The Truth He Couldn’t Tell
816 Words
Police sirens cut through the quiet street, their blue and red lights flashing across the glass facades of nearby buildings. Damien watched the black SUV vanish around the corner. Pursuing it would have been a waste of time. Operatives that clean didn’t leave witnesses, and they never lingered to be questioned.
Aria stood beside him, pale, staring at the blood soaking his white shirt. He called it a graze, but the sight of it made her feel sick. Hours ago her biggest worry had been rent. Now a stranger had put himself between her and a bullet.
“You need a doctor,” she said, her voice unsteady. “That bullet could have killed you.”
Damien unbuttoned his cuff and glanced at the wound. “I’ve had worse.”
Her concern only deepened. “How can you say that so casually?”
A brief, tired smile touched his mouth and disappeared. “Because panic doesn’t undo anything.”
Two officers reached them. One crouched by the knife on the pavement. The other opened a notebook.
“Are either of you injured?”
“I’m fine,” Aria said quickly, then looked at Damien. “He was shot.”
The officer’s eyes widened. “Sir, we need to call an ambulance.”
“That won’t be necessary.”
“With respect, Mr. Blackwood, protocol—”
“I’ll be fine.”
It wasn’t a shout. It was final. The officer recognized him and thought better of arguing.
After brief statements and a promise to check nearby cameras, the patrol cars pulled away. The street went quiet again.
Aria hugged herself. The adrenaline was leaving her, and what was left was fear, exhaustion, and questions she didn’t know how to ask.
Damien noticed her hands trembling. “Have you eaten?”
She blinked. “No.”
“When was the last time?”
“This morning.”
His frown was immediate. “It’s been a long day.”
She tried to laugh and failed. “That’s one way to put it.”
He studied her. She was holding herself together by force of habit. Job lost. Humiliated in public. Kidnapping attempt. Most people would have shattered. Aria hadn’t.
Not because she felt no fear. Because she’d spent years learning to carry it.
“Come with me,” he said.
She hesitated. “Where?”
“Somewhere safe.”
The word made her pause. Hours ago she only knew Damien Blackwood from headlines and photos. Now he was asking for her trust.
“I’m grateful,” she said carefully. “But I can’t just go with you.”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t know you.”
It was honest. He nodded. “That’s fair.”
He took out his wallet, handed her a business card and his driver’s license. “If you don’t trust me, check who I am.”
She looked at the ID, then gave it back. “It’s not your name I’m worried about.”
“What is it?”
She met his gaze. “Why are you helping me?”
For the first time tonight, he had no easy answer.
He couldn’t tell her the truth. That the moment he touched her, his wolf had named her _mate_. That every instinct he owned was screaming to keep her safe, even if it killed him. To her, it would sound insane.
So he gave her the only truth he could.
“When I saw those men chasing you, walking away wasn’t an option.”
She searched his face for a lie and found none. Only quiet sincerity.
His phone buzzed before she could answer.
*Lucas Hale.*
He answered immediately.
“I’ll call you back,” Lucas said without a greeting. “Where are you?”
“Downtown.”
“I’ve been trying to reach you for fifteen minutes.”
“I was busy.”
A beat of silence. “Is she with you?”
Damien’s eyes moved to Aria. “Yes.”
Lucas exhaled. “Then listen. We have a problem.”
“What happened?”
“We intercepted a transmission less than an hour ago.”
Damien’s expression hardened. “And?”
“They weren’t targeting her because she saw something.”
Lucas’s voice dropped. “They’ve been looking for her for years.”
Damien said nothing.
“They used her name,” Lucas went on. “Aria Stone. She wasn’t picked at random.”
Cold settled in Damien’s chest.
“Who gave the order?”
“We don’t know yet.”
A pause.
“But whoever it is… they’re willing to start a war to get her.”
Damien lowered the phone slowly.
His worst suspicion had just been confirmed.
This wasn’t a random abduction.
Someone powerful had been hunting Aria long before she ever walked into that gala.
And if his instincts were right…
They were only getting started.
- Writer
