Alpha Damon (Sienna) novel Chapter 317

Ethan:

The mist moved too fast.

And though she did not speak not yet, I knew that she was watching.

She wasn’t just here to say hello, nor was she here for an encounter. That woman was here to prove power. And now that she managed to get in, she was not going to stop the control that she lost her. Carter might have an insurance on that.

Her presence slithered through the roots, curled around our ankles, and climbed like it had hands. I stepped in front of her, blade drawn. The weight of it was nothing compared to the weight in my chest.

“Stay behind me,” I said, my voice low, steady. “Facing this is not something that I want you to do.”

“I’m not hiding,” Delilah replied, sharp as ever. “And you’re not shielding me from something I’ve already faced. If she thinks that she’s going to threaten me, then you’re very wrong. She’s not going to and I’m not going to allow her to do so.”

I didn’t move. “You fainted in my arms the last time you encountered her. Mind you, she nearly took you away from us. If you need a reminder to that, that is.”

“And I woke up in them, too,” she snapped. “So, unless you want another scar to match the one on your shoulder, lower that blade and stand with me. Not in front of me. I’m not going to stand back, I’m not going to hide and she tries to take me away. We fight, that’s it. That is the only option that we have. Hiding is not something that I want to do.”

I turned my head slightly, just enough to catch her eyes. Fierce. Determined. Shining like steel drawn under moonlight. I had to fight back a smile of pride because I was not only proud of her, but I was also afraid. Afraid of losing her, afraid of something happening to her, and afraid of the way that she was stubborn.

“Fine,” I muttered. “But if something lunges at you, I’m throwing myself in the way. Whether or not you like it.”

“Of course you are,” she muttered. “Bloody martyr.”

The air thickened.

I could hear her voice again, not Delilah’s. Tatiana’s.

Tatiana’s eyes shifted to me. “Ah. The guard dog. So loyal. So simple. You really do not realize how easy it is for me to end up killing you, do you? All it’s going to take is one push and your dad.”

My grip on the blade tightened. “Say another word, and I’ll teach you how sharp ‘simple’ can be. And what that one push might be, considering the fact that you choose not to react because you know that you’re not as powerful as you want to claim you are.”

She laughed, like broken glass rattling in a bottle. Both Delilah and I kept eyes on her, watching in silence.

Delilah moved forward, just a step, but enough for me to match her pace.

“What do you want?” she demanded. “Why do you keep calling me? What is it that has you coming here? If you’re not here for war, it seems to me that you’re still too weak for that.”