**DAMIAN POV**
The alarm shatters the house.
It is not a warning. Not a suggestion. It is an order.
The sound hits my body before it reaches my thoughts, sharp and violent, ripping me out of sleep and straight into action. Red lights strobe down the hallway, reflecting off glass and polished wood, turning familiar lines into something hostile and wrong. A house built for security now screams that it has been breached.
Elena gasps beside me.
I am already moving.
My hand closes around her wrist, firm, grounding, pulling her out of bed before fear can slow her down. Her skin is warm. Real. Alive. That is all that matters.
“Now,” I say.
One word. No explanation. No room for hesitation.
She trusts me enough not to argue. That trust sits heavy in my chest as I pull her into the hallway,
