- Torn Hearts
Damon’s POV
Her weight in my arms was nothing. Too light. Like the wind could steal her from me if I didn’t hold tight enough.
Every bruise on her skin was a brand of my failure. Every shallow breath a knife to my ribs.
I did this.
I sent her running. I made her desperate.
And now she was hurt.
Ryan’s growl was a constant drumbeat in my skull–protect, protect, protect- but it was too late for that. The damage was done.
Sailas jogged beside me, rattling off medical advice I didn’t want to hear.
“She’ll need ointment for the bruises. And if she’s coughing blood, we should-”
“Enough,” I snarled.
The packhouse doors slammed open ahead of us, warriors scattering from my path. Good. Let them fear me.
Let them run.
Upstairs, I kicked open my bedroom door and laid Ara on the bed, my hands trembling as I brushed hair from
her face.
Pale.
So damn pale.
Sailas hovered, holding out a jar of salve. “Damon, at least let me-”
“Out.” The word was a whip–crack.
“But-” He still lingered around.
“I said OUT!”
Ryan’s fury ripped through me, my canines lengthening, my claws unsheathing. Sailas stumbled back, nearly tripping over his own feet as he fled.
The door slammed shut behind him.
Then came the silence.
Just Ara’s ragged breathing and the roar of my own guilt.
I sank onto the bed beside her, my fingers hovering over the worst of the bruises- a dark, vicious mark around her throat.
His hands were there.
The rogue’s.
The dead man’s.
20 Torn Hearts
My vision tinted red. I should’ve killed him slslower. The death was mercy for him.
My fingers trembled as I reached for the hem of her dress, that goddamn dress Aurelia had given her, the one that clung to every curve, every dip of her frame.
“f**k,” I hissed under my breath.
This wasn’t the time.
My fingers trembled as I peeled the ruined dress from her body, the fabric sticking to her wounds. Every inch of skin revealed was a torture. The soft curves, delicate collarbones, the dip of her waist that fit perfectly beneath my hands.
Damn it.
Then her scent… lavender and wild honey, wrapped around me, thick and intoxicating. My c**k hardened instantly, straining against my pants, demanding I take, claim, ruin her.
Ryan howled inside me, ‘Mark her! Now.!‘
“No,” I growled aloud, my voice raw.
She was hurt. Vulnerable. And I was a bastard, but not that kind of bastard.
I dragged my tongue over the worst of her wounds, a deep gash on her shoulder. Lycan saliva supposed to help heal, specially for a mate, but the moment my tongue touched her skin, fire ripped through me.
She tasted like sin and sunlight, twisted all together.
I groaned, my hands tightening on her hips as I licked a slow, wet stripe up her throat. Her pulse fluttered beneath my lips, her breath hitching even in unconsciousness
Did she feel it too?
The need?
The hunger?
My teeth grazed her collarbone, my control fraying. One bite. Just one f*****g bite, and she would be marked.
Mine in every way.
Ryan snarled, ‘DO IT.‘
And I almost did. Then reality snapped at me. I pulled back, my breath ragged.
No.
Not like this,
Not when she couldn’t fight back.
When I mark her, I want to see my mark on her eyes, on her lips, on every inch of her skin. I want her to scream my name in pleasure, like a prayer.
I forced myself to focus, smoothing salve over her wounds with hands that shook. Every touch was agony, her skin too soft, her body too perfect beneath my fingers
When I finally dressed her in my shirt, the sight of her drowning in my scent, in me, nearly broke me.
I collapsed into the chair beside the bed, my fists clenched, my body dripping with need. I wanted her.
III
O
20 Torn Hearts
But not like this. Not quite.
I wanted her to scream my name. I wanted her to moan, to fight. I wanted to look into her eyes, when I
devoured every inch of her body.
The silence in the room was suffocating.
I slowly moved to the edge of the bed from the chair, watching the slow rise and fall of Ara’s chest, counting each breath like it might be her last.
My fault.
Ryan’s growl was a constant presence in my skull, a mix of fury and fear. ‘She shouldn’t have been out there alone. We should have been with her.’
‘That’s because she ran,’ I shot back.
‘She ran because of you. Fix it, Ryan growled.
Before I could argue, my little mate stirred.
Her lashes fluttered, then her eyes, those damn emerald eyes, opened, hazy with pain before sharpening into defiance the second they landed on me.
And just like that, the fragile peace shattered.
“Why the f**k did you go to the woods?” I yelled.
The moment the words left my mouth, I regretted them.
‘Smooth, i***t! Should’ve asked how she was feeling first!‘ Ryan snarled.
Ara’s lips curled into a sneer, though her voice was hoarse. “Why do you care? You don’t want me anyway.”
“Who gave you that idea?” I demanded, my hands clenched into fists.
“You did,” she shot back, struggling to sit up. “That’s why you’re sending me away.”
The accusation hit like a blade to the gut. For a second, I couldn’t speak. She wasn’t wrong. But she wasn’t right, either.
Ryan roared in frustration. ‘Tell her she can stay! It’ll make her happy!
But before I could force the words out, Ara coughed, a wet, ragged sound, and blood trickled from her lips.
“Ara-” My voice cracked.
“Leave me alone,” she snapped, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.
The sight of that blood, the way her fingers trembled, sent a wave of terror through me. Was she hurt more than met the eyes. I had to find a medic quickly.
“Mark my words,” she hissed, her nose red with anger, her eyes glistening with something deeper. “You can’t keep me caged. I will leave, and you’ll never see my face again.”
The words were a punch to the chest.
Never see her again?
That was worse.
20 Tom Hearts
She wanted to leave. Permanently. Ryan howled in protest, but I shoved him down, locking my emotions
behind a wall of ice.
“You’re not going anywhere,” I said, my voice lethally calm.
Ara’s laugh was bitter. “Watch me.”
I leaned in, bracing my hands on either side of her, caging her in.
“Try it,” I challenged. “Run. See how far you get before I drag you back.”
Her breath hitched, but she didn’t back down. “I hate you.”
The words shouldn’t have stung as I heard them before, from my father, from Cassian, but they did.
‘You’re f*****g this up,’ Ryan growled.
Lignored him.
“Hate me all you want,” I said, straightening. “But you’re staying. And if I have to tie you to this bed to make sure you don’t do something stupid again, I will.”
Ara’s eyes flashed. “You wouldn’t dare.”
I smirked, though it felt hollow. “Try me, little wolf.”
For a long moment, we just stared at each other, two stubborn souls locked in a battle neither of us knew how to win.
Then, with a frustrated growl, she turned away, curling into herself like a wounded animal.
“Lucian was better than you. At least he made things clear” she whispered suddenly and I lost it.
“Come again!” I gritted my teeth. Lucian! That bastard that Sailas claimed to be her husband? She was thinking about him!
“You heard me,” she mumbled.
Rage took over me. Ryan howled in pain. First she tried to protect that half breed. Now she was thinking about another male!
‘She doesn’t want us,‘ Ryan howled.
‘Is it also me? Or her heart probably belonged to someone else from the beginning,’ I growled back to my lycan who kept taking his side.
What about me, Ara? Couldn’t she see what you did to me? Was I nothing!
I threw a punch through the wall and she shivered. I couldn’t stay there any longer.
A part of me wanted to claim her then and there. And I had to leave before I did something that both of us would regret.
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