Delicate

Chapter 78

You really don't have to listen to this song for this chapter, but I wrote most of this chapter while this played in the background and it suits one particular scene really well. 

So, for those who like music while reading, it's Wildest Dreams the Duomo Violin Cover. 

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Damon's P.O.V

"Fuck," I bite out quietly as a gust of wind comes swirling around Blaze and me. Unlike Blaze, I didn't have the luxury of hiding in my hoodie pouch for warmth so I had to face the early morning chills on my own.

I pat the fat lump he made in my lap, smiling a little at the loyal bastard who refused to leave my side.

Somehow, my restlessness had taken us from the living room couch at 12 am to the rooftop of the packhouse at - I take a quick glance at my watch - 4 a.m.

Blaze had tried his best to stay awake and keep me company, but somewhere around one, the poor guy knocked out.

It was almost ironic that a year ago, Blaze was the one who'd been with me during the early hours of my birthday and now, exactly a year later, he still was.

"Nineteen," I breathe out into the early morning air.

How was I only nineteen?

It was insane that there was still a 'teen' in my age when I felt like I'd experience several different lifetimes within the last 365 days.

Most years, getting older didn't offer anything but a higher number to give people when they asked how old you were. There was no significant change and it never felt any different. You were just older and that was that.

This year had been the complete opposite.

My entire life had done a one-eighty and I... I was a completely different person. 

I could hardly recognise the person I was now to the one I used to be when I really thought about it. 

A year ago, I'd left a pack that I thought was full of serpents who wanted to take away my birthright. I remembered how I'd spent the entire day crying under the covers of a bed that wasn't mine, in a town I didn't know, thinking that I'd lost everything and everyone I cared about.

Today, I knew that my pack wasn't crawling with assholes who were out to get me. In fact, most people really just wanted the best for me and the pack as a whole. And my 'birthright'... I still wanted to be alpha but it wasn't the first thing on my mind anymore. 

That was now Will, always Will.
My beautiful, amazing mate who made me feel like I was worth more than all the realms' treasures combined whenever he rolled over in the morning and smiled at me. 

He always smiled, even before he opened his eyes and looked at me, he was smiling.

Because of him, I was happy now, and I was back home, getting to know my pack while I spent time with my family, my mate, and friends I would've never thought I'd have.

I had none of the things I wanted a year ago, and yet, I had everything I could ever need to live.

Well, almost everything.

I sigh as I give Blaze another comforting pat that was more for me so I didn't have to follow in my quickly rising self-pity. While I was sure I'd enjoy whatever Will and the family had planned for me today, I knew I wouldn't enjoy it as much as I would if Levi was here.

I tried, for weeks I'd tried, and still, I hadn't managed to just press that phone icon on my phone.

I didn't tell him that I missed him and just wanted to see him, and now, because of my own cowardness, he wouldn't be here today. Making this the second birthday I'd have to spend without him, and I had no one else to blame for that but myself...