The Alpha’s Protection

Maddison’s POV

I stared at Damian for a long time after he said those words.

“We’ll bring him back to you.”

My chest tightened instantly.

I swallowed hard “You say that like it’s easy.”

Damian’s eyes didn’t leave mine.

“It’s not easy,” he said calmly. “But it’s possible.”

Silence stretched between us again.

My fingers slowly loosened around the blanket, but my heart was still racing.

Everything inside me felt unstable, like I was standing on something fragile that could break at any moment.

“What if Fernando doesn’t let him go?” I whispered.

The moment I said his name, something shifted in Damian’s expression.

Not anger exactly but something colder and sharper..

“He doesn’t get to decide that,” Damian said.

My breath caught slightly.

There was something in his tone…

Not just authority.

Possession.

It made my wolf stir again.

Damian turned slightly toward the window, as if collecting his thoughts.

“Crescent Pack is under strict surveillance now,” he continued. “Any movement involving Liam is being tracked.”

I frowned “You’re… watching them?”

“Yes.”

My heart pounded harder.

That sounded serious.

Dangerously serious.

“I didn’t ask you to do that,” I said quickly.

Damian looked back at me.

“I know.”

Then why?

The question sat on my tongue but I didn’t say it.

Instead, I lowered my gaze.

“I don’t want more trouble,” I whispered.

“You’re already in it,” he replied quietly.

That made me look up again.

Damian stepped closer slowly, but stopped a safe distance away when he saw my body tense.

It was… intentional.

He was adjusting himself around my fear again..

“Listen to me,” he said.

His voice was softer this time.

“You don’t go back there alone.”

My lips parted slightly “I don’t have a choice.”

“You always have a choice.”

The words hit me harder than I expected.

I always have a choice??

That sounded foreign,almost unrealistic because in my world… choices were things other people made for me.

Fernando chose when I ate, whenI spoke, when I cried and when I was punished.

“I don’t think you understand my life,” I whispered.

Damian didn’t argue.

He just watched me.

“I understand enough,” he said.

Something in my chest tightened again.

I hated how calm he always was, like nothing could shake him, like even my brokenness didn’t scare him away.

A knock interrupted the moment.

I flinched instantly.

Damian noticed.

The door opened and a nurse stepped in carefully.

“Alpha Damian, the doctor said she needs medication and proper rest,” she said politely.

Alpha.

That word made my stomach drop slightly again.

He wasn’t just some random man.

He was important, powerful and probably dangerous too.

The nurse placed a tray on the table before quickly leaving again.

The room fell silent once more.

Damian turned back to me.

“You need to take this.”

“I can do it myself,” I said quickly.

I didn’t want to feel weak,not in front of him,not again.

But when I reached for the pills, my hand trembled slightly.

Damian noticed immediately.

He didn’t say anything.

Just quietly picked up the glass and handed it to me.

This time… I took it properly.

No brushing of fingers.

No sudden contact.

Just space and respectable distance.

I swallowed the medication slowly.

My throat still felt tight.

Damian leaned against the wall again, watching me carefully.

“You’re thinking too much,” he said after a while.

I let out a weak breath “I always do.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

I glanced at him.

He tilted his head slightly “You’re preparing yourself for pain that hasn’t happened yet.”

That made me go quiet because he was right.

I always did that.

I always expected the worst because the worst always came anyway.

“I don’t know how to stop,” I admitted quietly.

Damian didn’t respond immediately.

Then he said something softer.

“You don’t have to stop alone.”

My heart skipped slightly.

I looked at him quickly but his expression was unreadable again, like he didn’t realize how those words sounded.

Or maybe he did and just didn’t care.

The room became quiet again.

This silence felt different though.

It was less heavy,more…. careful.

After a while, I finally asked the question that had been sitting in my chest since I woke up.

“Why are you really helping me?”

Damian didn’t answer immediately.

He looked at me for a long time, like he was deciding something.

Then he finally spoke.

“Because I found you dying in the rain.”

“That’s not an answer,” I said softly.

“It is for now.”

My brows furrowed slightly.

“For now?”

Damian pushed himself off the wall.

“I don’t make decisions based on impulse,” he said calmly.

“But you’re still here.”

He didn’t deny it.

That made my chest tighten again.

Damian walked toward the door slightly, then paused.

“Rest,” he said again.

I nodded slowly.

But before he left, I spoke again.

“Damian.”

He stopped.

Didn’t turn.

But he waited.

My voice softened.

“If I go back there… I might not survive it again.”

The silence that followed was heavy.

Then he turned back slowly.

And for the first time since I met him…

His expression looked darker and more certain.

“Then you won’t go back alone,” he said.