DAMON

When I first saw Paige, I knew exactly who she was. There were few humans brave enough to venture that deep into the wilderness that they would stumble across my pack. There were even fewer humans who knew exactly how to find us. The hunters were out there, we had all heard the stories. We knew that the most deadly of them all lived close enough to us that merely a day's hike would land you in the heart of his territory. Our families monitored them from afar, unable to do anything for fear of risking our members. Maybe it was cowardice that kept us at bay from attacking them. We knew what they did to other packs.

And so I shouldn't have been surprised when Samuel Baylor's daughter was toeing our line. It was all anyone could talk about. She stirred panic and confusion in the pack, raising questions of how much longer we had until we were at the top of his hit list.

As the Beta, I knew I had to take care of the problem. I was the protector of the pack, everything about me was wired to do so, down to my blood. So I planned to kill her. I didn't want to, but I knew I had to. To protect my pack.

I consulted my father about it for weeks, voicing my displeasure and discomfort at killing a female who had done nothing but observe us. He agreed with me, it was truly a misfortune that she had been born to such a man as her father. My mother was sympathetic as well, but we all knew how lethal Samuel's family was. We all agreed that the threat had to be taken out before they could take out us. It didn't change the fact that I avoided tracking her down for equally as long. The guilt rose and fell in waves, begging me to fulfill my job as the newly employed Beta, discouraging me as a decent being that wasn't all wolf.

But when I saw her, my resolve dissolved in an instant. In that moment, there was no longer an option to kill her. I knew exactly who she was to me. Her scent was carried to me on the wind, sweet and subtle. I drank it in from my hiding place in the copse of evergreens. Everything about her was alluring. It took all of my self control to retreat. I ran for days, unable to shift into my skin, trying to sort out the dilemma I had been served.

When I finally shifted back, I went to the Alphas. They were my best friends, they had to know what to do. Faith was optimistic, Cody was less so. But the two of them understood the power of mates, they knew exactly what would have to happen.

So I met her at the territory line every time I could, and we grew closer. As close as two distinct species could with one sided understanding.

She seemed somewhat happy, healthy, taken care of. But she was a stoic and a liar. She never let anyone see through the thick and unbreakable mask she had mastered. No one would ever know how truly broken she was inside.

When the bear attacked her and she shifted, it was like the final straw for her. Nothing was the same. Everything had been stripped from her life, humanity included, and I was a part of it. It was painful, to watch and to endure. Paige didn't know how to cut her own path, she didn't know what choice was really good for her versus what choice would save her from her father's wrath.

I didn't see it sooner and I wish I would have. Maybe some of the pain and heartbreak could have been avoided. The vision of her standing over me with a dagger raised high into the air stuck with me for a long time, haunting me.

But when our lips collided, I knew that something good had ultimately come from all the bad and pain of the last few months since the attack. I had her. That was all that mattered. It was like a window had opened into the very core of her. She was different, real even. As if all the moments of her that had come before were just the mask she had tried so desperately to uphold. This was the real her, right in my arms. The female who had been hiding, smothered by her parents, bad finally surfaced.

Paige's fingers twined in my hair, gently guiding my mouth to press more firmly against her's. The flesh of her mouth was warm and wet and inviting. A rumble of a groan sounded from deep in my chest, pleased and hungry. I parted her lips and she eagerly invited me deeper, our tongues intermingling, teeth catching lips... I knotted my own fingers in her hair, drawing her head back to extend her neck ever so slightly.

"You don't know how badly I have waited for these moments, mate." I growled, letting my lips taste down her jaw to the delicate flesh of her neck. She tasted sweet and spicy, like cinnamon and sugar. "Just for something to feel right. Does this feel right to you?"

She didn't hesitate when she said, "Nothing feels more right than this." It was a breathless remark, her nails dug into my biceps, stabilizing her. Again, I was struck by the sense that she had opened all of her doors to me. She didn't guard herself off. Since the knife, she had told her explicit truth and the truth only. It was as if she had let go of everything once the knife slit her throat. Of course, we still had more to discuss. She wasn't better in that moment, she was far from it. But she had confirmed that I would never commit one of her worst fears. And that was leaving her, just like everyone else had.

One of my arms drew her closer as it snaked around her back. She gasped softly into my ear as our bodies pressed together and electric heat spread through every cell until we were humming with the energy of our nurtured bond. It was beginning to heal, slowly, but the promise showed in those moments. I crashed my lips to hers once again. In our kiss I could taste the feverish anger, the wasted time, the love, the lust, and the regrets. I didn't care about her past, it was out, and there was nothing we could do but grow from it. Some of the other aspects could be addressed later. But in that moment, it was just the two of us, and it felt like we hadn't touched in a very long time.

"I want you," she whispered into my mouth. "Do you still want me?"

"I don't want anything else, mate." I growled, capturing her lips again. She pushed me back. For a moment I was taken aback, breaking away from her and meeting her eyes to see what was wrong. But she only smirked, albeit devilishly. The wolf was alive in her two different colored eyes, she looked balanced. Paige growled, almost playfully and pushed me again, this time with more direction towards the bedroom. Her hands didn't leave my chest, guiding me back.

"I was hoping you would drag me in there," she admitted with a smoky tone.

"I am not that much of a wild animal." I responded, letting her back me onto the bed.

"What if I want you to be?"

I felt one of my eyebrows subconsciously lift. But something about the nakedness of the comment threw me off. Suddenly, our partnership felt new and foreign. It was comfortable though, like we had been strangers before and suddenly decided to fuck. But then I smelled the air and her scent was the same, her eyes were alive, and she was looking at me like she was ready to devour me. I realized it was just new, we were the same bodies, but we had grown and fallen in the last few months. We were living in the fallout, just trying to navigate the new relationship we had started.

Standing up, I took hold of her shoulders and then slid my arms down to her hands.

"What?" She asked breathlessly, noting my pause.

Gently, I shook my head. "We have a lot to talk about still." I held her chin and looked into her eyes.

"I'm sorry."

"What for?" I asked curiously.

"I feel like I am pushing." Paige's voice was soft and remorseful.

"You aren't. I don't want anything more than to do what we were about to. But with everything that happened today, I feel raw. Everything is different now, Paige. I know you feel it too, it is just hard to get used to." I smiled softly at her. "I am happy though, this feels like the most natural thing in the world and its catching me off guard after... Everything else."

"I know." She looked down at her socked feet, lower lip trembling slightly. I knew she felt the weight of the day. Some part of me was nervous to move forward with her again. It struck me that if this was another lie or turned out to be fake, I didn't think I could handle it. But I chided myself for even thinking that. I would know if she ever lied again. I would know if she didn't love me.

I sat down on the edge of the bed once again and drew her forward to straddle my lap. She was nearly eye to eye with me in this position, only a little taller.

She dipped her head slightly and pressed her mouth to mine once again. I wanted to sigh with the warmth it brought me. There was nothing better than that feeling of her touching me. My hands went to her hips without thinking, gripping them tight. Her tongue entered my mouth and I wanted to groan with her taste coating my own. I don't know if she moved first or if it was my own hands guiding her but slowly she began to grind into me. This time I groaned out loud. Paige increased the tempo of her hips as they rolled forward. My hands were firm on her hips, encouraging the movement that was driving me wild.

But then she stopped her movement and rested her forehead against mine. "We will start over," she whispered into the narrow space between our faces. "I will make it up to you."

I nodded, closing my eyes to relish in the feeling of our closeness.

"I want to treat you as good as you have treated me. The bar is high." We both laughed softly.

There was a moment of silence before I spoke up, "I feel like you're different... Something has changed inside of you."

She took a deep, shuddering breath and moved off of me to lay down on the bed. I took my cue and laid down beside her. "I've been holding on to all of this anger and sadness for so long... I lost myself inside of it. All of the lies and fear my father instilled in me forced me to push the girl I wanted to be down. That version was never good enough for his standards, so she had to go. I was so lost for so long, until I met you. But the bear was just another set back and the shift was another expectation. But I lied to you, it was never the worst thing to happen to me. It was the best, but I could never admit it in the shadow of my father... He scared me last night. I think it was the first time his wrath was ever directed my way and I just... Snapped."

I traced circles into her hand as I listened to her pour her heart out to me for the second time that day. My eyes couldn't leave the red line on her throat, a painful and severe reminder of that day.

"I always felt something off about the story of her death. I guess it just felt somewhat... Relieving? To know the truth. I am endlessly guilty that it took me almost..." She had to swallow tears. "You know. I just wish I had woken up from that sooner. I was stupid."

"You are very hard on yourself," I commented, drawing her to my chest. She snuggled into me like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"I should be," her tone was frustrated.

"No, there's no reason for that. You can only forgive yourself, as I have and as everyone else will."

After awhile, she responded. "In time."

The affirmation was enough.

"I need to learn myself better. My mother would be so disappointed to see me the way I was. It's heartbreaking, in retrospect. I just can't stop thinking about her and what she was going through... There was something wrong, beyond my father. But I don't know what." She trailed off for a moment and with her eyes closed I thought she might have fallen asleep. But then she added softly, "I want to be what she was trying to teach me to be. I've had enough of the lies and the pain. I just want to be happy again." Her hand idly found mine and squeezed. "I've never been more happy than I have been here. Not since I was very very young at least."

I found myself wishing she would have told me everything sooner, but it was all in vain. There was no different course of action than this. Things had unraveled in exactly the way they had. I couldn't blame her for the trauma she had endured, not one bit. She had explained enough. Because I finally knew, I vowed to help. Whatever it took.

"I'm sorry, Damon." She whispered into the dark. "I will never stop being sorry."

I shook my head though she couldn't see. Placing a gentle kiss to her warm temple, I murmured, "Go to sleep." But she already was.

---

The night that everything came to light, I left Paige in our bed where she slept fitfully while I paced the den before the fire. I was waiting for Cody to arrive. The night felt unbearably long and exhausting. Dawn would arrive in a mere few hours, but it felt far away still and sleep wasn't a possibility. I replayed our conversation in my head, knowing with hindsight that she had never really told the truth before then. Because when she did, finally, everything made sense. Her words echoed in my mind, driving me crazy. I wanted, really wanted, to kill her whole clan. Never had I wanted blood so badly.

When Cody came, he entered with a gust of frigid March air. His steps were silent. I stopped my pacing and turned to face him. Cody approached, his face all knowing. We had known each other since we were pups, no one knew me better than he. His hand found the back of my neck as he stood before me, grounding me for a moment.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"As okay as I can be. Was he found?"

"Yes, he's in the cell." Cody released his hold on me. "We need to move fast, if everything you told me is true then they will be expecting either us to be dead or her to be dead within the next two days maximum."

"It's all true, I am positive of it. And I know, we need to decide on which plan to take." I rubbed a hand over my face, feeling the weight of the day. "Did you get anything out of him?"

"No, not even a motive. I have Darra looking into it, she's the best investigator we have. She will let me know what she finds by the morning."

"How is Faith with all of this?"

"She's stressed. I think she thought we had more time." Cody looks at me suddenly, "Is Paige okay?"

His care didn't surprise me, but at the same time it did. I knew he didn't like her, or at least trust her. But after what I relayed to him, he saw her in a different light. She had become Pack to him within the day. There was one thing that Cody hated more than anything, and that was liars. He had known the whole time that she had been telling us a story. When she proved her loyalty, he was willing to accommodate as well.

"She's been through more than any of us. I can't... I want all of them dead for what they did to her." It felt like I was choking on my words with the memories she had given me still replaying in my head.

Cody nodded, "Well, they will be soon."

I held my mouth in thought and looked at the fire. Beneath the skin of my temples, a throbbing headache persisted. It felt like it had been there for days. Suddenly, I felt unbearably exhausted.

"She nearly died. Again." I murmured, feeling the pain well in my chest at the thought of losing her. Once by chance of a bear, once by her own hands.

"I'm sorry, brother. Truly. This year has not been kind to you."

I shook my head.

"You- Paige," Cody started but then abruptly cut off. I looked to him to see what he stopped about but saw that his gaze had fallen on the entryway. Looking over my shoulder, I noticed Paige standing in the doorway to the hall. Her hair was mused with sleep and there were dark thumbprints beneath her eyes from the collective weeks of stress.

"I couldn't sleep," Paige excused impishly.

"It's fine," I beckoned her over with an arm outstretched. It was sort of a test, but it also wasn't. My waiting arm was an invitation I wanted to know if she would accept. To my subtle surprise, she did. Without hesitation she came to my side, but she didn't stop there. Instead, she ducked beneath my arm and pressed into my side, pushing her nose into my shirt and quietly taking in my scent. I wanted to close my eyes and live in that moment forever, tucking her into my hold.

"Do you want to talk to me?" She turned her attention to Cody after a minute. He looked down on her and nodded. Collectively, we settled into the den. Cody took the couch, I remained by the fire, Paige in the armchair. "What do you want to know?"

"What should we be expecting?"

"A lot of things, and nothing good. There are traps littering the property: conibears, snares, pitfalls, and more. I can map them out for you, but he may have added more. Another thing is he always has guns. All of his men do. And they dip the bullets in the... Wolfsbane? Whatever was on the dagger. It's on everything."

"I haven't been near that house in a long time. We want the fight to be there. Will we catch him off guard?"

"Nothing catches him off guard." Paige shook her head and tucked her loose strands of hair behind her ears. "He knew I was a wolf as soon as he saw me. He knew everything."

Cody sat silently for a moment and I knew he was plotting. "Is a war like this going to be a death trap?"

The room fell silent and Paige's brow furrowed in thought. She was entirely still, looking down at the woven rug beneath the coffee table. "Not necessarily."

"How?" I asked.

"You need an upper hand. Attacking on his land helps. But there needs to be something more. Something that breaks him down."

"Like what? You?" Cody pressed, clasping his hands together before him as he leaned forward.

"No. He was willing to kill me. Like my..." Paige drifted off and squinted over at me. "He said something last night when I met him." She noted suddenly.

"What?" I implored.

"He said he would give me two options, the same two he gave my mother. I didn't understand what he meant... I mean, I still don't."

"What options?" Cody asked.

"He said my options were to kill or be killed, essentially. But, I didn't know what that had to do with my mother or why she was given those options. It's a little less surprising now that I saw she was shot. Probably by him." She swallowed tears, her destruction was still palpable.

I growled without control, turning away to hide the fury I got whenever her father was mentioned. The taste of his blood was in my mouth, or at least the dream of it.

Cody was staring into the fire, deep in thought. Finally he brought up the question, "Why would he give your mother those options?" 

Paige looked over to him. "I am not sure, but I think I know who might." 

"Who?" I asked.

She looked over to me with hard eyes, "Tye." 

another update! don't forget to comment/vote/share. love to hear what yall have to say. 

when thinking of paige's reaction to what she did: imagine her true self, a loving and heartbroken girl, being locked deep inside of her by the portrayal her father created of her. see how she has finally broken free of those restraints and essentially wants to make up for lost time. imagine the consequences that come with being locked up like that for so long. it was life or death for her.

only a handful of chapters left. 

LS