Chapter 67: You’re still Winslow’s prince

Noah’s POV

Waking up to Damien in front of me is the last thing I want to experience in my life.

The older alpha is sitting on Elias’s chair with his back straight and his eyes staring deep into my soul.

When did he get in here?

I must have cried myself to sleep.

My eyes feel sandy as I rub at them to wake myself up, my head feels like it’s full of cotton, my neck still hurts from being strangled last night, and my chest feels tight.

"Where is Elias?" I ask and Damien tips his head back, looking at me with barely hidden anger.

It’s clear that he’d strangle me if he had the opportunity.

"Where is he?" I ask again.

"Of all three of us, do you know why Eli is the unannounced leader?" Damien asks and I stare blankly at him.

I don’t care about their dynamic or who does what, I only care about knowing where Elias is.

That man doesn’t sleep...I’m worried he stayed out all night with a book.

"I lose my head faster than a cheetah can run. Malachai is quiet, but diabolical" he says and I pull the blanket around myself.

"Eli, my little brother, has more control over himself than the rest of us" Damien says.

"Where is he?" I ask.

"You made him lose control" Damien says accusingly.

"I didn’t do anything" I hiss at him and he gets up with a dark laugh, pulling up the sleeve of his shirt.

His action is scary, but he doesn’t scare me as much as Elias and his eerie calmness.

"I want to hurt you so bad, little gold" the alpha says, and he sounds just like the day he sat at my family’s table and asked his men to make me kneel for him.

"I really really want to hurt you for making him hurt. It’s unfortunate that my brother cares this much about you" he barks a laugh and my vision blurs for a second.

"He doesn’t care about me" I say.

And I don’t know why, but tears fill my eyes with those words.

I want my captor to care about me. I’m starting to care for him, and I want the same from him.

Damien’s eyes darken and he gets up from the seat. He isn’t trying, but he looks like chaos.

"How easy you cry irritates me" he snarls at me but keeps his distance from me.

"How easy you hurt people irritates me too! Elias doesn’t care about me, so please shut up and don’t say things you don’t know anything about" I yell at him and he faces the wall instead of me.

"He cares" Damien says to the wall, and I get out of the bed.

My head spins and my legs wobble from getting up too fast, but Damien doesn’t bother looking at me.

"If he cares, why isn’t he here?" I ask Damien with an anger that makes no sense.

It makes no sense, but I need to know...why isn’t he here with me and our pup?

"My brother cares, that’s why he isn’t here" Damien finally turns around to look at me.

"Little gold..." he murmurs and his eyes widen slightly, "are you falling in love with my brother?" Damien asks and the tears spill.

"No" I lie and Damien mutters something along the lines of ’I need a smoke.’

"Don’t fall for him. Eli doesn’t know how to love, that part was stolen from him years ago. Possession is more easy than love for him" Damien says and tips his head back again.

"Fuck" he curses before turning his head to me.

"Get dressed. We’re going back home today" he says and I nod.

I have no more fight left in me, so I follow his order.

The nausea returns mid-preparation for the day.

I know Damien can hear me retching and coughing but he doesn’t bother checking on me. And for some reason, it made me cry again. I miss the stiff man who used to stand behind me.

I cry softly to mourn something I shouldn’t have wanted.

’Focus Noah, you’re only supposed to care about Winslow and your father and...your pup’ I look myself in the mirror and I can’t recognize me.

I look better than I’ve ever looked.

My eyes are wet with tears, but they look alive. My lips are not wearing the automated fake smile. And my brows are not pinched together in an attempt to remember every rule that controls my behavior.

I look free.

Free but sad.

"Noah, ten minutes. Puke faster" Damien calls and I brush my mouth for the second time before leaving the bathroom.

"Finally," Damien mutters when I get out of the bathroom.

Unlike his brother, he doesn’t study me to see the way my eyes are red or the way the tip of my nose is pink.

"Put on your shoes" he throws over his shoulder.

I don’t have any bags or belongings, so Damien assists with carrying Elias’s bag from his own hotel room.

We go down to the hotel’s parking area, and the others are already there waiting for us.

And before my eyes find Elias, the alpha is already looking at me.

He looks robotic and programmed, but his dark eyes on me send shivers down my spine.

Those eyes trace my face like a man examining his goods, and my eyes also trace his face.

He searches my eyes with no readable expression, and I notice that his hair is falling over his forehead for the first time.

His eyes are not just emotionless, they’re tired.

Elias Deus is tired.

I take the first step towards him and he turns around, getting into the passenger’s seat and shutting the door.

Damien sighs beside me but places his hand on my back.

"Come on" he says and I bite my lips to hold back another round of tears.

Everything is wrong with me, and I can’t wait to see Freya to be reminded of who I am.

I’m starting to hate it, but I am Noah Goldsmith, the son of Winslow’s governor, the model omega, the city’s refined angel.

I am not Elias’s...rock.