Aysel
The walk back to my apartment should have been uneventful.
Magnus’s men drove Skylar and I back to my apartment.
It was weird truly, having 3 cars follow the car you are in like you are important.
Well, according to them, I was important as Magnus had instructed.
My mind was still churning with everything though.
“Ms.
Stormborn?” The lead guard, I’d learned his name was Viktor, stepped closer.
“We’re approaching your building.
I’ll have two men sweep the entrance first.”
“That’s not necessary,” I said automatically.
“It’s just an apartment building.”
“With respect, ma’am, after this afternoon’s events, we’re not taking any chances.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but Skylar cut me off.
“Let them sweep,” she said, still wearing that insufferable grin.
“I want to feel like a VIP for at least one day.
Besides, if there’s some crazy stranger waiting in the shadows, I’d rather know before we walk into it.”
Viktor signaled to two of his men, who broke formation and moved swiftly toward the building’s entrance.
And while the rest of us waited in the courtyard, I saw Damon, standing just outside the main doors with his hands shoved in his jacket pockets, looking tense.
My stomach dropped.
“Don’t stop,” I murmured to Skylar, keeping my eyes fixed straight ahead.
“Just keep walking.
Pretend you don’t see him.”
But Skylar had already seen him.
I could feel the tension radiating off her, her playful demeanor evaporating in an instant.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” she hissed.
“What is he doing here?”
“I don’t know.
And I don’t care.”
Which was true, I was past caring.
Damon’s gaze found me the moment I walked towards the apartment.
He recognized me almost immediately and looked relieved.
But that relief quickly curdled into confusion as he took in the formation of men surrounding me.
“Aysel?” He stepped forward, his eyes scanning the guards with
suspicion.
“What is this?
Who are these people?”
I kept walking, my face carefully blank.
I didn’t owe him an explanation.
“Aysel!” His voice sharpened.
“I’m talking to you.
Where did these men come from?
What’s going on?”
Skylar stepped in before I could respond, her body positioning itself between Damon and me like a shield.
“These are admirers,” she said sweetly.
“All of them.
They’ve come to ask Aysel out, since apparently someone is too blind to see how wonderful she really is.”
Damon’s face went through a remarkable series of expressions, confusion, irritation, then dawning fury.
“Admirers?” He laughed, but there was no humor in it.
“These men?
You expect me to believe that?”
“I expect you to believe whatever you want,” Skylar shot back.
“It doesn’t change the facts.
These men have shown Aysel more respect in one evening than you managed in your entire relationship.
So maybe instead of interrogating her, you should take a long look in the mirror and ask yourself why you’re the one standing out here alone while she’s surrounded by people who actually value her.”
I said nothing.
Skylar was always like this, fierce and protective, throwing herself into the line of fire without hesitation.
It moved me in ways I couldn’t fully express.
Behind us, one of the guards muttered something about Magnus killing them if he ever thought they were admiring her.
I felt a strange warmth bloom in my chest.
These men, these cold, hardened warriors who had probably killed without blinking, were afraid of their Alpha’s reaction to this situation.
There was something endearing about it.
My respect for Magnus deepened another fraction, despite my best efforts to keep them contained.
Damon’s anger seemed to ignite all at once.
His eyes blazed as he turned from me to Skylar.
“You,” he said, pointing at her.
“This is your doing.
You’ve corrupted her.
You’ve filled her head with nonsense and turned her against her own family.”
Okay, there was no way I was going to allow him to speak to Skylar like that.
“Don’t you dare talk about her like that.”
I stepped forward, positioning myself between Damon and Skylar,
“Skylar has been more of a family to me than my own blood ever was,” I continued, my voice calm despite the rage threatening to spill.
“She’s stood by me when everyone else abandoned me.
She’s defended me when I couldn’t defend myself.
So if you have a problem with her, you have a problem with me.”
Damon’s eyes widened slightly, as if he hadn’t expected me to push back so forcefully.
He recovered quickly.
“Fine,” he said, “If you want to play this game, we’ll play it.
But you need to understand what you’re walking away from.”
He gestured at the building behind him, his lip curling in disdain.
“This place,” he said.
“It’s a shithole.
You know that, right?
You’re living in a shithole while your parents are worried sick about you.”
I kept my face perfectly blank.
“Alpha Remus specifically asked me to come,” Damon continued, “He told me the address himself.
He’s worried about you, Aysel.
We all are.”
Wait, Father gave him my address?
That sounded more like a threat than care.
“Your father,” Damon pressed, clearly sensing he was making progress, “wants you to come home.
He’s promised the wedding will go ahead.
He’s promised to build you an even grander estate, something worthy of your status.
Just come back.
Please.”
He went on and on, his words washing over me like so much noise.
But I had only registered one thing.
My father was “concerned” about me.
I stopped in my tracks and turned back toward him.
Damon’s expression brightened, clearly assuming I was having a change of heart.
“Who told you my address, again?” I asked, my voice flat.
Damon blinked, clearly thrown by the question.
“Your father did.
He called me himself.
He said he was worried about you, that he wanted to make sure you were safe.”
I didn’t respond.
I was too busy cataloging the implications.
If my father had given Damon my address, I didn’t know why but it made me feel like, he’d heard something and had sent Damon here either to spy or… I shook my head refusing to think too much about it.
“I think,” Damon was saying, clearly mistaking my silence for interest, “that your father truly does care about you.
He’s just not always good at showing it.
But he wants you to come home.
He wants…”
“I don’t care what he wants.”
I cut him off before he could get any further.
My voice was calm, but there was an edge to it that made even Damon falter.
“Never mind,” I said, turning away.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Aysel..”
“Goodbye, Damon.”
I walked toward the building without looking back.
From the corner of my eyes I saw Skylar shoot me a playful, mischievous look.
She’d liked that.
I smirked.