Damien."We need to talk."It was one thing for someone to barge into someone's house, neighbour or not. It was another thing for said person to come after a person eating dinner and minding their own business.The tension in the dining room was suffocating. The burly man, Ryan, stood close to the doorway, his shoulders blocking out the light. His eyes were still locked on mine, and I felt the weight of it as though it could crush me where I sat.Elliot’s family watched warily, their smiles vanishing. I would have given a million bucks to know what was going on in their mind."I said," Ryan repeated, his tone low and deliberate. "We need to talk, Damien."Elliot bristled beside me, his chair scraping the floor as he stood. "What the hell is going on? Who are you?" His voice was like sharpened knives. Ryan didn't spare him a glance. His focus was entirely on me, his lips curling into something between a smirk and a sneer. "You know who I am, kid."My stomach twisted.I didn't know thi
Elliot.And people blamed me for disappearing for five years.What the heck had just happened?The night felt heavier after Damien left. His silhouette disappeared into the darkness, and with it, any sense of normalcy I thought we still had.Something was wrong... terribly wrong... and if he wouldn't tell me, I'd figure it out myself."Elliot, honey, what's going on? Is Damien alright?"I hesitated, not wanting to alarm her. “I don’t know, Mom. He just… needs some time to himself.”She wanted to say more. The way she moved around and her lips purse together. But thankfully, she kept them to herself and just motioned for me to come inside."You too. It's late, and you shouldn't be out in the cold."Yeah, she was right.I nodded but didn't move. "Mom, who was that man? Ryan?"Her brown eyes narrowed slightly, the worry on her face deepening. Once upon a time, my mom was the prettiest woman in the land, now the stress of old age, a child who disappeared for years, and work had worn her d
Damien.The warehouse was cold. Damp. The perfect place for drowning in my own thoughts.I sat on the edge of a rusted steel beam, staring out at the sliver of moonlight that pierced through a crack in the roof. The city hummed faintly in the distance... alive, vibrant, and completely unaware of the chaos simmering inside me.Why couldn't I remember?What had I done years back that was so devious I couldn't even remember?My survival instincts were working overtime at this moment. Run. Run. Leave New York behind. Disappear again.Elliot knew I would leave eventually. We both knew I was just here for the time being.Wasn't that why I delayed everything that had to do with completing our mating process?Yet, every time I tried to make that move, my mind betrayed me with flickers of a certain past I couldn't fully remember. Faces. Voices. Shadows that felt too real to ignore.It was all in my fucking head. "Mate. Mate. Mine." Elliot’s voice replayed in my head like a broken record. "Whe
Damien.I often prided myself in my ability not to lose my control.That all burned to ashes when I met Elliot and discovered he was my mate.The house loomed in front of me, silent and dark. Too silent. Too dark.I shifted back into my human form just outside the front door, the transformation leaving my skin pricking with leftover adrenaline. If anyone saw me, that would be a case I would handle some other time.My breaths came in sharp bursts, clouding the cold night air, but my chest still felt tight.This was wrong.This quietness was unusual.The scream... no matter how far I had been from the house... it belonged to Elliot. I was sure of it.I didn't waste time.I slammed my shoulder into the door, forcing it open with a loud crack. The frame splintered, but I barely noticed."Elliot!" I shouted, my voice echoing through the empty hallways.Nothing.No footsteps. No shuffling. No hurried explanations from his parents or questions about why the house was so dark or why I had de
Damien.The bond between us burned, not with the faint flickers I'd felt earlier but with a consuming, relentless fire.It roared in my chest, growing sharper with every breath I took, every frantic beat of my heart.I didn't get all chummy with Elliot most of the time. Not because I didn't want to... if I was opportuned, I would kiss, touch, and fuck him every single day... but because he was still coming to terms with the fact that he was attracted to a male.Elliot was trembling in my arms, his nails digging into my skin as if he was trying to anchor himself. Or maybe trying to hurt me.I couldn't tell, and honestly, I didn't care.All that mattered was him."Elliot, look at me," I whispered, cupping his face, my thumbs brushing against his cheeks. "You're safe. You're with me now. Just tell what happened, and I'll fix it."His brown eyes, darkened with lust, locked onto mine. His lips parted, but no words came out... just a shaky exhale that sent a pang of helplessness straight t
Elliot.Pleasure clouded my mind, hungry and dangerous, as hazel eyes lined my vision.That was seriously the best blow job I had ever gotten in all my years of living. It was satisfying enough to make me forget the reason I was out here.In the woods.Alone.Damien stood up so he could slide his pants and briefs down and kick them to the side until he was wearing nothing.Damn.I had felt it. Touched it. But seeing it? That was different.I tried to look away, but I realised later on that it was practically impossible to ignore the handsome man in front of me.During most of our time together, I had kept myself from asking why he didn't have any tattoos like most of his peers. Even the werewolves at the pack close to the woods had something inked onto their skin.The moon. Eyes. Anything.Damien didn't.I attempted to get my fill of the way he looked fully naked and under the moonlight. All the muscles that are proportionally placed over his tall frame and slightly broad built.But t
Elliot.The memory crashed over me like a tidal wave, a force I couldn't control or stop.I had no idea if it was because that was the memory I was actively searching for or if there was another reason.Her face. Her wide, terrified eyes framed by dark curls, pleading silently as blood stained her pale skin. My vision shifted, disorienting me, and I wasn't standing in the woods anymore.No.I was in his body.Damien's hands reached out, fingers trembling as they brushed against her cheek. Her lips moved, forming words I couldn't hear, drowned out by the maniacal laughter that echoed around us.The witch stood nearby, her hands weaving intricate patterns in the air, her lips curling into a wicked grin. A spell radiated from her, distorting the space around us, enclosing us in a bubble that hid the horrors from anyone who might stumble upon the scene.And then, to the left... Ryan.He wasn't smirking or simply annoyed like he had been when he barged into my parent's house. His eyes were
Damien.I watched him run.With that one single thought running through his mind just like the first time he learnt I was a werewolf.Monster.The air was thick with tension as Ryan's taunting voice cut through the forest like a serrated blade, each word deliberately chosen to wound. My body trembled, not from the chill of the night but from the storm raging within me.Frozen.I stood frozen a few feet away from him, blood drained from my face, and I was pretty sure anyone who saw me saw the mixture of anguish and fury written all over my face."You're such a fool," Ryan continued, his smirk sharpening into something as sinister as his heart. "Did you honestly think you could keep running from your past? That you could bury it deep enough that no one... least of all, me... could dig it back up?"Fuck.My growl rumbled low in my throat, a warning Ryan ignored entirely. "You knew," I snarled, my voice rough like grave scraping against steel. "You knew what it would do to me. Why? Why d
Elliot.The weight of my betrayal hit me harder than I anticipated, but not enough to make me turn back.Damien was a danger to himself, to me, and to society at large.That was the truth I clung to as I paced the living room of my family’s house in New York. My parents had returned from the impromptu "vacation" I'd sent them on, looking suspicious and weary, as if they suspected something had shifted in their absence.I had no idea how I convinced them to leave in the middle of the night.But they were right about something shifting in their absence.So, I guessed it was time to fulfil the purpose of why I came back to New York. To uncover the truth about my family and the secrets they'd buried so deep or perhaps didn't even know about."Elliot, sit down," my mother said sharply, her voice slicing through the tension. She was perched on the edge of the couch, her perfectly manicured nails tapping against her coffee mug. "You're making me nervous.""Then give me straight answers," I s
Damien.I watched him run.With that one single thought running through his mind just like the first time he learnt I was a werewolf.Monster.The air was thick with tension as Ryan's taunting voice cut through the forest like a serrated blade, each word deliberately chosen to wound. My body trembled, not from the chill of the night but from the storm raging within me.Frozen.I stood frozen a few feet away from him, blood drained from my face, and I was pretty sure anyone who saw me saw the mixture of anguish and fury written all over my face."You're such a fool," Ryan continued, his smirk sharpening into something as sinister as his heart. "Did you honestly think you could keep running from your past? That you could bury it deep enough that no one... least of all, me... could dig it back up?"Fuck.My growl rumbled low in my throat, a warning Ryan ignored entirely. "You knew," I snarled, my voice rough like grave scraping against steel. "You knew what it would do to me. Why? Why d
Elliot.The memory crashed over me like a tidal wave, a force I couldn't control or stop.I had no idea if it was because that was the memory I was actively searching for or if there was another reason.Her face. Her wide, terrified eyes framed by dark curls, pleading silently as blood stained her pale skin. My vision shifted, disorienting me, and I wasn't standing in the woods anymore.No.I was in his body.Damien's hands reached out, fingers trembling as they brushed against her cheek. Her lips moved, forming words I couldn't hear, drowned out by the maniacal laughter that echoed around us.The witch stood nearby, her hands weaving intricate patterns in the air, her lips curling into a wicked grin. A spell radiated from her, distorting the space around us, enclosing us in a bubble that hid the horrors from anyone who might stumble upon the scene.And then, to the left... Ryan.He wasn't smirking or simply annoyed like he had been when he barged into my parent's house. His eyes were
Elliot.Pleasure clouded my mind, hungry and dangerous, as hazel eyes lined my vision.That was seriously the best blow job I had ever gotten in all my years of living. It was satisfying enough to make me forget the reason I was out here.In the woods.Alone.Damien stood up so he could slide his pants and briefs down and kick them to the side until he was wearing nothing.Damn.I had felt it. Touched it. But seeing it? That was different.I tried to look away, but I realised later on that it was practically impossible to ignore the handsome man in front of me.During most of our time together, I had kept myself from asking why he didn't have any tattoos like most of his peers. Even the werewolves at the pack close to the woods had something inked onto their skin.The moon. Eyes. Anything.Damien didn't.I attempted to get my fill of the way he looked fully naked and under the moonlight. All the muscles that are proportionally placed over his tall frame and slightly broad built.But t
Damien.The bond between us burned, not with the faint flickers I'd felt earlier but with a consuming, relentless fire.It roared in my chest, growing sharper with every breath I took, every frantic beat of my heart.I didn't get all chummy with Elliot most of the time. Not because I didn't want to... if I was opportuned, I would kiss, touch, and fuck him every single day... but because he was still coming to terms with the fact that he was attracted to a male.Elliot was trembling in my arms, his nails digging into my skin as if he was trying to anchor himself. Or maybe trying to hurt me.I couldn't tell, and honestly, I didn't care.All that mattered was him."Elliot, look at me," I whispered, cupping his face, my thumbs brushing against his cheeks. "You're safe. You're with me now. Just tell what happened, and I'll fix it."His brown eyes, darkened with lust, locked onto mine. His lips parted, but no words came out... just a shaky exhale that sent a pang of helplessness straight t
Damien.I often prided myself in my ability not to lose my control.That all burned to ashes when I met Elliot and discovered he was my mate.The house loomed in front of me, silent and dark. Too silent. Too dark.I shifted back into my human form just outside the front door, the transformation leaving my skin pricking with leftover adrenaline. If anyone saw me, that would be a case I would handle some other time.My breaths came in sharp bursts, clouding the cold night air, but my chest still felt tight.This was wrong.This quietness was unusual.The scream... no matter how far I had been from the house... it belonged to Elliot. I was sure of it.I didn't waste time.I slammed my shoulder into the door, forcing it open with a loud crack. The frame splintered, but I barely noticed."Elliot!" I shouted, my voice echoing through the empty hallways.Nothing.No footsteps. No shuffling. No hurried explanations from his parents or questions about why the house was so dark or why I had de
Damien.The warehouse was cold. Damp. The perfect place for drowning in my own thoughts.I sat on the edge of a rusted steel beam, staring out at the sliver of moonlight that pierced through a crack in the roof. The city hummed faintly in the distance... alive, vibrant, and completely unaware of the chaos simmering inside me.Why couldn't I remember?What had I done years back that was so devious I couldn't even remember?My survival instincts were working overtime at this moment. Run. Run. Leave New York behind. Disappear again.Elliot knew I would leave eventually. We both knew I was just here for the time being.Wasn't that why I delayed everything that had to do with completing our mating process?Yet, every time I tried to make that move, my mind betrayed me with flickers of a certain past I couldn't fully remember. Faces. Voices. Shadows that felt too real to ignore.It was all in my fucking head. "Mate. Mate. Mine." Elliot’s voice replayed in my head like a broken record. "Whe
Elliot.And people blamed me for disappearing for five years.What the heck had just happened?The night felt heavier after Damien left. His silhouette disappeared into the darkness, and with it, any sense of normalcy I thought we still had.Something was wrong... terribly wrong... and if he wouldn't tell me, I'd figure it out myself."Elliot, honey, what's going on? Is Damien alright?"I hesitated, not wanting to alarm her. “I don’t know, Mom. He just… needs some time to himself.”She wanted to say more. The way she moved around and her lips purse together. But thankfully, she kept them to herself and just motioned for me to come inside."You too. It's late, and you shouldn't be out in the cold."Yeah, she was right.I nodded but didn't move. "Mom, who was that man? Ryan?"Her brown eyes narrowed slightly, the worry on her face deepening. Once upon a time, my mom was the prettiest woman in the land, now the stress of old age, a child who disappeared for years, and work had worn her d
Damien."We need to talk."It was one thing for someone to barge into someone's house, neighbour or not. It was another thing for said person to come after a person eating dinner and minding their own business.The tension in the dining room was suffocating. The burly man, Ryan, stood close to the doorway, his shoulders blocking out the light. His eyes were still locked on mine, and I felt the weight of it as though it could crush me where I sat.Elliot’s family watched warily, their smiles vanishing. I would have given a million bucks to know what was going on in their mind."I said," Ryan repeated, his tone low and deliberate. "We need to talk, Damien."Elliot bristled beside me, his chair scraping the floor as he stood. "What the hell is going on? Who are you?" His voice was like sharpened knives. Ryan didn't spare him a glance. His focus was entirely on me, his lips curling into something between a smirk and a sneer. "You know who I am, kid."My stomach twisted.I didn't know thi