Sherry’s POV:
“Leave us,” Damon ordered Maggie seriously.
“Yes, Alpha,” she answered, and then I heard the sound of a door shutting.
My arms were still wrapped around his neck, but the only difference was that my hands were wrapped in bandages.
Although the injuries were hurting, it wasn’t as much as my heart was. My mate had walked out on me and seemed to want to reject me. The fear I had experienced was similar to what I felt back in my pack. My body was slightly trembling, and sweat was forming on my forehead.
My cheeks were wet with tears that I couldn’t stop shedding, and my breathing was unstable. My chest was rising and falling, and my head was slightly hurting.
“Sherry,” he called, and I instantly tensed.
I was scared of hearing him speak because his tone was still full of anger.
“You know what I was thinking a few minutes ago? I was thinking of us settling things. So there is something I have to say for both of us,” he said as I violently shook my head.
“No, please, no. I’m begging you,” I cried as I dropped my hands from his shoulders and pressed them against his chest.
“Calm down,” he said loudly.
“No. I’m begging you, Alpha. Please don’t reject me. I didn’t mean to keep you in the dark about my past. I swear I’ll change. I’ll make it up to you. I’ll do anything,” I cried louder.
“Listen…”
“No,” I sobbed as I clenched his shirt in my hands and lowered my head.
“Don’t hurt yourself. Let go of my shirt,” he commanded.
Without stopping myself, I loosened my grip.
His command instantly affected me.
“I wanted to be your mate and your Luna. I wanted to be the mother of your unborn pups,” I said sadly, then sniffed.
“I wanted to be happy with you,” I whispered in a cracked voice.
His hand on the back of my neck made me look up.
I flinched when his other hand moved to my wet cheek, wiping off my tears.
“Calm down, will you? Because there is no way I’m rejecting you,” he said, and I immediately froze in shock.
“I won’t lie to you, Sherry. I am upset about everything, and I did ask the Moon Goddess why. But that doesn’t mean I have thought of rejecting you or kicking you out of our pack,” he said as I frowned in disbelief.
“Also, let go of my shirt completely before your hands begin to bleed,” he whispered softly as I slowly did.
“Are you telling the truth?” I asked in a small voice.
“Of course,” he answered simply.
“Promise me that you won’t reject me,” I said in a pleading tone.
“I promise on the Moon Goddess that I will never reject you,” he answered, then wrapped his arms around me and rested his head against my shoulder with a low sigh.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but I really do trust you. All that’s going through my mind is how damned I will be if I reject my growing feelings for you,” he said calmly, then groaned loudly, making me flinch.
“Sherry, I’m somehow scared of us being together because of my past experience. I don’t know much about you, yet my heart and wolf have already opened up to you. As an alpha, I want you to stand by my side as well as my pack, but as a man, I don’t know what to do. I want you to be the mother of my unborn pups, at the same time, I want to run away,” he said as tears rolled down my cheeks.
I understood him completely because I, too, was scared of a few things. Among those things, I was terrified of ending up alone without him by my side.
I shifted backward and moved my hands to touch his face when he held my wrists.
I swallowed hard and smiled softly, hoping he would see that.
His words not only gave me assurance that he was willing to still hold my hand, but they also made me happy. I wished I could kiss him to show him how much he meant to me.
“So from today onwards, I want you to always be honest with me. Slowly open your heart to me because I’ll accept you with all your flaws, as I hope you accept mine. Never fear me because no matter what, I can never hurt you. I am your mate,” he said softly.
I nodded as the smile vanished from my face.
“I am blind,” I whispered.
“I can see that…” he trailed off, then finished his sentence. “And I have a scarred face,” he whispered back.
“I know, but that doesn’t change anything because I need and want you, both body and soul,” I said, then held my breath when I felt his warm thumb brush against my lips.
“I want and need you too,” he said in a low tone, then moved his thumb from my lips and pressed his lips against mine gently as I kissed him back.
When he pulled back in a second and groaned in what sounded like frustration, I got concerned.
“You know, Maggie, you don’t have to ask me to let her rest when I was already planning to do so,” he said loudly for me to hear.
I shyly smiled when I heard the sound of the door being opened.
So that was the reason why he had pulled back so suddenly. I wondered.
“I didn’t clean up the shattered pieces of glass, so excuse me. You and the Luna can occupy the other master bedroom until I finish cleaning this room. You can come back in here tomorrow if that’s alright with you,” she said.
“Fine, fine,” he answered simply, then stood up with me as I quickly wrapped my arms around his shoulders with a wide smile.
“Hold on tight, we are going to the other room,” he said softly.
I quickly complied and rested my head against his chest with a low giggle.
As he walked, I could feel his rapid heartbeat, which made me relax and close my eyes.
Everything was so different with him. He displayed his feelings openly, and he cared for me deeply. Ian showed affection whenever he wanted, but his affection was that of a man with a sense of duty, not love. Whenever he was angry, he punished me by staying away from me until he wanted sexual release. I felt lonely and unloved, but my thirst for power was far greater than anything.
“Here we are,” he said when the sound of an opening door was heard.
The first thing I could pick up from the room was his scent and a strong scent of whisky that surprised me.
“Is there whisky in here?” I asked.
“Yes, but it has no strong scent,” he answered, then kept quiet.
When a few seconds went by, he spoke again.
“I don’t know how you can smell such a faint scent, but I’m glad that you have a sharp sense of smell,” he said, then sat down with me.
I too had no idea how I could pick up the scent so easily when a few weeks ago, I was struggling to pick out any scent.
“Do you want me to describe our room?” he asked as I smiled happily.
“No, I want you to describe to me how you look, excluding your scars because I felt them,” I answered, hoping he wasn’t going to be offended by my request.
“What can I say? I’m tall,” he said as I laughed softly.
“That’s a given,” I teased because I already knew that.
“I know you must have figured it out, but I didn’t want to leave that out,” he said proudly.
“I understand,” I whispered honestly.
“My build is… well, not bad,” he said as I moved my hand to his abs.
“You mean you are perfectly built,” I muttered as he laughed loudly.
“Not really. I’m just fairly built and well-trained,” he answered.
“What else?” I asked curiously.
“Mm, I have light brown eyes and dark, short hair,” he answered.
“And…” I trailed off for him to continue.
“I hate my strong jawline, but I do love my dimples. Believe it or not, whenever I smiled, women collapsed at my handsomeness,” he said as I playfully hit his chest then flinched at the pain I was experiencing.
“Easy. I was kidding with the last part,” he said softly, then chuckled.
“You are a bad boy,” I muttered under my breath, then pouted.
“Don’t do that,” he said as I frowned.
“Why?” I asked in a low tone.
“You look awfully cute,” he answered as I felt my cheeks heat up.
“Um… besides dimples, I have tattoos on my body that cover up the burn marks I had. I would have tattooed my face too, sadly I didn’t think it would change a thing,” he said bitterly.
I quickly rubbed my hand on his chest and decided to change the subject to take his mind off his scars.
“When you look at me, what do you see?” I asked softly.
“I see everything that I long for in a mate: beauty and brains,” he answered as I bit my lower lip.
He really had a way of making my heart flutter without trying much.
“I want to kiss you,” I said honestly as I waited for his response.
After a minute went by, I felt his hand on my cheek.
“I want that too,” he responded, then kissed my lips as I kissed him back. This time, his warm hands pulled me closer so we could both feel each other’s warmth.