Alpha Damon (Sienna) novel Chapter 282

Sienna:

The tremor hit like a blow to the chest.

One second, I was helping a wounded elder into the corridor with Isla tucked against my chest, her tiny hands clutching my shirt, her whimpers muffled by the pounding in my ears. The next, the entire floor groaned beneath our feet, the ceiling above creaking ominously.

My heart dropped to my chest, but I knew that at least the children were in the safe room underground. They were safer there. I was hold them despite the earthquake and they were safe of all of this. But I still was concerned about my daughter. However, now the pack needed me.

“Everyone stay close to the walls!” I barked, motioning to two younger warriors to shield the elders. “Protect everyone that you can. This war is just starting and it’s not going to end, not easily, not without a fight, and we are wanting to stand through it until the very end.”

The chandelier in the hallway swung violently. Dust rained from the cracks in the corners, and somewhere down the east corridor, glass shattered. My eyes widened in surprise. I knew that Delilah was outside, but Lysandra was here. I wanted to keep her safe, regardless of the path, regardless of everything. We chose to put that behind us. We chose to stand by one another side.

“Lysandra!” I called, heart racing. Her eyes met mine when I walked inside the room that she was in.

She was sitting with two young girls, her expression pale, lips trembling, but her hands steady as she shielded them both. She kept them safe. I looked at her, noticing that she was snapping out of whatever days she was in. She was coming back to her senses, the old Lysandra with the same fire that I once knew.

“I’m fine,” she said quickly. “I’ve got them. They’re safe, just go and take care of things.”

Another quake hit, sharper. The walls breathed. That’s what it felt like, the house wasn’t just shaking. It was reacting. Alive. As if something deep beneath us had stirred and was clawing its way up. My eyes widened in surprise, and I found it harder for myself to prevent the trembles that escaped me. I just bit my bottom lip, keeping myself from making a sound.

“The mist is inside,” one of the maids whispered, pointing toward the hall entrance. “It is only a matter of time. It seems to be feeding on something. Anyone who is frightened or tries to run just seems to fall into the trance.”

“This thing feeds on fear.” Lysandra said, looking at me. I turned to the maid and closed my eyes, making sure to calm myself down.

Breathe, Sienna, Breathe.

She was right.

“I want you to go, and I want you to tell everyone not to be afraid. It is their Luna’s order. This thing is going to attack their fear. It is going to attack them if they are frightened. I don’t want that to happen. I do not want them to get in the middle of this. Do you understand? Let them know that they are going to fight. Let them know that they need to be brave. This is just the beginning, but it is also the beginning of the end.” I said, looking at the nurse who nodded. She rushed outside, heading towards the pack members. She ran through the mist which tried to consume her.

It wasn’t thick yet, but it was seeping in, curling low around the floor like smoke. Pale. Cold. Writhing. And I knew that it was only a matter of time. And if it was in, if it grew stronger, then I knew that we were not going to be able to get out of it.

I looked at one of the maids who was running about before turning to the younger girls who were beside Lysandra. “Take the girls to the cell with the others. Keep them safe. Keep all the children and whoever you can from the elders that are defenseless inside. Tell them that they should not be frightened. Fear is not allowed, not in this situation.”

The maid nodded and fled.

Another roar outside. Another tremor. More mist.

But not one of us stepped back.

We closed the doors.

We held our ground.

And for the first time since the war began, I felt not fear, but fire.

They wanted to tear us apart from the inside?

Let them try.

Let them see.