Alpha Damon (Sienna) novel Chapter 165

Sienna:

Something was off.

And though he kept saying that he was alright, I knew that something was going on.

I just did not know what it was and I couldn’t wrap my finger around it. I couldn’t put my finger on it to understand what it was that was bothering him.

It wasn’t just the tight set of his jaw, or the way his shoulders seemed to carry more weight than usual, it was the way his eyes looked when they landed on me. There was pain there. Quiet. Controlled. But real. A heaviness that lingered every time our eyes met and he offered me one of those half-smiles that didn’t quite reach the fire in his gaze.

Damon was trying to hide it. Whatever it was, he didn’t want me to know.

And I understood more than anything that maybe others knew about it. It was me who he was trying to hide it from. It was as if he was trying to protect me from something though, whatever it was, I knew that I did not need protection from it. I knew that I would be able to stand by his side. I wanted to be able to stand by her side. I wanted him to trust that I could.

I watched him from across the office. We were both working in silence, him at his desk and me going over files for an upcoming expansion plan. The hum of the air conditioner and the occasional scratch of pen against paper filled the room, but we hadn’t spoken much since this morning. Not since we arrived to the office, mostly because we had a lot to take care of. Me with the number of reports that I wanted and needed to read and whom with the number of meetings that he had to attend to. That even him keeping himself busy to not hide the fact that he was trying to hide something, that he was in pain because of something.

He kept checking his phone. Kept rubbing the space between his brows like he was trying to rub away whatever was eating at him. I’d ask, and he’d smile. That same damn smile. The one that told me everything and nothing all at

once.

I hated it.

I wanted to rip whatever was hurting him out of his chest and burn it to ash. I wanted to allow him to understand that I was there by his side. Like just going to be a burden that he needed to keep safe and I was a woman that was willing to help him out, that would be standing by his side, his Luna and mate.

But I didn’t push. Not yet. I knew Damon Lockwood. He’d tell me when he was ready… even if that readiness came a little too late. Even if I had to lose every ounce of patience until I managed to get him to say a word. But I knew that losing my patience was not going to get me anywhere either. If he did not want to tell me, he would not.

He glanced up at me again, and our eyes locked. There it was again, that flicker of pain. That buried emotion behind a carefully built wall.

“You okay?” I asked softly. “There’s something on your mind and you’ve been trying to hide it all morning, Damon. I asked her home and it’s been bothering you since last night, but right now it seems to be bothering you a lot more.”

He didn’t answer right away. Just stared for a moment longer before finally replying, “You don’t need to worry, Sienna. I’m fine. Nothing is bothering me aside from what I told you. And with the number of things that I need to work on, I’m just busy.”

He smirked. “There’s a first time for everything, Luna. And holding on to our habit can be something that I do when I want to. Good, especially when it involves someone that I want to see smiling.”

That earned a laugh from me.

“Besides,” he added, his tone dipping, “I just… want time with you. Away from this. From everything. I just want a little peace with you. I doubt that it could be too much to ask.”

I stood, closing the folder I was reviewing. “Okay,” I whispered, brushing my hand along his as I moved around the desk. “Let me clean up here, fix up all the things that I don’t need an employee dealing with or seeing or reading. Then the two of us can proceed. How about it?”

The way his fingers caught mine, tightly, as if he needed that touch more than he wanted to admit, made something ache in my chest.

“Very well, then. I’ll finish up the last meeting while you take care of the last of your duties and we can head out…”