Elliot. What was wrong with me? I had been so relieved that Damien would stay with me. He made me laugh most times and helped out with the chores in the cabin without me asking him to. It was very easy to forget that he was a werewolf. But as I left the cabin the next morning, all I felt was the tension simmering in my chest, that strange pull between two different versions of myself. One that wanted Damien, that needed him in ways I hadn't dared acknowledge... and the other that didn't understand what the fuck was going on. Returning to work felt like some kind of temporary escape, even if the peace didn't last. Frank was officially a thorn in my flesh. He leaned against my desk with that look that meant trouble. "Morning, Elliot," He greeted, with a voice that was too casual. I couldn't help the eyeroll that followed. "Let me guess. You've got another wild theory?" Frank's grin widened. "You know me too well. But it's not just a theory this time." He leaned in. "I have pro
Elliot. Pain tore through my body, a searing fire that blurred my vision and threatened to pull me under. But through the haze, the thing watching me moved. Something fast. I caught a glimpse of Damien's wolf form darting toward the other creature, intercepting it before it could reach me again. Fuck. "Elliot, stay down!" Damien's voice echoed in my head, sharp with warning. But I wasn't about to just sit back and watch him risk his life alone. I forced myself to my feet, every muscle screaming in protest. The world swayed, but I knew when he ran into the clearing. Frank. It was over before it even started. The shock moved quickly to something colder. Anger. The disbelief on his face was almost laughable. It vanished in an instant, replaced by something colder. Darker. "Frank, wait." Too late. He raised a gun. "No..." My voice wasn't audible enough to break through the chaos that was the creature and Damien fighting, but Frank heard it. His eyes shot to me, narrowing
Elliot.The cabin was silent, save for Damien's ragged breaths echoing through the room. Just like the day I saved him, his blood painted my hands and smeared across my arms as I pressed cloth after cloth to his side.Anything to stop the blood rush. But it kept seeping through, staining everything a deeper shade of crimson."Stay still, okay?" I muttered, trying to keep the worry out of my voice.I wasn't fooling anyone.Damien managed a weak smirk. "You know, I think I look worse than I feel. You can stop fussing, alright?"Moron."Damien, shut up. I swear, if you don't stop talking, I'll knock you out myself." The words came out sharper than I intended, but I couldn't help it.He had been fine when we were coming out of the woods. Fine when he sat on the couch.Then he just started bleeding again, and now my hands were trembling, and it felt like I was trying to hold water in my palms instead of his life.He was a werewolf with unusually fast healing abilities. What was wrong now?
Elliot.I could see my breath under the night light, curling and dissipating as I leaned against the tree.The cabin lights were turned on, casting a faint glow from the distance.I'd stormed out of there the moment Damien was knocked out cold. I needed space, a place to gather my thoughts that didn't reek of bleach and housed a smirking Damien.A kiss. That was all it took to heal Damien.It shouldn't matter anymore. It was a lapse in judgement, an attempt to save Damien's life, nothing more.So why was my mund refusing to let it go, replaying that same moment over and over again in excruciating detail?Why could I still feel the warmth, the flush of adrenaline mixed with something unfamiliar in my chest.Even the last kiss I had five years ago hadn't felt like this.From Janice.I could see her blond curls flying in the wind, once a constant presence in my life, until that night...I hadn't felt like this in a long time. I hadn't felt like this ever.A shiver ran through me, and I
Damien.It was always one step forward with Elliot and two steps backwards.Ahhhhhh.The town was coming to life when I walked into it, the first days of sunlight chasing away the lingering darkness of the town.This wasn't my first time here.I hadn't liked the other times I came, but I needed to put as much distance as I could between myself and the cabin.... Elliot."I would never like someone like you. Not in a million years."I scoffed, kicking a stray can down the street."Stupid," I muttered to myself. "You're an idiot, Damien.""Are we really going to walk away?" My wolf’s voice crept into my thoughts, discontented and raw.The damn creature was always so loud, always so sure he knew what he wanted. He hadn't stopped growling since I'd stepped out, moving in my mind like some trapped beast."This is your fault," I snapped at him. "You're the one who made me come back, thinking someone like him could ever care about us."I felt my wolf snarling, fighting me, like he wanted to t
Elliot.The empty cabin felt colder without him here, which annoyed me because I had stayed alone for the last five years. I passed his open room door multiple times than I should have, just to star at the neatly folded blanket on the bed, half-expecting Damien to be under it, sprawled out, and asleepThere was nothing.I ran a hand through my hair, fighting the growing pit of unease in my stomach.Where had he gone?Memories from the last time we talked clung to me. The way he'd looked at me, as if I were something that mattered. Then I opened my mouth and said things I couldn't take back.Things I hadn't meant.And now, he was just... gone.I tried to shake it off, focusing on the article I was to send to Frank later, though the words on the screen blurred as I tapped aimlessly at the keyboard. The piece was for old Mr. Harding’s 70th birthday next week, an easy write-up that should’ve taken an hour at most, but u couldn't string two basic sentences together.My thoughts kept drif
Elliot.Damien didn't come back till nighttime.The door creaked open in my quiet cabin, and I knew immediately who it was.I didn't need to look up from my laptop screen to feel the tug towards him, to feel him filling the space. I heard him stop in the doorway, and I felt his eyes on me, watching in that way he did, as though he could see past everything I was trying to hide. I kept typing, ignoring the pounding of my heart, and the tug pulling me to look his way.“What?” I muttered, my fingers hovering over the keys.Damien cleared his throat, and I could feel his hesitation, which only made me angrier. “You left pretty quickly back there,” he said finally.I scoffed, rolling my eyes. "It was only appropriate. You were... occupied."Even without looking back I could tell his jaw was clenched. "She was just an acquaintance."“Sure,” I replied, feigning indifference as I closed my laptop and stood up, unable to stay seated any longer. “None of my business anyway. You don’t have to
Elliot.The world could have collapsed around us, and I wouldn't have noticed.That was how immersed in Damien I was.His lips were warm and unrelenting against mine, his hands tangled in my hair as if he were attaching himself permanently to me, refusing to let go.My body reacted the very same way, pressing against him, craving the heat of his touch and letting go.I couldn't remember the last time I'd felt this... alive, like every nerve in my body was suddenly switched on, responding only to him.For the first time in a long time, I felt free.From overthinking, from fear, from the questions that seemed to eat at me.Right now, all I wanted was him.And he wanted me."Damien..." I murmured, whispered as his mouth left a burning trail down my neck. My fingers tugged at his hair, pulling him closer, because I needed to feel every inch of him against me.He was something solid I could hold onto.Could he even know how much this meant to me?"Don't stop."A low chuckle escaped his lip
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