William's P.O.V

"Fuck!" Liam shouts as he holds his hand to the spot Damon's fist had met his jaw, his body scrambling back as best as he could while Damon continues to advance on him. "What the fuck is w-"

Liam's words are cut off again as Damon digs his fingers into his shirt, yanking him off the floor only to knock him back down with another punch to his face before he follows it up with another to his stomach. 

Choking for air, Liam gasps and groans as Damon drops his body to the floor, watching it crumble with what I knew was pleasure with the way our bond was buzzing furiously. 

I don't think I ever felt this much joy coming from him when he was cuddling Blaze.

While Liam rolls on the floor, still gasping desperately for air through his little gagging sounds, Damon steps back towards Mekhi and me. He looked strangely calm while his fingers worked on unbuttoning his suit jacket, his posture relaxed now instead of the tense thing it'd been when Liam had approached us earlier.

With what I could feel through our bond, I honestly didn't know how Liam was still alive.

"Whatever this is, someone will come," Liam proclaims in a rasp from the floor but I highly doubted that. 

Mekhi's eyes were glowing a bright golden shade now, if someone tried to come I didn't think they'd be able to get through whatever he was doing with his magic. And even if they somehow managed it, I doubted there was anything in this world that could stop Damon now.

Ignoring Liam's groans and curses, Damon takes in a deep breath while he slips out of his jacket, leaving only the well-fitted vest I'd forced him to wear to his three-piece suit. When he holds it out, Mekhi takes the fabric from him without a word and fixes it over one arm before stepping back into place beside me. 

With his eyes on me, Damon says, "I'll stop if you tell me to," while his fingers dig into his tie's knot, tugging at it a little to loosen it, "and if you tell me, I'll do anything more you want."

"What the hell does that mean?" Liam says as he tries to get to his feet, but with a whispered spell from Mekhi, he remains glued to the floor.

Apparently ignorant to anything other that wasn't me, Damon continues looking towards me, waiting patiently for an answer. When I don't reply immediately, Damon raises a brow, seeking some sort of affirmation from me to all of this before he let himself continue. 

But to me, all of this seemed so... wrong wasn't the word. 

Even so, I find myself nodding quickly and he rewards me with one of his easy smiles that made everything feel right, even when it wasn't, and only then does he turn himself back around to Liam who was looking up at the three of us.

It felt... strange to see Liam on the floor. 

It wasn't as if joy split open in my chest like I expected it would, I thought that I'd feel some sort of unfamiliar happiness from seeing him in pain but it wasn't exactly like that. It was pleasing, it made my spirit excited to see him cower with fear, which I guess is a little sick but that didn't trouble me too much.

But that wasn't the strange feeling, it was that it also felt a little wrong. Only a little. But not in the way it should feel wrong to hurt another person, no I didn't feel any of that. 

What felt wrong or maybe odd, was to see Liam - who I'd always known to be basically flawless and beloved by everyone - being handled so hatefully. For once, he wasn't being treated like some perfect angel who was respected and adored by all, and I guess... that felt a little odd to see, strange. 

It was just different. But sometimes different was a good thing. It felt like a good thing here I think.

With Damon closing in on him, Liam looks to Mekhi or me with those wide brown eyes as if he expected one of us to go help him up, or for Damon to come to his senses and see the real enemy in his eyes. But he wouldn't be receiving any of that here and he only seemed to realise that when his gaze on Damon doesn't produce any explanation or apology, and then no form of aid or rescue from Mekhi when he looks to him next.

Then his gaze settles on me, and I didn't need my full vision to know the type of raw anger that was filling his dark eyes right then. He blamed me for this no doubt, and I guess he wasn't wrong to, but I didn't feel guilty as he clearly thought I should. 

He tries to stand again and this time Mekhi let him scramble to his feet. Righting his clothes as best as he can, Liam points a finger at me like an arrow set to its target. 

"You," he grinds out, taking a step forward. Despite the distance between us, I take one back and his miserable frown deepens even further in response. "Still afraid of me?" He asks mockingly while rubbing a finger to his no-doubt, aching jaw, "So afraid that you got someone to what? Rough me up a bit?

Did you get yourself some bodyguards to protect you?" He presses on with another step forward, his eyes glancing to Damon who was painstakingly rolling his sleeves back, "do I scare you that much William?"

I wanted to deny it, to say that he didn't scare me in the slightest. But he did.

Every part of Liam terrified some part of me. 

His voice, his presence, his smell, his posture, his laugh, his wicked smiles and evil words. There wasn't a thing in him that didn't make me want to scream and that was something I couldn't deny.

"I'm not his bodyguard," Damon says calmly, as he steps towards Liam who immediately stops his advancement towards me. "But I am his, as he is mine, and you hurt him." Damon states, his tone growing rougher the closer he got to him, "you hurt what is mine and for that, you will pay with your life."

Liam begins to reclaim his advances on me, trying to put distance between the two of them but Mekhi had somehow gotten behind him, caging Liam into the space he and Damon had created with a small smile on his lips. 

I didn't understand enough about magic and how spells worked to know what Liam remembered and didn't remember, and I couldn't necessarily ask Mekhi to explain it all to me now. But by the fact that Liam wasn't making a plea based on friendship to Mekhi, I'd guessed that that certain spell that made him think they were best friends was long lost. 

"Hurt him?" Liam repeats as if the possibility was impossible, "I would never hurt William."

From there, he starts his usual words of friendship and heartache that I'd lie about him doing such a terrible thing, but when no sort of sympathy comes from it, he switches to the accusations. 

He keeps going for a while before he stops suddenly, only just registering Damon words and understanding them for what they were. He blinks foolishly, like a lost child before he accuses, "you're fucking him."

He said it as if it was the vilest thing in the world. As if it was wrong and shouldn't be possible which just made me angry, because there wasn't anything more right in this world than what Damon and I.

"I'm doing a lot more than fucking him," I reply before I can stop myself and Damon glances back at me with a smile I knew to be proud.

It felt good to say it, to deny Liam something he thought he still controlled - me.

"Of course you are," Liam replies through clenched teeth that made the thick vein in his neck bulge. Damon looks back to him and whatever expression he wore made Liam release a chuckle that was anything but humorous, instead it was riddled with disgust and ire, "if you're fucking him then you should know that I didn't hurt him." 

Looking back to me Liam laughs again, "you were always so quick to spread your legs, weren't you Will?"

Damon's fingers wrap around Liam's neck with the most vicious growl I'd ever heard from him and strides forward until he slams Liam's head into the wall. I wince in response and watch nervously as Damon's growl builds, growing so loud I felt the vibrations through my body. Even in his wolf form, he'd never sounded quite so feral as he did now. 

Liam's eyes grow wide, whether from shock or pain I didn't know, but his sick smile remained even as he clawed at Damon's hand, "does that upset you?" Liam croaks, his words growing quieter but quicker too as Damon's grip tightened, "you must really like him them. I liked him too... loved those moles between his legs even more."

Pulling Liam's entire body back, Damon releases a bloodcurdling roar as he slams Liam back into the wall. The concrete behind cracks a bit but Damon doesn't stop, he does it again and again, his rage free now as his talons began to extend from his free hand. Sucking in a breath, I watch as he draws the hand back, ready to strike.

"Damon," Mekhi and I say at the same time and he freezes.

With my lungs closed tight, I wait with my gaze glued to his talons, waiting for the moment he'd use them. But he doesn't, he doesn't make any move as he looks at Liam who was gasping for air now, his words and any groans no longer audible with Damon's grip chocking him out.

"He's just trying to bait you," Mekhi says carefully as he keeps his distance, "do not give in to it by killing him so quickly. He doesn't deserve any form of mercy, including a quick death."

My heart stumbles over itself at the ruthlessness in Mekhi's words and my eyes fretfully flick over to him. I'd hoped to have a friend in Mekhi after all of this, but now I knew I couldn't do without it. 

He knew what happened to me and he believed me.
He was on my side.
Just like Damon and Francis, he believed me not them.

If I could hug him I would.

Mekhi's words linger in the air for a few tense minutes. Neither of us makes another sound as we watch quietly for what Damon would do now. I knew he was trying to work himself down, to work his anger away, but with Liam still squirming right in front of him, it must've been especially difficult.

Slowly, Damon straights up, his talons retracting as he lets his muscles relax a little. It takes him another moment to step back from the wall with Liam still in his grasp. 

Rolling his shoulders, he turns around to face us while lifting Liam into the air like some prize. My mind was finding it hard to take in how Damon holds Liam's body up as if it were a flimsy rag doll and not a human being's body, like it weighed nothing at all. 

Liam's legs flail beneath him, kicking out in an effort to strike Damon, but every place he did manage to hit did nothing to Damon who didn't move an inch from his place.

Damon looked... 

I didn't know what was the right word to describe the way Damon looked in this moment. It was like all the pieces I'd come to know of him, had all come together now and were on display at this very moment in equal accord... and it was something to witness. 

It pained me that I couldn't see his face properly, but what I could see, what I could feel, was overwhelming. 

He looked impossible strong, stronger than what his muscled frame showed now as he stood his ground. Like all the power inside of him was barely being contained in his human form now, a kept secret he was trying to hold together.

He looked confident too, not a spec of hesitance to be found anywhere in our bond which always showed our most vulnerable emotions, even when we didn't. And he looked calm even though I knew he wasn't. He was still growling deeply and I was pretty sure his canines had dropped, but even through that, he still looked calm as he held Liam up like he was worth nothing, like he was nothing.

Alpha. 

It was the only word that came to my mind that could possibly encompass what my mate looked like standing before me now. And even though I didn't have a completed idea of what that word meant, I could feel that that was exactly what this was.

Damon looked like an alpha.

"I could kill you right now," Damon grinds out, his voice thick with his rage, "tighten my grip or twist my wrist and you'll be dead. Just like that."

Liam chokes something out, but I couldn't make it out and Damon ignores it as he carries on.

"Your life is a useless thing. It's worth nothing, nothing. It's only a matter of time before I take it away from you," Damon states firmly, his eyes glowing now. "Hours. You'll be dead within hours and it won't be a quick thing. I'll make it last." Bringing Liam closer to him he spits, "I'll make it hurt."

When Liam's face begins to purple, and his eyes begin to roll, Damon tosses him to the floor again but this time he goes down with him. Kneeling he wraps Liam's tie around his left fist, holding him steady as he draws his right fist back, I look to the floor before the first punch can land.

I wince with every hit, my shoulders rising as I cringe the broken sounds. When splatters of blood land right within my vision, spotting the tile with the deep, red colour, I take a step back as if to distance myself from my own discomfort. 

Damon doesn't stop. Even as the blood grows and gurgle sounds begin to escape Liam, he doesn't stop. Punch after punch after punch, Damon continues delivers to Liam's face, even when one produces the most disturbing crack that makes my skin crawl he continues, but I couldn't manage when my entire mind began to bark alarms at me to stop this.

"Stop!" I call out and it came out like a sad plea. I look up in time to find Damon frozen in place with his fist mere inches from Liam's face. He stares at Liam for a long time before he slowly drags his hand back and then looks up at me. Panting slightly, he wore a small frown and what I could swear was a pout, "just stop, please."

Releasing his hold on Liam, Damon stands up without another word and cleans his bloody fist with his suit's handkerchief that Mekhi tosses him, "keep him alive, heal any major wounds" Damon instructs while as he approaches me. 

He does so slowly, probably expecting me to be wary of him, afraid even, but my heart wasn't racing because of him, and it didn't pick up its pace as he got closer.

I wasn't afraid of him in the slightest, and somehow, I felt more comfortable the closer he got now than I ever had before.

When his hands are clean, or as clean as he could get them, he holds one out for me letting me choose. Even in this, even now after all this time together, Damon would not touch me first, not at a time when he knew I needed the choice. I don't hesitate to slide my fingers over his as my splotchy vision clears enough for me to see his tense face.

Damon was angry, more than angry he looked downright homicidal with his eyes still glowing fiercely.

"Did I scare you?" He asks gruffly, his words all sounding a little growl-like. When I quickly shake my head, he lets out a short breath and tightens his hold on my hand, "then why did you stop me?"

"Because," I start as I look back to Liam who looked disturbingly lifeless as he groaned weakly on the floor, his shaking fingers hovering over his bloodied face. Liam's face was answering enough to me but when I looked to Damon again, he still looked confused, "because I think that's enough for now."

"Enough?" Damon repeats as if I'd slapped him.

"Yes," I reply hesitantly, trying my best to hold his gaze.

But that became so painful when disappointment began to fill his glowing eyes, disappointment that I could tell was aimed at me not from my words. He was disappointed in me and that was something I'd never had cast my way from Damon, and it felt horrible.

A nauseating feeling of wrongness fills me completely, making my insides twist with discomfort while everything inside of me scrambled to find a way to fix it, to find the perfect words to make it go away so that he'd never look at me like that again.

"I know he deserves more," I say quickly, my words coming shakily, "and much worse, but maybe, f-for now, this is enough."

"Enough," Damon repeats again as he glances back to Mekhi who just shrugs helplessly. When his eyes land on me again, the disappointment was still there, along with sadness and pain that I knew was all tied around me. "Will, this is the last time you'll see this piece of shit alone and that's enough for you?" 

At Damon's question, my mouth runs a little dry. When he said it like that it made me sound sympathetic like I was lost with what should've been happening when I knew inside that I should probably want more, to see worse. And I did... but something just... 

I felt like screaming as I tried to figure out my thoughts, but I didn't know what I was even feeling at this moment.

"There's nothing you want to do to him now, while you can with no one to stop you? Nothing you want me to do for you?" Damon presses almost urgingly as he tightens his fingers around mine, "Nothing you want to say? You don't want anything at all?"

As Damon searches my eyes for answers I try to find one in my mind but none appeared, no matter how hard I searched for it.

What did I want out of this?

I wanted Liam to pay, of course, I wanted Liam to pay for what he'd done to me and all he'd taken from me. I wanted him to never hurt another person again, to never make anyone endure what I had to. But that was sort of guaranteed now with the undeniable fact that Damon was going to kill him. 

I did wish that people would see what type of monster he was before he died, but that wasn't happening, not with this crowd that worshipped his family so faithfully, and for those who didn't, they had the money to sway them so that they did.

There'd been a time where I'd fought for that, for the truth to be heard by everyone. 

At the hospital, I'd had a rape test when I arrived and it pinned Liam as my attacker, but that went away so quickly with the Haynes' will at play. I tried to take him to court, tried to find a witness, someone who'd seen or heard anything that night but there were none. All footage in that area had disappeared as well so there was nothing to tie Liam to being with me that night. 

So I'd done what I could do. I told anyone who would listen what had happened to me, but all open ears slowly turned away with their pockets growing heavy, until there was no one left to help me and nothing left to do.

I'd lost everything trying to expose the truth. 

The friends I had made in university turned away from me, even the ones who believed me in the beginning, didn't when bought police had parried my accusations to be lies in the end. 

The life I wanted slipped from my fingers, with my eyesight as terrible as it'd initially been, it'd taken several months of healing and surgeries for me to get back on my feet and by the time I could manage on my own, my university dreams had withered away.

And everything that ever made me happy grew so grey when I'd spent so many endless days in nothing but pain. Liam was like he put a big, ugly drop of black paint onto the canvas I'd been working on to be my life, and nothing I could do ever took that stain away.

When every outcome became the same, time and time again, it took the fight out of someone and I was no different. I just stopped trying, letting myself care or want more because I knew I'd never get it, and accepting that was a lot less painful than fighting everyone, and losing each and every time.

And now here was Damon, standing before me asking me what I wanted from this opportunity that I probably would've killed for months ago. A chance to get revenge, to stand up to Liam without being afraid that he'd hurt me again or that someone would come to his defence instead of mine if I tried to. 

He was giving me the chance to do something, to reclaim the pieces of me that Liam had taken and anything else I wanted.

It had seemed so impossible before but as I looked up at Damon, it was like anything was possible with him. I always knew that he would give me anything I asked for, and if he couldn't, he'd find a way to, no matter the cost. And that extended into this horrible part of my life, he'd find a way to give me anything I wanted from this.

He'd make sure that I could get something back.

"Always the righteous one," Liam croaks from his spot on the floor, "William Evans, always so sweet and forgiving, naïve and desperate..." Liam continues with a dry laugh that turns into a bloody cough, "...a fucking faggot."

Damon's gaze turns hard again as he tries to pull from my grasp to lurch at Liam, but I hold him back. My firm grip on his hand keeping him beside me as he looks from me to Liam, pleading silently to be set free on Liam. 

I shake my head and he makes a sound so close to a whimper but I'm sure it was meant to be a groan.

"Even now, someone's telling you to beat me up and you're too fucking weak to do it," Liam taunts as he rolls onto his side to look at us, blood rolling down his face, "I always knew yo-"

"Shut up," I say suddenly making him quiet as he looks at me, surprised at my interrupting, something I'd have never done before, "just shut up."

Silence follows after that and I let myself bask in it. Liam always had words ready, ones that word hurt and ones that would comfort, he'd weave a web of deceit with them and only when I was trapped, would he let his colours show.

There were times I wanted to tell him to just be quiet in the past, but I'd never dared. Fearful of what he'd do, what he'd say to his parents or worse, to mine. But now, I could and I did, and nothing had happened.

He'd just shut up, and fuck if the silence wasn't amazing.

With Damon's hand in mine, I grip it firmly as I step from around him to get a better view of Liam. Damon stays close beside me, lending me his strength and fire that pulsed viciously through our bond and I let myself latch onto it like a live thing to boost my next words.

"You are a piece of shit," I say firmly, my words unwavering with their truth.

Liam laughs weakly, "you wound me, William."

"I'll fucking wound you if you don't listen to him and shut up," Damon growls, immediately silencing Liam's laughter.

Damon looks to me and I continue.

"You're a sick piece of shit Liam, and you deserve everything Damon will do to you and so much more," I pause for a moment, my mind blaring with alarms to stop before it was too late but my worries were faultless now as Liam remained quite and Damon remained at my side.

Staying close and quiet as he listened, letting me do as I pleased with his full support. 

So I force myself to carry on, feeling emboldened with him close, "you are deranged, and the most disgusting person I've ever met, and I hope that they show you no mercy when you get to where you belong. In hell!"

Liam opens his mouth to reply despite Damon's warning, but I beat him to it as I take a step closer, "I would be quiet if I were you," I say and I imagine that his eyes narrow, "you still think you've got a way out of this, don't you? You think that someone's going to find you soon, o-or they'll see what we've done to you afterwards, and they'll save you, blaming us for it all." I let out a little breath that wanted to be a chuckle, "But that's not going to happen. When we leave here, no one is going to notice because Mekhi will make sure of it, I don't know how but he will." I glance to Mekhi and he nods. "And Damon is not bluffing when he says he's going to kill you, it's not part of some elaborate plan we've put together to scare you. He will kill you."

"Tonight," Damon adds but Liam just shakes his head, his amusement falling away at my words.

Liam knew me. As much as I hated to admit it, Liam knew me very well, well enough to know when I was lying and when I was telling the truth. There wasn't a lie I'd spoken yet and he seemed to be realising that now as he looked between all of us frantically.

He had truly thought up to this point that this - his pain and suffering - would all come to an end at some point, with him on top and me wronged, as it had happened time and time again in the past. But this time, I had Damon and Mekhi, and Damon's family, and a whole pack of witches and wolves who would fight through hell and heaven to ensure that he died if we asked for it. 

This time, things could be different. No, this time they would be.

"You're crazy if you think that you're going to get away with this," Liam replies aggressively, he sounded confident albeit it, a little scared too. And of course he was sure of his words, he didn't know about the supernatural, about werewolves and witches, he didn't know what Mekhi could do but he'd learn the hard way.

"What I am, is fed up," I say with another step forward, my fingers locked with Damon's as I squeeze his hand tightly, "I'm tired of always hearing your name spoken so affectionately as if you're not a fucking rapist."

Liam doesn't reply to that. He just stares at me, facing the words people so often brushed away from him.

"You raped me and I am so damn tired of living in a world that treats you like you're not," My voice was building as I looked him dead in the eyes, my anger building as I heard my own words spoken out loud for one. "I am tired of living the way I do because of you. I'm tired of being scared all the time, of having a fucking panic attack when someone touches me, of needing someone with me when I go anywhere at night! I'm tired of all of it, and I'm fucking tired of having to pretend that it isn't all your fault!"

I couldn't read Liam's expression. I couldn't tell if it was remorseful or amused, a bit guilty or fulling with humour. I couldn't tell and it didn't matter, I didn't even care how he took any of this because it wasn't for him. 

It was for me.

"I did nothing wrong!" I shout as I glare down at him, using all the anger that had rested quietly inside of me for so long. "Everyone always makes it seem like it was my fault, like I asked for it. Like I did something and then lied about it! But I didn't! I did not ask for you to rape me, and I'm not to blame for your sick intentions! I did nothing wrong! I never did anything wrong to you and yet you fucking raped me and then you tried to blind me! You psychopath! You tried to blind me!"

Voicing the words out loud felt good but they hurt too. Sharing what had happened to me was something I could do, facing how I felt about it all was far harder. Letting others see me after I'd kept everything so tightly wound inside, and their eyes on me felt like burning light. 

With Damon, we'd worked long and hard to get to that point, and it'd been just as painful then as it was now. I doubted it would ever get easier but this felt a little good too. Looking Liam in the eye and having him face what he'd done, whether he regretted it or not, whether he apologised or not, it just felt good to say it.

"You took everything from me, and I know that's exactly what you wanted. You're so fucked messed up in the head that you wanted me to lose everything so that I'd be stuck with you. But you know what," I say as I loom over him, "fuck you!" 

Damon kicks him then. 

It was like he felt through our bond that I wanted to do it, but couldn't and so he'd done it for me without a second's hesitation. And even though I wasn't the one to have hurt him, it felt like I had and my God, it felt fucking good to see him curl into himself, in pain and afraid.

"Fuck you for pretending to be my friend." Another kick. "Fuck you for forcing your way into my life when I never wanted you there in the first place. Fuck you for ruining my life." Another. "And fuck you for ever making me think you cared about me." Panting now, I take in a deep breath and swallow my tears before they have a chance. "Fuck you, Liam. Fuck you."

Liam was quiet on the floor. So unusually quiet that I thought maybe he couldn't speak, too pained to get any words out, and maybe that was a part of it, but I was pretty sure he was too stunned to say anything.

I didn't yell. I wasn't a shouter and I rarely raised my voice because I didn't really have to.

But with Damon's push and the realisation that I finally had the chance to stand up for myself the way I never could before, I found that I couldn't hold myself back anymore. It was like everything I'd felt from that night to now came pouring out and I didn't try to stop it because it hurt to keep pretending that it didn't all hurt, when it did so much.

For months now, I'd been the one at fault. I'd been called so many names when I'd done nothing at all, nothing. 

They said I was a liar. A disappointment.
That I was confused.
That I was a jealous faggot.
That I was an ungrateful one too.

So much unwarranted hatred that I'd stopped fighting against because there seemed to be no use to it, no positive outcome. Well, I was tired of it all and I was fucking angry instead. Angry and enraged that it took this long for someone to stand by my side for once.

I grab hold of Damon's arm with my free hand, holding myself close to him while I breathe in his familiar scent and let myself fall into his comforting presence that always made me feel so much stronger.

"You ruined the life I had before Liam but I've got a better one now," I say and Damon pulls me a little closer to him, "I've somehow gotten everything I've ever wanted, even when I didn't want it, and he's everything I've ever needed, and you can't take this away from me. You can't hurt me anymore."

My breaths come in rushed, heavy exhales now as I stare down at Liam, feeling seven feet tall with a strength to me that I never dared touched in his presence but I had now and it felt fucking fantastic.

And I think Liam saw it too because he only stared, quietly from his place on the floor, where he belonged.

But he wouldn't let me have it for long, Liam would never let me have anything good and perfect, that he could snatch away from me and destroy. 

So he tries to reach for me from his place on the floor but I don't flinch away, knowing all the way down to my bones that Damon would never let him touch me, and he doesn't.

Slamming his foot down onto the outstretched hand, Damon puts his weight down on it, pressing in until the bones in his hand began to crack and break, until they shattered under him. The sound was a mix of cruel crunches and snaps like hard crisps in a fist, but it was hard to hear over Liam's loud screams.

"I told you," Damon says on a snarl, "you don't fucking touch him."

Liam continues to scream, the sound turning into something like a sob as he remained in his place, Damon wouldn't let him move an inch.

"I keep my promises," Damon whispers to me with a smile before he goes back to crushing Liam's hand

I feel myself smiling too, and my postures straightening a little too as I stood beside my mate. Pride and happiness didn't even begin to cover what I felt right now, which was definitely fucked up since Liam's hand was broken and he was sobbing beneath us now, but I was actually having a hard time trying to feel bad about that. 

So I let my smile grow and I let myself enjoy this for what it was because I fucking deserved this.

"Thank you," I say looking up at Damon who's feral expression washes away instantly as he looks from Liam's bawling figure to me. Compassion and care replace it with ease as he offers me a true smile, one that was proud too, and I knew he was really proud of me, for standing up for myself and trusting him too. 

Damon leans down to kiss my forehead and I step into the precious feeling that spread through my like a cascade of affection. When he pulls back, I lean into his side while he looks to Mekhi who was smiling widely as well, still carefully holding Damon's jacket so it wouldn't crease in any way. 

"Did I go too far?" He asks dreadfully as he looks down at Liam for a moment, his broken pleas and cries a distant thing to Damon who still hadn't lifted his foot off his hand. If anything, I was pretty sure he was pressing in harder.

Mekhi nods his head but his smile doesn't fade, "patching him up for the dinner will be a whole task in itself, but I expected something like this to happen so it's alright." He says nonchalantly, "And even if it wasn't, it was worth it."

Mekhi looks at me, giving me a little nod that makes my smile grow even bigger. That was it. Mekhi was my friend, whether he liked it or not, he was now my friend, one that I planned to keep forever.

"But if you stopped now that would make my life a lot easier," Mekhi adds as he steps up to the other side of Liam.

"But his screams sound so nice," Damon says wistfully as he looks down.

Mekhi rolls his eyes as he looks at Liam carefully, "dinner should be starting soon and if we're not back, someone will start searching for us."

Damon groans like an upset baby but he nods nevertheless as he lifts his foot begrudgingly and takes a step back with me. With a shake of his head, Mekhi hands Damon his jacket back before he bends down and prods at Liam with a finger as if he were a little science experiment.

Humming under his breath, he rolls his palms together before resting his face in his hand, "I can heal his wounds so that he goes back without a scratch," Mekhi explains while looking Liam over, "or - and I like this option - I can use a cloaking spell, one that would fix his outward appearance, while keeping most of his injuries present underneath."

"I like option B," Damon says before looking at me for confirmation.

"Option B sounds like the best course of action," I agree with a nod.

"Say no more," Mekhi replies with a smirk, his eyes glowing a unique yellow before he adds, "alphas."

I smile at that, my chest filling with pride as I take in the word that I knew to be a compliment with a silent promise to myself to live up to it to the best of my ability. I liked hearing both alpha and luna, they both felt right when I let myself take in that side of who I was meant to be, it felt good too.

Though I didn't think I was ready to be an alpha or a luna, or even the mate to one any time soon, there was still so much to learn and pick up. But I was willing to try, to learn all I needed to about this new culture and the world it belonged to so I could be the best alpha or luna or whatever for my people.

Because that's what they were, my people. The pack was home now, and there wasn't a single part of me that didn't want all that came with it.

When Damon's foot begins to inch closer to Liam's hand again, I pull him to the other side of the room to give Mekhi space to work. 

I smile up at him as I lift my hands and begin fixing his tie into place. Damon looks down at my hands before he grins at me, his eyes knowing but loving as he let me work.

"I feel good," I answer to the silent question I knew Damon was itching to ask. Damon jumps a little before his cheeks heat up slightly with shameful guilt. "It's okay to ask, I'm alright."

"You feel good?" He repeats in a question and I nod, "I didn't push you too hard."

"No Damon," I reply with a kind smile, "you helped me cross a line I was too scared to even look at again, and for that, I love you even more... which I thought was impossible to do, so A+ for you."

Damon's chest fills as he straightens at that reassurance, his eyes glowing brightly with his pleasure, and I could almost imagine a tail wagging furiously if he was shifted now. 

"And I didn't scare you at any point?" Damon checks as I flatten my hands over his suit and shirt, fixing it back into his trousers properly so he didn't look so rumpled after his mini arm workout on Liam's face. 

"Not even a little," I confirm and he nods.

"One more question," he hazards carefully and I chuckle.

"What is it?" 

"Are you ready?" He asks, his gaze turning serious. "What comes next is your parents and all those bastards out there, are you ready for that?"

In truth, I don't think I ever felt as confident in myself as I did right now.

Confronting Liam with everything I felt and thought was like getting on a high that I was still riding, the fire hot under my ass showed no signs of dimming any time soon and I was more than ready to unleash it all on my parents and everyone else out there.

"I am," I reply and the confidence in those two words spoke for itself because Damon didn't press the matter any further. He only nodded his understanding before he slipped his suit jacket back on, completely the perfect picture he made in a three-piece suit. 

"You're staring," Damon mumbles with a smirk.

"I feel like I'm allowed to stare since you're all mine," I reply as I raise my eyes to his.

"Yes, but do you think it's appropriate to be getting all hot and bothered with me now William?" Damon asks seriously and I feel a wide smile pulling at my lips.

"It's not, you're right," I agree, biting my lip to hide my smile, "so when it's an appropriate time, I'd like to get all hot and bothered with you, and I'd like it very much if you wore a suit at that time."

Chuckling to himself, Damon nods his head and takes my hand in his again, "I think that can be arranged."

With that settled, I check Damon over one last time before we go back to Mekhi who was still at work on Liam who was babbling quietly now. I ignore him and watch with wonder as Mekhi chants the words to his spells that I couldn't begin to understand. There was no sign of magic beyond Mekhi's eyes that still glowed, and the disappearing marks of damage on Liam's body. 

He was still sobbing, though quietly now in his little ball of trying to protect his broken hand, but his bloody face was no more and all the stains it had caused to his clothes were gone now. 

Magic was still so fascinating to me, and though I hadn't had the time to let my curiosity surrounding it be explored, I really hoped that one day Mekhi would explain it in greater detail for me. 

From what I'd seen, there seemed to be no boundaries to what a person could do with it. I knew it took a lot of effort, a mixture of energy and very complicated spells, but once those were mastered, the sky was the limit. Teleportation, mind control, healing abilities, those were just the tips of the iceberg that seemed so colossal. 

I often wondered if it could fix my eyes. 

It should be able to with everything else, but I never let myself ask Damon about it. Voicing that particular wish would get my hopes up, and if the answer turned out to be no, then that would just suck ass. So I tried not to think about it too much.

But now, seeing Mekhi work, I thought on the other things he may be able to do. Things that I would've pegged as impossible, things that I would've done anything for after the incident with Liam that seemed like they'd never come through. But maybe with Mekhi's magic...

"That should be enough," Mekhi breathes out as he withdraws his hands from Liam and wipes them on his clothes while he straightens to his full height, "another compulsion spell, one a little stronger this time, should hold him through the dinner."

"I honestly have no clue how I expected to get through this without you," Damon admits as he pats Mekhi's back.

Mekhi winces a little but doesn't pull away, "I honestly don't think there's much you can do without me."

"Ah, someone's in a good mood," Damon teases with a little shove, "you only make jokes when you're happy."

"Well," Mekhi concedes with a shrug, "it was all very satisfying to witness."

"Mekhi," I start as I butt into the conversation. Both men fix me with their undivided attention, still wearing their pleased smiles even now, "you're magic... can you..." I fumble for the right words, "what are the limits to your magic?"

"Theoretically, there are none," Mekhi replies thoughtfully, "but in reality, there are several, too many to name." I slump a little but Mekhi carries on quickly, "it'd be easier to tell me what you want, then I could give you a yes or no answer."

"Can you..." I start carefully as my mind begins to light up with long-forgotten hope, "can you make him speak truthfully, about what happened?" I ask as I look down at Liam who was still cradling his hand quietly.

Mekhi doesn't even think about it, he just nods. 

"R-Really?" I ask, my heart beating faster now.

"I've told you that my strongest spells deal with the mind," Mekhi reminds me with a chuckle, "matters that aren't fabricated are even easier to handle than those I have to twine together myself. Plus after Damon's beating, this guy's head is basically saying free-entry right now."

Resting a gentle hand on my shoulder, Damon looks down at me unsurely, "you want him to speak at the dinner?"

I nod slowly as I roll the idea in my head, a little unsure and hesitant at the thought of how it could all fall apart, "I want him to admit what he did to me," I say looking to Mekhi, "when I'm done, before we leave, I want them to hear him admit it."

I felt like a screenwriter, putting together the pieces of a new play, where things would go the way I wished them to and where people would only speak at the points I let them. But if this was going to be a one-time show with my last appearance on this stage, then I was going to make it count.

"Do you have enough energy to do a spell like that, plus everything else?" Damon asks as he looks to Mekhi who folds his arms, looking a little smug.

"I stocked up, remember?" 

Damon blushes, and Mekhi and I smile, a laugh escaping me even as I tried to bite it back.

"It was a yes or no question," he grumbles under his breath.

Rolling his eyes, Mekhi looks at me and answers, "yes."

I nod with a lurching heart as my brain tries to remind me of all the times I'd tried to get others to hear me, to believe me, and all the times I'd subsequently failed afterwards. But I push those thoughts away and focus instead on all the reasons why this would work, why this time would be different.

There were more reasons to trust in the plan than to doubt it, and I was choosing to trust in it.

This time would be different

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AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm sorry, I just love these characters so much and I've been writing this book for so long, and this was a scene I always wanted and it came together just how I wanted it to and I'm so fucking happy!!!!!😭😭😭😭😭

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

Damon going ham on Liam's ass is a new favourite and when I tell you I CAN NOT WAIT to write what goes down with him and Mekhi when this is all over. Bitchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

The Will scene only came recently to me as I was rereading for the 100th time and I realised that he'd never once mentioned getting revenge on Liam, or making him pay in any way. It was always about his parents, and I started thinking about it and then this happened!

I seriously hope and pray you guys liked this chapter because I'll go run away if you didn't lol, no I won't, but it'll be a mess. Anyway, leave thoughts and vote up if you enjoyed it.

I'm really excited for the next chapter and I'm so happy I posted these chapters now, it's already a big help going forward.

Until next time,
Byeeeeeeeeee Humansssssssssss