FIRST MOVE
Damon's P.O.V
Will whispers against me. "If it hurts this much, you don't have to go back."
I didn't even know how to begin to tell Will that that was not an option for me.
Will didn't understand that things weren't so simple as to never go back. For one, there was my family to consider. It hurt to go each day without seeing them, something I didn't think I could continue for much longer, no matter how much more it hurts to go back to what I ran from. And even if I could, I didn't want to... I missed my family even with the pain that awaited me by going to them.
Being alpha wasn't something I could run from and it definitely wasn't something I wanted to run from. I always wanted to be alpha of our pack, carry on the things my parents built and further them, that would never change.
"I know," I reply gently.
Will pulls back to see me, her eyes full with worry as she looks to me. Desperate to erase it, I lean forward to kiss her. She stops me, pressing her fingers to my lips as she watches me carefully.
"You said you were going back soon." She whispers, voice fragile as if it'd crack if she spoke any louder. "Do you know when?"
Will didn't want me to go.
I'd picked up on that fact easily since the record I'd made for her where I'd admitted to needing to go home, now that she understood the situation a bit more, she especially didn't want me to leave.
She saw my family as people who hurt me and didn't seem to favor them much in her mind, though this was subtle as she knew I loved them unconditionally. I appreciated the sentiment, but I didn't want her to see my parents the way she saw her. Or at least the way I assumed she did due to her lack of mentioning them ever.
"When you're ready to come with me," I reveal, struggling not to laugh at the shellshocked look she cast my way, jaw hanging at my words. I close her mouth with a finger below her chin, kissing her briefly when her face heated at the action.
"You want me to meet your family?" Will asks unsurely, both doubt and awe to be found in her tone.
"Yeah," I reply, letting my thumb brush her cheek as I studied her. "They'll love you and so will the pack, so when you're ready then we'll go."
"Okay." She mumbles, nibbling on her lip to try and stop her growing smile.
Unable to help it, I lean into her taking her lips in a kiss that makes her tremble within my grasp. She melts into me, pressing her lips to mine with a soft whimper as I let my fingers run up her back.
I groan angrily when she pulls back with a deep frown, eyes on fire with a level of anger that made me wince slightly.
"No teasing Damon." She groans, the reminder making me whine internally and a little externally. "If you're not going to carry it on, then don't you dare tease me."
"I didn't know that kissing counted as teasing," I reply only to receive another glare.
"Damon," Will basically growls making me raise my hands in surrender.
Will had tried on several occasions to take us further in this aspect of our relationship. Attempts that drove me absolutely mad with need and lust, making it that much harder to stop her every type.
I tried telling Will that I just wanted her to better adjust to the things I was sharing with her, about what I was and the world that came with that, before we went down that road. But Will didn't give a single fuck about any of that. Protesting that she was adjusted to the concept of me being a wolf and was 'tired of adjusting herself elsewhere'.
"It's not that I don't want to." I clarify yet again, trying not to die under her angry gaze. Everything inside of me twisting with discomfort knowing I was the cause of my mate's anger. "It's that I want you to know everything before we take that step forward."
Will's expression softens then, her anger slipping away for a moment as she began pouting without knowing that she was.
"It's physically impossible to cover every detail about a species," Will complains as more of a whine, her eyes holding mine seriously. "So why don't you stop being the perfect man and let me touch you."
Why do I get the feeling that she'll have more stamina than you in this department? - Theo questions wryly his tone playful enough for me to let the subtle jab slide.
"You know I want to, but not right now okay?" I reply making the light in her eye slip away before me, the sight making my heart drop instantly. "Will."
She drops her gaze, pulling her eyes from mine as she slides off of me and rolls onto the other side. She pulls onto her side, turning her back to me, her anger a physical thing that was tearing at my heart along with the sudden separation.
"Baby," I call pulling myself against her, I look over her shoulder but she just looks away. "I didn't mean to make you mad."
"I'm not mad." She grinds out, eyes still focused elsewhere.
She is clearly mad - Theo whispers
"I just don't want to rush things," I whisper, pressing a kiss to her shoulder, hands caressing her hips gently.
"I know." She replies softly, her eyes closing as she curls into herself.
Okay, operation Make Mate Happy Again, commence - Theo instructs seriously, pressing into me to fix it.
How? How do I explain to her without telling her that we're mates? We agreed to wait a few more days for her to accept the rest - I argue making his sigh in agreement.
Mates.