Chapter 36
Sienna.
The room felt foreign yet familiar at the same time. The scent of freshly cleaned linens filled the air, mingling with the faint traces of lavender that Evelyn must have arranged for me.
Her kindness to me was one that I was never going to forget. It was at the moment where I felt the smallest and the weakest that f found myself needing her. Every word that she had said, everything that she told me, I just kept it in mind. I knew that it was a mother who would speak to her adultery this way, but I did not have a mother. My mother had passed away a very long time ago.
The walls held echoes of my past, of the girl I used to be before everything changed. Before he changed. Before the two of us have lost one another as friends.
I ran my fingers along the edge of the wooden dresser, feeling the smooth surface beneath my touch. My body still ached, exhaustion clinging to me like a second skin, but I forced myself to stay awake. I couldn’t keep laying on my bed throughout the whole day and I couldn’t just keep sleeping. I had enough of that in the infirmary.
I had barely settled into the bed when a soft knock came at the door. I turned just as it creaked open, revealing one of the pack’s nurses. I frowned in confusion and wrapped my arm around myself as I looked at her.
She stepped inside carefully, cradling a small bundle in her arms. My heart stopped.
Isła.
I sat up immediately, my breath catching in my throat as I saw my daughter wrapped in a soft, cream–colored blanket. Her tiny fists twitched as she stirred, and for a moment, I forgot everything else.
“What is going on here? I thought that you would be the incubator that she needed to stay there.”
“She’s hungry,” the nurse said gently, stepping closer. “She’s been fussing in the incubation room, and we believe it would be best for her to be fed directly by you. Luna Evelyn also suggested that you might want to feed her too. It would be good for her to be able to heal and to grow quickly.”
“Are you sure that I’m going to be able to do it?” I asked, looking at the nurse who smiled.
“There is nothing that would help a baby grow stronger or stand on their feet aside from their mother. Your milk contains everything that she is going to need. I believe that it is going to be the one thing that would benefit her to grow, incubator or not.” She said assuredly.
I swallowed thickly, my hands trembling slightly as I reached out. The moment her warm, tiny body settled into my arms, a lump formed in my throat.
Tears pricked the back of my eyes as I brushed my fingers along the softness of her cheek. Isla made a tiny noise, shifting against me, and I held her closer, breathing her in.
I had missed her. So much.
The nurse gave me a small smile. “I’ll leave you to it…”
She stopped mid–sentence, her body stiffening as her gaze shifted toward the door. I followed her line of sight, and my breath caught when I saw him.
Damon.
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Chapter 36
He stood in the doorway, his nowering frame filling the space. His expression was unreadable, but his sharp green eyes flickered between me and Isla, something unreadable flashing in them.
For a long moment, no one spoke.
“What is going on?”
“The little pup has been going restless without her mother. We believe that it is good for her to be feeding from her mother directly.” The nurse said. And for a few moments he did not speak. Neither one of us spoke.
Then, Damon took a step inside, his presence consuming the air around us.
“You can leave,” he told the nurse, his voice quiet but firm.
The nurse hesitated, looking between us, then gave a small nod before slipping past him and closing the door behind her.
The room felt smaller. Warmer. More suffocating.
I held Isla protectively, uncertain of what to expect.
Damon’s gaze lingered on our daughter, his jaw tightening as he took slow steps forward.
“She’s been fussy?” he asked, his voice softer than I expected.
I nodded. “The nurse said she wouldn’t settle until she was with me,
He exhaled through his nose, rubbing the back of his neck. “Figures. She’s just like you.”
I blinked, startled by the comment. “What’s that supposed to mean?
His lips twitched, not quite a smirk, but something close. “Stubborn.
A soft laugh escaped me before I could stop it. “She’s barely a week old.”
Damon shrugged, his gaze settling on Isla, watching as her tiny fingers curled and uncurled. “Still. She seems to be the kind that would give me a fuss in the future. If this is how she is at one week old.”
For the first time since I had arrived back in the packhouse, there was no hostility between us. No sharp words, no resentment thickening the air. Just… this. A quiet moment neither of us had planned for.
I shifted slightly, adjusting Isla’s weight in my arms. “Do you… do you want to hold her? I’m still going to need to feed her, but if you want to hold her first…”
Damon’s expression flickered with something unreadable, hesitation clear in his stance. He looked at Isla, then at me, as if weighing the decision.
Then, slowly, he stepped forward and sat beside me on the edge of the bed.
His movements were careful, almost hesitant, as he reached out. I gently transferred Isla into his arms, watching as his large hands
cradled her delicate frame.
His entire body stiffened, his breathing slowing as he looked down at our daughter. Isla let out a small noise, but instead of fussing, she settled against him, her tiny head resting against his forearm.
Damon exhaled, his shoulders relaxing just the slightest bit.
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Chapter 36
“She’s so small,” he murmured, his voice almost wondering.
A warmth spread through my chest at the sight of him holding her, seen him like this before. Never
the softness in his usually hardened features. I had never
I tucked my legs beneath me, watching him closely.
“She’s perfect,” I whispered.
Damon’s gaze lifted to meet mine. For a brief moment, there was nonger, no resentment, just something raw, something vulnerable.
He swallowed, looking back down at Isla.
“Yeah,” he said quietly. “She is.”
And for the first time in a long time, I saw a glimpse of the boy I once knew. The one who existed before the weight of his title, before the bitterness and pain.
For the first time since returning, I saw Damon. Not just the Alpha.
Not just the man who had hurt me.
And for a fleeting moment, I let myself believe that maybe there was still a part of him that could be saved.
A little part of humanity that we could still hold onto…
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