Chapter 51: ⁵¹: friendship

I was still staring upstairs, my thoughts completely consumed by my room, when I suddenly realised Damian wasn’t taking me back through the secret tunnel.

He was carrying me straight toward the front entrance of the Alpha Residence.

Panic surged through me. My eyes widened as he stepped outside the mansion and headed directly for the main gate.

The guards we had worked so hard to avoid earlier were still standing exactly where they had been before.

Only this time... We weren’t sneaking around them. We were walking straight toward them.

What was Damian doing? Had he lost his mind after seeing me in this state? I wanted to stop him. I wanted to tell him to turn back. But my body refused to cooperate.

The little strength I had left had already been spent trying to survive whatever had attacked me inside the house.

Then... Something impossible happened. We walked straight through the massive iron gate. Not around it. Through it.

It was as though both Damian and I had become nothing more than mist. The guards didn’t react. They didn’t even blink.

Their eyes remained fixed ahead, looking straight through us as if we simply didn’t exist.

I stared at them in stunned silence. My mind filled with countless questions. What had just happened? How had we passed through solid iron?

And... Why hadn’t anyone seen us?

Before I could gather my thoughts, Damian had already carried me far away from the Alpha Residence.

He gently lowered me beside a large tree before immediately crouching in front of me. Both of his hands cupped my face as he searched my eyes anxiously.

"Athena..." His voice was tense. "What happened back there? Was it your wounds?"

His expression darkened with worry. "Grandmother was right. You weren’t fully healed when you came here." His jaw clenched. "Mother hadn’t finished the treatment to make your wounds completely pain-free, and you still insisted on coming."

His hands tightened ever so slightly against my cheeks. "You must be in so much pain right now."

A dangerous look flashed through his eyes. "You have no idea how badly I want to kill that bastard."

I took a slow, careful breath. My heartbeat was finally beginning to settle. The strange heaviness that had made speaking impossible was gone.

"I’m fine, Damian," I whispered. My voice was still weak, barely louder than the rustling breeze around us.

"But you’re not allowed to leave me alone."

I managed the smallest smile. "Let alone go anywhere near Harry."

For a brief moment, Damian simply stared at me. Then the tension in his shoulders eased. "You’re talking properly again..." A long breath escaped him. "Thank goodness."

The relief in his voice was impossible to miss. Despite the exhaustion weighing down every part of my body, I forced myself to smile at him.

I wanted him to know... At least for now... I was going to be alright.

"Of course I won’t leave you alone." Damian took a small step back, finally giving me a little space after having been so close. "At least you’ve admitted that I’m actually useful."

A playful smile spread across his face.

"And that I should stay with you." It was obvious he was trying to lighten the mood after everything that had just happened.

I couldn’t help smiling back. Looking down at my legs, I let out a quiet sigh. They still felt like jelly.

"I’m feeling better now, Damian," I said softly. "But... how did you carry me right past those guards without any of them noticing us?" Even now, I still couldn’t understand what I had witnessed.

"It was just an illusion," Damian replied casually. "Remember when I told you nobody would know I came here?"

He folded his arms proudly. "I erased every trace we left behind wherever we went." He flashed me a confident grin. "Even if someone tries to track us, they won’t find our scent anywhere we’ve been."

As he spoke, he reached over and gently brushed a few loose strands of hair away from my face, helping me fix the mess my hair had become.

I blinked in surprise. "You can use illusions too?" I had honestly never expected that.

Damian simply shrugged as though it were the most ordinary thing in the world. "Of course." He smiled. "You know who my mother is."

Realisation dawned on me. That was true. If Mother Elena possessed such incredible mastery over illusion magic, it only made sense that her son had inherited at least some of those abilities.

Then another thought suddenly struck me.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "So... You had abilities like this all along...and you still made me crawl through that tiny tunnel?"

I looked at him, giving him the sternest glare I could manage.

Damian immediately raised both hands in surrender. "Hey, that’s not fair!" He laughed nervously. "The spell I used to erase our scent is completely different. And the illusion I used in front of the guards is another one altogether."

His expression became a little more serious. "The one I used back there is only temporary. I’m still a beginner. I can only maintain it for about forty minutes in an entire day."

He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"And... I’ve already used up around twenty minutes."

The annoyance on my face slowly faded.

"Oh..." That actually made sense. If he had wasted it earlier, we might not have escaped the Alpha Residence at all. Good thing he had saved it for when we truly needed it.

I took a deep breath before looking toward the distant pack house. "I feel better now. We should at least go meet Romana."

I lifted my gaze toward the horizon. Time was slipping away. If we stayed here any longer, dawn would arrive before we knew it.

"But, Athena..." Damian frowned as he watched me struggle to stand. "You’re still in pain."

He quickly reached out to steady me when my legs refused to cooperate. "We should leave and head back as soon as possible."

His voice was filled with concern. "Mom can continue treating your wounds." He looked at me with obvious worry. "You don’t have to push yourself like this."

His words were gentle, but the concern in his eyes made it clear... He was afraid that if I kept forcing myself forward, my condition would only get worse.

"No." I shook my head firmly. "I have to meet Romana, no matter what." There was no room for negotiation.

Ignoring the weakness in my body, I forced myself onto my trembling legs. The moment I managed to stand, Damian suddenly swept me off my feet. Before I could protest, I was back in his arms.

"If you’re really determined to do this," he said, adjusting his grip on me, "then let’s get it over with as quickly as possible."

Without waiting for my response, he hurried down the road leading away from the Alpha Residence. A large sign pointed toward the pack house.

Taking advantage of the darkness, Damian moved swiftly along the deserted road, no longer worrying about being seen. With his illusion still protecting us, no one would notice our presence.

Barely five minutes later, we arrived outside the pack house. The sight before me made me frown. There were guards. Too many guards.

Why? The pack house had never needed this much security before. Something wasn’t right.

"Romana’s room is upstairs," I whispered. "So is mine." I looked up at Damian. "Leave me outside her room so I can speak to her alone."

Then another thought crossed my mind. "While I’m with her, go to my room. If Harry is still pretending to be the loyal fiancé who mourned my death, then my belongings should still be there."

I took a slow breath. "There should be a small photograph of my father and me inside the third drawer of my study desk. Please... bring it back for me."

Damian nodded without hesitation. Together, we quietly climbed the staircase.

The pack house was wrapped in complete silence. Everyone seemed to be asleep.

Romana probably was too.

Just thinking about seeing her again filled my chest with emotions I could barely contain.

As Damian gently helped me stand outside her room, he spoke in a low voice. "Keep your right hand tightly clenched while I’m away."

I looked at him in confusion.

"It’ll keep you connected to my illusion. As long as you do that no one will be able to see you."

I nodded in understanding. "Be careful."

"You too," he replied before silently disappearing down the corridor toward my room.

Taking a deep, steadying breath, I turned back to Romana’s door.

As expected... It wasn’t locked.

A small smile appeared on my face. This stupid girl still hadn’t changed this bad habit of hers.

I slowly pushed the door open just enough to slip inside without making any noise. The room was dark. Quiet. I carefully stepped through the narrow opening too eager to wake Romana up and see her reaction when she saw me - alive.

Then—

"Ah... Harry..." A voice mumbled from the bed. "I’m coming..."