79. Strange And Useful.

Rose’s POV

I stayed frozen on the bed long after Damien walked away.

My heart was still racing so hard I thought it would tear out of my chest. My hands were cold, my legs weak. Everything inside me felt shaky, like the world had shifted and never settled back.

The room felt too big.

Too quiet.

Too dangerous.

I hugged my knees to my chest and stared at the floor, trying to breathe normally. My mind kept replaying everything again and again.

Damien.

Blood.

The woods.

The way he moved faster than my eyes could follow.

The way his hands felt strong enough to break me without effort.

I swallowed hard.

A soft sound came from behind me.

I turned slowly.

The pale woman stood near the door.

Kate.

Her eyes were sharp. Cold. She looked at me like I was already dead.

She didn’t smile.

She didn’t speak at first.

She just stared.

“What are you?” she finally asked.

My throat tightened.

“I—I’m human,” I whispered.

Kate’s lips curled slightly, not in humor. More like disgust.

“You don’t smell like one,” she said flatly.

I flinched.

She stepped closer.

My body pressed deeper into the mattress, fear crawling over my skin.

“What are you going to do to me?” I asked, my voice shaking.

Kate tilted her head, studying me.

“That depends,” she said calmly. “On him.”

She turned as the door opened again.

Damien walked back in.

The air shifted immediately.

Power filled the room.

Kate straightened.

I felt it too.

Damien’s eyes flicked to me briefly, then to Kate.

She didn’t waste time.

“What are we doing with her?” Kate asked.

Damien didn’t answer immediately.

He looked at me.

Really looked at me.

I felt naked under his gaze.

“She’s a problem,” Kate continued. “You know that.”

I swallowed and forced myself to speak.

“You said you wouldn’t hurt me,” I said softly, my voice breaking. “Please.”

Damien looked away.

Kate scoffed.

“She’s already seen too much,” Kate said. “She knows what you are. She knows what I am.”

I shook my head quickly.

“I won’t tell anyone,” I said. “I swear. I’ll disappear. I’ll leave.”

Kate laughed lightly.

“You won’t survive long,” she said. “You’re already tangled in things bigger than you.”

I didn’t understand.

I didn’t want to understand.

Damien exhaled slowly.

“I tried,” he said finally.

Kate turned to him sharply.

“Tried what?”

“To bite her,” Damien said. “To turn her.”

My heart dropped.

Kate’s eyes widened slightly.

“And?” she asked.

“I couldn’t,” Damien replied.

I looked at him in confusion.

“What do you mean?” I whispered.

He met my eyes.

“Something pushed me back,” he said. “A force.”

Kate frowned.

“Magic?” she asked.

Damien shook his head.

“Maybe” he said. “Not ordinary magic.”

I hugged myself tighter.

Kate crossed her arms.

“Then kill her the normal way,” she said coldly. “We can’t keep her.”

My breath caught.

“No,” I whispered.

My vision blurred.

Damien’s jaw tightened.

“No,” he said firmly.

Kate turned to him slowly.

“Why?” she asked.

Damien’s gaze darkened.

“She’s tied to something,” he said. “Or someone.”

My heart skipped.

Kate narrowed her eyes.

“To who?”

Damien paused.

Then said it.

“The alpha of the wolves.”

My chest hurt.

I didn’t know how.

I didn’t know why.

But hearing those words made something twist painfully inside me.

Oh no... Adrian.

Kate scoffed.

“That makes her dangerous,” she said.

Damien nodded.

“And useful,” he replied.

Kate stared at him.

“You’re keeping her.”

“For now,” Damien said.

Kate’s lips pressed into a thin line.

“She’s strange,” Kate muttered.

“Yes,” Damien agreed quietly. “That’s why she’s alive.”

I didn’t feel relieved.

I felt trapped.

Damien’s POV

She looked like a cornered animal.

Fear sat heavy in her eyes.

And every time she spoke, something inside me twisted.

Kate was right.

Rose was a problem.

A very big one.

I had tried to bite her.

That alone was dangerous.

The force that repelled me wasn’t normal.

It wasn’t ordinary magic.

It wasn’t divine.

It felt… alive.

Connected.

When I said the words “wolf alpha,” Kate stiffened.

She knew what that meant.

So did I.

No human should be tied to a wolf that deeply.

Yet the scent was there.

Strong.

Close.

Too close.

“She can’t stay here,” Kate said. “You’re thinking emotionally.”

I turned to her slowly.

“I don’t think emotionally,” I said coldly.

Kate held my gaze.

“You’re wrong,” she said.

I hated that she might be right.

Rose sat silently, trembling.

She didn’t know what she was.

But I would find out.

“She stays,” I said.

“For how long?” Kate asked.

“Until I understand her,” I replied.

Kate sighed sharply.

“You’re risking too much.”

“I am the risk,” I said.

Kate looked at Rose one last time.

“If she causes trouble,” she said, “I won’t hesitate.”

She turned and walked out.

The door closed behind her.

Silence filled the room again.

I looked at Rose.

She looked broken.

“I’m not going to kill you,” I said quietly.

She didn’t respond.

“You’re strange,” I continued. “And that makes you dangerous.”

Her eyes filled with tears.

“I don’t want this,” she whispered.

I believed her.

“That doesn’t matter anymore,” I said softly.

She flinched.

“I will find out what you are,” I said. “And why the alpha’s scent clings to you.”

She shook her head weakly.

“I don’t know,” she whispered.

I stepped back.

“Rest,” I said. “You’re safe. For now.”

As I turned to leave, one thought echoed in my mind.

She wasn’t just strange.

She was important.

And whatever was coming…

She was already at the center of it.