His grip tightened on my hand. He bit his lip, controlling himself from lashing out.
“I-” he pressed a finger to my lips.
“I’m not done honey,” he spoke out, removing his finger.
I nodded and looked at him, studying.
“The pack was deeply let down, but they never knew it was him until a few years later when I came out about it. He said a rogue attack killed her, threatening me to keep quiet about it. He was a mess, his bond was long gone, his wolf slowly leaving him from what he did to mom. Then I finally killed him when he announced I would get the Alpha title. My two other brothers, but they weren’t around that often, they also knew about what was happening. And I promised myself I would never treat my mate the way he did, and-” his body shook and he quickly closed his eyes.
Without thinking, instinctively, I leaned into him and wrapped my arms around his neck. I hugged into his body and he immediately reacted. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me into him, shoving his face in my mark.
“I’m so fucking sorry Flower. I never meant to hit you, I would never. I swear-” he cut himself off when his body shook again. I rubbed his back and my other hand went to his hair. “Violet, honey, my sweet Flower… I’m so ungodly, fucking sorry,” he pressed a kiss to my neck, near my mark.
I squeezed him into me, “D-Derek it’s okay,” I mumbled into his hair. I didn’t care about what I was saying, I just wanted to comfort him.
“No, it’s not. I promise I’ll never lay a violent hand on you ever again. I promise you Flower. I’ll make sure no one hurts you. I swear,” he kissed my neck between after every sentence and squeezed me into him, rubbing my back.
“It’s okay D-Derek,” I whispered because, truthfully, I had no clue what to say.
He sighed in my neck and pulled back, looking at me with his dark blue eyes. He started to lean back to lay on the bed with me. He was hesitating, in case I would freak on him and push away.
Once he was down with me, he tightened his hold on my waist and breathed out.
“Flower, Derek is my last name.” I was caught off guard at that. His last name is Derek? “My first name is Benlyam. It’s a combination of what my father and mom wanted. My father wanted Benjamin or something with Ben and my mother wanted something with Lyam, but not William. So they combined it. Benlyam Silas Derek.” he smirked down at me as I stared up at him with wide eyes.
Benlyam?
… That’s cute…
“It’s really not, but glad to know you think I’m cute,” he grinned and rubbed my sides, my face reddened.
“S-so, do you want me to c-call you that?” I asked.
“You can call me anything you want Flower,” he told me with a small smile and a playful gleam in his eyes.
I blushed and looked down, my head resting on his chest.
“My father called me Benny and my mom liked Lyam. My grandparents called me both. My brothers when they were younger called me Lee,” he told me while he brought one hand up to my hair, playing with it.
“A-are your brothers s-still with you?” I asked.
He paused, thinking. “Um, yeah? I mean, they’re alive, if that’s what you’re asking. But they don’t live in my pack anymore. They became Statal Alpha and Beta to Kansas. Not that far.”
“Oh,” I whispered. “Where a-are we?”
“South Dakota. Do you know where you were in Christopher’s pack?” he carefully asked when mentioning Chris.
I wasn’t dumb, but I had to think back on it. Chris only mentioned it a few times when he made me work in his office.
“Ohio?” I spoke but it came out a question.
He nodded.
“Thank you for putting the m-mirror in the bathroom,” I said.
I felt him kiss the top of my head. “You’re welcome Flower. It’s acrylic, so it won’t break,” he told me and I couldn’t help but feel guilty and I tensed up.
“I’m s-sorry,” I whispered.
“You’re fine Flower. I don’t want you hurting yourself, okay? Come see me or Reseda, Socorro, Garret, Hannah. Don’t block me out, Flower.” He pulled my face up so I looked at him. “Okay?”
I swallowed. “O-okay, I’ll try,” I whispered.
He smiled at me and gave me a small kiss.