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"Definitely the first one,” she concluded. “I support the second part wholeheartedly.
Yup. I love this woman.
"My Sweetness is such a psycho,” I teased and slipped my arm around her waist as we began to walk again.
“You’re just as psychotically possessive as I am,” she noted. “Only you’ve been nicer lately because I almost died.”
“I haven’t been nice,” I reasoned.
“You’ve been keeping those who tried to harm me in a freezer instead of tying them up in some warehouse and leaving them to beg for mercy as they starve and eventually die from dehydration,” she compared. “Before you get Milo or Saint to revive them and let the suffering happen all over again.”
“The freezer isn’t a good punishment?” I genuinely asked while I thought about it.
"Freezing to death sucks, but if you fall asleep, you just die from hypothermia,” she pointed out. “That’s not a lot of suffering, Neo.”
“And she’s right,”my wolf testified, as if I needed his opinion.
“Guess I have to fix that,” I noted as we reached the end the hall and came to a stop. “You need to go that way.”
She frowned at the idea of us parting ways, but I decided she deserved a glimpse of why we had to take this specific path.
“But I owe you something first.”
“Owe me something?” Her intrigue washed away her disappointment as she peered into my eyes which were surely swirling with my vivid red magic circles. “What does Neo Rodriguez owe me?”
“Well,” I began and brought her close until my arms were completely hooked around her waist and my lips were pressed firmly against hers.
She melted in my hold as I kissed her long and hard before I picked up where I left off. “I owe you a VIP experience.”
“VIP?” She was surely confused, but the lights began to brighten until we stood before the very piece of artwork whose reveal she’d been anticipating.
Her attention diverted to the masterpiece next to us. Her orbs of blue were now massive saucers as she took in the art from head to toe.
Her emotions whiplashed through me as she connected the various dots of color that formed her beautiful body. Her silhouette was completely white while she was surrounded by a tornado created of all the various swirls of paint.
I felt her amazement as she admired every detail that was presented to her, followed by the immense pride that blossomed within her at the courage she gathered to participate in the task I had requested of her weeks ago.
Next were the specks of sadness that triggered her brewing tears that she fought to blink away and a bout of happiness at being able to be the first to witness what was precious to both of us.
I moved silently until I could hug her from behind. I wished to give her the support she needed but didn’t want to interfere with what she was experiencing firsthand.
This was something she’d only experienced once. I wanted to allow her the raw purity of enjoying a moment as it came undone and flooded through her with immense purpose.
After that exercise, she deserved to witness this. To be reminded of what a badass she was and how she’d grown since then.
With everything that had happened, I knew Willow was fighting what we were all trying to escape from.
The sensation of defeat.
Challenge after challenge left us victors but made us question our capabilities and self-worth. We felt defeated in the hidden game that our enemies were playing—their desperate desire to dwindle our confidence by drilling us at every possible angle.
I needed to remind Willow before she stepped upon the runway that all those challenges, battles, and emotional turmoil brought her to this moment.
Despite her imperfections, her struggles, her emotional imbalances, and her ongoing hardships, she was truly a survivor.
"I wanted to remind you of what a survivor you are,” I whispered into her ear as I held her tighter. "How beautiful you are in your state of purity. I called this piece R.A.W. because it’s the true reflection of what many feel in our world. Despite being shifters, every being experiences what it’s like to feel completely naked and vulnerable to the world as all our insecurities come raging in. We become a canvas, blank upon a wall with all eyes on us, and we fear that our flaws, actions, decisions, and failures will all show up for everyone to see, judge, and mock.”
The lights began to dim again, and I noticed how her eyes further widened as the canvas began to shift—the silhouette of white now presenting a tattooed woman with all her scars and curves. Her skin glowed with various shades of neon while the unique images of her incantations, markings, tattoos, and scars glimmered thanks to the twinkling sparkles of glitter that only heightened her beautiful radiance.
