I wriggle out of his vice-like hold, forcing him to set me back onto my feet.
“I didn’t ask you to save me.” I smooth down my hair and tug down Cole’s T-shirt that I fell asleep in.
“So you’d rather I let you fall and smash your head on the ground?” He arches one eyebrow, eyeing my bare legs before tearing his eyes back to my face. “Noted.”
“You can be a real ass, you know.” I straighten my spine. “Is it just me you have a problem with, or were you born this way?”
“Life made me this way.” He laughs bitterly. “Not everyone grew up with a perfect family, but I wouldn’t expect a pampered omega like you to understand that.”
“Pampered? You know nothing about me, Damon.” I can’t hold back my anger any longer. I’ve tried being nice, but my hormones are in overdrive right now, and this alpha is getting on my last nerve. “I worked hard to get to SVU, spending every spare hour I wasn’t working in the teashop studying. I love Gram more than anything, but growing up without knowing my parents wasn’t easy.”
“I-I didn’t know.”
“Because you didn’t ask.” I jab my finger into his rock-hard chest. “Because you haven’t made an effort to get to know me. Because you haven’t even tried!”
“I’m not like the other Silverwood alphas, Faye.” He grips his forehead. “I’m damaged. Broken. I grew up with a father who spoke with his fists instead of words and a mom who left me to chase a pack. You’re better off without me in your life.”
“Can’t I be the judge of that?” I inch closer to him. “If you’re not careful, you’ll push away everyone you care about.”
“I’m doing this for you and for them.” He shakes his head, his thick, onyx locks feathering over his chiseled face. “Contrary to what you believe, I’m trying to protect you.”
“Protect me?” I scoff. “I never asked for your protection! I want to know you, Damon.”
“I’ll just hurt you, Faye.” He looks down at his hands, but not before I glimpse the maelstrom of emotion swirling in his irises. “I’m not a good alpha.”
My curiosity heightens, wondering what’s happened in his past to make him believe it.
“Doesn’t trying to protect people make you good?” I stand my ground, unflinching. “And I’m not afraid of you.”
“You should be.” His lips press into a firm line. “The others haven’t told you about my past, have they?”
His question takes me by surprise, as does the flash of sadness in his eyes.
“They mentioned you had a tough childhood.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about.” His sadness gives way to another emotion that I can’t read. Regret, maybe? “Did they tell you about my criminal past?”
“Criminal?” I frown. Why does something he did when he was younger matter now? I know he had a tough childhood and figured that he might have had to steal to get by, but I can’t imagine him doing anything serious. “I’m sure whatever you did, you learned from it. I mean, you’re studying criminal justice.”
“Of course, they didn’t tell you.” His nostrils flex with his loud inhale. “If you knew, you wouldn’t be here.” His expression is blank, his tone flat, zapping all the warmth in the air. “I got arrested for attacking an omega.”
“What?” I step back. I don’t understand. This doesn’t make sense. Why hasn’t anyone mentioned this before? “But you didn’t do it, right? It was a wrongful conviction?”
“My conviction was overturned, but I did it. I attacked an omega because I couldn’t control myself.” He hangs his head. “After that, I promised I would never put myself in a position where I could hurt anyone else.”
My bottom lip quivers, unable to stifle the fear squeezingmy chest like a vice. “What happened to her?”
“She was hospitalized for over a month and lost sight in one eye.” It’s scary, how matter-of-factly he answers. “It was my fault.”
“There must be more to the story,” I say, searching for a logical explanation. “I can’t believe you’d hurt someone on purpose.”
“You look for the best in people, but you won’t find it in me.” Damon’s voice is cold and so devoid of emotion that it makes the hairs on my arms stand on end. “I’m a monster, through and through. Just like my dad and his father before him. I’m rotten to the core. It’s in my blood.”
Vomit rises in my throat.
“I wouldn’t expect someone like you to understand,” Damon continues. “You’re too delicate and too easily broken. I saw your reaction the night we met. How terrified you were of those football players. If you stick around, I’ll only hurt you too. You should leave while you still have the chance.”
My head spins. Learning this changes everything. While I don’t know the full circumstances behind Damon’s actions, it doesn’t change the fact that I could never join a pack with an alpha who hurt an omega, especially after what happened to my parents. Why didn’t anyone tell me? Their deception feels like a sucker punch to the gut. Even sweet Ren lied. He must’ve known I wouldn’t have even gone on a date with him if he’d been honest with me about Damon’s past. They told me that Damon was a grump, but I still thought he was a good guy.
