Lahat ng Kabanata ng 30 days to save my alpha : Kabanata 21 - Kabanata 30

The broth was cold in Aria’s hands. Damon was still teasing her with that half-dead, full-arrogant smile. “Good girl.” “Don’t call me that,” she muttered, but she was smiling too. “Why? You like it.” “I like you alive. That’s it.” Mara was still pretending the fire was very interesting. The cabin smelled like herbs, smoke, and the two of them. For a moment, it felt safe. It never lasted long. --- *Midnight. Still Day Nine.* Damon’s fever spiked again without warning. One minute he was arguing with her about kisses. The next, his hand went cold and his eyes rolled back. “Damon?” Aria grabbed his face. “Damon, look at me.” His skin was clammy. His breathing shallow. The fresh bandage was already damp. “Mara!” Aria’s voice cracked. Mara was already moving. She shoved Aria aside, pressed two fingers to Damon’s neck, then ripped the bandage open. The wound had reopened. Black blood welled up. “The poison wasn’t all gone,” Mara said flatly. “It was hiding.” “No.” Aria’s hea

The howl cut through the trees. Not a wolf. Not an animal. It was thin. Hollow. Like wind screaming through a dead throat. Aria froze. Damon grabbed her wrist. “Move.” They ran. Down the ridge. Through the deep snow. The forest blurred around them. Branches whipped at their faces. The cold burned their lungs. Behind them, another howl. Closer. “They’re tracking us,” Aria gasped. “I know.” Damon didn’t look back. “Keep going.” The stone in Aria’s pocket felt heavy. Hot. Like it remembered the light. She didn’t take it out. Not yet. They ran for ten minutes. Twenty. Her legs were shaking. Then Damon stopped so fast she almost ran into him. “Down,” he said. Aria dropped to her knees. Through the trees, ahead of them, was a cabin. Old. Small. Half-buried in snow. The roof had collapsed on one side. But the walls were still standing. And the door was closed. “A hunter’s cabin,” Damon breathed. “Abandoned.” “Is it safe?” “Safer than out here.” The howl came again. Very cl

Day eleven. Nineteen days left. Mid-morning.` They were walking. Hand in hand. It should have felt right. It did. For about ten minutes. Then Aria let go. Damon stopped. “What?” Aria didn’t look at him. She pulled her cloak tighter. “Nothing. Let’s go.” Damon frowned. “Aria.” She kept walking. Damon caught up to her in two steps. “Talk to me.” Aria stared straight ahead. “It’s nothing.” “Don’t lie.” She stopped. She turned to him. And for the first time since the kiss, she looked scared. “Day eleven,” she said. Damon nodded. “Yeah.” “Nineteen days left.” Her voice cracked. “Damon, do you understand what that means?” He didn’t answer. “It means we have nineteen days.” Aria’s hands were shaking. “Nineteen days before day thirty. And on day thirty… I lose you.” Damon went still. “The contract ends,” Aria whispered. “You go back. Wherever you came from. And you won’t remember me. You won’t remember any of this.” The forest was quiet. Damon’s jaw tightened. “You don’

Aria didn’t sleep. She lay in Damon’s arms under the cloak, listening to his breathing. Counting. Nineteen days. It wasn’t enough. Damon was awake too. He could tell. “Aria,” he murmured. “Hmm?” “You’re thinking too loud.” Aria’s mouth twitched. “Sorry.” Damon tightened his arm around her. “Stop counting.” “I can’t.” Her voice was small. “If I stop counting, I’ll forget how little time we have.” Damon was quiet for a moment. Then he shifted. He pulled back just enough to look at her. The firelight caught his face. “Then don’t count tonight,” he said. “Count me.” Aria blinked. “What?” Damon’s hand came up. He brushed his thumb over her cheek. “Count this.” He leaned in. He kissed her. Slow. Deep. Like he had all the time in the world. Aria’s hand came up to his chest. She gripped his shirt. Damon didn’t rush. He kissed her like he was memorizing her. Like day thirty wasn’t coming. Aria melted into him. --- `Day twelve. Nineteen days left. Morning.` Dawn came

The council’s circle didn’t break. Ten wolves. Ten sets of eyes. All on Damon. None on her. Like she was air. Aria’s hands curled into fists at her sides. The cold bit through her thin shirt. She should have been shivering. She wasn’t. Anger was warmer. Marek stepped forward. His silver hair was braided with black cords. Old Alpha marks. “You left without permission, Damon. You vanished for three nights while the prophecy ticks down.” “I was surviving,” Damon said. Flat. No apology. “You were hiding,” said Selene from the left. Younger. Sharper. “With her.” All ten heads turned to Aria now. She met Selene’s gaze. Didn’t drop it. “I’m the reason he’s alive to stand here and be judged by you.” A low growl moved through the circle. Not Damon’s. Marek raised a hand. Silence. “The law is clear, Alpha. After three days of absence, the council may vote for interim leadership if the Alpha’s condition is… compromised.” He looked at Damon’s ribs. At the way he favored his le