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Aiden's P.O.V

I could feel his pain.

It was raw, explosive with so much sadness and frustration that made my skin crawl, my soul desperate to escape the weight of it. His agony overwhelmed our link, stretching it to its very limits as emotional torment, as I'd never felt it before, poured through.

I'd never felt Damon's emotions like this, so open and exposed in a manner I knew he wouldn't allow usually. His misery crippled my own that was fueled by remorse and shame, Damon's was raw and soul-deep, making the fragments of my already shattered heart erode within my chest.

As William's words echoed through my mind alongside Damon's pain, I knew that every word he spoke was true... and that's what hurt the most.

"What are we going to do?" Julian asks in a fragile whisper that made my chest tighten.

"I don't know," I reply honestly because I truly had no clue how any of us were going to get through this.

There was so much pain, so much regret and shame that imprisoned all of us, making it impossible to even approach the brighter side of all this. I was coming to accept that there may never be one for any of us, for the family as a whole.

And it was all my fault.

"We can't just leave him like this Aiden," Julian protests weakly, his fingers squeezing mine anxiously as he leans further into me. "He needs to know that it wasn't only that, that we d-"

"If we tell him that we stopped him from being alpha because of all the problems he had, problems he still has.... it'll only hurt him more, even if he does need to know," I reply gently, trying to soften my words for my mate as he fliches slightly. "William is right, it won't help him, not right now."

The young human had surprised me with his unshakeable confidence as he stood before us and spoke his mind without an apparent thought of what the consequences may be. He must've known that we were alphas, two of the strongest wolves in the pack and yet he didn't even stutter or falter as he defended our son with nothing but love and pure intentions radiating off of him.

It was somewhat comforting, even through the pain.

No response or argument comes from Julian as my words settle over the stagnant space we were seated in under the moon's shine, but his sadness grows quickly, bleaching our blink and making me hold him a little tighter. 

We hadn't made it very far after we'd watch the familiar door close in our faces, locking us away from our son in one swift and final motion I had no right to stop. Only managing to make it out of the building before we found an empty clearing to gather ourselves in before we went home.

At home, the kids waited anxiously for us to return with their brother or hopefully some good news. Neither Julian or I were quite ready to face them and deliver news that would abolish the hope they carried. 

Damon needed space, from us and possibly from them as well.

Breathing became a strained, difficult task with that acknowledgement, one that went against my instincts in every way. The need to fix, to heal and love until all the pain was gone rode me high, placing an insufferable pressure on my heart that wouldn't ease until I fixed things. It had been there since the night Damon left and now that he was finally back, knowing I couldn't do just that sucked the very life out of my withered veins.

I couldn't make it better when just talking to my son right now would only hurt him more. Any explanation would bring pain, no matter how true or false, it would only make things worse for him. Apologies had been made and were accepted, but the pain was still there.