Prey

Chapter 56

Xander's POV:

She fell asleep soon after she finished her meal.

In her cage, which I wanted to at least try to dispute, but knew that I was in absolutely no position to argue with her.

I knew that space made her feel safe, and I knew that even after our conversation, she was still on edge.

Even so, I sat on the couch and listened to her even breaths.

I... didn't want to be too far from her right now.

Ever since I saw her slip from that window I've just been high strung.

Even despite my exhaustion, my body was set on one thing until I could get myself to calm down.

To keep her safe.

Keep her safe and comfortable, anything after that could wait.

Everything after her fall as well... that way she completely fell apart as soon as her shoulder was fixed.

Watching as this girl that built herself out of titanium shrivel into fragile porcelain in my arms.

To hear the tears she never let loose in front of me, showing me on top of what I had already assumed that I had done to her.

I had broken her.

And now I needed to do everything I possibly could to put her back together.

I felt like none of that was her responsibility, she wasn't the one who did this to herself.

She held herself up the best she could until it became too much.

And if she trusted me enough, even just in that one moment of weakness, to carry some of it for her, then you can bet your ass I'll carry it to the ends of the earth.

Every time I thought back on it, the feeling of her weight falling on me, the agony in her voice, the desperation in the weak hold she had on me...

I was panicked, I was scared, I was angry. I was everything in between at the knowledge that my actions and lack thereof had pushed her to the edge.

Scrambling for a way to fix it.

Trying to come up with something impossibly quick if it just meant that she'd feel better again.

I knew that thought was a futile one, but getting her back to how she was before all of this was my goal.

No matter how long it took.

I meant every single word that came out of my mouth, and I could only hope that she knew that as well.

I couldn't possibly expect her to immediately trust me again entirely, so it still stood as only a hope.

Even if she did words alone in this aspect weren't going to be enough.

So I will do anything needed.

Any request, any want, any minuscule thing she needs to put her mind at rest again.

My recently ever-present instincts rumbled in that familiar agreement, before dissipating into the dormancy it belonged in.

I let out a quiet breath, leaning back into the couch cushions at its leave.

Now all that was left was that familiar warmth radiating from everywhere she had been pressed against me.

Especially on the skin on my back but I tried not to focus too much on it.

I didn't let myself focus on it.