Alpha Damon (Sienna) novel Chapter 61

Sienna:

The house was eerily silent when we arrived.

Damon walked in first, his posture stiff, his expression unreadable. Ethan and a few guards followed closely behind, their presence heavier than usual. I stayed near the door, my hands trembling at my sides as I struggled to keep my breathing steady.

And then I saw him.

Alpha Kael.

His usually strong, intimidating form now seemed smaller, weaker. His face was pale, his breathing shallow as he lay on the couch in the main sitting room, bandages wrapped tightly around his chest where the bullet had hit him. My heart dropped.

The sight of him, the man who raised me like his own daughter, the man who had once been my protector, lying there injured…

“What happened?” I heard Luna Evelyn ask. Her heart was racing against her ribcage and the fear that I saw in her eyes was one that I couldn’t understand. She looked at Damon who held her to his chest, his eyes meeting mine for a brief moment before he kissed the crown of her head as they took Alpha Kael to, I assume, the infirmary room.

“It was Alpha Giovanni. I don’t know how he found out about the meeting, but this attack came from him.” Damon said, his voice gentle as he spoke to his mother. “He is strong, he is alive, and he is going to make it out. For now, this is my main focus. I’ll know how to deal with Giovanni later.”

A sharp inhale escaped her, sending a shiver down my spine. She turned to face me, her eyes meeting mine for a moment and I realized that there was a darker expression than I would have ever wanted to see from her towards me.

Realization.

And then, blame.

The woman who I considered a mother… she was blaming me…

“This…” Her voice trembled as she stepped forward, her eyes blazing as they landed on me. “This is because of you. Because of what you did. You running away the way that you did… the girl. Isla…”

The words hit like a slap to the face.

I froze.

“No,” Damon’s voice cut through the tense air before I could even process her accusation. His tone was sharp, final. “ Mother, stop. This is not the time for this. It is not…”

Evelyn’s head snapped toward him, her lips pressing into a thin line. “Don’t tell me to stop, Damon! You know what this is! Giovanni did this! You know why he did this! He warned you, didn’t he? And now Kael is lying here, fighting for his life! Because of her, and because of the recklessness that she did, her running away…”

“I know that you are in pain and that you’re scared, mother.” Damon’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t back down.” That doesn’t mean you get to throw blame where it doesn’t belong. It is not her fault. This war is not her fault.”

Evelyn’s glare turned back to me.

“You don’t think I know what this is?” she spat, her voice sharp with accusation. “This is his way of sending a message. Giovanni wanted this to happen. The second Lysandra was removed from this pack, the moment we stopped bowing to his family’s demands, he retaliated. And the one thing that changed…” she pointed directly at me, her hand shaking with anger…

“Mother…”

“If something happens to him, I am not going to think twice. I am going to rip your heart out myself. And I am going to be eating it raw.” She said, keeping her eyes on mine as she spoke. This was the first time that I have seen her in this state, and this was the first time that she’s ever spoken to me with this much hate. This was the first time that I have seen this much rage coming from her towards me.

I took a step back. My legs trembled beneath me, and my nails dug into my palms to keep myself from collapsing.

She was right.

Giovanni had warned them.

He sighed, stepping closer, his voice quieter this time.

“Ethan, stay with mother, make sure that she doesn’t do something that she’ll regret.” He stopped himself, shaking his head before looking back at me. “And you don’t run.”

I let out a bitter laugh, one I hadn’t even meant to release. “I think that you know that I don’t belong here.”

“Go and take care of Isla.” Damon exhaled through his nose, shaking his head. His mother’s words played in my mind at his opinion. The Omega that shouldn’t have had his child. “Everything will be fine.”

His words were steady, reassuring.

But they weren’t for me.

They were for him.

Because I could see it.

For the first time, I could see it in his eyes.

He wasn’t sure of anything anymore.

And that terrified him just as much as it terrified me.