Aysel
The car ride back to my apartment was tense.
Magnus had insisted on following me back to the apartment, despite my protests that I could easily take a cab or call Skylar.
He’d simply given me that look, the one which I had learned meant arguing was futile, and held the door open for me like it was the most natural thing in the world.
So there I sat, in the passenger seat of his sleek black car, watching the city lights blur past the window.
I kept replaying the scene in my head.
The woman,Ivy, with her mocking smile and her attendants who practically groveled at her feet.
And then Magnus, defending me so fiercely I’d actually felt my breath catch in my throat.
He had talked about his parents dismissively even though I could see the shadow of grief in his eyes.
And then there was what he’d said afterward.
“There’s no need to know who she is.
You’ll find out eventually.”
I turned the phrase over in my mind, trying to make sense of it.
Eventually.
As if I was going to be around long enough to learn the dynamics of his pack.
It didn’t make sense.
None of it made sense.
I stole a glance at Magnus from the corner of my eye.
He was focused on the road and he hadn’t said a single word since we’d left his pack, and I couldn’t tell if he was lost in thought or simply unwilling to break the silence.
I wanted to ask him what he meant by his words but I simply kept quiet and turned back to the window.
When we finally pulled up to my apartment building, I practically lunged for the door handle.
“Thank you for the ride,” I said quickly, my hand already on the latch.
“I really appreciate it, but you don’t have to..”
“I’ll walk you up.”
I turned to stare at him.
“That’s really not necessary.”
“I know it’s not necessary.” He killed the engine and unbuckled his seatbelt with practiced ease.
“I’m doing it anyway.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but he was already getting out of the car.
I watched through the window as he walked around to my side, his movements fluid despite the bandages I knew were wrapped around his ribs.
He opened my door and extended a hand, waiting.
“Come on.”
I glared at him but took it anyway.
The moment we stepped through the front door of my building, I heard raised voices, unmistakably familiar and in a heated discussion.
I frowned and quickened my pace to the direction of the argument.
The voices sounded like Skylar and….Damon?
I paused at the sight of both of them.
True to my thoughts, it was Damon and he was holding what had to be the most ridiculously enormous bouquet of flowers I’d ever seen.
Roses.
Dozens of them.
Red and white and pink, all arranged beautifully..
And Skylar was standing in front of him, one hand planted firmly on her hip, the other jabbing an accusatory finger at his chest.
“I don’t care if you’re the CEO of a Fortune 500 company,” she was saying, “You don’t get to just show up here unannounced and demand to see her.
She doesn’t want to see you.
She made that perfectly clear.”
Damon’s face was filled with frustration and barely contained anger.
“I’m not demanding anything.
I’m simply…”
“You’re simply harassing my best friend, that’s what you’re doing.”
“I’m not harassing..
”
“You’re standing in her lobby with a bouquet the size of a small car and a proposal that you know she’s going to refuse.
That’s the definition of harassment.”
Damon’s jaw tightened.
“Skylar, I’m trying to be patient with you, but…”
“You don’t get to be patient with me.” Skylar stepped closer, her voice dropping to something dangerously quiet.
“You don’t get to be anything with me.
The only reason I haven’t called security is because I’m trying to give Aysel the dignity of handling this herself.”
The elevator dinged, and the two of them turned simultaneously.
Their eyes locked on me.
And then, a beat later, they locked on Magnus.
I watched the recognition dawn on Skylar’s face followed by something that looked suspiciously like glee.
She took a step back, her hand dropping from her hip, and shot me a look that clearly said, oh, this is going to be good.
Damon, on the other hand, looked like he’d just swallowed a sour lemon.
His eyes darted between me and Magnus, noting the way Magnus was standing slightly too close to me.
The way Magnus’s hand had instinctively moved to the small of my back, a gesture so subtle I hadn’t even noticed until now.
“What is this?” Damon’s voice was low, dangerous.
“What the hell is going on, Magnus?”
I blinked.
“What?”
But Magnus was already stepping forward.
“Aysel and I were just returning from my packhouse,” Magnus said smoothly.
“Is there a problem?”
“Your packhouse?” Damon’s voice cracked on the word.
“She was at your packhouse?”
“She was helping me with a business matter.”
“A business matter.” Damon laughed, but there was no humor in it.
“That’s what you’re calling it?”
I stepped forward, my confusion giving way to irritation.
“Damon, what are you doing here?
And why are you harassing Skylar?”
“I’m not harassing anyone.” He thrust the flowers toward me like they were a peace offering.
“I came to see you.
I heard that you’d been through something difficult, and I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine.” His eyes swept over me, lingering on the slight crease in my shirt where Magnus’s hand had been.
“I am.” I said sharply.
“And I don’t need you showing up here with flowers and making assumptions about my life.”
Damon’s expression flickered with hurt.
“Aysel, I’m not trying to…”
“I know what you’re trying to do.” I stepped closer to him, “You’re trying to worm your way back into my life.
You’re trying to make me forget everything you did to me.”
“Aysel, please.” His voice cracked slightly.
“I know I made mistakes.
I know I wasn’t there for you the way I should have been.
But I’m trying to change.
I’m trying to be better.”
I opened my mouth to respond, but before I could, Magnus’s voice cut through the tension.
“I believe Aysel asked you to leave.”
Damon’s head snapped toward him.
“Stay out of this, Magnus.
This doesn’t concern you.”
“Everything that concerns Aysel concerns me.”
The words hung in the air, heavy with implication.
Damon stared at him, then his expression shifted into something colder.
“What are you playing at, Magnus?
Is this revenge for Kael’s death?
You have never really liked me, have you?
So you are doing this to spite me.” He asked furiously.
Magnus’s expression didn’t change.
“Whatever you want to believe, Damon.”
“Don’t play dumb with me.” Damon stepped forward, closing the distance between them until they were almost nose to nose.
“Everyone always loved Kael.
He was perfect, wasn’t he?
The golden child.
The heir.
The one everyone wanted to follow.”
His voice was bitter.
“And I was always the one in his shadow.
The one who was never good enough, never smart enough, never worthy of the pack’s respect.” He scoffed, “And now he’s dead, and you’re standing here, trying to take the one woman I care.”
“Stop it,” I said, stepping between them.
“Both of you.
Just stop.”
Damon’s eyes flicked to me, and something in his expression softened.
“Aysel, I’m sorry.
I didn’t mean to…”
“Leave.” I cut in.
“Take your flowers and your accusations and your pointless apologies, and leave.”
“Aysel.
Look, I know you are angry but I want you to come back home.” He stepped closer to me, “I want to celebrate your birthday, you know, the way we did.
I have it all planned out.
I just need you to be there.
I just need you to come back home.”
I looked at the bouquet, then back at him.
And despite everything, I felt a wave of nostalgia wash over me.
Because my birthday was one of the few genuinely happy memories I shared with Damon.
Those times always reminded me of how Damon and I had been.
He had loved me and I had loved him and I had thought he was the one for me, until now.