Chapter 169 169
Aurélie’s POV
“Thank you for keeping her safe.”
Damien inclined his head toward Roland, who returned the gesture solemnly.
“Mummy!”
Delphine launched herself into my arms.
The force of her small body made me gasp, pain flaring sharply through me, but I didn’t care. This—this was everything. I wrapped my arms around her anyway and pulled Dominique into the embrace as well, holding them both far too tightly.
“Mummy?” Delphine asked, her voice full of concern.
“I’m okay, darling,” I murmured, forcing a smile just for her the softest, sweetest one I had. “It only looks worse than it is.”
She studied me for a moment, then turned and lifted her arms toward Damien, silently asking to be carried. He bent down without hesitation, lifting her carefully and settling her against his chest.
“Did you come back to help Mummy?” she asked as they started up the stairs, her arms looped securely around his neck.
“I did,” he replied with a quiet chuckle. “I came as quickly as I could.”
“Mum?”
Dominique’s hand brushed my arm, and for the first time I truly looked at it.
Nausea rolled through me, thick and sudden, burning at the back of my throat.
“Let’s get you all out of here,” I said, summoning what little strength I had left.
I guided Dominique, Roland, and Miss Lambert up the basement stairs and out through the shattered window. Théo was waiting outside. The moment Roland appeared, Théo pulled him into a fierce embrace. Fabrice came straight to Dominique and me, easing me down so he could assess my injuries.
When Damien finally emerged from the house with Delphine, Fabrice rushed forward.
“Daddy!” Delphine squealed, practically leaping into his arms.
“Oh, my princess,” Fabrice breathed, holding her close and stroking her hair. “I was so worried.”
He looked up at Damien, and I braced myself only to be caught off guard when Damien simply nodded, calm and respectful, before handing Delphine her bunny teddy. His gaze drifted away from them, searching the crowd until it found mine.
The look he gave me was intense, layered with something I couldn’t quite name. If I could have reached him through the mind-link, I might have understood what he was trying to say.
“What happened? Why are you here?” Fabrice asked Lucas as he continued to cradle Delphine, who was already calmer now that Bunny was safely in her arms.
“Our trackers found three rogue groups,” Lucas explained. “We eliminated the first, then followed the second as they launched their attack.”
Three rogue groups.
The realization hit me all at once. We wouldn’t have survived three. And suddenly, I understood understood exactly why Damien had stopped me from chasing that rogue. He’d feared there was another group. That I’d run straight into a trap.
“Bloodnight warriors,” Lucas called out, “put out those fires. Anyone severely injured goes straight to the hospital.”
“Well, that’s my cue,” Fabrice said lightly as he set Delphine down beside me. “Your arm, Aurélie. You need the hospital.”
“I’ll go shortly,” I insisted, pushing myself upright. I stood too fast far too fast and the world tilted.
I didn’t fall.
Damien was there instantly, steadying me, his hands firm and sure.
“Thank you,” I said softly, slipping my hands into his. It was the only way I could tell him how much what he’d done meant to my pack, to my family, to me.
That’s when I noticed his hands were bleeding. Likely from the shattered window. Or the shutters.
I didn’t check if anyone was watching. I didn’t care.
I lifted his hands to my lips, pressing slow, deliberate kisses to his fingers. I turned his palms upward and traced my tongue gently along each cut, each deep wound, letting my alpha saliva do what it was meant to do heal.
He would have healed quickly anyway. He was an Alpha.
But something deeper surged through me an instinctive need, ancient and undeniable. A need for my essence to be in his blood.
For once, I didn’t fight it.
For once, I gave in to desire, to instinct, to the mate bond I had resisted for far too long.