Word Count: 1901

~Onyx

My fingers shift along her forehead, through the still damp strands of hair that I brush from her temple.

Sienna dozes peacefully, her full lips parted, her breaths deep.

My gaze drifts to the bluish purple bruise stained beneath her skin. If crowds her eye, accompanying a nasty lump along her cheekbone that is mostly covered by the bandage.

Murderous rage simmers below the surface of my calm.

I have to remind myself that Sienna is home. She's safe.

And Kayn will be dead soon.

Last night Sienna, exhausted from her travels, stumbled into a fitful slumber. Sleep eluded me for hours as I lay with her head in the crook of my neck.

For every scene playing in my head depicting Kayn hitting Sienna, came a scene after of all the different ways I may kill him.

Each being slow, painful.

Sienna awakens with a start, her eyes fluttering open. She finds my face first, a small, cute little frown passing over her face before she looks around.

"Where am I?" She mumbles blearily, trying to sit up.

I press her shoulder back until her head is nestled back into her pillow. "It's okay, you're in my room."

"Oh...right." She rubs her forehead as memories of last night come back to her.

"How are you feeling?" I murmur softly.

All my anger has melted away suddenly. Her presence has that affect. Instead, I feel elated having her back, in my bed, where she belongs.

"Tired, sore. But good," she responds, her fingertips brushing along the bruise as if to check it's still there. She winces in pain, letting out a rough sigh.

"Your eye..."

"Is it bad?"

"The swellings gone down a bit, but it's going to be discoloured for a while," I tell her, grinding my back teeth together irritably.

I was awake much earlier, pacing outside my bedroom door. My body is itching to do away with that monster, but I haven't wanted to leave her here to wake up alone.

She breathes in deeply, noticing the sweet smell of pastries in the room. She looks to the bedside table, seeing a tray laden will all her favourite breakfasts foods.

She looks at me. "You brought me food?"

"Diane had it made just for you. Everything you liked," I tell her warmly, watching her sit up.

She looks delectable in my shirt with messy hair and an excited smile. Selfishly I want to keep her in this room all day, but she deserves to see everyone else who cares about her.

"You think of everything," she murmurs, her eyes melting my heart. "Thank you."

She pulls the tray onto her lap, going immediately for the coffee that is barely room temperature at this point. Regardless, she takes a sip and sighs contently.

"Diane is dying to see you."

"I'll go down soon. My legs are killing me from all that walking." She takes a bite of a puffy piece of sweet pastry.

"All you need to do today is rest."

The longer she stays in my bed, the longer we can stave off any of our obligations. People will realise she's returned to me, and the rumours will spread like wildfire.

Sienna suddenly pauses her chewing, looking up at me with wild eyes.

"Is Lucia going to kill me for coming back?" She swallows the pastry, chasing it down with more coffee.

"Of course not. She loves you," I remind her, brushing her hair off her face with a tentative touch. "Once she realises it wasn't safe for you stay there, she'll be glad that you came back home."

"I won't stay forever. I'll put some stuff together and I'll figure something out-"

"Shh, Sienna." I cut her off, plucking the pastry from her hand, setting it down so she can focus on me. "I meant it when I said you're not leaving my sight again. Stay, for as long as you need. Today is not the day we figure out what's happening in the future."

I'm not letting her leave again. I'm not.

Fuck tradition. Fuck what we think is best for us. The last eight months proved to me how I cannot function without her. I know those feelings can't possibly belong to only me, and I'll prove it if I have to.

"What about Violet? Won't she be upset?" Sienna asks.

I shake my head as I brush my knuckles along her cheek. I'm resisting to urge to kiss that sensuous mouth, to pull her into bed so her inability to walk today is for an entirely different reason.

"She'll be happy for me. She knows how much I...how much I care about you," I murmur.

She closes her eyes for a moment, and with her sigh, comes a sense of peace as her shoulder deflate and her expression softens. Relief.

"I'm so happy I'm home," she breathes.

"You have no idea how badly I've wanted you here. The moment you stepped from the room I regretted every decision I ever made," I admit.

I know I can't put everything above my obligations as Alpha, but keeping Sienna around feels like a worthy sacrifice to make.

Her eyes narrow. "If I stay, does that mean I have to be your mistress again?"

"We'll sort something out." I don't want to overwhelm her with choice right now.

She looks down at her hand, picking at her fingernails distractedly. "I want to finish my book."

"You will. You absolutely will," I assure her.

If I have to shift the entire worlds ecosystem so she can study it, I'll try to make it happen. I'll do anything to make her happy.

"If I stay I want to do something," she states decidedly, setting the tray of food down on the bedside table.

"Don't worry about that right now. It's time to rest," I murmur, flicking her nose. "You need energy for when I destroy you in a game of cards."

She bats my hand away, laughing like the thought of me winning is absurd.

"That sounds wonderful minus the part where you think you'll beat me."

She's right, I will lose. I've gotten rusty, since I stopped playing all together when she left. It felt wrong to play the game with anyone else but her.

"We should probably think about talking about what happened the night before you left," she adds softly.

"I know. Whenever you're ready."

That night, which has been steadily replaying in my mind every waking moment since it happened. A night I have wanted to repeat many times over.

Except for the one looming problem with that night. I will never, ever let her go again. Not like I did then.

"You kissed me," she whispers, her fingers brushing against her lips like she can still feel mine against them.

My smile is one of disbelief. "You kissed me back."

My old self wouldn't have believed I could have gotten such a beautiful woman to kiss me. I still can't entirely believe it.

"It felt really good." She admits, turning her body to face me, covers shifting and sighing around her legs.

"Too good, I think."

Her smile falters. "Why?"

"It's all I think about. It's haunted my dreams, every waking moment," I admit. "I never, not once, stopped thinking about you and that kiss, Sienna."

Her lips part slightly, but I can't imagine she's very shocked. We both wanted each other desperately that night. I've never experienced anything like that before...it won't be escaping my thoughts for a long time.

"It was more than just a kiss," she adds, her cheeks tinting pink.

I run my fingers up her bare arm, my mouth curving at the slight shiver that follows. It was indeed more than just a kiss, and it's left me desperate to give her that kind of pleasure again.

"It doesn't have to mean something to you, but it meant something to me," I murmur.

"It did mean something to me," she says. "But nothing has changed with our situation, has it?"

My smile falters. The claws of reality have torn into our perfect bubble far too quickly. For a moment, I wanted to put aside my obligations and imagine a world where I could propose to her.

"All I want is for you to be my wife. I would do anything to make that happen," I try to assure her, although we both know my hands are tied.

It's less so about tradition. It means more to my mother than me. However, my Pack members opinion of me, my wife and my future heir is vitally important.

"But you can't, can you?" She sighs, dejected.

"I..."

"Friends. Best friends." She paints a smile on her face, although I see through it. "Until our situation can change."

Does she not understand how desperately I want her? Does she not understand how difficult it will be for me to pretend like I don't have feelings for her? It's not going to be easy to go back to being friends. In fact, it feels impossible.

"For now," I mutter, not wanting to settle on anything final.

Sienna looks down at her hands, her brows drawing together. I pick up the tray of food, placing it back on her lap.

"Eat. Then Diane wants to see you."

"What are you going to do?" She asks as she tears at a chunk of pastry, popping it into her mouth.

I slip from the bed, backing away with my hands held up. "I have some business to attend to."

Sienna gives me a flat look, knowing exactly what my plans for the day are. "Onyx...Don't kill him."

I have far more planned for Onyx than just outright killing him. The details, however, don't need to reach Sienna's ears. She doesn't deserve to think she has accountability in what I'm going to do.

"We'll see how generous I'm feeling."

"Seriously. Please." Sienna's tone is firm, final.

"Okay. I won't."

I back off to the door, feeling the bitter taste of the lie on my tongue. I'm not going to be able to settle until I see that man suffer.

I pause before I leave, taking a moment to enjoy her sitting in my bed. Were it not for the vicious bruise reminding me of the monster I'll be dealing to later, this would be a perfect moment.

"Please be here when I get back," I murmur softly.

Her answering smile is devious. "Of course. In my own room, though."

"That's a shame. You suit this room." And she does, a lot. In fact, if I get my way, it will be her room to.

I shake my head a little. I can't allow myself to get wrapped up in fantasy otherwise I'm going to chase Sienna away again.

"Make good decisions today, Onyx," Sienna says, giving me a long look beneath her brow. Although she sounds teasing, I can hear the subtle warning there.

Unfortunately, this may be one request Sienna gives me that I cannot fulfil.

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~Midika 💜🐼