Alpha Damon (Sienna) novel Chapter 217

Delilah:

The road was endless.

And each passing moment felt heavier than the one before. It felt darker, more painful. And don’t matter how much I wanted to deny it, I couldn’t. Everything was just completely lost.

Each mile between Giovanni’s estate and the Lockwood territory felt like a lifetime. The weight of everything, Lysandra’s fragile form clinging to me, the scent of blood still soaked into my skin, the head maid’s dying eyes burned into my memory, and… the silence.

I knew that Nikolai did not make it out. I didn’t need to see it to know.

I felt it. The air shifted as we ran. In the way that wolves howled around like someone strong had died. Something was torn from the world, violently, painfully, and the moment it did, I knew.

He was gone.

I closed my eyes, snapping myself out of that pain. Now is not the time.

Lysandra whimpered beside me, her body trembling from the trauma and exhaustion. She hadn’t spoken since we got in the car. She didn’t cry. She just stared, eyes glazed, arms wrapped around herself like she was still trying to hold herself together. “I’ve got you,” I whispered, brushing her tangled hair from her face. “I swear it, Lysandra. I’ve got you now. No one is going to hurt you, but we’re going to need to keep going. I’m going to need you to fight a little harder.”

She whimpered, but at least she reacted as she walked by my side.

We crossed into Lockwood territory just as the sun began to rise. It wasn’t warm. It was cold, brittle light, but it was something. It was enough to remind me that we had survived. And survival… was already a win. And that now we were away from Giovanni.

The gates didn’t open immediately.

The guards, warriors, stepped forward, hands on their weapons. Their eyes scanned the damage. The blood. The bruises. The dirt smeared over our skin.

Then one of them recognized me.

His eyes widened. “Delilah? Lysandra?”

His eyes scanned her, but Lysandra did not respond. Her eyes were still empty.

I nodded once. “I need to speak to Alpha Damon. Tell him it’s urgent.”

Lysandra clutched my coat. She was shaking. Her heart was racing. I tightened my grip around her, not allowing her to fall. I

did not want her to get on her knees. I did not want her to weaken, nor did I want her to give upon me now.

One of the guards hesitated, then clicked his earpiece. “Alpha… she’s here. She’s with Lysandra. It’s… It’s bad.”

A moment passed.

Then the gates creaked open.

We walked slowly, the forest pulling back as the estate came into view. It looked so peaceful. So pristine. The way it used to look in my dreams, back when I was just a child trying to picture what life might be like without fear.

Now, it felt too clean. Too safe. Like I was dirtying it just by being here.

The car stopped. I got out first and rounded the door for Lysandra. She looked up at me, eyes wide and empty.

“Come on,” I whispered. “No one is going to hurt us here. You’re safe.”

I met his gaze. “Nikolai’s dead. I don’t know how it happened, but I know that he died. He was the one who helped us leave. So many maids died. Anyone who tried to help us died.”

His face twitched.

Giovanni’s name was a curse in the air between us.

“I didn’t come here to beg,” I said. “But we don’t have much time. Giovanni will retaliate. You know he will.”

“We’ll handle it,” Damon said, low and firm. “But you look like hell.”

“I feel worse.”

His voice dropped. “You’re safe now. Just like your sister, you can go inside and get something to eat, rest and we will find out what we will do tomorrow.”

I turned to follow after Lysandra, but paused.

For a moment, the sunrise caught the edge of the glass doors behind me, casting long shadows across the marble floors. It felt… final.

Like a line had been drawn in the sand.

And I’d just chosen a side.

“That’s, of course, if we have tomorrow.” I whispered. “Because I don’t know what’s going to happen overnight. Not after what I saw today.”