Breed Me. Daddy Alpha novel Chapter 258

~Lyra~

I held him while he whispered the names of people he wasn’t sure were still alive. I held him while he said things I knew he would never say again.

Words like, “I should’ve known.” Words like, “They depended on me.” Words like, “I let them die.” I held him while his tears slid down his cheeks and into my hair, while his hands fisted in the back of my dress like he needed something to grip or he’d slip into nothingness.

“I don’t know how to fix this,” he said, voice low and hoarse. “I’ve fought wars. I’ve ended bloodlines. I’ve outlived betrayals. But this? This is the kind of loss that guts a man.

“I wasn’t ready. I didn’t see it coming. And the worst part is, I do not know who did it. They waited until I was distracted. And I was distracted, Lyra. I was so fucking distracted by you.”

I wanted to shake my head. I wanted to tell him it wasn’t true. That he wasn’t distracted. That he was just human. That everyone needs rest. That love isn’t weakness.

But the words wouldn’t come out. Because part of me believed it too. We were so wrapped up in each other. So obsessed. So caught up in the filth and the heat and the forbidden thrill of touching. We made each other blind. And they knew it.

“I don’t even know who’s dead,” he said quietly, breath shaking against my temple. “I don’t know if the nursery was empty. I don’t know if they got everyone out. I don’t know if my Beta’s pups made it. And until I see those ashes with my own eyes, I won’t know how much of me died in that fire.”

I pulled back just enough to look at him, my eyes searching his. His lashes were wet. His mouth was trembling.

“You’re not alone,” I said. “I’m not going anywhere.”

His arms locked around me, crushing me to his chest like I was the last piece of his soul he hadn’t lost.

“I can’t lose you,” he said into my hair. “I can lose everything else. But I can’t lose you. If I lose you too, I swear I’ll burn the fucking world.”

“You’re not losing me,” I whispered, even though I was trembling. “Not now. Not ever.”

He kissed the top of my head. His lips were dry. His breath was hot. And when he pulled back, he looked me straight in the eyes.

“I need to go there,” he said. “I need to see it. I need to smell the ash. I need to feel the ground. And I need to know who betrayed me.”

“I’m coming with you,” I said, without even thinking.

“I was going to carry you if you said no,” Damon muttered, and for the briefest second, there was the smallest flicker of something close to a smile tugging at his mouth”.

“Not a real smile. Not the kind you give when you’re happy or safe or whole. This was something else but It disappeared just as quickly as it came, but it was there, and I clung to it like oxygen.

Then his eyes darkened again.

“I can’t leave you here, Lyra,” he said, voice quieter now, but no less fierce. “Not after this. Not after what they just did. I need you where I can see you. I need you close. I don’t care how dangerous it gets. I don’t care what anyone says. You’re mine, and I’m not taking the risk. We’re going together.”

I nodded before I could even think. My fingers were still wrapped around his face, I nodded, because I believed him. I trusted him. If he needed to go, I was going with him. No questions.

Except… I had a question.

“We’ll take the private plane,” he added, already moving, already grabbing his discarded shirt from the chair and yanking it over his head like his body was already preparing for battle.

I blinked and took a hesitant step forward, confused by the sudden shift in tone. “Plane?” I asked, voice rising a little. “Wait.. what do you mean plane? Damon, I thought… I mean, the pack house isn’t far from here, right? Isn’t it just a few miles outside the city? We can drive there in, like, twenty minutes. Why do we need a plane?”

Another country.

Not another city. Not another state.

Another country.

I couldn’t wrap my head around it. I thought I knew who he was. I thought I understood the scale of his power. I thought I had some kind of grasp on what it meant to be with a man like Damon, but clearly, I didn’t. Not even close. I had only seen the surface. The civilized parts. The walls he wanted me to see. But underneath? Beneath the suits and cigars and velvet sheets?

There was a kingdom.

And someone just torched it to the ground.

“You were never meant to go there until it was safe,” he said, watching me closely now. “I was going to take you when the pups were born. I was going to show you everything, our history, our rituals, our people. But now? I don’t have the luxury of waiting anymore. We’re going now. Tonight.”

I reached up and pressed my hands against his chest, feeling the heat of him. The storm. The grief. The war already forming in his bones.

“Take me,” I said. “Take me with you. Show me everything.”