After dinner I notice I have more movement, and can walk without help. My muscles were sore, but I didn’t need any help to shower or walk up the stairs, and I was feeling more like myself as the hours ticked by. When everyone went to bed, though. I couldn’t sleep, instead walking over to the park and sitting on the swings.
Tonight was a full moon, and I felt invigorated sitting under the stars and moon, feeling the moonlight on my skin. The breeze softly caressed my skin.
I was on the swings for about ten minutes when I heard a noise. Looking up, I see Damien walking out of the pack house. He only had a pair of boxer shorts on, his beautifully sculpted body glistening under the moon. Seeing him walking down the long driveway, I go to get up and run for Tabitha’s when he speaks, his voice catching in the breeze washing over me, and I can’t help the longing I feel as I see him get nearer.
“Please don’t leave” He says and I stop but remain wary as he approaches. He holds his hands up.
“I have nothing I promise and I have no pockets” He says pulling on his boxer shorts. I let out a breath and sat back on the swing. Damien sits on the swing next to mine. Neither of us say anything. Just sit in silence. When I can’t handle the quiet anymore, I look to Damien.
“Where is my father?” I ask, knowing his funeral would have already been.
“Aria had his body transported back, and he was laid to rest alongside your mother” He says. I hold back my tears and swallow the lump in my throat, nodding my head.
“I’m sorry” Damien says before reaching his hand out to me. I look at it but turn my face away and he drops his hand.
“I know what I did was wrong, I know that now, please come home” He says and I can hear the desperation in his voice.
“Of all the things you did, do you know what hurt the most?” Damien looks at me and shakes his head.
“You called me unhinged, I hate that word. I have heard it from so many people and yet coming from you, the one person I didn’t think I would hear say it. Hurt the most” I feel his guilt seep into me.
I see Damien get off the swing. “I know you hate me, and I know I should never have listened to my mother. I should have listened to Ryker. Should have known the moment I saw her. She was up to no good. But she is my mother and I” He doesn’t finish, just shakes his head.
“I’m sorry Lily, if it makes you feel any better I have spent all afternoon, removing the door and all the padding from the room. I will even let you do what you want with it,” He says, wrapping his hand around mine, which is holding the chain of the swing.
“Can I ask you a question?” I ask, looking at the house. He nods before sitting on the ground between my legs and resting his head on my thigh. I brush his hair with my fingers and I feel him shiver from my touch.
“Why do you live there?”
“What do you mean?” He asks, confused.
“I mean, after everything your parents put you through, why didn’t you tear it down?”
“It’s not the house’s fault, besides I have remodelled it, although the layout is still the same. Honestly, I don’t know why” He says, looking up at me and I trace my finger over his nose. Damien grabs my wrist before pressing it to his lips and running his nose over the inside of it inhaling my scent.
“Can I ask another?” I feel him nod before he looks up at me. “What did your mother do, Tabitha said she was worse than your father”
He shakes his head.
” In some ways, she was. She never hurt me like he did. But I can understand why Tabitha would say that”
“You’re not going to tell me, are you?” He shakes his head and I sigh. Damien gets up and extends his hand to me, I look back at Tabitha’s house.
“I promise Lily, I won’t lock you up again,”
“Darian won’t let him Lily, you can trust him besides I have enough strength to shift, I can kick his ass if needed now” Layla tells me. I hesitantly grab his hand and let him pull me up. I hear him sigh before pulling me against his side, wrapping his arm around my shoulder as we walk back home.
Lily POV
Stepping inside, my heart rate hammers in my chest. Damien’s eyes darted to me as he looked down at me. Looking toward the stairs, I can see piles and piles of the padding all tied together at the foot of the stairs. Damien squeezes my hand softly, tugging me toward the stairs but I shake my head not wanting to be trapped up there again.
“If I remove the bedroom door, will you come up?” He asks and I nod, still unsure. Damien walks off, going to the cupboard under the stairs before retrieving something and walking up the stairs. Waiting I can hear the noise of a drill and I hear him moving something before he appears at the top of the stairs. I watch as he walks down the steps before he reaches his hand out to me.
I hesitantly place my hand in his and let him tug me up the stairs. Once on the landing, I looked to my prison and the door was gone.
“You can look in it if you want, it looks very different now” He says and I look at him before following him into the room. He was right, it looked vastly different. It had massive bay windows which must have been boarded up.
I could see where he plastered the tiny holes from whatever was used to hold the padding to the walls. I was also shocked to find another door. Moving toward it, I open it and find a small room. Only big enough to fit maybe a single bed if you were lucky.
“That used to be my room,” He says, making me look at him. It didn’t even have a light, it was that small. And wasn’t much bigger than the storage cupboard under the stairs. Our walk-in was bigger than this small room. Closing the door. I step back, Damien watching me from the doorway. The room was pretty big without all the padding, and with the door gone the entryway was huge.
“This was originally my father’s office” He says looking out the windows, a troubled expression on his face. I nod before walking over to him.
“Why do you stay here?”
“Because as much as I hate it, it’s still my home” He says, tugging me against his chest and wrapping his arms around me. I lean against him.
“You can help me paint it tomorrow? You can pick the paint” He asks.
“What, there is more than one shade of white?” I ask, the entire place was white.
“Well yeah, actually there is, but you can pick something different if you want?” And I can feel the unease move through him at the thought.
“You have some serious OCD problems,” I tell him.
“I don’t have OCD” He deadpans.
“Yeah, you do and I could hear your heart rate spike at the thought of the walls not being white” His heartbeat skipping a beat and I raise an eyebrow at him proving my point.
“Fine, paint it white. But I want that wall,” I tell him, pointing to the main wall that had no windows or doors attached to it.
“Why?” He asks, confused.
“Perfect canvas” I tell him, and I feel his unease, but he nods his head anyway.
“You like to paint?” He asks and I can feel his curiosity.
“I used to”
“As much as it pains me, you can have the wall then. Come, we should go to bed” He says, squeezing my hips. We walk into the room and I flop down on the bed, enjoying his scent that the room is filled with. Damien lays next to me, tugging me against him before pulling the blanket over us and I relax against him. Layla purring in my head at his closeness. Exhaustion taking over as I drift off to sleep.