Damon’s P.O.V

It’d been months.

Months since I’d last seen, months since I last thought of her, or rather, months since I’d allowed myself to think of her. When it had all happened, I couldn’t face it, the pain that came attached to the memory of the girl I thought I’d spend the rest of my life with, the one I’d thought was my future.

She wasn’t.

“I’m Amelia,” She voices to Will after a moment of silence, the question clear in her eyes behind the joy she kept tight to her as she draws her eyes back to me.

“William.” He replies, his tone just as still and cautious as it’d been when we first met.

I didn’t take my eyes off Will, not when I could feel his darkening emotions running through my veins. I focus on him, my mate, on his narrowed eyes that stuck to Amelia, his discomfort palpable as it mixed itself with the varied emotions swirling around the space.

Joy. Discomfort. Fear

The joy was Amelia’s. She owned it.

It spread from her like a live wire through the pack link and into this space as she gripped the edges of her shirt sleeves, trying feebly to transfer some of it somewhere else were it wasn’t so consuming and poignant.

She was happy, a little confused but happy.

The discomfort was Will’s. He lived in it.

He looked like he had in the early days of our friendship, skittish and ready for a punishing hand that would never come from me. His past haunting him in every part of his life, a loud, annoying presence that made him slow to trust and even slower to love.

He was uncomfortable because he didn’t know who this was, fearful that she was another problem we’d have to face.

The fear was all mine. It tried to drown me.

I was scared because I didn’t tell Will about Amelia, didn’t tell him about who she was and how important she used to be to me…. how I loved her. Fearful because he wouldn’t understand, wouldn’t see that it was different between us. He wouldn’t believe that I hadn’t hidden from him, he’d question us.

I was terrified that this would make him pull away from me when he’d finally allowed himself to give me more pieces of himself.

Joy. Discomfort. Fear. The air was sour, the taste of it like acid to the tongue.

“Will is my mate.” I voice after yet another period of muffled sounds.

Part of my unease slips away at the sight of Will’s doing the same, my declaration pushing any blooming doubts away for the moment as he relaxes his stiff stance from across the room. I release a steady breath that Amelia takes in as my words settle.

I take the time to look at her, to really look at her.

Something about her was different.

It wasn’t that she’d grown taller, just a little, or that her hair had grown aswell. It wasn’t her eyes, they were the same. Those bright green eyes were still all-encompassing as they now grew wide, her surprise clear as she holds me under her heavy gaze.

Maybe it was the mark that rested on her shoulder, the one that barely managed to peak its way past the fabric of her shirt. Sitting comfortably on her collarbone as a piece of her that was meant to be there.

Amelia wasn’t my mate.

She belonged to another, was mated to another. Completely and wholly linked her soul to the one that owned the other pieces of her. The fact once upon a time gutted me through and through, rendering me reeling and weak. But it failed now to deliver even a shred of sadness, it didn’t bring much of anything to the surface.

Amelia wasn’t my mate, but Will was and Will was perfect.

Will was everything right for me, everything good that made people seem brighter and the things of this world lighter. Will was my mate and he was who I belonged to, belonged with and Will was mine.

“Mate.” She repeats looking entirely baffled at the revelation. “I-I never would’ve seen this coming,” Amelia breathes out with a chuckle after a moment, her eyes softening as she settled them on Will with a small smile.

It cut somewhere inside to see it.

“We were just going to bed,” I say sharply, the words coming out harsher than I intended but I didn’t bother correcting myself.

Amelia’s smile wavered then, falling away slowly as she looked back to me. Sadness swirling within her eyes, right beside the deep pool of guilt that resided there, guilt that matched the feeling of betrayal that lingered within me.

The pain was once because I’d lost her, the person I thought to be mine. She’d hidden it from me because a piece of her was scared, scared of what I’d do when I finally found out.

The agony bloomed from losing the person I’d loved my entire life and from learning that my best friend feared me. Now it came from the latter, the former no longer a burden I had to bear.

“Damon,” She starts, licking her lips nervously as she rubbed her hands together. “Can we talk, please?”

“I’ve spent my day talking,” I reveal, my voice revealing the exhaustion I felt inside. “I don’t have it in me to talk about this.”

Swallowing slowly she nods, her movements rigid as she lowered her eyes from mine. She steps back, creating a distance between us I was grateful for. Glancing up at Will once more, she offers him a weak smile as she wraps her arms around herself as if to hold it all inside to stop it from slipping out.

“I’m sorry,” She whispers, eyes glowing as they darted up to catch my gaze.

Then she left. Silently and quickly she was gone just as quickly as she came. Shutting the door behind her, I turn back to face Will, taking in a deep breath at the sight of his slightly pained gaze that rested on me.

It was her scent.

A sliver of peppermint and something thick and heady like coffee beans now mixed itself with her scent to create something anew. That was what was different, the scent of her that was now a piece of her and her mate.

“Who is she?” Will asks, voice clipped and direct like his question.

“Amelia is my best friend,” I reply without hesitation, any of that would only give his fears reason to grow.

“But you were more than friends?” He questions and the world alone sent a cold sliver of panic down my spine.

“To me, we were,” I admit after swallowing the suffocating lump in my throat.

Will nods his understanding, a flicker of pain flashing across his eyes before he redirects his attention to Sassy who stood protectively in front of him. That look, though brief, was more than enough to cause a slash of grief and regret through my chest and it only grew with the knowledge that when he heard the full story, he’d feel even more of it.

You can’t help the feelings you once had – Theo chimes in, his comforting voicing spilling in before the panic could go any further. It’s in the past, he’ll understand that because he has a past too. One which we know nothing about.

But we told him about everything but her – I reply as I try to look at my mate who was trying to hide himself from me. He’ll think I was hiding it.

You were – Theo replies, his words like a whip.

I wasn’t, I ju-

You were – Theo repeats but softer this time. You hid it because you knew this would make him question us as mates. It’s okay, you tried for everything else. You tried very hard, but you can’t do everything right all the time, you’re only human… even if you act more like a wolf.

“She hurt you too,” Will states because he didn’t have to ask.

“Yes,” I admit, making my way back to him after locking the door.

Will watches me approach him, his blue eyes sharp and critical as he studied my every move as best he could. Determined to hold his ground with a firm footing until I was standing in front of him, close enough to take his hand.

I offer it to him.

Will doesn’t look away from my face as he continues to pick me apart, trying to understand what he knew before and knew now, what were possible lies or faint truths. Eventually, he brings his fingers up from their place in Sassy’s fur to slip into my own.

His eyes dart viscously around my face as he takes in the vision awarded to him by the touch. I knew he could see it all so I made sure not to hide a thing, the pain I’d been reminded of, the one I had to face earlier and the fear that came with how he’d take it all. He releases a small breath when his eyes finally settle on my own.

“So,” Will says with a small smile that made my heart flutter. “A shower, new sheets and then sleep?”

I nod, returning his smile.

Will knew. Will understood, as he always did. There’d been too much that had already happened today to add any more to it, too much that had been faced to try and confront anything else. Will knew that, understood that and was okay with that. Okay with letting this be, for tonight, to be put aside to allow us the time we needed for just us.

It only made me love him more.

The shower we had together wasn’t like the one we probably would’ve had if Amelia didn’t show up, but it was fine because Will was there. His smile was small but he was smiling and it didn’t falter for a moment, only grew as he ran a soapy hand over my chest, washing me down before allowing me to do the same to him.

We took our time, in no rush to end this day because tomorrow only promised another just like it. When the sheets were changed and we were in bed with Sassy and Blaze at our feet, I pull Will closer, needing him with me.

“You’re my happiness,” I whisper beside his ear, wanting him to know that those words were still true and would never be anything but the truth. “You, just you.”

Will releases a gentle breath of air, his entire body relaxing within my arms as he nodded against my chest.

“You’re my happiness too.” He replies softly, his beautiful, blue eyes meeting mine as he looks up at me.

“Can I hold you tonight?” Will asks long after I thought he’d fallen asleep.

“Trying to make me the little spoon?” I tease as I bring my arm from around his waist to turn.

“I know how you secretly crave it.” He replies with a wink. I laugh and twist for him, settling on my other side as Will latches himself onto my from behind.

His head didn’t reach my neck, but just below to the middle of my back where he pressed his forehead. His legs didn’t wrap around my own, too short to reach the length of mine. It was awkward but I didn’t say anything, I knew he needed it.

Our bond wasn’t as strong as a mated pair, but it was still powerful and it sang through me to show me the emotions of my mate. It told me that Will was scared, fearful of losing me to someone else, scared that I’d lied to him and scared of everything that came with my pack.

He was scared and needed to hold me, to wrap his arms around me so he could feel and know in his heart that I was here. That I was his and that no one would come between us, not while he was squeezing me so tightly.

So I didn’t say anything, even if it was a little awkward and different… because I needed it too.

————————

“You’re favorite,” I report as I enter the bedroom with my eyes glued the breakfast tray because it couldn’t drop if I stared at it. “Chocolate chip pancakes with frosting.”

Will shoots up from under the covers at my words, his hair in complete disarray while his sleepy eyes found their way to the hot plate of food that rested on the tray along with a bowl of banana slices and a glass of water.

I raided the pack fridges early this morning to get this ready, slipping from Will’s hands only to set him off with some whines. I replaced myself with a snoring Blaze to settle him and got to work on getting this done.

I needed Will to feel comfortable in the pack.

He needed to see this place as a home for us because that was what it was, even if it didn’t feel like it at the moment. It was home and I wanted him to love it as much as I did, because if he did, then maybe he’d want to lead with me, maybe even want it as much as I did.

So even with the pack’s eyes on me as I traveled through them, I carried on. Greeted the ones who approached and ignored the ones that stared with unspoken questions. I didn’t want to face the pack just yet, my main focus was my family and Will.

But if I had to see them all at once and let them see me, just to make my mate his favorite breakfast food, then fuck it, I would.

“This is why I love you,” Will moans as he sits up quickly, giving me space to rest the tray over his legs. “This is why I love you.” He repeats, stretching out the ‘you’ as he looks up at me, his hands making a ‘come here’ motion.

“I don’t do morning breath,” I reply even as I bend down to let him pull me to him.

“Shut up,” He mumbles against my lips as he kisses me with an eagerness that made me melt before him. “You didn’t have to do this.” He whispers once we part.

“I know,” I reply, eyes darting up to meet his.

The look of love and adoration that rested there made my entire body vibrate with pure happiness I could find nowhere else but with my mate.

“I love you Damon… so much,” He whispers and I smile, the words making my heart squeeze, jump and fill.

“I know,” I reply with a smirk that only made him laugh as he pushed me away to grab his knife and fork.

Will digs in without another word, I slip down beside him at the edge of the bed and watch with a full chest as he stuffs his mouth with a piece of the first pancake. His eyelids found their way over his eyes as he rests his head back with a loud moan that made me smile without question.

He peaks one eye open to look at me, a smile of his own developing from whatever he found.

“None for you?” He asks with a raised brow over the opened eye.

“I’m not hungry,” I reply and that was the truth.

I didn’t have much of an appetite with the knowledge that I’d be going back home today to face another round of trying to fix what had been broken long ago. But it wasn’t something I could ignore and definitely not one I wished to, I wanted to find my way back to my parents, to my family and to my pack.

The road that led there was just a little painful, that was all.

“You’re not hungry?” Will queries, opening both his eyes to look at me. “You? You, Damon Calderon, who eats more food than Blaze eats shirts?”

“He doesn’t eat them, he just chews on it.” I defend looking for the bunny I’d left in his hands, now nowhere to be seen. “So that statement makes no fucking sense.”

“But a bunny that chews on clothes at a level that warrants therapy does?” He replies with a snort before stuffing his face once more.

“You’re talking about giving a bunny therapy,” I point out, sliding up the bed to lean next to him, against the headboard. “Clearly, you’re a little crazy.”

“Moral of the story is that it is very strange that you’re not hungry,” Will says, pointedly ignoring my previous response.

He was going to lose that argument and he knew it.

“I’m just not,” I reply with a small shrug.

Will continues to eat silently, not rushing in any way to finish the meal I knew he loved too much. This was the only time I condoned frosting, any other time I saw it, it’d find it’s way into the bin.

When there was no food left but the slices of banana, Will places the tray on the nightstand before curling into me with his head on my shoulder while resting the bowl of banana in my lap.

“I know this is a lot for you,” He says as he rubs my arm gently with those soft fingers that always made me feel safe. “I know it can’t be easy to have to face everything that you left behind all at once, from everyone and everything you know. I know that it scares you just like it hurts you, especially when it is with the ones you love.

So I want you to know that I’m here for you, through all of this, I’m here for you. We don’t have to talk about Amelia, not yet, there’s so much… too much, outside of her to bring that in. I don’t want to know right now, about whatever it is, because I know you need me right now and I don’t know how I would react. So let’s just leave it alone, please, until you’re in a better place with your family.”

“Will,” I start, not sure if this was the best are to take.

“It’s what I want.” He replies seriously.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I am. This is what I need right now if I’m going to be able to give you what you need.”

The soft look of acceptance on his face tore it’s way through my chest, a new seed of self-hatred moving to the surface with the knowledge that this was on me.

He wouldn’t have to be strong or understanding for me, if I hadn’t cowered away from this piece of the past.

Goddess, I wished things weren’t always so fucking complicated.

“I didn’t lie to you, about anything.” I insist, needing him to know that even if we were putting this to rest. “I need you to know that I didn’t lie to you about a single thing, nothing.”

“I know you didn’t,” Will says raising his head to look at me, his smile easy and sure. “You’re not the type to lie, you’d rather fall facing it head-on than to stand running from it.”

“Not always,” I assure him as he raises his hand to run a hand through my hair. “This part I just… I-I didn’t know how to face this part, not with everything else and not with you.”

“That’s okay,” Will replies, his smile unwavering as his fingers continued to lull me into his hold. “There are parts of me I can’t face, parts I don’t know how to face with you. But I try to and I know you do too.”

“You’re too good to me,” I confess as I close my eyes, shutting them tight to block me from such light that blinded me. “You’re too good for me. With everything that I’ve done and everything that I am, I don’t deserve you in my life. I don’t des-”

“Stop,” Will says, his command firm like an alpha’s but full of compassion like a luna. “Stop judging yourself so harshly when you don’t deserve it, none of it. I’ve known you for five months Damon and I’ve seen you, the real you that I doubt others get to see. It’s good and it pure, it’s kind and it’s beautiful. I love you because of who you are, not who you used to be.”

I rest my head to Will’s, wanting to believe his words even for just a moment. Will wraps his arm around me and pulls me to him, keeping me close to him, blanketing me with his love and strength.

I didn’t see the things he saw in me, but I felt them, sometimes and I wanted to feel them even more. So I don’t fight him on it, don’t deny it but accept them, even if it was just for this time.

Because even if I didn’t deserve Will and everything he was right now, I’d make sure one day I would.

————————————————

Damon’s a little cutie sometimes.

Thoughtsssssss?

What did we think of Amelia’s appearance and Will’s response?

I know a lot of people expected Will to throw hands and be mad, but that wouldn’t really be his character tbh. I would have to see it but the Will we’ve seen throughout this book would not have made a scene in a situation like the one he was presented with, at least to me. But idk.

If you liked this chapter, vote up and comment, you know I love to see comments.

I’m currently on my journey back home, it’s over 15 hours long altogether. I’ve made it halfway, just the flight left so should be with my dogs soon.

Until next time,
Byeeeeeeeee Humanssssssssss