Chapter 4 - Poppy
Musk and citrus…
It’s all around me, enrobing me in its gentle but firm embrace, like the first time I ever met the lips of my lover.
My eyes close of their own accord, and I inhale deeply, drinking in the essence of the scent that brings with it warmth and familiarity.
My fingers tingle, so I clench my fists, but the tingling doesn’t stop.
Instead, it spreads through me, pooling in the center of my chest with a tight squeeze that isn’t malicious.
No.
It’s tender and careful, like the promise of forever from the lips I know I’ll find soon.
I open my eyes, and he’s standing in front of me, eyes shimmering as if the sun only shines to make them light up. They stare at me with a glint of humor and awe, and he steps closer, reaching out with both arms extended, hands warm and firm as they find purchase on my shoulders and draw me in.
“I missed you, Poppy…” he breathes, voice rugged, oozing the kind of charm that weakens my knees and causes them to cave, and I fall into his arms with ease. Our lips collide, and the kiss is feverishly passionate, as if there were eons of distance between us.
That’s when it hits me.
A lifetime of pain and suffering has stretched between us.
Ten years…
Ten years!
The realization snaps my head back, breaking the kiss, and that’s when Damian turns into a cloud of gray smoke that whispers away with a passing breeze.
My chest tightens, a lump forming in my throat and agonizing pain slicing through me.
A terrifying howl ripples through the clearing, malicious, threatening, and a flicker of fear sparks in the base of my spine.
I open my mouth to let out the sob lodged in my throat, but nothing comes out.
Only a measly squeak leaves my lips when I wake up and realize that I had been dreaming.
“Phew!” I huff it out through puckered lips, rubbing a hand over my face when a dull ache in my arm catches my attention.
Frowning, I lift my arm to inspect it, discovering only a tiny speck of dried blood on the inside of my forearm. My frown deepens because I don’t recall hurting myself. Unless I scraped my arm before I went to bed.
But why is such a small thing hurting so much?
Shrugging it off and deciding not to dwell on something so trivial, a hand goes to my throat when it feels drier than normal. Of course, it would.
I just woke up from a dream about Damian.
Dreams about him feel more like nightmares. Or maybe it’s reality that feels more dreadful than those dreams, because in real life, Damian was too hesitant to make me his mate, causing a ripple of pain that I will stop at nothing to protect Daniel from.
Reaching over for the water bottle I keep beside my bed, I frown again when my hand doesn’t land on something solid, and that’s when I look down.
“What…?” I whisper in confusion to myself, touching the blue silk duvet covering my body.
That’s not right…
Neither is the scent of musk and citrus lingering in the air after I woke up from the dream.
I shoot upright, realizing I’m not in my own bed. The duvet is a dead giveaway, and so is the ivory sleigh bed I find myself in.
“Oh, no…”
Panic surges through me, spurring me out of the bed and onto my bare feet that instinctively carry me to one of two doors in the bedroom. I find a bathroom behind the first one, but the second one is locked.
“Shit… Where am I…?” I whisper, rushing to the curtains to draw them back. But when I do, I get the biggest shock.
There’s no way I could forget the place I grew up in for the first twenty years of my life.
Beyond the window lies Cedar Valley—the one place I swore I’d never return to the moment I set foot outside of it.
Now, I find myself back here, staring at an almost panoramic view of the town, recognizing the slopes of the mountains ahead, the assembly of trees of the forest, and the creek running like a sharp line of crystal blue water cutting through the overgrowth at the foot of a mountain.
I take a fearful step back, my heart pounding with horror. How did I get here?
Rushing forward, I try the window, but it’s sealed.
Not that it would have been helpful. The metal bars in front of the glass block the spaces I could have escaped from anyway.
And just as another realization strikes me—that the only house tall enough to overlook the town is the alpha’s house—keys rattle in the door, a metallic clank slicing through the silence.
The door is pushed open, and an unmistakable face comes into view.
“Damian…?” I murmur in disbelief, eyes widening with shock.
Damian lifts his head, but his eyes aren’t soft or sparkling like they were in the dream. They’re dark and hostile, almost as if he’s internally critical of my existence.
“Hello, Poppy Barnes,” he says, his voice cold and filled with contempt.
My heart hammers in my chest, dread filling every corner of my being.
How did he find me?
I thought I was doing a good job of avoiding him, sticking to places in Fort Smit where he couldn’t find me.
And worst of all…does he know about Daniel?
“What the hell is going on, Damian? How did you find me? How did I get to Cedar Valley?”
Damian chuckles, running a hand across his nape as he smirks. “Oh, so you recognize your home?”
“This is not my home anymore, Damian. How did you find me?”
Damian continues to chuckle as he closes the door behind him with a swift flick of his wrist before he stalks forward slowly. He doesn’t take his eyes off me, and my heart races as the seconds tick by, stretching as far as they possibly can, as if time itself is slowing down.
I gulp hard, but it does little to stop the awareness crashing into me like violent waves. I’ve only caught glimpses of Damian these past few months, and nothing could have prepared me for the face-to-face encounter and brutal reminder of how much time has passed.
He’s different, and time has clearly been good to him, even if his eyes aren’t soft anymore. His arms have filled out. Chest, too. Muscles ripple across his body, pulling his buttoned shirt tight down his torso. Even his thighs appear more powerful, his khakis hugging muscles like a second skin.
Gulping again to stop myself from the unwanted exploration of his body, I drag my eyes up where I notice the definition of his facial features.
He wears light stubble on his face, but his sharp jawline remains prominent, that boyish charm visible in the dimple on his left cheek despite the fine hairs on his face.
Then there are his lips, thick and pigmented in a deep shade of pink that has me recalling the taste of cherries on my own tongue, as if he’s closer, a mere inch away, his breath fanning my face.
But he stops a few feet away, crossing his arms in a way that shows off his bulging muscles.
He cocks his head to the side, appearing amused, his smirk staying firmly on his lips. “Did you think I wouldn’t find you?”
That’s what snaps me out of my foolish gawking, and I fold my arms across my chest, hugging myself for reassurance. It’s this same devious charm that got my heart broken the first time, and I have to utilize every ounce of willpower I possess to remain unfazed by him.
It is hard.
“I didn’t know you were looking,” I retort with a scoff, tightening my arms around myself and averting my eyes when he takes another step forward.
“I wasn’t looking,” he returns measuredly. “You can imagine my surprise when I found the infamous Poppy Barnes in my brother’s pack.”
“Infamous?” I arch a brow and turn back to face him with a narrowed glare this time. “That’s a stretch. I did not deceive your pack.”
“No,” he chuckles. “But you deceived the alpha.”
I blink fervently, not sure if Damian himself actually believes what he’s saying. “I did not deceive you, Damian. I left.”
“Yeah,” he scoffs. “You left without a word. Just so you could follow my brother to his new pack.”
His voice is laced with bitterness, but what he says is ridiculous.
“What?!” I exclaim. “What are you even talking about? I—”
“Oh, you know exactly what I’m talking about, Poppy,” he cuts in, stalking forward again as he unfolds his arms and lifts a pointed finger at my face. “You left Valley Walker, just so you could follow Dorian, because you thought he was a more competent alpha.”
This time, the absurdity of his claim has me throwing my head back, a hoarse laugh ripping from my throat.
“Really?!” I laugh. “You think I left because of that?”
Damian sucks in a breath as if he’s stifling his anger. “You disappeared the night I became alpha of Valley Walker. Then I find you living in his pack.” His jaw tightens. “Tell me that isn’t deliberate. Tell me you didn’t lack faith in me as your alpha.”
I reel at the claim, pausing to take a breath.
Does he really believe I left Valley Walker because I thought he wasn’t competent?
Is he really so daft?
But he has a point. I didn’t have faith in him, but it’s not the reason he believes… I’d lost faith in him ever taking me as a mate when I saw him with Roxanne, and met his hesitation later that night.
Shaking my head, I’m the one who takes a bold step forward this time, ignoring his scent trying to gnaw at my conscience, defying whatever I’m feeling in the depths of my being.
“I did not follow your brother to Nightclaw, Damian. I have only been in his pack for a year.”
Damian straightens up and frowns. “What do you mean, you’ve only been there for a year?”
“We—” I stop myself and bite my tongue. “It wasn’t until a year ago that I joined Nightclaw. And I had no idea your brother was the alpha of the pack. It had nothing to do with him.”
Damian raises a brow. “Where were you before that?”
“It’s none of your business,” I say flatly. “Now tell me, what am I doing here? How did you get—”
My blood runs cold, and I look down at my arm instinctively.
Of course!
I didn’t get hurt.
Damian drugged me and kidnapped me.
That means he saw me while I was out yesterday. He knew I was there.
Does that mean he knows about—