Where He Belongs

~Five~

A/N: It's laaatttteee! And SHORT!! No! I'm sorry. So terribly sorry! To be honest, I started some new stories and I was all excited about them (I'd love it if you read them. They aren't werewolves but they are manxman so...if you're interested, there they are) that I sort of dropped everything else. But I'm back on schedule after this. Promise. Uhm thank you so much for the votes and the reads. It's amazing to see someone likes what I write. It's also really encouraging. So, thank you again.

Secondly, I've started Chapter Six and it's going to be a long chapter, I pinkie-promise. So forgive me for these mini ones I've thrown at you lately. They will get better.

Peace Out, Girl Scouts

~Kate~

I pulled my knees up against the chest as the knock on the door came.

"Go away." My voice was soft, as usual these days, but I knew the wolf on the other side of the door heard me.

It was probably Liam. He came by everyday it seemed, trying to talk to me. I know, poor me right? But I was afraid of what he had to say. Would be, 'I'm sorry but this won't work out anymore' or worst would he mate with me merel your of pity? Salty tears slid down my cheeks as I stared at the bland wooden all. It was safe in here. No one came in except my mother when she left bowls of broth or bits to eat. I rarely touched them, letting them grow cold where she left them until she came to collect them. She'd always sigh, stroke my hair and tell me I needed to eat.

How could I when I wasn't hungry? I just felt numb inside. Like I'd lost all will to live.

I never wanted to leave this bed. I'd spent the rest of miserable life here. It seemed far more preferable compared to the kind of treatment I could expect to receive once I left. The looks, the pity...it was sickening. Plus I had expected my father to want to lock me away here. The outside world was dangerous; he'd gotten his point across. That was a good thing right? I knew that the world was a terrifying, scary place, full of people who would hurt you just to hurt you. Like the wolf in the woods. I started to shiver as I thought about the pain that shot up my spine with each movement. And worse, the act that'd caused it.

The knock came again, a bit more insistent. "No." My voice rose a bit higher.

Had I said that? Had I actually said 'no' to the monster? It didn't matter. It was all my fault anyway. I'd disobeyed rules out in place to protect me. It was only right that I got hurt as a result. 'Action, reaction' as the saying went. The door opened, squealing softly on its hinges as it did so. I hunched up, pulling the quilt under my chin. I wanted to be left alone. "Hon?"

My eyes snapped shut. No. Not Liam. "Go away." My voice wavered as tears threatened to spill from my eyes. "Please just go away."

"I can't." His voice was thick with emotion. Unusual for my tough future mate. But I couldn't handle it. "Honey. Please. I can't stand to see you like this. Closing yourself off from the world. Just...just don't shut down on me, okay? I love you. I will always love you."

"You can't." My tears spilled over, burying my face into the pillow. "I'm ruined. I'm dirty."

He hand ran over my blonde hair making me feel worse. Him just touching me felt wrong. "You're perfect." I felt his lips on my temple, making me want to push him away and let him hold me all at once.

So I just sobbed. I felt him sliding into bed behind me, holding me against his solid chest. He smell was so familiar I couldn't find it in myself to push him away. So I didn't. I just let it happen. I leaned back against him, sobbing freely.

"DO YOU feel better, darling?"

I'd stopped crying about an hour ago and had laid in silence. Liam was tucked up against me, playing with my hair softly. It felt too good to ask him to stop. "I don't know." My usually soft voice was rusty after my meltdown.

Another kiss was pressed against my temple. "Take all the time in world. I won't leave you."

I took comfort in those words and yet it made me feel worse. He cared so much about me and I'd done something so stupid as getting myself hurt so seriously. His fingers trailed down to the slowly healing claw marks on my side, playing over the marks softly. "Can I...see them?"

I wanted to say no. To avoid that unneeded shame but I figured I'd hid from him enough. "If you want," I replied in a quiet tone. "They're ugly."

He carefully pulled the hem of t-shirt up, inhaling sharply as the crude marks were exposed to his eyes. Tears stung my eyes. I felt so dirty, so ugly with his eyes on them. I reached over, pulling down my shirt. "You're still beautiful to me."

His words were sweet but... I swallowed hard. "You're just saying that."

"If you think that you are anything but perfection in my eyes, you are wrong. Do you understand me, Colton? You're my beautiful, perfect future-mate."

I rolled over, daring to look into his eyes. "Are you sure? You promise you're not just doing this out of guilt?"

His mouth captured mine in a sweet though somewhat powerful kiss. "I've never been more sure of anything in my life, my sweet mate. Two years your beautiful neck with bear my mark and we will be one officially. Until then I will protect you from anything and everything. I'd sooner die than allow any harm fall upon you."

His words were cold and protective. A fire burned in his eyes I'd never seen before. I found myself unable to doubt his love for me, which brought the first tears of joy since 'it' happened to my eyes. "Thank you," I choked out, pressing my cheek against his chest, allowing his arms to wrap around me, cradling me against his protective warmth.

For the first time since, I felt happy.

-unedited-

Next Update (for real, I promise): Tuesday (3/24/15)