30 days to save my alpha Chapter 5: The First Blood

The locket pulsed once against Aria’s chest, hot as a living thing. Damon’s arms were still locked around her on the balcony, his heartbeat thundering against her ribs. For three seconds, the world held its breath.

Then the glass shattered.

A black arrow hissed past Damon’s ear and exploded against the stone wall, spraying shards of ice that sizzled where they landed. The scent of wolfsbane filled the air.

“Down!” Damon roared, shoving Aria to the floor as a second arrow came. He moved like a shadow, faster than human eyes could track. His claws slid out with a soft _shink_, and the next arrow he caught mid-air. The wood splintered in his fist.

Aria hit the cold stone, heart hammering. The countdown timer in her vision flickered: _29:22:48:00_. Twenty-nine days. But right now, she had three seconds to live.

Below them, the gardens erupted. Shadows peeled away from the hedges. Five rogues in black armor surged toward the balcony, their eyes glowing amber. Selena’s text wasn’t a threat. It was an opening move.

Damon was already moving. He threw the broken arrow like a spear. It took the first rogue in the throat. He didn’t pause to watch him fall.

“Aria, stay behind me,” he commanded, voice low and dangerous. But his eyes—those storm-gray eyes—flicked to her face for half a second. Checking. Making sure she was unhurt.

“I can fight,” she said, scrambling up. The locket at her throat felt heavier. She didn’t know how, but she knew it was more than jewelry.

“I know,” Damon said. He didn’t look at her. He couldn’t afford to. “But not yet. Not like this.”

The next rogue leaped for the balcony rail. Damon met him there. The sound was brutal. Flesh, claw, bone. Blood sprayed across the white stone, dark and too red. Aria pressed her back to the wall, every instinct screaming to run. But she didn’t. She watched.

Because the man fighting wasn’t just her mate. He was the Alpha who had been cursed to die in thirty days. And if she didn’t learn how he fought, how he thought, how he bled… she couldn’t save him.

Damon took a hit. A silver dagger grazed his ribs. He snarled, the sound vibrating through the air, and broke the rogue’s arm with one twist. The man screamed and went over the rail.

Silence fell. Heavy. Final.

Four bodies lay in the garden below. The fifth had fled, vanishing into the dark like smoke.

Damon stood breathing hard, chest rising and falling. Blood ran down his side, black in the moonlight. He didn’t turn around right away. When he did, his eyes were wild. Alpha. Predator. But when they landed on her, they softened.

“Are you hurt?” His voice was rough, like he’d swallowed glass.

Aria shook her head. Her hands were shaking. Not from fear. From adrenaline. From him. “No. You?”

“It’s nothing.” He pressed his palm to the cut. Silver burn hissed. His jaw tightened, but he didn’t make a sound.

She crossed the space between them before she could think. Her fingers closed around his wrist, pulling his hand away. “Don’t lie. That’s silver. It’ll keep burning.”

Damon’s eyes dropped to her hands on his skin. For a moment, neither of them spoke. The only sound was the wind and the distant drip of blood on stone.

“You shouldn’t have touched me,” he said finally. His voice was lower now. Rougher. “I’m still dangerous, Aria.”

“I know,” she whispered. She pulled the hem of her sleeve down and pressed it to his wound. The fabric came away red. “But I’m not scared of you. I’m scared _for_ you.”

His breath hitched. One hand came up, slow, like he was asking permission. His thumb brushed her cheek, wiping away something she hadn’t realized was there. A smudge of dirt. Or a tear.

“You’re reckless,” he murmured. “You stand there watching me kill, and your hands don’t shake. You tend my wounds like I’m not a monster.”

“Maybe you’re not,” she said. The locket warmed again between them. “Maybe you’re just a man who’s been fighting alone too long.”

Something broke in his expression. The Alpha mask slipped. For one second, he looked tired. Human. The weight of a pack, a curse, a death sentence pressing on his shoulders.

Damon closed the distance. His forehead rested against hers. Not a kiss. Not yet. Just… breath. Just him, letting her hold the pieces he never showed anyone.

“I don’t believe in fate either,” he whispered against her skin, echoing his words from before. “But if the moon put you here, then I’m done fighting it.”

Aria’s eyes closed. His scent surrounded her—rain, smoke, and something wild and old. It made her dizzy. Made her want to lean in, to taste the blood on his lip, to promise she wouldn’t let him die.

But the timer in her head blinked: _29:22:30:00_.

She pulled back first. “We have to move. Whoever sent them will send more. And Selena—”

“Selena,” Damon spat the name like poison. He stepped back, Alpha returning to his face in an instant. But his hand lingered on her arm one second too long before he dropped it. “She wants me to choose. Between the pack and you.”

“And what did you choose?” Aria asked, though she already knew.

Damon looked at the bodies below. Then at her. “I chose us. That’s enough.”

He took her hand. His palm was warm, calloused, stained with blood that wasn’t his. The touch sent fire up her arm. Not the burning of silver. Something deeper. Something that felt like home.

“Come,” he said. “There’s a safe room below. We’ll regroup. Heal. Plan.”

They moved through the dark halls of the manor, his body shielding hers at every turn. He checked every corner. Every shadow. The Alpha never slept.

In the safe room, he pushed her gently to sit, then turned to lock the door. Only when the bolt slid home did his shoulders drop. The fight left him all at once. He swayed.

Aria was on her feet instantly. “Damon!”

“I’m fine,” he lied, but his knees buckled. She caught him. His weight drove her back a step, but she held. Because she had to.

They sank to the floor together. His head dropped to her shoulder. For the first time since she’d met him, the Alpha let go. Let her carry him.

“Twenty-nine days,” he whispered into her hair. His breath was hot against her skin. “Tell me it’s enough time.”

Aria’s arms tightened around him. The locket pulsed between their chests, matching his heartbeat. Her own. Two rhythms, learning to sync.

“It has to be,” she said. Her lips brushed his temple. Not a kiss. A vow. “Because I’m not leaving you, Damon. Not in thirty days. Not ever.”

His hand found hers in the dark. Their fingers laced. The timer kept counting down.

_29:21:59:00_

But for the first time, Aria didn’t flinch at the numbers. She had an Alpha to save. And a war to win.

And somewhere above them, Selena watched through a hidden camera, smiling.

One text sent. The game had started.