《For the Taking》55 • Promise
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I had never felt more alive that was until Desmond burst through the front door of the cabin. Osiris and Desmond exchanged some colorful words when Osiris say me fall on the floor after being spooked by the sudden intrusion.
We had decided to part ways after that. I had made my way back to my bedroom but that wasn't before Osiris awkwardly offering that I am more than welcomed to come to his bedroom whenever. He further more apologized for the missing door to my bedroom and assured me that another would be replaced first thing in the morning.
I thanked him and made my way to bed that night. A lot was on my mind. Between the album, the discovery of my creepy friend and the fact that Malacoda was the definition of a monster was enough to plague my dreams with nothing more than nightmares.
I couldn't tell you how many times I woke up that night in a cold sweat. The reincarnated images of the night I thought I had no recollection about came flooding back.
Andy had been holding me down. I wasn't completely unconscious. My subconscious was still trying to fight for me and the more vivid my nightmare became the more animated I became to the point that I was waking myself up in a slick coat of sweat and gasping for air to fill my heavy lungs.
I hated myself for being so foolish. I was so hungry for love and acceptance that I had walked myself right into his hands. I wasn't "luna" material. I was naive, shy, timid, ignorant, and too forgiving. So... then why am I still here?
Obvious Osiris must be thinking the same thing. I'm unfit for such a position, but now for some reason I want it now. It was a desire I was laying to myself for the past few days. I could blame it on my wolf that was poking its head out every so often or the fact that this pack was everything I ever wanted in a pack, I just knew now that the name Luna felt perfect on my tongue.
Luna Seraphina.
I wouldn't be a good leader I thought wiping away the sweat from the back of my neck. I gazed out the window. It was heavily snowing again and I couldn't help but wonder how much snow did Osiris's pack get all the way up here in the mountains.
With sleep long gone I crawled out of bed and sat myself in my desk chair. I stared out at the snowy peaks of the nearby mountains. There wasn't much else to do at this time of night but anything was better than going back to sleep and see the image of naked Andy hovering above me.
I thought about what my life might have been had I not been cursed. I might have been really liked. My father was highly regarded in the pack and across much of the other packs. He was renowned as being the best warrior. Maybe if I wasn't cursed I would have been looked at as taking up his position with similar abilities and skills.
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But I wasn't. I was stripped of it for an unknown selfish reason that I yearned to know the answer for. I was innocent, born into this world with nothing but wonder and someone, Philip had stripped me of that, and for what?
What could a single little frail girl do. Nothing... that's what.
"Can't get any sleep?"
His voice made me both jump and smile.
I didn't miss the howl of what I knew now as my wolf inside my head or when we kissed. She or it or whatever it was, hadn't been silent since. Osiris came into the room further; enough where the moon hit off his white PJ shirt to the point it glowed.
"I get nightmares too." He muttered when I didn't answer. I think he could smell the fright right off of the sweat I wiped. It was more comfortable to think of that than the possibility that Osiris had been just watching me slept.
I could just make out the features of his face as his eyes widened. "Oh- wait- I wasn't..." He took a deep breath. "I was in my office and could here you move. I guess that's not much better than you thinking I was watching you sleep." He rubbed his neck. "I- I wasn't. I was listening. Fuck, I wasn't listening to you sleep I was just... I was listening to make sure you were safe... I-I have good hearing. You wheezed when you woke up."
I couldn't stop the laugh that came out from his rambling stutter. Never would I have believed if someone had told me that I would one day make an alpha stutter. But, here I was, and Osiris was nothing less than a stuttering mess; an adorable stuttering mess.
"I get it. You don't have to explain." It was funny to watch him scrum. The man that once made my shake in my shoes at the sight off was shifting his weight from side to side.
"Is something keeping you up?" He asked eyeing the empty bed. He didn't move as he asked for permission. "May I?"
I nodded my head. He didn't waste a second sitting down on the edge of my bed. The mattress dipped with his weight and I was utterly surprised it didn't snap under the pressure. Whatever the frame was made out of was... impressive.
"So?" He pressed. I bit my lip as I scanned him up and down.
"Can I tell you something and you have to promise not to get- crazy?"
He huffed. "Phina, I can't promise you that."
"Promise."
"I can't-"
"Promise me, Siris." His eyes dilated, no they were blown out. The nickname came naturally off my tongue and if I hadn't known any better I was pretty sure Siris was enjoying it more than I was.
He had fallen quite the only thing I could faintly make out was the raise and fall of his chest as he breathed and the slight flutter of his racing heart.
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"Pr-promise me, please." I stuttered.
He closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath before recollecting himself. "I will try my best Phina, but I can't promise you anything. It's you we are talking about."
I couldn't help but contemplate what I was going to say. The battle between sharing my inner most thoughts and leaving Siris to have at least one peaceful day were mind crippling.
Staring at him with meekness I was relieved to see him still holding his eyes closed. Maybe he kept them closed to help him maintain his composure but I couldn't be sure. I was just grateful I didn't have his dark gaze on me anymore. It made it harder for me to speak, harder for me to think.
Gathering my bearings I finally began. "I've been having the same nightmare... over and over... again." My mouth felt drier than the Sahara desert but I continued. "It's beginning to come back to me. What I had thought was a horrible dream was..." I paused watching as Osiris clenched his fists on his lap turning the knuckles white. "I'm sorry. I should make you listen to this. This is probably-"
"Stop, Phina." He opened his eyes, the darkness still lingering in them but there was a different sort of softness around them. Something that screamed safety and protection. "I want you to tell me. You don't deserve to caring all of this alone. Let me help you. Let me- be there for you."
My heart fluttered. The tingles that bursted around my skin at his touch radiated through my entire body and warmed my insides. He didn't even have to touch me for me to feel him.
Tears welled up in my eyes as all the walls I built between us came crumbling down. Relief washed over me as I curled my knees up to my chin and wiped the tears clear off my face before they fell.
Damn it. I didn't want to be like this. I was angry at myself for crying, I didn't want to be pitted. I did this to myself. I ducked my head into my knees covering my face with my curls as I quietly sniffled wishing I'd stop being this sobbing mess. Get your shit together Sera.
But I couldn't and Osiris knew that. I couldn't pull myself out of this on my own so I didn't fight him when he scooped me out of the desk chair and onto his lap on the bed. He didn't say anything to me. He just let me sob against his chest my tears that now fell freely drenching his shirt.
He rubbed the back of my head, his touch gentle and soothing against my skin. It was so soothing that I had accidentally fallen asleep in his embrace.
>>
Usually I would wake up shivering from the chill in the cabin but I awaken next to furnace. My eyes peeked open taking in whatever was keeping my warm and I was utterly surprised. Fast asleep next to me was Siris his once sharp and chiseled appearance was soft and... innocent. He looked calm, relaxed with his arm curled above his head and another resting onto his chest.
As if I was possessed I reached out to trail my finger along the day old stubble on his jaw. I didn't get a chance to touch him before he yawned and rolled over to face me. His eyes crept open and lazily closed as he offered me a genuine smile before he reopened them like they were about to pop out of his head.
He tried to get up off the bed, to put some distance between us. I guess he had never meant to fall asleep in my bed with me because as he haphazardly tried to untangle himself from the sheets he fell straight off the bed and into a heap on the floor.
I giggled peering over the edge as he desperately tugged the sheet off his head with a grunt. When he locked eyes with me he gave me an apologetic look while his face reddened.
"I didn't mean to fall asleep. That was totally out of line, I don't want you thinking that I did- I'd never hurt you. I just meant to stay with you until you felt better- your heart was still racing when you fell asleep and I- Fuck! Who am I kidding this looks all types of bad." He rambled on standing up and heading to the door. "I'm sorry."
"Wait." I shouted stopping him right in his tracks. "Don't go. I know you now Siris. There was a time I thought differently... but now I know who you really are. You aren't the monster everyone has tried to portray you to be. You aren't evil or hateful, but kind, patient, and loving even when the world tried to tell you otherwise. Knowing what I know now I can't imagine a better person I would want by my side. So... please stay."
He wasn't facing me the entire time I spoke but when I begged him to stay he snapped his head back at me. A wide smile was plastered on his face that was brighter than the morning sun. He ran back over to throwing me back into the bed.
A squeak was squeezed out of me as his weight squished me into the mattress. "Oh-shit, I'm so sorry." He rolled off of me pulling me with him as he did so. "Better?"
"Yea-" I said breathlessly. "I can breath now, thanks."
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