Piss Off, Alpha! You Lost Me Forever-Chapter 158 This Too Will End

SOPHIA’S POV

Sky Manor was lit up when I pulled into the driveway. Every downstairs light was on.

I sat in the car for a moment just looking at it. I was so tired. My arm ached with every heartbeat. My eyes felt like they had sand behind them. But I gathered my bag, got out of the car, and pushed through the front door.

Klara came running before I had closed it behind me.

She was still in her day clothes. She ran to me but stopped just short of throwing her arms around me, remembering at the last second about my arm. Instead, she grabbed my left hand with both of hers and looked up at me.

"You’re so late," she said. "I was worried. How’s your arm? Did you keep it dry like the doctor said? You didn’t keep it dry, did you-"

"Klara." I said her name softly, the way I always did when she was spiralling. She stopped. I reached out with my good hand and pressed it gently to the top of her head, smoothing her hair the way I had done since she was small. "I’m fine, just tired."

"Your arm—"

"Is fine." That was mostly true. "I’m home now. Everything is okay."

"Are you hungry?" she asked with a smile. "I kept some soup warm."

"I’m not hungry. I just want to wash up and sleep."

She looked unhappy about this but nodded. "I’ll wait until you’re done."

"Klara, you don’t need to-"

"I’ll wait," she said, in the tone that meant the conversation was over. Then, she turned back toward the living room.

I looked at her and felt something in my chest warm up. She was waiting up for me. In a season where I had felt invisible to almost everyone who was supposed to see me, my niece sat in a lit living room past midnight just to make sure I got home safely.

I went upstairs to shower. When I was done, I put on some clean clothes then headed downstairs to check on Klara.

Klara was sitting on the sofa with her knees pulled up, fighting sleep and losing. Her head kept tilting to the side. When she heard my footsteps she looked up immediately.

"Okay?" she asked.

"Okay," I confirmed.

She smiled then walked to the stairs. She looked back at me and said. "You work too hard,"

I chuckled "Goodnight, Klara."

"Goodnight, aunt Sophia." She went upstairs.

I went back to my bedroom. Everywhere felt quiet when I pushed the door open. I reached for the bedside lamp, clicked it on, and stood in the doorway for a moment letting my eyes adjust.

Then I noticed it.

The window on the far side of the room was half open.

I always closed my windows before I left - Always. It was habit I was so used to that I did it without thinking. I had closed that window this morning. I was certain of it.

I walked beside it, and that was when the scent reached me - Cedar and tobacco. Zade’s scent.

My heart jolted hard in my chest.

He had been in here.

Not recently, I guess. The scent was too thin for that. It seemed faded enough that it had probably been earlier in the evening, before the event, before the hospital, which meant he had been here while I was gone. He had climbed in through the window the way he always did, had stood in my room in my absence doing God knows what and then left.

The thought sent a complicated feeling through me that I refused to think about. I felt uneasy and another part of me felt pissed about having my space entered without permission.

I shut the window hard, locked it and pulled the curtains close.

"Stop it," I said to no one.

Then my phone rang.

The screen showed Damien’s name. With a heavy sigh, I picked up.

"You’re home?" His voice was quieter than usual.

"Yes," I said, sitting on the edge of the bed. "It’s late, Damien."

"I know." I heard him exhale slowly. "Ashley asked about you again tonight before bed. She asks every night, Sophia about where you are, why you don’t come anymore. I tell her you’re busy but-”

Something pulled in my chest. I pressed my hand flat against my stomach and breathed through it.

"She’s adjusting," I said, keeping my voice neutral. "Children do."

"She’s not adjusting. She’s waiting." His voice had dropped further "She keeps her light on until she falls asleep in case you come."

I closed my eyes.

The image of it was brutal. I imagined Ashley in her bed in the dark of Stone Villa, the small lamp on her nightstand on as she waited for a footstep that didn’t come. In my mind, I saw my daughter, waiting for me in the dark.

I felt an ache in my chest. Then I breathed out slowly and opened my eyes.

"She’ll be okay," I said. "You need to help her understand that okay doesn’t mean I’m gone forever. It just means things are different now."

Silence.

Then: "Sophia. The divorce papers. I haven’t had a chance to—"

The warmth I felt drained out of me instantly. My wolf growled with anger.

Not this again.

"Damien." I cut him off "Don’t. Don’t call me at midnight to talk about Ashley’s feelings then tell me you’ve been too busy to sign three pages of paperwork. I’ve been waiting. I’ve been patient. I have asked you repeatedly. Stop delaying."

"I’m not delay-"

"Stop. Delaying." I said each word separately, cleanly, so there was no room for misinterpretation. "Sign the papers, Damien”

He didn’t say anything.

"Goodnight," I said, and ended the call.

I set the phone face-down on the nightstand and lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

I should have slept off immediately. My body was exhausted down to the marrow - four hours of surgery, a full day of work before that, weeks of carrying things too heavy for one person.

But my mind wouldn’t stop.

I thought about a lot of things - Ashley’s light left on in an empty room, Damien’s voice, Zade’s headlights in my rearview mirror, following me home through the dark without being asked, the scent of his cigarettes fading from my curtain, Declan’s foot extended deliberately.

I thought about Tiffany fixing Ashley’s hair while Damien looked on like everything was exactly as it should be.

I turned onto my side and faced the wall.

It will end, I told myself. The papers will be signed. The certificate will be found. You will walk out of that courthouse and none of this will have the same hold on you that it does right now.

I almost believed it.