"I'm not anything like I used to be, although it's true
I was never attention's sweet center
I still remember that girl
She's imperfect, but she tries
She is good, but she lies
She is hard on herself
She is broken and won't ask for help
She is messy, but she's kind
She is lonely most of the time
She is all of this mixed up and baked in a beautiful pie
She is gone, but she used to be mine
[...]
If I'm honest, I know I would give it all back
For a chance to start over and rewrite an ending or two
For the girl that I knew
Who'll be reckless, just enough
Who'll get hurt, but who learns how to toughen up
When she's bruised and gets used by a man who can't love
~ Sara Bareilles, 'She Used To Be Mine' ~
***
Their reaction is instant.
"My father was a monster..."
Salem doesn't even realize the words left her mouth until her ears ferry a stranger's voice to her anesthetized brain. A stilled silence settles around her, and any struggles from the four men end as her words echo in the air like thunder.
Still, she keeps her eyes on the wall, her face void of any emotion, even when she hears the fabric of their clothes shuffling as they turn to look at her. Ignoring the weight of their gaze, she focuses on the flickering embers of the fire in the hearth as she tries to find her next words.
For a second, she wishes she could take back what she already said, the idea of talking about ...everything... makes her blood freeze in her veins and dread fills her heart.
Clearly, needing to talk and wanting to talk are two very different things, but this is about more than just talking willingly about her past, this is about choice.
Figures...
It shouldn't be surprising, really....All it ever came down to all of Salem's life was about choice.
Or rather the lack of it.
Every single person in her life took away her possibility to choose. They stripped her of any control she had over her life and how it was lived, and - because it apparently wasn't enough - they also stripped her of her choices, her control and her power over her own body.
YOU ARE READING
HIS SALVATION
Werewolf- #1 Book in the KINGS series - * * * Two warm hands slip over her shoulders, calloused fingertips ghost over the bone at the nape of her neck, making a shiver run down her spine. Tender hands gather her hair and push the damp lock over her right sh...
