Damon’s P.O.V

I wake up much later than I’m used to but don’t make any attempt of going back to sleep.

I’d been slipping in and out of consciousness the entire day, an attempt at riding out my birthday for as long as possible. A plan that’d been successful up to this exact moment.

I peek one eye open to look at Blaze. He’d tucked himself under one of my arms while I’d fallen asleep and followed my lead, sleeping peacefully in my hold. I close my eyes as I pull myself a little closer to him, letting myself shamefully enjoy his warmth and company.

I made sure to thank Goddess whenever I remembered for sending Blaze to me. I didn’t go looking for him, it’s not like if I ever wanted a bunny. I didn’t have the disturbing obsession Peter had with them.

Blaze had followed Peter and I home after I helped Peter find Mr.Fluff. I’d heard him hopping the whole way behind us and when Peter went inside, I went to go investigate.

There, behind a large arrangement of recently chopped bushes, was Blaze. Black fur camouflaging him from the naked eye under the night sky, his eyes big and curious as he looked up at me. I knew Blaze didn’t follow me like animals usually did, after all, he was the bunny from his colony that came as far as the house. Blaze just seemed to like me and I couldn’t stop myself from picking him up and taking him inside.

Before I knew it, I’d named him and he’d become my own little obsession I wasn’t willing to let go.

As if sensing my thoughts, he wakes up slowly and stares straight back at me. He watches me for a moment before getting off the bed and going off to live his life in the confines of this apartment.

I decided to follow Blaze’s lead and get up. One glance out the window told me it was night time, I’d basically slept the whole day and I was pleased with that. I’d fallen asleep in the same clothes I’d worn yesterday, my favorite knife still tucked into the small at the back of my belt.

I check my phone out of habit, rubbing the sleep from my eyes when I remember that it’s dead. I hold it for a moment, trying to decide between charging it or leaving it as it was.

You need time Damon – Theo inputs, his voice as kind as always. Time on your own, away from the pack.

I don’t want to be away from the pack – I reply honestly as I stare at the blank device.

It’s what you need right now – Theo confirms with encouragement.

Theo was right, I knew that much, but putting away the only connection I had to what had only two days ago been my entire life was not as simple as he made it seem.

You’re not throwing it away, just putting it aside until you’re ready – Theo nudges once more and that helps more than it should. I could charge it and call, whenever I was ready or wanted to. It would always be there.

I open the empty drawer of my nightstand and place my phone in, shutting it slowly before taking a step back.

I felt as if I’d closed a door of some kind, but in a way that made guilt build, I also felt relieved because of it. It hurt to detach myself with such ease, but it eased my mind to know that I was taking a step away from the constant condemnation.

It was a tortuous type of freedom.

I stretch my limbs and rub at my nose, a sweet smell barely brushing at it making me hum with contentment.

I make my way to the kitchen, scratching at my chin as I pull out a glass, rinsing it before filling it with drinking water. I gulp down three glasses worth before the scent teases at my nose again.

I frown as I place the glass down, my body tugging at me to search for the source but I didn’t even know where the hell it was coming from.

I walk around the apartment, my feet taking me side to side until I came to the door. My frown deepens as confusion blossoms throughout my body, both caution and an unfamiliar level of elation making itself known. Was it coming from outside? I grab the keys off the counter before opening the door and stepping outside.

The scent hits me then. Coming at me from all angles as my feet brought me right against my neighboring door which exuded the scent with a numbing force. I shut my eyes and soak it in, my skin tingling as it caressed me gently, the smell a pleasant mixture of Wild Honeysuckle and Cranberries.

Mate – Theo practically purred, his excitement spurring on inside of me.

I begin moving before I can fully grasp onto my thoughts, fully consider who the owner might be, my instincts taking over to find the owner, to find my mate.

I feel my chest tighten at the thought, I had a mate. A mate of my own, made for me and perfect for me, somewhere out there and I wanted nothing more than to lay eyes on them.

A slight jab of guilt hits me at the excitement I felt for someone who wasn’t Amelia. I shouldn’t be this happy to find them, should I? Not too long ago, I thought that the position of my mate was her’s alone, but it wasn’t.

Amelia is not my mate. I try repeating the words, forcing myself to feel the pain of it so I could accept the comfort of finding my actually mate.

My mate.

I had a mate and they lived literally one door away. I smile at that, oddly pleased that faith was blessing me with such an odd situation.

I find myself running, down the stairs instead of using the elevator, too impatient to wait, and out of the building into the dark setting of night. I’d always been comfortable with the dark night blanketed the world in and didn’t hesitate to follow the scent, using it as a trail, following in my mate’s path.

After a few minutes, frustration made itself known next to the happiness. I felt as if I was running in circles, tracking someone who’d passed the same route twice or maybe thrice. Taking me up and then down again, until I was lead to a road that didn’t have a spec of light.

I pause for a moment, hesitance building as I look down the road that housed abandoned buildings. No one with two brain cells would go down this road unless the route was unavoidable, I hoped my mate wasn’t an idiot.

I pick up my pace once more, heading down the road with no further pauses. The scent growing stronger the further I went, my chest thumping with excitement until the familiar tang of blood joined my senses as well.

Fear pooled in me immediately, fear of losing my mate before I even had them. Fear of being too late, at being useless, yet again.

Even with my low-light vision, there was barely anything to be made out in this darkness. Worry piled with concern for a mate I was yet to lay eyes on, but I was getting closer, I could hear an erratic heartbeat.

I used my senses to direct me until my feet came to an immediate stop where the scent and sound met. I take a hesitant step forward, looking down into the barely visible opening between two, grimy walls. A space which held a small, shaking body, perfectly hidden behind the patches of grass.

Mate – Theo declared once more. His glee budding over into my chest.

But within that same moment, the scent clears itself to reveal that the sweet aroma was coming off of a human. A male human.

You have to be fucking kidding me.

Before my dread can fully form, my mate begins to scream at the top of his lungs making me jump back in surprise.

My eyes shoot up in alert as he screams bloody fucking murder for the world to hear, then barking begins and I release he has a dog with him. A dog which wasn’t my biggest fan apparently, both of them working together to make the greatest amount of noise they possibly could.

“Woah, Woah. Hey, it’s okay. Calm down, I’m not going to hurt you.” I say lifting my hands in a gesture of surrender but the screaming continues. “I’m not going to hurt you,” I repeat taking a step forward but that seems to only make it worse.

I take several steps back, heart thumping in my chest, every cell in my body fighting against the distance I’d put between us. But it seems to help, his screaming stops suddenly when I was back to the roadside while he pants breathlessly in his place. His pants make room for sobs, small sobs that were hidden just behind the fucking barking that wouldn’t stop.

I take a hesitant step forward but he just pulls into himself with a harder sob, so I quickly stop. My heart clawing at itself to stop scaring him, but I didn’t know what I was doing that was making him so frightened.

“N-No.” He begs through his sobs. “Don’t come any closer.”

“Okay, I’ll stay back,” I say quickly in response, ignoring the way my stomach twists from his words. “I’ll stay back.”

His voice was soft and fragile. It caressed my ears with a tenderness that made me shiver. I wanted to hear it again, without the fear and pain. Wanted to hear my name from it.

I shake my head to push away the thoughts. For one, now was not the time and secondly, that was a guy.

A fucking guy.

I look around the area, half expecting someone to come running, but no one did. But I suppose no one would in this abandoned street, I could just about make out a bag not too far off on the pavement and wondered if it was his.

I look back to him, desperate to see him properly, I couldn’t make out his features nearly as well as I wanted to. And I knew from his behavior that he wouldn’t move for the time being. I could smell the blood on him but couldn’t make out his injuries.

Had someone hurt him?

Rage doubles over with a strength greater than ever before at the thought, my fists clenched with the need to make whoever hurt him pay with their life.

“Did someone hurt you?” I ask through clenched teeth, trying to keep my voice gentle but failing miserably. My voice was so low that I probably sounded as if I wanted to hurt him.

He nods quickly before he stops and shakes his head. He bows his head, his hair flopping over as more sobs rake through his small frame, trembling against the bricks with a racing heart and puppy in his hands.

Thank fuck the barking had stopped, but the dog was still looking at me as if I was the one responsible for his owner’s tears.

“Where are you hurt?” I ask after another moment but my mate doesn’t reply. He was scared of me, a familiar feeling I knew but it stung more than it usually did.

I don’t think he’s scared of you in particular, something clearly happened – Theo corrects as he paces, his restraint slipping with the sadness we felt for our mate. I reel him in quick, the last thing I needed was to shift from stress.

“What can I do to help?” I ask instead, hoping this would open a door somewhere.

“Go away.” He replies but it sounds more like a plea than a command. I pray that Theo was right because it sounded as if I was the problem, not someone else.

I pump a few shots of patience I didn’t know I had and take a deep breath as I look at him.

“You want me to leave you in an abandoned ally while you’re clearly hurt and scared?” I ask calmly instead and pat myself on the back for replying in a ‘humane’ manner. But the self-praise stops the moment his fear kicks into high gear, the scent of it poignant as his heart threatens to collapse.

“I-I don’t know.” He croaks as more tears pooled out from his eyes. His inner turmoil surfacing as he tried to determine whether or not he could trust me.

I’m your mate. Of course, you can trust me.

I bite my tongue to stop the words from coming out, my mind screaming a reminder that he was a human. A human who knew nothing about my kind besides what was on television and wouldn’t understand the concept of mates.

I curse mentally with the realization that not only was my mate a man but a human that could easily reject me when he found out what I really was.

Goddess truly was a cold-hearted cunt.

“Would you like me to call someone?” I ask from my spot, hands fisted with an impatient need to comfort him. It was uncomfortable to experience the way the need filled me, a need I hadn’t felt before other than on a smaller scale for my family. Yet now, my clearly hurt mate in front fo me, it reared up with agitation. The distance between us going against my very instincts to pull him closer and protect him.

He shakes his head again and I barely bite back my sigh.

“Would you like to go to the hospital?” I offer instead, humans went there when they were hurt right?

He seems to consider this for a moment before shaking his head again.

“Would you like me to take you home?” I ask, hoping he’d pick this one, I already knew where it was.

He doesn’t answer this question and I frown slightly.

If he’s this afraid right now, I think he’s even more terrified about showing a stranger where he lives – Theo suggests unsurely.

“I have an idea,” I say to him, my voice eager at the bulb that went off in my head. I pull my favorite knife from my belt holder and twisted it around between my fingers. “I have a knife.”

Probably not the best way to start that sentence because he tried to scream again but his throat betrayed him as nothing but broken screeches came out.

“No, no. I’m giving it to you.” I say quickly, crashing over my words to correct myself. He stares up in my direction through his wet eyes, arms tightly caging himself and his dog in that spot. “I’ll take you home and you can hold the knife to me, if you feel threatened, you can use it.”

It was a weird thing to offer and I suppose even stranger for humans, but I had no other ideas that came to mind.

He seemed unconvinced and I force myself to see it from his perspective. A stranger had shown up, offering him help but still a stranger and was now giving him a knife, trying to take him home.

Yeah, I wouldn’t trust that for shit either.

My mind reels desperately for a way to ease his suspicions but coming up embarrassingly empty.

“I’m Damon,” I say after a moment. Offering him a bit of personal information with the hope of it building the base for trust, though it’d be fickle now. “I live in a nearby apartment complex, The Stems.”

I catch the way his eyes widen in surprise at that and force my features to stay relaxed, not wanting to give away that I’d known that he lived there too.

That’d be creepy.

“M-Me too.” He fills in sounding a little more comfortable.

Humans.

“Oh, wow,” I say feigning surprise. “That makes things easier.”

Silence dominates the space for another minute or two before he speaks up.

“O-Okay.” He stutters after a moment and I release a sigh a relief at the first step of cooperation. “Give me the knife first.” He demands and I barely manage to swallow back a growl.

I remind myself that he didn’t know I was giving him my favorite knife for the moment and was just scared. Yeah, he was scared.

“I’m going to come to give you the knife. No screaming on me, okay?” I warn seriously as I twist the knife to put the handle out first.

He nods shakily and I take slow, careful steps towards him until the handle meets his shaking fingers. He wraps them around it quickly and tugs the knife to him, some of the tension seeping from his shoulders with the weapon in his hands.

Progress, slow but gentle progress.

“Is that your bag on the floor over there?” I ask pointing in its direction. He pats himself widely with one of his hands, seeming to only then realize that he didn’t have it. He nods sheepishly making my heart warm too much.

I push away the strange turmoil inside of me and make quick work of getting the small bag before returning to my spot, not wanting to get any closer and trigger the banshee again.

“Now, can you stand?” I ask once I’d tossed the bag over my shoulder.

“I don’t know. I hurt my ankle.” He says as he wipes at his eyes.

The crying had stopped but his voice was still soft and weak, I refrained myself from chalking it up to him being a human.

I was in absolutely no position to judge anyone these days. Not with the absolute shit show, I became every time I was alone for too long, which was every day now

“Can I take a look?” I ask and he immediately pulls back with a whimper at the sudden movement of his leg.

“D-Don’t touch me.” He barks through his fear. I could practically smell it dripping off of him in layers, far greater than when I initially found him.

“Okay. I won’t touch you.” I reply speedily and hope he’d believe me. But his strong recoil at the offer only made more worry weigh inside of me at the thought of someone hurting him this bad. “So you’ll walk?”

He nods after a moment. I watch him set the dog on the floor, but the dog doesn’t part his side. It may be a little shit to me but I was content with its loyalty to him.

He places his palms beneath himself, laying them flat on the ground as he props up his good leg. He takes a deep breath before pushing up, grunts straining through his clenched teeth as he stood with a few strained whimpers, forcing himself to stand on his good leg.

He struggles to stay balanced but leans against the wall for support. I notice how much smaller he is than me, almost as small as Peter, like an omega. It didn’t bother me nearly as much as I thought it would, but now wasn’t the time to analyze my fucking mate.

“If you can’t stand up on your own, how will you make it home?” I ask with a bit of my impatience slipping out. I curse myself for it the moment he lowers his gaze to the floor. “I don’t mind carrying you.” I offer instead.

“Don’t touch me.” He snaps, this time his voice stronger than it’d been since I found him.

“Then how the fuck do you suppose I get you home.” I snap angrily.

“I don’t know!” He yells back with equal frustration.

We stare at one another for a moment, but he didn’t really seem to be looking at me. More like at his direction, but soon his gaze settled on my nose rather than at me. I frown, rubbing at it furiously, mentally wondering if I had something on it, but the staring doesn’t shift.

I close my eyes and consider just walking away. I immediately push that stupid idea away, I wouldn’t make it three steps before coming back.

There wasn’t a bone in my body that wanted anything but to make sure he was safe and okay if nothing else. He was my mate, whether or not I wanted a human or a man, he was my fucking mate and I had to help him.

“What’s your name?” I ask once I’d found control again. I fold my arms loosely as I study him, his chest rising and falling much slower now as he leaned against the bricks.

“Marcus.” He replies and his heart rate spikes directly after.

“Got that out of your system?” I ask flatly as I study him. “Why don’t you tell me your real name now?”

“Taylor.” He replies and his heart gives him away yet again, the most torturous organ for a human.

“Third times the charm.” I offer, my tone more mocking than I’d intended.

“Alexander.” He grinds out through clenched teeth.

So my mate was disturbingly cautious, good to know. It was a good trait to have I guess, but just annoying as hell right now.

“We can keep doing this until you tell me your real name,” I say with a heavy sigh as I look down at the small dog, his ears yet to drop as it watched me angrily.

“How the fuck do you know that I’m lying?” He asks, alarms blaring through his tone as he looked in my direction.

“You just told me,” I say with a smirk that I can’t help. Much like the way my chest fluttered with excitement at the way he’d become comfortable enough to be snappish.

I rathered snappish than scared.

“William.” He says finally and I smile happily at the tiny victory. “My name is William.”

“Okay, William.” I start, already shamefully loving the way it felt on my tongue. “I’m trying to help you out here, but you can’t walk and don’t want to be touched. I am willing to carry you back but you don’t want me to touch you. If you couldn’t feel any of my skin, would it still be an issue?”

He seems to be taken off guard by the suggestion and I pray to Goddess above that he says yes. If he didn’t, I’d just have to cover his mouth and toss him over my shoulder.

“I don’t know.” He says honestly and I take hold of the answer before he could change his mind.

“Only one way to find out.” I say with clear exhaustion in my tone

Thankfully William doesn’t scream at my movements towards him, just tenses. I take it slow to not startle him too much and stop when I’m a fair distance from him. I put my clothed arm out and wait but he doesn’t move.

“Touch my arm and see,” I say shaking the limb a little.

He looks down but doesn’t make a move. I frown wondering if he was a little slow on the uptake or not a fan of clothes.

“… I can’t see it.” He whispers too low for the normal ear to pick up on.

I frown at this, a voice in my head groaning at the incompetence of human being. No, no… calm down. It was dark in this area if I was being honest. Dark enough that I was yet to see his face clearly, so I guess for human eyes it was worse.

“Don’t scream again,” I growl in warning before I let my arm brush his hand.

He jumps at the motion, wincing with a small cry at the unintentional pressure he directs to his bad foot. I wish I could call Mehki in that instant to fix his leg and just teleport us home, but that was not even an option.

“Good?” I ask and he nods shakily. I doubted it was that simple, but had no time or patience to prod him for more information.

“I’m going to pick you up now, my hoodie covers everything but my fingers. I won’t let them touch your skin.” I promise despite the way Theo howled in pain at the prospect of having no contact.

For wolves, we lived off of scenery pleasure when it came to mates. Their scent was the most addictive thing about them, something that pleased only their other half and its effect never faded. Their touch came second and brought a new meaning to feeling. Just the feel of your mate’s skin against your own was enough to soothe pains. Or at least, that’s what everyone said about mates.

I yearned to touch him, to feel his skin for just a second, but he wouldn’t know how great it felt and judging from his previous reaction, possibly break down again. He seemed to have something seriously against touching. I knew enough humans to know that I couldn’t blame that on his species.

William nods slowly as his small hand trembles with the leash for his dog still tightly bound around his fingers. He takes a step off the wall and I waste no time slipping my hands around the back of his knees and the center of his back before hoisting him up.

He yelps at the sudden movement but doesn’t scream, his breathing picks up immediately as he struggles to stay still without touching me. I’d hoped he’d wrap his arms around my neck in instinct, they did that in movies, but William apparently had restraint.

His smell surrounded me in a beautiful embrace which made my eyes flutter shut without permission. I force myself not to press my nose to the nape of his neck for more and instead enjoy to feel of him in my arms, even though it was a limited level of touch, it was better than nothing.

“Will your dog follow me?” I ask looking down at the puppy that was growling and nibbling at the top of my shoe.

“Yeah.” He says through a shaky breath, somehow retaking the timid persona I’d found instead of the aggressive one I’d glimpsed.

Which was he? Or was he possibly both…

With that, I begin walking back to the apartments. I didn’t know where I was but I had a nose and could use it, I took the quickest route I could.

William was serious about not wanting to be touched, he shook violently in my hold, his breathing laboured and his eyes filling as he bit his lip hard.

I force myself not to ask about it, force myself to keep quiet. I could tell he was forcing himself to endure this and I wouldn’t make him suffer through something he clearly hated more than neccessary.

True to his word, the little dog followed in step with me but barked every few minutes as if reminding me that it was still there and watching.

The moment light flickered back into the roads, William sighed audibly in my hold drawing my eyes down to his face. I stop the moment I see him fully.

….he was beautiful.

No, that wasn’t the word. He was more than that, he was fucking gorgeous. But that too seemed insufficient when trying to describe just how uunnaturally stunning he was.

His eyes were big and alluring, trapping my within them in a moment. A clear blue, like perfect water that stared up at me with wonder. His lips were plump and cherry red, bruised by the force he’d put there but still perfect. His cheekbones were high and pulled at his smooth skin I yearned to touch.

He was heavenly.

“Why’d you stop?” He asks nervously as he looks up at me, eyes darting around my face as his eyebrows pulled together.

“Uhhh, something flew into my eye.” I say as I fall back into step, forcing my right eye to open and close furiously. William’s frown only deepens but he doesn’t say anything else, his arms tucked against his chest as he let himself be carried.

He was so small and light, feeling as fragile as glass in my hands. A piece of me tore at the possibility of holding him too tight and breaking a bone. Humans were so damn easy to break, what if I hug him and shattered his ribcage.

I continue taking peeks at his face, being drawn into him without permission all the way to our building.

“We’re here,” I announce as I approached the main door. After eight, they locked the place up for security reasons and no one could get in without a key. Well no human. “I got to open the door, think you can stand while I do that.”

“Yeah.” He says all too eagerly, I grimace a little and struggle to hide it.

I place William down and make a little show of opening the place with my key so he knew I wasn’t some crazy person who followed him and lied to him.

That’s exactly what you did – Theo deadpans as I pick William back up after putting a foot in place of the ajar door.

Yeah, but like… I’m his mate so it doesn’t count – I argue brushing him off as I push my way inside while avoiding hitting his foot against anything.

“I’m room 304, top floor. What about you?” I ask after squatting down to press the call button for the elevator.

“…room 303.” He replies with narrow eyes.

“I’m starting to think you’re a stalker,” I say playfully but he doesn’t laugh. “Hm, okay then.”

It doesn’t take long to make it back to our floor where Willian seems to sag in relief. I put him down in front of his door, the task disturbingly difficult with the amount of resistance my body put against letting him go. But I force myself to do so and step away to give him some space.

“Will you be okay?” I ask watching him as I handed him his bag. He takes it with another sigh of relief. “With your ankle? I can take a l-”

“I’ll be fine.” He cuts in with a hard smile, while digging through the bag for his keys.

The minute he finds it, he unlocks the door and goes inside, letting the puppy inside before slamming it shut without another word.

I stand outside the door a little stunned as the sound of many locks click into place from the other side. Then nothing else happens and I realize a little too late that he’s probably listening for me to leave.

So I oblige, opening my own door and going inside only to press my ear against it the moment I closed it.

I hear him sigh in relief before I hear consequential cursing, wincing as he moved further into his own apartment and then surprisingly, tears.

He was crying…..

I clench the knob to go back out but Theo uses as much as strength as he can muster to stop me.

It’ll do no good right now! – He growls as he fights against me. No good at all! Clearly, something horrible happened tonight, give him some fucking space Damon!

The curse takes me by surprise enough for me to loosen my grip, Theo never cursed, he was like Peter in that regard and it pissed me off to no ends. My force slowly fades as I release the knob, easing my grip and force myself to take a step back. I move back a little to distance myself from the temptation, but my mate’s muffled cries continue to ring through my ears and the walls.

He sobs as if someone was hurting him in the room right now, but I knew he was alone. The sound of his torment pushing a new form of agony down my throat as every fiber inside of me craved to just go hold him.

But the tense time I’d spent with my mate had taught me that he was more fragile than his chemistry demanded him to be. Something had happened and someone had hurt him bad.

I spend the rest of the night, listening to my mate’s misery with no way to end it. My heart tearing with every sob, following beside his cries that seemed to never end.

—————-

THEY MET!!!!!! FUCKING FINALLY, now stop bothering me about that.

I think Damon handled that shit wayyyyyyy better than I thought he would. I half expected him to walk away, ngl.

Thoughts? How do we feel about their meeting??

Do vote and comment, I love comments more though.

So until next time,

Byeeeeeee humanssss