Alpha Damon (Sienna) novel Chapter 172

Sienna:

Isla’s breathing was soft against my chest, her tiny fingers curling into the fabric of my shirt as if she could sense something was wrong.

It was as if she could feel my pain.

Maybe she could.

Children had a way of knowing what their mothers couldn’t say out loud.

Dine knew that this might be her way of trying to assure me that things were going to be all right, even if she did not understand, even if she could not say it out loud as an infant.

I didn’t realize I was swaying until I felt the ache settle into my lower back. I had been holding her and rocking her for too long, but I didn’t want to let go. Because if I did, I wasn’t sure I wouldn’t fall apart. She was the one person holding me down. She was the one reason why I stood grounded and I did not want to lose that. The feeling that I had the safety, I did not want to lose it.

There was a quiet knock on the nursery door. Not Damon’s, it wasn’t his kind of knock. This one was softer. Hesitant. When I looked up, I saw him standing there. His son had hit me, but I did not expect him to come inside. I believed him to stay out. I did not believe that he would care enough to come and approach me.

Alpha Kael.

Of all people.

I straightened instinctively, shielding Isla slightly with my arm. He noticed, but he didn’t comment. Instead, he stepped in, hands in his pockets, his tall frame a little more… human than usual.

The man who has kept a secret for so long from me.

“I was told you might need someone to talk to,” he said, his voice low and gruff. “I figured I’d come in before your mate loses his mind outside pacing the hall. I know that you might not want to speak to me, but I am the one person that can actually speak to you about a subject like this one.”

I didn’t smile. I couldn’t. Not yet.

He took another step forward. “May I?”

I nodded stiffly, allowing him to approach. He stopped beside the crib and gently adjusted one of Isla’s blankets with an almost reverent care I hadn’t expected.

“She looks like you,” he said. “But she has his eyes.”

“She’s all I have,” I whispered. “If anything happens… if any of this…”

“It won’t,” he interrupted gently, his eyes on me now. “Because we won’t let it. We will do our best to protect you and her from everything that could follow, from everything that could collide.”

I blinked, swallowing hard. “Do you mean that? Because I don’t know what to believe anymore. Everyone around me is lying. Secrets keep getting dropped on me like they’re raindrops I should’ve known were coming. And to make matters worse, I’m the only person who does not know about them.”

“I know.” He sighed, dragging a chair closer. “That’s why I’m here. I know that you have a lot that you want to say, and I know that you’re doing your best to keep it and to maintain yourself to control your anger. That is why I’m here.”

For the first time, I saw not the cold Alpha, but the man. The one who had lost, who had watched people fall apart under his rule, and who was doing everything to keep that from happening again.

I nodded slowly, holding back the sob that rose in my throat.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

He stood, adjusted his coat, and gave Isla one last look. “You don’t owe me gratitude. Just promise me one thing.”

I met his gaze.

“Don’t back down. Not now.” He lowered his voice as he spoke to me. “You two have come so far. Everyone in this family looks up to you. You cannot back out now.”

“I won’t,” I said softly. “Not again.”

He gave me a single nod, and with that, he turned and walked out.

And for the first time in days, I felt just a little less alone.