Damien POV
Aelia hadn't spoken, nor moved for the past ten minutes, she moved only to look away from me.
I had failed her as a mate, I know it and so did my family the moment they saw just how pure, kind and amazing she was, even if they didn't say it, I could hear some of their thoughts through our bond.
When Aelia turned eighteen two months ago, it took everything in me to not lose myself to the pull that was dragging me back to the hometown I grew up in, the closer I got to the town, the easier it was to find her.
It wasn't hard, she looked the same as she did when she was eleven years old, the first time I saw her, only now she had blossomed into a fiery, funny and beautiful women.
I had watched her for weeks until I worked up the courage to talk to her, an opportunity fell onto my lap, and I took it without a second thought, it got me close to her, it was a blessing and a curse to be around her, and not tell her who I was.
I was so fucking selfish.
She didn't deserve me as her mate, I had left her on the grass that night, her lungs filled with smoke and the house of her foster parents up in smoke, I didn't know until I overheard the firemen talking about how she was locked in there, by her foster parents.
It was too late to get to her once I learned that they had already found her and I had shifted into my wolf form to get to her in time with people a few steps outside the building.
That night I felt something sickening in the pit of my stomach, I was out with my friends doing what any guy at 26 would be doing, it was a weekend and I wanted to let off some steam from work with some friends, there were girls and I gave in that night and slept with someone for the first time.
It was one of my biggest regrets, until I could feel the mate call telling me to 'save her', I had never been so scared the moment I could feel this young, eleven-year-old girls fear, as the smoke filled her lungs, unable to escape.
I had got to her just in time, I wasn't sure if she saw the real me and once I left the scene, I tried not to think about it, she was a child, not even old enough to feel the pull, and I felt sickened that she was so young, and I was already a man.
The mate bond came too early because she called out to me, it never should have happened so early.
"Aelia, please say something." I begged her, I could feel what she felt in jumps.
We had slept together but without marking her, I couldn't know what she was thinking, or feeling right now, but the look on her face was painful to my very soul.
She didn't feel safe with me anymore, and it was the worst possible feeling for any wolf, to let your mate down.
I had failed her as a child, I had lied to her, and now I am scaring her.
"Aelia-"
"I... want to go home." She said so quietly that I almost didn't hear what she said.
Home? "I can take yo-"
"N-Not you." She said, her voice shaky as I saw the fear in her eyes, unable to look at me.
I expected this, I knew it would come, but I didn't think it would hurt this much.
I was already a grown man at 33 and a strong wolf, I had fucked up so many things in my life, made so many mistakes, but this... this I didn't want to fuck up, if anything, I would take my very life to ensure she was protected, even if she hated me.
She needed time, that was all, she'll come around, I was sure of it.
She felt the pull.
I nodded my head and backed away from her as I linked my dad.
'Aelia wants to leave, can you take her home?' I asked, the very words feeling like poison, knowing that she didn't want me to take her, or anywhere near her right now.
'Of-course, is there anything else you want us to do?' He asked.
'No.' I simply said and cut the connection.
I waited for my dad to come upstairs, I knew that everyone had left the moment I made them aware Aelia was going into heat, it was safest for unmated males to go first, which is why my friends couldn't be here, same as my brothers.
This morning had been almost like a dream, things were great, she was happy, I was sure she was falling for me just as I fell for her, but looking at her now, I can see she wants nothing to do with me.
"If..." Her soft voice whispers out, her eyes staring at her hands. "If what you said is true... are you only with me because of the... mate thing?"
Her words crushed me, and now I see just why she hasn't talked to me in the past ten minutes until now, she thought I only wanted her because of the pull.
"No." I said honestly, coming to stand next to the bed, hoping she would look at me. "I wouldn't lie to you about this, Aelia."
"I fell for you because I got to know you, not because of what I am."
Aelia started crying and there was nothing I could do but watch as she fell apart in front of me, probably not believing a word I said, if I was her, I would struggle to believe me also, it didn't hurt any less though.
"I-It was you, wasn't it?" She whispered out, her long blonde hair hiding her face.
"Seven years ago..."
So, I was wrong, she did see me, and everything I thought I knew up until now had been all for nothing, like thinking what I did was the best thing for her.
"Do you know h-how many medications t-they put me on?" She sobbed out quietly as I swallowed the lump in my throat.
"B-Because of you, e-everyone thought I-I was crazy."
I wanted to wrap my arms around her and tell her how much I was sorry, and beg for her to forgive me, to not go, to stay with me so we could talk about this properly, so I could explain myself.
Yet I knew whatever I said would be useless, I had to let her go, I couldn't keep her here, I refused to sink that low and keep her against her will.
I was wrong to think leaving her was the best thing for her, in reality I was selfish, and didn't deserve her.
But she was so young, I didn't think how it would effect her, I only thought of myself, and how disgusted I felt at the time.
All my friends found their mates at the right age, but not one of them experienced what I did.
A knock at the door tells me that my dad is ready to take her home, I could do nothing but open the door and try not to completely lose my mind to my wolf, who was feeling what I was feeling.
"Come on dear, let's get you home." My dad said softly to her, as he helped her off the bed, her body still feeling the effects of the heat.
'She'll be fine once she gets home, I'll make sure of it, son.' My dad said trying to reassure me through the link, but I couldn't believe him, I wanted to be there for her, not my dad.
I followed behind them, my eyes never leaving the back of her head as my dad carries her down the stairs and helps her outside and into my mom's car, while all I did was watch.
Aelia wouldn't look at me, even as I shut the car door, she never raised her head as her hair covered her face, I knew she felt betrayed and lied to, and she was right to think so.
It hurt, it hurt so much that I had wished I had died just to avoid this pain of watching her slipping away from me right in front of my own eyes.
My hands were shaking, and I felt like crying, for the first time in my life, I wanted to cry because the thought of never seeing her again broke something inside of me that only she could heal, but I couldn't think about that.
I had to make her trust me again.
I had to prove my feelings were real, and not just the bond we shared pushing us together for the sake of some damn happy afterlife.
I watched my dad turn around the car and drive off slowly down the dirt road to the farmhouse, while all I could do was fall apart and sink to my knees and grip my head with my hands to stop myself from going after them.
I was in love with her, and I didn't get the chance to tell her, but I wasn't going to just give up what we had, because it was real, it wasn't just the bond, what we felt was someone only my kind dreamed of.
True love, and that's just how much Aelia meant to me.
"Damien..." I heard my mom behind me, as she put her hand on my shoulder to comfort me.
"She'll come around, I'm sure of it, she just needs to have a moment to herself, it's a lot to take in, son."
I hoped she was right, because if she wasn't, I was sure to fall apart if Aelia didn't want me anymore, and I don't think I'd ever recover from that loss.
That wasn't going to happen, I had to be patient, and give her space.
Just a little time... is what I told myself, as my heart clenched painfully in my chest, the faint scent of her lingering in the air, calming me and my wolf.