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Damon squeezed her hand and reached out to wipe the tears away. He felt her pain. His stomach twisted at the thought of what she went through. He couldn’t have that. There was no way he would allow her to be hurt by humans ever again.
“No one will ever harm you here,” he said.
“Damon, you can’t make promises like that. My dad never thought we’d be attacked. We never hunted in their territory, keeping to the forest. We never hurt anyone, and look what happened.” She swiped at the tears falling down her face. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. Was Daniel’s wife and … child?”
“The son made it. I went to his house. His wife … she’d been gutted in the same way. She had time to hide their baby. I heard him screaming. I grabbed him and ran.”
“Where is he now?”
“With the pack. We all took turns to take care of them, you know.”
He nodded.
“So that’s the saddest story I’ve got to share. What about you?”
Damon couldn’t believe what he heard. Holly’s fear and pain were palpable. The wolf within him stirred, and it hungered for blood, for revenge. He was so fucking angry that someone had made his mate feel that way. Damon paused. Mate? No, Holly wasn’t his mate. She was just his plaything. He used her for his own needs.
Ours.
The thought echoed in his mind as he looked at her.
No. He wasn’t about to let his wolf take control. Holly was just some fun, nothing else. He wasn’t going to see her as anything more. There was no mate for him.
“The packs that I … visited, they would force me to submit to their alpha,” Damon said. He pointed at several scars on his body that he’d used ink to cover. He didn’t need anyone’s pity, nor did he care to get it.
“You have a lot of tattoos.”
“I have a lot of scars.” He sighed. “They feared me, Holly. So they made me pay.” He pointed to one scar on his arm. “You see this, they chained me up, using silver. You know we’re not affected by it, but they put acid on the chains as well.”
Holly winced.
“Yeah, I had to be chained up as one by one, every single male from the pack hit me. If I broke free, I was to leave immediately. I took thirty blows before I broke free and attacked. I stopped myself from killing their alpha.”
“Why?” she asked. “You would have been able to be part of their pack. To rule them. You’re an alpha, Damon, you can’t deny it.”
“Why would I want to be part of a pack that hurt me? I wanted nothing from them and certainly not to guide them. I wanted to kill them. Another pack hunted me down and tried to kill me. The story is the same for the next five years of my life since being expelled from my home, Holly. Then I just … I gave up. I left each pack. I learned the stock markets. I bussed tables, taking every single job I could until I won big and invested well. I found this place, got it renovated, and bought up the land all around me. Slowly, piece by piece, I found myself again. I don’t need a pack. I never have.”
Holly touched his cheek. “I am so sorry those packs did that to you. They do not know what they lost.”
He stared into her green eyes. “Holly, you don’t have to have feelings for me. You’re here to keep your family safe. Remember that.”
“Oh, right, yes.” She released him and he missed her touch.
The tension in the room mounted, and he got to his feet. “I need some food.”
Without looking back, he left the bedroom, walking down to the kitchen where he found Henry making himself a hot chocolate. The man was a chocolate lover. He had to eat at least one square a day or he was a moody bastard.
“Hello, sir,” Henry said.
“I told you not to call me sir when we’re alone,” Damon said. He was still completely naked, as was Henry.
“I know.”
Henry was a wolf, but he was a weak wolf. One that couldn’t turn. During one of his visits to the packs many years ago, he’d been chained up with Henry. The men and women had raped and abused Henry for years. They kept him chained up as they didn’t think his mind was stable.
For the few days he’d been with that pack, Damon had learned that Henry was very much stable, he just wanted to leave. The pack wouldn’t let him. Why allow their punching bag to leave when they could use him whenever they wanted?
Damon had saved him when he left. They’d been together ever since. He took care of the man. Henry didn’t need to be his butler or even work for him, but it was what he wanted to do.
