Chapter 15 - Damian
I watch Sophie from the kitchen window, my heart breaking as I feel her pain humming through the bond. She's feeling…everything…and perhaps it's what she needs to truly come to terms with what the council plans to reveal to her in a few days.
I know I should be the one telling her, explaining to her where her roots lie, and why the valley responds to her in a way that it won't respond to any of the wolves.
It's because she's different, a werewolf and witch combined to create a force that she hasn't come to terms with.
I see it in her curiosity, the way she gasps when she reaches for a blade of grass, only to watch it burn as if she put a match to it.
I see it in the way she snatches her hand back accusingly, unwilling to accept that she's the one doing that.
She's the one in control, but it's only through her emotions, which are all over the place now.
My heart cracks when she does, and I see her shaking as she sobs into her palms, barely touching her face, as if she's afraid that she'll burn herself.
Something in me snaps, and I feel the same way I felt when I forced myself to believe that breaking up with her was better for her safety. I was a coward back then, and I'm being a coward now.
But Sophie needs me. She needs the truth. And it's about damn time that I do the right thing.
I've been going about this all wrong. First, forcing her into marrying me, and now this.
“Fuck it!” I murmur under my breath and head outside.
“Sophie…” I call out gently, my tone a stark contrast to my inner voice that chastises myself, or the voice I use when commanding my wolves or sitting in a council meeting.
That's when it hits me—Sophie isn't just my strength, but she's my weakness, too.
And that's probably the most powerful bond a werewolf can ever experience.
She doesn't look back and just continues to shake, quaking as if her whole body feels the ruthlessness of her emotions. I step up behind her, cloaking her in my shadow.
When she still refuses to acknowledge me, I crouch and wrap my arms around her, surprised when she doesn't fight me or push me away. She's breaking, cracking open as if she's finally accepting what she’s becoming.
“I'm sorry…” I begin with a whisper in her ear, holding her as she cries, being the anchor she needs as she makes the transition from what I'm about to tell her.
But it's only when her sobbing subsides into soft whimpers, and her body stops shaking so much, the earth around us calming, that I pull away and meet her eyes.
“There's something you need to know, Sophie.”
“No more surprises,” she whimpers, sniffing again. “I can't take it anymore.”
I cradle her face with both hands, staring deeply into her eyes as I wipe her tears with my thumbs. “You are stronger than you realize, Sophie. You need to hear this.”
A frown flits over her face, and she nods timidly, my cue to continue.
“You are not who you think you are. You are not what you think you are.”
Her bottom lip quivers. “What does that mean?”
“It means that you're special. And I'm sorry that it's taken me so long to see it, and so long to tell you this, but you are not just a human, Sophie.”
Her frown deepens now. “What are you saying?”
I take a deep breath before I continue. “Our research team has discovered that you're a descendant of the fire pack from the south—the one wiped out by the demons many years ago.”
I pause as Sophie's eyes widen, and I feel her begin to tremble again, as if her body responds to the information, her cells remembering.
“Many, many decades ago, demons wiped out a pack in the south of Bitterroot, but we discovered that their alpha was mated to a witch. Their children must have survived.”
“One child…” she whispers, eyes glowing with recognition. “I saw it…in a dream…”
“Yes, Sophie. You're remembering who you are. Who you were born to be. It is no coincidence that you are a gifted healer and destroyer of demons. You were born for so much more.”
Sophie lifts a hand to mine, her voice trembling as her eyes fill with fresh tears. “I'm scared, Damian. I never thought…”
“It's nothing either of us can control, Sophie. I'm sorry for springing this news on you, but it's about time you understood and made peace with it.”
She cries again, sobbing against my chest as she drops her head there, and I hold her tightly to let her know that I'm never letting go.
“I know it's a lot to take in, but take all the time you need…” I whisper gently.
A long moment passes, in which only Sophie's wails can be heard, but as she cries, it's like she's releasing, letting go of her old identity to make space for this new one. I can feel it leaving her body, and she feels lighter, finally lifting her face, cheeks streaked with tears.
“I need time to process this,” she says, voice flat again as she becomes numb once more.
I nod gently, pulling away slowly when she presses her palms to the ground, and the earth's reaction is visible as it responds to her with vibration.
Moving to the side, I turn to face the river, toying with a stone in my hand as I watch the surface of the water ripple.
“I think I understand now…” she whispers as she stares at the ground. “But it's still hard to accept.”
“Of course it will be hard. You've lived your life as a human, born to the human world. You wouldn't have known unless the valley was becoming desperate, and that ritual led me back to you. Or, perhaps the demons already knew, and that's why they were after you in Hamilton.”
Sophie nods gently, lifting her face to the sky with a sigh as if she's breathing in the moon as it comes up.
“Is that why you married me? Because of the ritual? Because the valley is dying?”
I clock the insecurity in her voice, her vulnerability, and soften my voice.
“When I first learned about the ritual, I was torn. I thought it meant starting a life with someone different. Someone who wasn't you. I only went through with it to save my people.”
“But then you discovered it was me....” She lets out a nervous half-laugh.
“And I'd never been more relieved,” I admit sincerely, and a moment of silence stretches between us, so I wait for her next question.
“Why?” is all she asks.
I turn to her this time, meeting her eyes with conviction when I reply, “Because falling in love with you was inevitable.
Not because of a ritual, not because of what my pack was facing, but because it was you.
It was always you. And when I'd given up all hope that there could be a future for us, the ritual proved me wrong.
I thought I was saving you from my world, but now you're saving us in it.”
Sophie holds my gaze for a few long moments, until she breaks it and turns her face back to the moon.
“I don't know if I'm ready to accept any of it yet….”
“You said you needed time, and I want you to know that you'll have it.”
“And when it comes to this marriage?”
Her question makes me realize just how badly she'd been hurt by the breakup, and that she doesn't trust me yet. It just means I'll have to earn her trust.
“Especially when it comes to this marriage. You are not obliged to pursue anything with me that you don't want. You being here is enough already, and I won't pressure you into being with me.”
She lets out a long, drawn-out sigh that leaves the air humming with a question of my own. It's almost like the thing she can't accept is being with me, or knowing that I've always wanted her.
“The council will call you for a meeting in a few days,” I inform her when the silence becomes too heavy. “They want you to start training.”
Sophie takes a deep breath, inhaling the moon again. “That won't be necessary. I'm not ready to start training and learning how to control this,” she says as she curls her hands into fists, then uncurls them to stare at her palms.
I open my mouth, about to respond to her and assure her that I'll buy her some more time, when a chill whisks through the air, my wolf senses kicking in as the fine hairs on my nape prickle at attention.
Quickly getting to my feet when the air starts to smell like grease and death, I hold out my hand toward Sophie.
“You have to go inside,” I warn her as she takes my hand. “The demons are coming.”
Sophie rises, and her brows furrow, her chest heaving uncontrollably as she stares ahead. She can feel it, too; she feels the demons approaching, and something inside her shifts, and she shakes her head slowly, meeting my eyes.
“No,” she responds firmly, dusting her hands against her dress. “I'm not…I can't hide anymore.”
She turns to me, and there are flickers of flames in her eyes, and for the first time, it appears as if she's conscious, in control of her power, when she says, “I'm not hiding from my power.”
There's a part of me that's proud of her, but there's also a part that wants to keep her safe, and not expose her to the demons—not when she hasn't fully gained control over her powers.
But the fiery determination in her eyes tells me that there's no denying her fight; it's as inevitable as the fated mate bond.