Chapter 34 Daemon's Confession

Chapter 34 Daemon's Confession
Sienna's POV

Kael's fist connected with Daemon's jaw.

Blood dripped from his split lip.

"You sold us out!" Kael swung again.

Daemon blocked and shoved him back. "I was trying to save her!"

"By making deals with the people hunting her?"

They circled each other, both ready to kill.

I needed to stop this, but my wolf body was too big.

"You had no right," Kael said. "No right to decide what was best for her."

"I've known her longer and protected her longer." Daemon spat blood. "Where were you when she needed help? You rejected her and threw her away."

Kael's face went red.

He charged.

They hit the ground with fists flying.

Claire tried to pull them apart but got elbowed.

Orion grabbed Kael but got thrown off.

I stepped forward and my wolf body blocked the firelight.

Both men froze.

I growled.

"This isn't your fight," Daemon said. "Stay out of it."

I growled louder.

"Sienna, move," Kael said with his nose broken. "I need to finish this."

He wanted to kill Daemon.

But we didn't have time for revenge.

The Assembly was coming.

I stepped between them and separated them with my body.

Daemon tried to go around me. I blocked him.

Kael tried the other direction. I blocked him too.

"Get out of the way!" Daemon shouted.

I shook my wolf head.

"He betrayed you!" Kael's voice cracked. "How can you defend him?"

I wasn't defending him, just stopping them from being idiots.

But I couldn't explain that.

My wolf frustration built.

I needed words.

I focused and tried to shift.

Pain shot through my bones.

Still wolf.

"She can't even shift back," Daemon said. "Because of you."

"Don't you dare blame me for protecting my daughter."

"Your daughter wouldn't need protecting if you'd been a real father!"

Kael lunged.

I moved faster and slammed into his chest.

He flew backward and hit the wall.

Daemon started toward him.

I turned and snarled in his face.

He stopped. "You're protecting him?"

I didn't know what I was doing.

"This is pointless," Dr. Helena said. "Fighting won't change what Daemon did."

"He needs to pay," Kael said, standing slowly.

"He made a mistake," Claire said. "A stupid one, but he thought he was helping."

They kept arguing.

I watched Daemon.

His face looked broken.

"I messed up," he said quietly. "I thought I could outsmart them and protect Sienna by giving them Vera."

"You can't negotiate with the Assembly," Orion said. "They don't make deals."

"I know that now." Daemon looked at me. "I'm sorry. I was trying to help, but I just made everything worse."

The apology hung in the air.

I didn't know if I could forgive him.

But I understood why he did it.

I'd done worse trying to protect Lily.

Killed people. Destroyed things. Become a monster.

Who was I to judge?

I moved closer and lowered my wolf head.

Not forgiveness, just understanding.

He touched my nose gently. "Thank you."

Kael made a disgusted sound. "You're actually okay with this?"

I turned to look at him.

Daemon made a mistake, but so had Kael, and so had I.

We were all just trying to survive.

Sometimes we got it wrong.

"This is unbelievable," Kael said. "He betrayed you and you're accepting it?"

I nodded.

"Why?"

Because holding grudges wouldn't save us.

We needed to work together.

"She's right," Dr. Helena said. "We don't have time. The Assembly will be here soon."

"We run," Claire said. "Split up."

"We already tried that," Orion said. "They found us anyway."

"Because Daemon sold us out!"

"I didn't tell them where we were going!"

"And somehow they're still tracking us."

Everyone looked at each other with suspicion growing.

The group was fracturing.

And I couldn't fix it.

A whistle pierced the air.

Claire ran to the entrance and her face went pale.

"They're here," she said.

"That's impossible," Daemon said. "The scouts said two hours."

"They moved faster." Claire backed in. "They've surrounded the entire area. Hundreds of them."

"How close?" Kael asked.

"Close enough to see the entrance."

We were trapped.

"We fight," Daemon said, standing.

"Against thousands?" Dr. Helena shook her head. "That's suicide."

"Better than surrendering."

A voice echoed from outside, amplified.

"Sienna Voss. We know you're in there. You have one hour to surrender. If you don't, we attack. Everyone dies, including your daughter."

One hour to decide if everyone lived or died.

"We can't surrender," Kael said. "They'll kill us anyway."

"We can't fight," Claire said. "We're outnumbered."

"Then what do we do?" Orion asked.

No one had an answer.

I looked at Lily, still sleeping.

She'd given everything to save me and now I couldn't save her.

The voice spoke again.

"Fifty-nine minutes. Decide quickly."

Daemon looked at me. "What do you want to do?"

Everyone waited for my decision.

But I couldn't speak.

I was trapped in a wolf body, trapped in a cave, trapped between impossible choices.

Lily stirred and opened her eyes.

"Mommy? Why is everyone looking at you?"

I had no answer.

The Assembly was outside waiting.

My pack was inside fracturing.

And I had one hour to decide everyone's fate.