I'm very sad to say that this chapter does not have the sex it should because of its number.

Chapter 57 and no crazy sex, I'm ashamed and I'm sorry.

Lol
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William's P.O.V

Sitting on the edge of the bed, I glance over my shoulder to make sure I wasn't disturbing Damon while I squeezed my feet into my sneakers. He didn't move an inch, his face remaining perfectly smooshed into his pillow with only the top half of his broad back peeking out from under the covers, where the rest of him laid spread out like a starfish.

When I've successfully managed to put on my already tied shoes, I head to the dresser to write out a note for him on a stray piece of paper in the unlikely case that he woke up before I got back.

 Damon,

I've gone to get Blaze and Sassy, do not panic. I'm fine. Call me before you run out after me half-naked.

Love you,
Will

The lines, like always, were slanted but the words were far enough apart for them to be legible. I look around for a spot to leave it before deciding the front door was probably the best place to leave it for a frantic Damon who woke up alone.

I pick up my favourite black coat which may or may not have actually belonged to my sleeping beauty, and shrug it on before I lean down to press a kiss to his shoulder that I hoped wouldn't wake him.

"I'll be back before you know it," I promise softly.

Damon doesn't stir in the slightest, his heavy snores continuing steadily as I slip out of our bedroom, closing the door gently behind me. I swipe my keys and phone from the counter, pocket them and head for the door. I pin the note to the centre of the door, making sure the pin was in properly before I take a deep breath and leave our suite.

As I wait for the elevator, I try my best to focus my thoughts on literally anything other than the fact that this was the first time I was going anywhere in the pack without Damon. We'd been here for more than two months and every outing I'd taken had included Damon right by my side. 

Damon was always there to protect me, what if...

No. No. No. Let's not go down there. 

In an effort to shake off the mental shackles of my deep-rooted anxiety that was valiantly trying to make a comeback, I force myself to think about why I was doing this in the first place.

This was for Damon.

The heat had come to a complete end just two days prior and the moment Damon was certain that it was all over, he knocked out. Knocked out like a boxer does when they take a sucker punch to the skull and fall to the ground, except Damon did manage to get to the bed before collapsing.

He'd woken only to use the bathroom and drink greedy gulps of water from the tap, beyond that, it was nothing but constant sleeping and loud snoring from him. Which I didn't mind in the slightest, it was physically impossible to with all he'd done for us these last two weeks. They'd been entirely hellish for him but he'd pushed through it, for all of us. 

So if anyone ever dared to question Damon's love for me, I wouldn't hesitate to provide them with a new nose, free of charge.

Damon deserved to sleep it off, snoring and all, and he most certainly deserved so much more than undisturbed nap time. Which was exactly why I was getting the pets as part of a nice morning - well rather afternoon now - surprise for him.

So as I made my way down the steps of the pack house and set off into the direction of Damon's family home, I told myself to focus on the 'why' and not the fears that threatened to make a reappearance now that I was alone.

I follow the familiar path I now knew by heart from all our trips around the pack lands and to the house in question. I wasn't afraid of getting lost so much as having a panic attack in the middle of the street in front of so many people.

And God knew there were a lot of people.

The streets were just a little bit more packed than I knew them to be and though that observation made my heart rate spike, it helped that they were all trying to keep their distance from me. Damon, as well as his family, had made it very clear to all the members of the pack that touching me was something that should be avoided to the best of everyone's ability and so far, everyone had been more than accommodating.

I had been - admittedly - a little terrified that without Damon next to me, they wouldn't have made such an effort, but they were clearly a steady path for me as I kept to the edges of the roads. Which did go a long way to help calm my nerves when my mind tried to remind of what could happen when I was alone, what did happen.

It was hard to fight it, my crippling fear and darkest memories. And it was even harder to fight it when they worked together to put me right back in that dark alley where I'd lost everything, including the person I used to be.

I'd been more than a year since the incident and still, the memories had a hold on me like nothing else. The unwanted touch of strangers, the condemning words, the hateful beating and the darkness that had taken sight from me, leaving me to live by what remained of myself.

Pain was something not easily forgotten, and never put entirely to rest.

My feet slow as my anxiety grows, my thoughts becoming louder and louder as I tried to think through them. I could feel eyes on me and I wanted to believe they were from worry and nothing else.

Breathing was quickly becoming difficult and as I look around, the remnants of my vision only made it so much worse. It was day time and I could barely keep myself together, the thought was pitiful.

I wanted to go back to the suite. To Damon where I knew I was safe and where I could breathe easy in his arms. I didn't want to be alone or so God damn terrified anymore. I turn to do just that but don't take the first step, something in my mind trying to calm me amongst all the chaos.

If I intend to stay here with Damon for the rest of my life, I can't afford to be so dependent on him. I'll have to be on my own sometimes and I can't have a breakdown when I do. There was no way I could spend the rest of my life in a werewolf pack surrounded by thousands and always be afraid of them, I just couldn't. 

Trust. I had to trust them, trust that they wouldn't hurt me. I had to make the first step and maybe.... maybe this was it.

Steeling myself as best as I can, I break from the roads and to the nearest tree. I lean against it and close my eyes. Inhaling deeply, I hold it for a few seconds before I let it out slowly and do it again.

I'm just getting the pets from my boyfriend's family.

Everyone knows who I am, nobody is out to get me.

I'm fine. I'm fine.

There's no reason to panic. There's no reason to be afraid.

I'm safe here. I am safe. I don't have to be afraid anymore.

It takes a few minutes of repeating the words and breathing slowly for the mental warfare of my own making subsides, leaving my mind clear enough for me to open my eyes without panicking. I look around and watch the blurred figures move from my spot, still repeating the words in my head.

When I'm confident in my self-made resolve, I push off the tree, return to the roads and continue on my journey. My fear did try to spike up again but when the words of my mental pep talk proved themselves to be true, fighting those fears became much easier.

The further I walked without incident, the calmer I became. Until eventually, I realised that I felt almost as comfortable walking on my own, as I did when Damon was holding my hand.

The fears that usually haunted me became quieter and quieter with every step, until I couldn't hear them at all. When I felt myself smiling a little, I didn't try to wipe it away by overthinking it, instead, I let myself enjoy this moment where I'd been strong enough to help myself.

I was out here on my own, without Damon or Sassy with me -or even Blaze's fat ass-, amongst hundreds of werewolves and witches that could hurt me very easily if they really wanted to... and I wasn't scared.

I wasn't scared at all.

By the time I make it to my destination, I find myself beaming from ear-to-ear with a steady heartbeat and chest full of so much happiness and pride for myself that it was almost overwhelming. I actually kind of run up the stairs, but not really, it was more so a jog-skip thing. Whatever it was, it was the shit happy people did and I was fucking doing it.

If Damon was with me, he'd probably think I was crazy, but he'd also be damn proud too.

The front door opens before I can knock revealing a hazy image of Josey. Only Peter, Josey and Julian had long hair in Damon's family, and of those three, only Josey had dark hair, so I didn't think my guess was off.

"Will," She greets and I could hear the confusion and surprise in her voice even as she seemed to smile a bit, "Hey, what are you doing here?"

"I came for Blaze and Sassy," I answer and she hums her understanding while she nods her head. "Sorry for just showing up, but I didn't have any of your numbers to call ahead and I figured since it was past midday, it'd be okay."

"You're all good Will," She says dismissing my worries as she steps back to let me in, "I'll give you everyone's numbers before you leave but for future notice, you don't need to call ahead... like ever. Nobody will give you shit if you just show up, this home is yours too you know."

A heady sense of elation washes over me as I smile at Josey, it moves like cleansing waves which I let pull me from my coastal shores of mistrust, choosing to accept her words to mean exactly what she'd meant them to be, instead of searching for a lie that wasn't there. 

"Thanks Josey," I reply, unable to tuck away my smile even as I step inside the house and look around while she closes the door behind me.

"Why didn't you just ask Damon to call?" She asks as she steps next to me, keeping a comfortable space between us. "Wait, why isn't Damon with you?" Her smile fades in favour of what I was most likely a frown. "Why'd you come on your own? Where is Damon? Is he okay?"

"Damon's okay," I assure her before her worry could completely unravel her, "He's just sleeping so I thought I'd surprise him with Blaze when he woke up."

"Oh," She says, his shoulders sagging as all the tension that'd bombarded her in seconds, slipped from her just as quickly as it'd appeared. She laughs a little, sounding a little embarrassed as she passed a hand over her ponytail. "That makes sense."

"Damon isn't going anywhere," I promise her and I swear she blushes a bit, "neither of us are."

Josey's head shoots up with surprise, brown eyes going wide from my words as she stared at me. "I didn't realise you were so..." She stops as she searches for the right word, probably scared of accidentally saying something that would create problems between her brother and me, "uh... like, certain? of the werewolf-alpha thing."

"Yeah, I didn't realise I was either, until recently," I reply with a sigh, thinking back on my own obliviousness. "I never planned to let Damon go, so I guess my decision was always made. It just took a little longer for me to register it."

Josey smiles widely then, her straight, white teeth showing clearly in my vision while she buzzed with palpable excitement. She stretches her hand out before she freezes and locks it behind her back, muttering a quick, "sorry, we're touchy creatures."

"I've realised," I say with a chuckle before looking up at the sound of approaching footsteps.

"William," Julian greets as he makes his way over with a wide smile and his husband. "Is everything okay? Josey said you came without Damon."

I frown as I look at Josey, trying to figure out how the hell she'd done that when she was with me the whole time. When she taps her head my frown clears with the reminder of the link-telepathy thingy the family shared.

"Everything's fine, both Damon and I are okay," I reply quickly, wanting to ease any building worries, 

"We were getting worried since we haven't heard a word from Damon recently. He was checking in every day before," Julian explains making my cheeks heat up as I'm reminded of what I was doing while he was checking in with his parents.

I truly deserve the cell in hell waiting for me.

"T-The heat ended two days ago, he went straight to sleep after," I explain guilty, "He's still sleeping so I came for the pets."

"Thank Goddess," Aiden replies, the relief evident in his voice while Julian turned his head to shoot him with a look I couldn't decipher, but Aiden just shrugs, "I'm not a 'pet person', and your dog's got an attitude human."

"Human?" I question before I could stop myself.

Damon's family may have been extremely laid back with each other, but I wasn't exactly sure where I stood in the scheme of things. I didn't want to get too comfortable with them and overstep when they were still adjusting to me being their son's mate.

"I didn't think it was okay to call you a shitbag, even though you're part of the family now," He explains casually, "You may take it the wrong way and Jewels would hit me, so I thought human was a safe middle ground."

I frown a little as I look between him and the others, maybe I was missing something here, "there's a right way to take being called a bag of shit?"

Josey laughs as she rests a hand on his hips and looks at her parents with a wide grin, "the old man's got a warped way of showing how much he loves us. You haven't seen his weird side yet cause of, well ya know, but he's been doing a little better so he's getting back to normal slowly. Isn't that right grandpa?"

I bite my lip to stop myself from laughing, Josey had quite the mouth on her. 

"You see that William? That lack of respect?" Aiden questions and I nod carefully, "You know who has no respect for their parents?"

"You want me to guess?" I ask and when he nods, I decide to go with the answer I knew he wanted, "Bags of shit?"

"Bags of shit," Aiden repeats.

"The things I have to live with," Julian mumbles exasperated, despite the smile on his face.

"But you're not like that are you Willliam?" Aidan asks with a raised hand. When I shake my head, his grin grows and he drops his hand, "so I'm calling you human instead."

"Alright," I say with a helpless smile.

Talking to Damon's dad, Aiden, was like meeting an entirely new person. The personality on display before me was nothing like the quiet, remorseful man that had spoken only a few, careful words throughout all our primary meetings.

The man I was looking at seemed to be much lighter in general, a bit brighter and happier than all of the times I'd seen him before. He was still a little tense and remained extremely close to his husband, but this version of Damon's father was a much closer match to the man Damon had described him to be. Showing glimpses of those few characteristics Damon had shared with me when describing him; someone with too much confidence and a smirk always on his face.

Listening to him speak, there wasn't a doubt in my mind that this was exactly where Damon got all his confidence.

"We're not scaring you are we, William?" Julian asks making the bickering between Aiden and Josey come to a sharp halt as they all looked at me. "You grew quiet."

"I'm alright, just got lost in thought I guess,"

"I tole the others to get your pets when you told me why you came," Josey adds quickly, "Hagen is getting Sassy and Peter is getting Blaze, but I think Peter's having some trouble."

I smile at that, Blaze was rarely obedient for anyone that wasn't Damon and though that was one of the most annoying things about him, I'd missed him just a little bit. Like a tiny bit, but nothing close to how much I missed my girl.

"I forget about the whole telepathy thing sometimes," I say gesturing to their heads and they laugh the same way Damon does whenever I called it telepathy, "Sorry, your link," I reply just a little sarcastically.

Josey opens her mouth to reply but doesn't get a chance to as Hagen comes flying down the stairs as he tries to hold on to Sassy's leash, but she was running down without a second thought about the werewolf following her.

I watch completely baffled at Sassy's excitement, I'd honestly expected her to walk down like the Queen of England and give me an assessing look before walking out the door.

But when she reaches the bottom, Hagen lets go of the leash to save himself from faceplanting and I squat down to open my arms for her. Sassy's large black and brown furry self comes straight into my arms and I immediately wrap them around her in a tight hug.

Kissing her head happily, I greet her with all my love while I rub her down, laughing as she licked my face and rubbed herself against me. She goes under my arms only to come out and try to jump on me, her tail wagging so furiously it actually hurt the few times it whacked me.

"Did you miss me?" I coo as I scratch her chest, "I missed you. Yes, I did. Yes, I did. Who's a good girl? You are!"

Being as this was the most enthusiasm Sassy had ever shown me since I'd gotten her, I allowed myself to fawn over her and be the complete idiot I was with her in private, even as my boyfriend's family watched me do it.

I missed her too much to give a damn.

When I finally contain myself and stand up, I find Peter trying his best to hold a protesting mate, his arms shaking, presumably from the breathing boulder in his arms. Blaze was kicking out, fighting to escape, until Peter finally gave up and put him down.

Blaze comes straight to me making my eyes go wide, I actually rub them a bit to make sure I was seeing right. He sits himself onto my foot and doesn't move while Sassy sniffs the top of his head.

"I'm going to assume he misses Damon, not me, and just wants me to take him too," I say when I look back to the family, "Were they too much trouble?"

"Blaze was grumpy as usual, but Sassy was nice, I like her," Hagen says with a toothy grin as he leans into Julian who had an arm wrapped around him, "She was cool and I had her with me most times. I even went out with her as my wolf and she didn't freak out at all... well, she did bite me, but that's okay."

"That's nice..." I say after a moment. I wanted to say sorry but he sounded happy enough and he was smiling, so I guess he was fine with it, "Thank you all for taking care of them, we really appreciated it. And thank you so much for making meals for us, it came in really handy."

"That's what family's for," Julian says with a smile that matched Hagen's wide one and as I looked at them all, my heart thumping wildly from those four words, I find them all wearing the same grins.

"F-Family i-is r-really important t-t-to u-us," Peter stutters from his spot, as he plays with his hair, "y-you're f-f-family."

Taking a breath, I mentally yell at myself not to cry before I say, "Thank you," not trusting myself to say anything more without breaking down.

"We'd hug you," Aiden says while scratching his head, "but you've got your whole... thing. So I'm sending you a mental hug."

Everyone groans as they start to attack Aiden for 'ruining the moment' with his 'fat mouth', but even as they yelled at him, I couldn't help but laugh as I looked around at the people I hoped to have in my life for many more years.

-----------------

As I slide the sixth pancake onto the stack of five, I hold the air in my lungs captive, desperate not to fuck up the already full plate that was steaming with Damon's breakfast. When nothing goes wrong, I get the whip cream and fruits from the fridge as quickly as I could.

Damon's internal clock may have been busted, but he could still get up at any moment and I didn't want to risk him waking up before I was done. Though I doubted he would actually rouse since he was still sleeping in the same position I'd left him in.

I actually checked for a pulse, afraid that he may have been in a much deeper sleep than I'd assumed. Thankfully, he was just fine, still making up for all those sleeplessness nights.

I ignore the blush that builds quickly when I think upon why Damon had barely slept over the in the first place.  Apparently heats took away shame and discretion because as memory served, I severely lacked both of those things with how I'd literally begged for Damon's cock - on multiple occasions.

"Don't think about it. Don't think about it," I say in a sing-song, shaking my head dismissively while I wash the fruits, trying to rid my head of the memories that would haunt me forever in both a good and bad way.

Instead, I focus my attention on making the plate of fluffy scrambled eggs, bacon and pancakes look as appetizing as possible. Careful not to cut myself, I cut three strawberries in half and place them on top of the stack of pancakes with a few blueberries, I add a few more to the side before I drench it in syrup. 

Once I'm done, I look over the spread feeling pleased but also like something was missing. All the food was there, so was the cutlery and a cup of juice, but it still needed something to tie it all together and make it look a little more charming I think.

Flowers came to mind but Damon wasn't really a flower type of guy, like at all. He usually did this little sneering thing with his face whenever he saw people fawning over them, I honestly didn't think he was even aware that he did it.

Damon wouldn't appreciate chocolates either or anything like that, not really, that just wasn't the type of guy he was. He was, however, a knife guy. I pause for a moment on the thought, staring at the empty space on the tray and imaging one or two of his knives there.

The thought, of placing a knife on a breakfast tray where a flower would be, makes me snort but yet I couldn't think of anything better suited for my favourite wolf. I don't stall myself any longer and start searching the suite for some of his smaller knives.

Blaze and Sassy follow closely behind me as they had been since we'd returned to the suite. It was cute as hell to know they missed us as much as we missed them. Blaze had been bumping against the bedroom door since he returned, sniffing underneath as he tried to get to where he knew Damon was, but I wanted his presence to be the icing on the metaphorical cake. So no matter how heartbreakingly adorable the sight was, I had to hold myself back.

When I find three of the same type of tiny hand knives from the small collection Damon kept in the suite, I return to the kitchen and spread them out carefully at the head of the tray like a little makeshift bouquet.

It actually looked nice enough; one was red, another white and the last black, and though it wasn't actual flowers, I hoped it'd make him smile if nothing else. I look over the tray one last time, pursuing my mind for a fault that doesn't appear.

Finally satisfied, I pick it up carefully and take my time walking towards our bedroom, the last thing I needed was for my blind ass to slip on something and send everything crashing to the floor.

Glaring at Blaze to stay in place, I gently push open the bedroom door with my right foot and close it behind me. My eyes immediately settle on Damon's large figure which wasn't hard to spot amongst the covers that were now down to his waist exposing his naked back while he slept with his left arm stretched out to where I'd been earlier.

His deep snores carried on as they had earlier, making me smile and bite my lip to stop myself from making any sounds while I rested the tray on our dresser.
Tip-toeing my way over to the curtains, I open them a bit to bring some more light into the room but not enough to disturb him.

Throughout it all, Damon still doesn't rouse, unconsciously preserving his immaculate imitation of the dead.

Sitting down on the edge of the bed, guilt tugs at my conscious again when I place a gentle hand down on his back and look over his features that unveil themselves to me as my vision clears with the contact.

The deep bags that sat under his eyes weren't as bad now as they had been, but they were still there, testimony to his exhaustion. My insides twist agonizingly at the sight that reminded me of how difficult it had been for Damon to constantly control me, Theo and himself.

Damon didn't want me to feel bad about it, but I did. It didn't matter if it was natural, the reality was that it had been tough for him, much tougher than he wished to admit to himself or me. Though he said we didn't, he had suffered to make sure he didn't hurt me while ensuring I enjoyed our first heat together.

Which was exactly why I was embarking on the journey to pamper my mate as best as I could and the first step was breakfast in bed.

"Damon," I call, rubbing his back gently. Damon's slow breathing continues even as I shake him a little, calling his name twice more. When he still doesn't wake, I briefly consider postponing this for a bit, but it was already the afternoon and the food wouldn't be as enjoyable warmed as it was fresh.

"Damon," I say again, before I let myself play a little dirty by scratching at the nape of his neck.

As always, Damon responds to that particular touch as he shifts a bit under my touch, a soft purr of pleasure meeting the pillow his face was still buried in. Pressing kisses to his back and shoulder, I slip my fingers into his hair and massage the scalp as he begins to come to.

"Uhhghhh," Damon says in a jumble of words I'm sure were tangible in his head.

"Ughushgg," I reply with a smirk that grows when he opens one eye with much effort and looks around, or tries to. "Uhjus jfuf."

Damon groans at my continuous mocking and reaches back in an effort to smack me. Sitting up quickly, I dodge the punishing hand, laughing as he still tries to slap me from over his shoulder. Finally giving up, Damon musters enough energy to turn himself onto his back while yawning through his groans.

(A/N - Anyone else yawned, cause I did as soon as I wrote the word yawn. Shit there I go again)

Damon pushes his unruly hair from his eyes to pin me with a mixed look of confusion, annoyance and amusement, his mouth twisting into a weak smile.

"Hello," I greet choosing to use actual words for him this time.

"Hey," He greets lazily while scratching at his firm chest, his eyes still a bit heavy.

"I have something for you, so I'm going to need you to sit up," I say as I stand up.

Damon's eyebrows pull together suspiciously, but he listens and sits up without complaining. I shove two pillows behind his back before I head to the record player to let one of his favourite records spin at a low volume.

Looking over my shoulder, my heart leaps when I find a smile tilting Damon's lips up as he unconsciously begins to sway with the song from his spot. He refused to admit it, but I knew this was one of his favourites, even though it came from 'a human of all things'.

While he's distracted, I return to the dresser for the tray and make my way back to him.

Damon's smile grows tenfold when his eyes land on the breakfast platter in my hands, they flood with a world's worth of intertwined emotions as he looks between me and the tray as if he couldn't believe what was in front of him. Setting it over him, I make sure it's stable over his lap before I slip back onto the spot beside him and slide my hands over his thigh so I could see him clearly.

"Eggs, bacon and shrimpless pancakes," I list, making Damon laugh heartily as he looks up at me with eyes that gleam with so much love that my spirit couldn't help but glow for him.

"Shrimpless pancakes," He repeats fondly as he looks down at the pancakes in question before he looks to the orange juice and snorts, "you're too much," Damon comments as he takes my hand in his.

Damon's eyes find the knives next and instantly, they light up like a kid on Christmas as he passes his free fingers over the smooth steel. He barely touches them, his fingers mostly hovering over them as if they were something fragile and precious that might shatter if he used too much pressure.

He stares at them for a moment more, the room silent without the background music and our in sync hearts.

"The way I love you, William Evans," Damon says as he tears his eyes away to focus them on me instead. They were just a little wet and full of happiness that radiated from him like a tide that crashed with my own until they merged and left us both blissfully content in each other's company.

Leaning over, I take Damon's face in my hands and kiss him gently. I let my thumb caress the slight stumble coming in and smile against his lips as he does mine, fireworks erupting under my skin as I took in this wonderful man that was all mine.

We kiss one another slowly, getting lost in each other until I managed to gather the strength to part us. "I thought you didn't do morning breath," Damon comments as our lips brush, his eyes rising to meet mine.

"I love you enough to ignore it," I say then I kiss him one last time and then another before I finally pull back enough for him to eat. "Now eat up or it'll get cold."

Damon obliges, but not before pulling me to his side so that I was resting my head to his shoulder as he ate, feeding both of us despite my initial protests. It was meant for him, but Damon was quick to declare that what he wanted, was to share this with me, so I oblige and let him feed me as well.

Joint at the hip, Damon and I chat here and there, in between tasteful bites and inevitable kisses. We laugh with hearts that beat to the same drum of joy, following along to the song of eternal love.

When the plate is clear and the glass empty, I set the tray to the floor before I fight my way from Damon's clawing hands when he tries to take me back to bed with him.

"Where are you going?" Damon groans with a deep frown as I head to the door, widening the gap between us with each step much to Damon's clear displeasure. "Get back here."

"The surprises aren't done just yet babe," I reply as I wrap my fingers around the door handle and open it. I find Blaze sitting right outside the door with Sassy close beside him, though she looked far less enthusiastic to see Damon than her counterpart. 

With some effort, I pick the bunny up before I turn for his owner to see him. Damon's frown disappears as his eyes go wide at the sight of his favourite animal, Blaze leg's kick out in response, his ears standing tall as I rushed over to the bed, afraid of dropping him before I reached Damon.

Damon takes him the moment he's in arms reach, sitting up to cuddle him properly as he smiles widely at the bunny who looked like he was having a heart attack, but from excitement... an excitement attack.

"Blaze," Damon greets with a higher tone I chose not to comment on, "I've missed you so fucking much," Damon groans as he snuggles him. Sitting down beside him, I spread my legs to pet Sassy while we watched the two's reunion. "You had fun back in the house with Mr.Fluff?" Damon asks and Blaze immediately goes completely still, "Sorry, I forgot that we don't like him." Damon adds quickly, and after a few moments Blaze lets himself go back to trying to maul his owner.

"When did they get here?" Damon asks me while he settles Blaze in his lap and lifts the sheets to his mouth. "Did dad drop them?"

"No, I went for them this morning," I reveal making his eyes almost burst in his skull.

"Alone?" Damon asks and I nod, "Through the pack?" 

"Yes Damon," I reply with a smile that was surely beyond giddy.

"That's amazing Will," Damon cheers with a giddy smile to match mine, "I'm so fucking proud of you."

Damon leans down to kiss me all over, making me laugh as he attacks me with his love, "thanks, I'm proud of me too."

"I can't believe you went all the way to the house on your own," He continues, "Nobody bothered you right? Because if they did I'll fuc-"

"They were fine Damon," I promise, cutting off whatever threat he was going to make, "Everyone kept their distance and no one touched me. I had a little breakdown on the way, but I made it out."

"Breakdown?" Damon asks, clearly alarmed.

"I'm fine Damon, I promise," I assure him, adding a kiss to distract him.

"Pick up your phone William. I'll keep calling until you do," Damon groans at the sound of Francis' deep voice that blares loudly from my phone, "Pick up your phone William. I'll keep calling until you do."

"I'll be back in a minute, you keep playing with Blaze," I say as I stand and head for my phone which I left in the kitchen. I pick it up before it could go to voicemail and answer, "Hey Francis."

"William, where the hell have you been?" Francis demands in turn of an answer, sounding angrier than I'd ever heard him before. "Why haven't you been answering my calls? Do you have any idea how worried I was?"

Shit.

I knew I'd forgotten something, and that was keeping up my calls with Francis. He didn't call every day anymore, but he did call a minimum of three times a week and it had been more than two weeks since I'd last had a cohesive thought.

"I'm so sorry," I start as I search for an excuse that wasn't the truth, "My phone broke and I didn't even think of taking the sim out while I got it fixed."

"That's a lie," Francis replies making me curse mentally, "Tell me the truth, why weren't you answering my calls? Are you safe?"

"Yes, yes," I say quickly, hoping he'd forget his first question, "I'm perfectly okay, I promise. I'm still with Damon and we're doing really good."

"So why weren't you answering our calls?" Francis presses but my brain focuses on one word in particular.

"Our?"

Francis takes in a deep breath and releases it before continuing, "I've been trying to reach you for the last two weeks and when you didn't answer at all, I told your mother."

"Francis," I groan but he cuts me off immediately.

"Eh, none of that young man," He scolds using his dad tone that made me duck my head a little, "I was very worried about you William, you never miss a call, let alone several of them over the span of weeks. Of course, I told your parents, I couldn't just leave it be."

"Okay, okay. You're right, I'm sorry. I really am, I completely blanked on our calls, I should've sent a text at least," I reply guiltily, hating the way my stomach twisted with it. "Thank you for caring."

Francis releases a breath before he continues, "your mother told me not to worry and your father... it doesn't matter. They didn't take my concerns seriously."

No surprise there.

"Until your mother realised your birthday was coming up," Francis finishes, letting the silence sit knowing just how much dread his words would cause. 

Closing my eyes, I pinch the bridge of my nose and count to ten to equip myself with the mental strength for the bull shit storm that was about to come my way.

"I am not coming home for my birthday," I say slowly, hoping to dear God that the words would stick.

"She's already sent out the invitations, the manor is being readied for the event," Francis replies gently, his anger being quickly replaced by equal unrest. 

"They don't even want me home," I protest even though I knew Francis wasn't the one I needed to fight against.

 "Questions about you have been growing more so over the months and your parents are having more trouble burying what happened than they'd like," Francis explains carefully, "Your birthday's always been celebrated with a big event like there's, if they don't have one, it'll only make the situation worse."

"So they're using they're using me to keep up appearances," I reply with a sigh, opening my eyes when I hear steps approaching me.

Damon holds Blaze in one hand before he takes hold on my own, revealing a face etched with worry as he looks down at me. His frown deep as he rubbed my hand with his thumb, a silent effort to soothe me, I wondered how he knew I was stressing out when I had tried not to be too loud. 

"I'm not coming home for that," I say again, giving Damon's had a squeeze when fear floods his eyes. 

I knew Damon could hear the conversation and I knew he'd leave if I asked, but we were long past the parameters of our safeword banshee, so I set the call to speaker and set the phone down between us. 

It was meant to be a show of trust and with how tightly Damon squeezed my hand, I knew it meant a lot to him.

"I'm afraid it's not that simple this time William," Francis says sadly reassuring me that he always did and always would care about what I wanted. "Your mother tried to call you to arrange a flight, when she didn't get through and realised my worries were valid, she sent someone out to your address."

"Fuck my life,"  I whisper, hating where this was going, "Please tell me she hasn't started a manhunt for me."

"Not quite," Francis replies slowly, "I told them you'd gone to visit a friend, I wasn't sure if you wanted me to disclose your relationship with the boy."

"Damon," 

"Yes, Damon," Francis grumbles lazily, "Hi Damon." He adds, knowing by now that Damon was always close by.

"Hi Francis," Damon replies with equal disinterest.

"Your mother had your father reach out to some contacts to find you quickly and quietly," Francis continues on begrudgingly, "With the date growing closer and the important figures set to attend the event, your father is aiding in the search as well."

I blink aimlessly at the phone as silence falls over us, my dread quickly doubling as I take that last part in.

It was one thing to avoid mother and disregard her demands, it was another thing entirely to disobey father. He'd always been a ruthless man and if his reputation was truly on the line, there wasn't a doubt in my mind that he wouldn't drag me home himself if he had to. It didn't matter if he hated me with every fibre in his being, this was business for him and that always came first for him.

Father wouldn't let this go.

I look to Sassy was laid at my feet, Blaze who rested in Damon's arms and then my boyfriend who was watching me carefully, as if looking for the moment I'd break so he could put me back together. 

I planned to silently distance myself from my family until they forgot my existence entirely, but I saw now that that wouldn't happen. They'd keep calling me back every year for this and if not this, whenever they needed me.

It wouldn't end until I became a complete burden in their eyes, and I couldn't do that from here.

If I didn't go and missed this event, they wouldn't stop until they found me, to berate me for abandoning them as they had done to me at the very least. They had the money to find me and no matter how well-protected this pack seemed to be, I didn't want to put anyone here at risk of being discovered.

"Will," Damon calls in a small whine, his worry now full-fledged distress now as he set Blaze down to take hold of my face, making me look at him. He searches my eyes deeply for an answer or sign of what I was thinking that I hoped he wouldn't see.

I had to go back.

"I'm really sorry for worrying you Francis," I say not looking away from Damon, "I should've thought to call sooner, I really am sorry. And thanks for letting me know about all this, I'll call mother when we're done here."

"William," Francis starts, and I could hear the hope in his voice, "are you coming home?"

"Yes," I reply on a sigh, hating the way Damon's face fell, weighed down by sadness I could almost feel in my veins, "but I.. I won't be coming alone."

At least, I hoped I wouldn't.

It was time I introduced Damon to my world... and to my past.

----------------------

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh shittttttttttttttttttt. We bout to open a can of worms, or I guess snakes in Will's case.

Thoughts????????????

This chapter was so long so I know there's so much to unpack. It could've been two but I didn't know where to cut it. 7303 words.... that's insane.

There was the scene with the family, Will's little panic moment, Damon and Will being cute and then the call. Sheesh. Thoughts on all of it, let me hear it.

If this book alone was a series, I think here is where I'd stop to start the second book. Like this bitch is really going to be my longest book. I hope you guys stay to the end.

Please vote and comment, I read all comments and they're super encouraging.

I'll be writing a Patreon extra next and then probably Master, cause I don't really think this is a cliffhanger. Is it?

I'm clueless.

Until next time,
Byeeeeeeeeeeee Humanssssssssssss