But it wasn’t all me.
I turn back to Damian with a soft frown, recalling what I saw nearly a month ago when he shapeshifted into the mostmajestic creature I’ve ever laid eyes on, creamy fur soft and silky across the thick muscles of his wolf.
That was the moment that changed everything in my life, but in hindsight, it wasn’t as bad as I first thought it was. Everything just makes sense now, and I wouldn’t have been able to trust myself and step into my power so fiercely if it weren’t for Damian’s support.
I’d been wrong about him all this time, and as the moon, nearly full, hangs in the sky above his head, it casts a soft, silvery glow around his face, making him appear like the picture of quiet confidence and trust.
Trust.
I never thought I’d get here, where I can safely say that I trust—
“Are you okay? Want me to carry you over the bridge?”
“Carry me?” I scoff as I snap out of my head and follow Damian’s finger, pointed in the direction of the other werewolves shifting into their beast forms and staggering back home.
“Yes, in wolf—”
“No,” I cut him off bluntly. “We’re not doing that.” My voice tapers off into a faint whisper when I say, “Not yet.”
I’m not sure if Damian catches it, but I notice the smirk on his face as he hooks out his arm and allows me to brace my hand there, and we head north of the valley together.
A comfortable silence settles between us, and my heart smiles. I was wrong about this life. And I was wrong about who I was meant to be.
When we arrive at Damian’s cabin, the wolves greet us with gentle nods and brisk waves before they continue further into the valley, leaving the alpha and luna on the outskirts of the territory to—
Woah.
I catch myself with a frown, just as we step onto the porch and Damian pushes the door in. He steps aside to allow me in, and I can’t shake off the feeling that this feels too normal.
Is this what life will be like from now on?
Defeat the demons, and go back home as if we didn’t do something out of the ordinary…
Still, something feels like it’s missing, and it yanks on my heartstrings when Damian excuses himself to go shower, and I’m left to drag my feet back to my bedroom, where the log walls threaten to close in on me and swallow me whole.
There’s a part of me that wants to pick up where we left off in the mountains, but so much has happened since then, and it feels like there’s a mountain between us again.
There’s also a part of me that wants to close my eyes, just for a minute, and I do that as I listen to the shower running, imagining Damian undressing until he’s in nothing but creamy-white flesh that covers his thick muscles…
***
I wake with a start, my core throbbing as if I spent a passionate night with Damian, but my eyes open in my bedroom instead, where I’m very much alone and untouched.
Groaning as I lift myself to my elbows, I blink at the window, noticing dawn cracking through the curtains.
I must have fallen asleep last night, with the thought of Damian undressing in the shower. That’s why I dreamt about us having sex on the mountaintop…
I huff frustratedly, because that’s all it was—a dream in the midst of all the chaos that’s happening around us. That chaos still lingers like a dark cloud, evident when I enter the kitchen to find a note from Damian on the table.
“Breakfast is in the microwave. Gone to a meeting. See you at the clinic when I’m back.”
I smile softly, warmed because he was thoughtful enough to leave a note, even if there's a part of me that aches with a yearning I never thought would exist, a longing to have shared breakfast with the man who'd somehow slowly worked his way back into my heart.
Sighing from the heaviness of not seeing him first thing in the morning, I realize how much he's grown on me, creeping into the crevices of my heart where I'd tried to block him out.
But feeling like this was inevitable when he's my fated mate, our souls bound to an eternal contract that transcends the boundaries of the one we signed the day we got married. The way I felt that night is a stark contrast to the way I'm feeling right now, and where there was hatred before, there's a softness now that's reminiscent of what I felt for him before.
It's scary, but it's not as bad as I thought it would be while I clung to my hatred for him. Instead, the weight of hatred has lifted from my shoulders, and I feel lighter than ever.
