save your breath."

Something flickered across Damien's face— quick enough to deny, but too slow to hide. His mouth parted as if to answer, then pressed shut again until the corners whitened with restraint.

"I came to apologize."

She looked at him without speaking. "For what?"

"For... Believing the easiest lie." His answer came without hesitation. "I judged you before I asked a single question."

The air grew unbearably still. Every heartbeat seemed louder than the last, as though the silence itself was waiting for one of them to surrender first.

Selene folded her arms.

"You all did."

"Yes."

"You condemned me."

"Yes."

"You watched my life fall apart."

He swallowed hard, the movement betraying more than his face ever would. "...Yes."

There were no excuses or attempts to soften what had happened. For the first time in five years, someone had admitted it without trying to justify themselves.

Damien lowered his gaze for a moment.

"I spent years convincing myself we had made the right decision." His voice was calm, but as though a weight was upon it. "It was easier than admitting we might have destroyed an innocent woman."

She met his gaze without blinking, daring him to mistake her silence for weakness. "You did."

He nodded once. "I know."

Another silence settled between them not because there was nothing left to say. But because every word that mattered had already found its mark.

"I don't expect you to forgive me," Damien continued. "I wouldn't."

Selene searched his face, waiting for the familiar edge of Alpha pride— For the smug certainty that always came before another excuse.

It never appeared.

Instead, she found tired eyes, a mouth that seemed to have forgotten how to defend itself, and the unmistakable look of someone who would undo the past with his bare hands if he could.

"Whether you forgive me or not," he said, " it doesn't change what I did."

Selene looked away first.

Her gaze drifted to the the window, as though it were easier to look at it. "I accepted a long time ago that no one was coming to my defense."

Damien forgot how to breathe. The confession stripped away every excuse he'd spent years clinging to. "I know."

She shook her head slowly before looking at him again. "You don't." The distance in her eyes hurt more than her hatred ever had.

Her voice never rose and that somehow made the words hurt more. "You don't know what it feels like to stand alone while everyone decides you're a monster before you can even speak."

His lips parted then closed again.

There was nothing left to say that didn't sound like another excuse. He held her gaze for another heartbeat then let his eyes fall away. It was the closest thing to an apology he seemed capable of giving.

The silence between them shattered beneath the toll of a distant bell which signified the beginning of the ceremony.

Footsteps and quiet conversations drifted through the halls with the mansion slowly coming alive, as the guests moved.

Selene broke eye contact first and stepped around Damien.

"Our conversation is over." Then she left and never looked back.

He couldn't blame her. He remained where he was, listening to her footsteps disappear long after there was nothing left to hear.

Only after she was gone did he whisper,

"I'm sorry."