Chapter 121
Chapter 121
Trigger Warning: This chapter contains experiences of abuse and s3xual assaultnothing explicit, but
please take care reading..
Sinir
E’s small body ispletely stiff in my arms, even though we’re in her favorite
ce. I’ve only bathed with her once before, but it didn’t take a rocket scientist to
figure out how much she loves a bubble bath. She takes at least four a week, and
when she’s upset I’ve known her to have a bath even after showering. Until I spoke
with Cora about E’s self-care practices, I didn’t understand the connection to her
childhood experience of neglect, but now that I know I’m determined never to deprive
her of thefort even if my water bills go through the roof and the city goes into a
drought.
“Are you ready to talk this out, trouble?” I inquire, resting my hands on her round
tummy and feeling a pulse of stress from the baby. A fresh spark of worry assails me,
and I know that Rafe is channeling his mother’s fraught emotions. E doesn’t
respond to my question, and I press on, realizing that the poor little wolf isn’t going to
rx until she knows l’m not going to reject her”
Sweetheart, it never even crossed my mind to end things. I love you
E’s muscles tighten further, though I didn’t think such a thing was possible.
“But..She stammers, twisting around to look at me, “but you left!”
Im sorry that I walked out.”I reply gently, grazing my knuckles over her cheek. “But it
wasn’t because I ever had doubts about us.”I share, wondering about my sweet
mate’s reaction. I know some survivors of child abuse view any confrontation as a
disaster or threat, but E has weathered my anger in the past without any signs of a
trauma response. “I was angry that you thought you don’t contribute anything to our
rtionship, and my wolf lost it when you suggested you couldn’t be my Luna. The
idea of losing you pushed me over the edge, and I needed to calm down before
continuing.”
E’s brow furrows, and I can see her grappling with her emotions. “Dominic, I didn’t
just think you might end things.” She whispers, staring at the water. “I wasn’t even
sure you’de back.. think.. I think maybe I have some abandonment issues I
wasn’tpletely aware of. And Mike’s betrayal and learning that I’m a wolf has
thrown them into very sharp focus.”
Understanding washes over me, and I gently flip her body the rest of the way over.
When E is facing mepletely, I snuggle her to my chest, lowering my knees so
that she can straddle my
have left you when you were already upset, I just don’t trust myself not to say things I
don’t mean when I’m that angry. The same way I would never make a pack ruling or
deliver a punishment in the height of a fury. I think taking some space in the heat of
the moment can be healthy, but maybe we can find some way to take breaks in fights
without too much physical distance.” I suggest. “But even if we can’t, you need to
know that no matter how far I go or how long I stay away, I will alwayse back to
you, E.”
E whimpers, and her arms tighten around me. “
Thank you,” She hups, “and I’m sorry I said I couldn’t be your Luna, but you have to
admit that I’m not pulling my weight here. This isn’t the first time I’ve tried to be there
for you and failed.”
“E, look at me for a moment.” I order, sliding my finger under her chin and pulling
her eyes up to mine. “First of all you take care of me all the time. You saved my
campaign. You keep me calm
when l’m being an ogre You stand up to bullies like the Prince and Lydia, and you
share my burdens even when I don’t want you to. Moreover, I need to dominate my
mate. It’s in an Alpha’s DNA to nurture and protect. If you didn’t let mefort and
take care of you, I would be a mess.”
E frowns. “But I didn’t let you. I panicked.
“That’s the other thing.” I sigh, recalling the terror that came over her beautiful face
when I suggested tying her up. I’ve growled and grumbled at E a thousand times.
I’ve put her over my knee and overpowered her countless times without any issue. In
fact most of the time her wolf responds to my bossiness like a bee to honey. “I think
we both know this didn’t happen randomly. I identally triggered something specific,
didn’t I?”
I’m still holding E’s chin, but her eyes look anywhere but at me. Slight pressure
nudges my fingers as E gives a slight nod, and then her wide gaze returns to mine,
suddenly so vulnerable that my heart aches. “Do we have to talk about it?”
I wish I could tell her no, promise that she won’t ever have to relive her painful
memories, but I know that wouldn’t help anything. “We’re in a s3xual rtionship, E.
I can’t avoid your triggers if I don’t know what they are.” I reason, “and keeping these
things buried only causes them to fester.
Tears well in those brilliant gold orbs, and I hate knowing that I’m causing my mate to
cry for the upteenth time today. “Do we have to talk about it now.
I think so.” I resolve gravely. “It’s never going to hurt any less, and the sooner you tell
me, the sooner it will be over with.”
E nods again, and I let her rest her cheek on my chest as she begins to speak. “The
orphanage had these dormitories that were divided by age. So the youngest children
would share a room, and the older we got, we would move up ordingly. Cora is a
year older than me, but when she turned eleven and was going to be moved into a
dorm with the older girls we both panicked a bit. We’d always been together and didn’t
want to be separated, and she also used to crawl into my bed at night when she had
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nightmares – which was most nights. She was afraid that the older girls would make
fun of her, and I didn’t want to leave her without a friend when monsters visited her
dreams. Long story short, I pitched a fit so they would allow me to move with her.”
“I remember being surprised at how easily they agreed, but the dormitory matron
seemed really pleased to have me.” E pauses, taking a deep breath. “She was
always telling me how pretty I was.. and that she’d had her eye on me for some time. I
didn’t understand what she meant, but she always gave me a really uneasy feeling. In
hindsight I think that might have been part of why I was so determined to stay with
Cora… I think my instincts were warning me that the new dorm wasn’t safe.”
As E speaks, my wolf is growling louder and louder in my head, his energy
bing more vicious and unhinged by the moment. We both know what ising,
and suddenly I’m doubting whether or not I’ll be able to stay calm enough to hear this.
“The first night in the dorm seemed normal at first. Lights out was at eight, so everyone got in bed and
everything shut off. But when the clock struck midnight, everything changed. I remember waking up
with Cora beside me, and all the other away.”
“I watched them sneak behind curtains, in cupboards, behind furniture and into any nook and Cranny
they could find… They were hiding.” E exins hoarsely. “I tried to ask what was happening, but no
one answered. I had enough sense to realize something was very wrong, so woke Cora and told her to
hide. She climbed into theundry basket, and I got under my bed and held myself up off the floor,
bncing my hands and feet against the underside of the bed frame”
“The matron came in about a minuteter, and she didn’t say a word, she just began searching. She
must have been excited that there were new children to prey on, because she found some of the
veteran girls and just ignored them. She would open a cab, peer inside, and cluck when she saw
the trembling child inside, then close it up as if nothing happened… Then she found Cora.”
E’s eyes are clenched shut, and I’m trying to calm myself down enough to purr for her, but it isn’t
easy. “I didn’t know what was going to happen, but every instinct I possessed was screaming with
rm. I knew that it was bad and I didn’t want Cora to be hurt. so I jumped out of my hiding spot and
made sure she saw me. I told her… I told her to take me instead.”