Alpha Damon (Sienna) novel Chapter 197

Sienna:

“Where do you think you’re going?” I asked, looking at Delilah.

“I’m going to spare you the fuss of having to deal with me. I’m going to leave.” She said, and I raised an eyebrow.

“Did anyone tell you that you are being a fuss?” I said, looking her in the eye.

“I don’t need to be told to leave, Sienna, I know when I’m not wanted somewhere.” She said, keeping her grounds firm. It was as if she was silently letting me know that she was not going to back out from this.

“You’re still not ready to leave. Your body still needs to heal. You need to allow yourself to heal.” I said it softly, but with the kind of firmness that came from watching too many people push themselves past their limits.

Delilah stood near the door, dressed, though her movements were still stiff and clearly pained. Her wounds weren’t healed, not fully, not yet. Her eyes were set, stubborn and too damn determined.

“I need to see her,” she said. “Lysandra, she needs me. I can’t leave her like that. Even my presence here with every passing moment is not good for her.”

“And you need rest.”

“I got enough rest. Now I need to go.” She said stubbornly.

I stepped in front of her, placing my hand gently on her wrist. Her skin was cold to the touch, pale, too pale. She was still weak, and though she did not want to admit it, I knew that the wound that she got, the bullet shot, was still weakening her. She had lost too a lot of blood. I didn’t think that she realized how much she did. “You won’t help her if you collapse on the way to her room. If you pass out before even reaching her door. You’re not doing her any good like this. And if he catches sight of you, I don’t think that he’s going to let you live, considering that he knows for a fact that you are with us.”

Delilah’s jaw tightened, but she didn’t pull away.

For a long, quiet moment, we just stared at each other. Two women who, for far too long, had stood on opposite sides of a line drawn in blood and betrayal.

“You don’t get to act like a sister to me.” She said, crossing her arms over her chest.

“And you don’t get to be stubborn like that. The two of us seem to be breaking the rules, aren’t we?” I said, raising an eyebrow. Neither of us said the word. But the two of us understood that there was something different within this encounter. There was an underlying meaning, one that I knew that neither one of us wanted to admit.

A soft cry interrupted the silence. I turned toward the cradle near the side of the room where Isla stirred and then whimpered louder, needing comfort.

“I’ve got her,” I whispered, moving quickly to scoop her up before she could fully wake and start screaming.

Delilah turned too, her eyes fixed on my daughter. The tension in her shoulders shifted. Her lips parted, and to my surprise, tears shimmered in her eyes.

I swallowed. “I think about it every day.”

She nodded once, tightly, then after another moment, reluctantly handed Isla back. I looked down at my daughter, my eyes softening before I turned my attention to the woman who stood in front of me. Delilah seemed hesitant. It was as if this was something that she did not expect.

“She’s perfect.”

“She’s yours too,” I said before I could stop myself. “I mean… not yours, but… you’re family. Even if we’re still figuring that out. She still does share your blood.”

Delilah looked down, said nothing. Her heart raced against her chest and I couldn’t help but notice how she looked away from me, as if not wanting me to see the little sense of humanity in her.

She turned away, murmuring, “I need to lie down, considering that you’re not allowing me to leave, might as well go inside and lie down.” She walked back toward the infirmary without another word. She did not even give me a chance to respond.

I watched her walk away, Isla nestled against my shoulder, and for the first time, I wondered if healing would start not with answers, but with these quiet moments between broken things.

“Seems to me that there is a little more to your aunt. If I can call her that, then we realize. Don’t you think?” I whispered to my girl. “Let’s get you back in bed. I believe that you need to get some sleep…”