Delicate

Chapter 24

Perhaps you'd feel better with a run - I try once more, knowing he always felt happier when he was on all fours. Being a wolf was probably the best gift I could offer Damon, and I was forever grateful to Goddess that I could give that to him.

Silence follows.

It worried me immensely that Damon wasn't responding, knowing that both emotional and physical pain that stemmed from great sources of pain could send a wolf spiraling into a deep abyss. Damon was barely hanging on before William, the loss of him was too much but I needed him to see it wasn't completely the end.

William hadn't rejected us, not entirely. He'd asked for time and space, he'd said that he needed time. I didn't like it, I hated it and hated that he'd even suggest such a thing, but I understood it. From what I'd observed of William, he didn't seem to open up to many people and seemed to trust even fewer, yet with Damon, he'd stepped out from his fortress and ran to Damon without precaution. 

I believe when his brain finally caught up to his heart, it scared him. The day we let him go on his own, probably only furthering and solidifying his already developing qualms. He was human, after all, he didn't know I existed, didn't know what we truly were, couldn't appreciate his feelings because he couldn't possibly recognize the mate bond.

It was just fucked on all sides.

I try to distract myself from the loneliness and worries by cleaning up the apartment, it didn't matter that I cleaned yesterday, things got dirty overnight. I wiped the spotless countertops and swept the dustless floor, scrubbed the shining bathtub and rearranged the soaps on three separate occasions. 

Hearing the elevator ding, I scrambled from the bathroom to try to talk to William, but by the time I'd managed to open my door, his was already shutting against me. Damon's light only flickered away at the avoidance, leaving me further in his swirling darkness.

I release a shaky breath as all the hope seeps from my veins, I shut the door once more and make my way to the bed, slumping into it as my own frustrations rose to the surface. 

I hadn't laid eyes on William, not properly since I'd taken over. He'd avoided us at all turns and made it clear that when he said space, he meant it. I'd passed by his place of work on multiple occasions, hoping to see him, but I'd only caught a few glimpses before his boss would come out and chase me away with a broom.

I'd stopped going after that.

Anger threatened to spill its way over me as the worst parts of me casted the blame for all of this onto Damon. After all, it was he who'd hurt William wasn't it, it was he who let go of his hand when he knew just how important and valuable that connection to him was it. It was because of him that my mate hated me before he even knew who I was.

I cast those haunting thoughts away, setting them to flames immediately before they could fester any further and create a drift between us. I needed Damon and he needed me, I wouldn't dream of letting our relationship crumble and leave us both more damaged than we knew what to do with.

I loved Damon and I wouldn't let him down.

---

I think enough time has passed that attempting a conversation will be better received now - I say to Damon a few days later, receiving only a small hum as a form of an acknowledgment as a response. 

He'd crawled slowly from his hiding place, slowly coming further out to see what he'd left behind in his need to lick his wounds. Now he was humming, which was more than I could ask for and I made sure to try to engage him in as much conversation as I possibly could. It worked because now I could feel him practically looking over my shoulder as I cooked dinner.