Bonus Chapter 5

I shove the door open so hard it slams against the wall.
The man behind the counter is towering over her small frame, his hand clamped tight around her bony wrist. Poppy’s eyes snap to mine—wide, glassy, full of terror and unshed tears. My wolf roars inside me, claws shredding through every ounce of restraint I’ve got left.
“Step. Back,” I growl, my voice low and feral. 
The bastard straightens, smug despite the tremble I see in his fingers and the fear in his filthy aura. “Who the hell are you?”
I take three steps forward, each one calculated. Dangerous. “Her boyfriend.”
He scoffs. “Another one? Jesus, what is she, a damn sl—”
I don’t let him finish.
My fist crashes into his face with a sickening crunch. He flies backward, slamming into the wall hard enough to make the shelves rattle. He slumps instantly, crumpling to the floor in a heap.
Poppy gasps and stumbles back, her hand free now, red from the pressure. She doesn’t stay away though—she moves fast toward me, like she can’t help it. 
Like her soul knows where safety lives.
She crashes into my chest and clings to me like she’ll drown without it. Her whole small frame shakes, trembling like a defenseless animal caught in a storm.
“Sunshine,” I whisper, wrapping my arms around her, shielding her completely. “You okay?”
She buries her face in my shirt, her voice muffled and broken. “I didn’t want you to see this. I didn’t want you to see me like this.” She sniffs. “Not you.”
“Too bad,” I growl. “You’re mine now. I told you, sunshine—no one touches what’s mine.”
She sobs harder. Her fingers tighten in my jacket like she’s trying to melt into me. Then her voice slips out, small and shaking and cracked in the middle.
“I’ll never be like my mother... I’ll never be so strong like her. She could destroy people with a word. And me? I can’t even scream when someone grabs me. I freeze. I break. I—I couldn’t even stop him.”
I hold her tighter. “Poppy—”
“How could I ever think I deserved Lily? Or you? I don’t deserve either of you.”
“Don’t say that. Do not ever say that again.”
She lifts her face, her beautiful eyes wide and wet and burning. “I’m not like her. I’m not strong. I’m not powerful. I’m not brave.”
I cup Poppy’s cheeks gently, forcing her to not look down. “You don’t need to be cruel to be strong. You don’t need to hurt people to be powerful. And what you just did—standing there, trying to work, trying to survive—that’s braver than you think.”
I remember my mother... Everything she had endured to raise me. Without any power. Without any help.
“You’re kind, sunshine. You’re good. That bastard used fear, not strength. There’s nothing brave about hurting someone smaller than you. But it takes a hell of a lot of courage to be gentle in a world like this.”
Poppy hiccups a sob, her pouty lips trembling. “But I just froze. I didn’t even run.”
Her eyes shimmer.
“You did. You ran to me. And now? You’re here. In my arms. And I swear to the Goddess above, I will never let anyone touch you like that again.”
Thank fuck she isn’t like her mother. That evil witch!
I bend down so she can wrap her arms around my neck and cling to me, and she does, like she’s anchoring herself. Then I lift her into my arms, holding her bridal style, pressing a kiss to her forehead.
“You’re mine, Poppy. And that means you don’t have to fight alone anymore. Not ever. You don’t even need to fight if you don’t want to. Because I’ll do it for you. Always. You just need to be you, sunshine. Not your mother.”
She doesn’t answer. She just cries into my chest and lets me carry her out of that place.
I drive her home, one hand on the wheel, the other wrapped tight around her trembling fingers. And I don’t let go. Not for a second.

🐺 🐺 🐺

The second I close the door behind us, Poppy curls into the chair like she wants to disappear. She hasn’t said a word since the drive home, and her small hands keep rubbing her wrist even though the asshole barely left a mark. Doesn’t matter. In her mind, he did more than touch—he shattered whatever piece of safety my girl’d built inside herself.
I crouch in front of her, gently placing my hands over hers to still them. Her skin is colder than mine. Pale. 
“You’re safe now, sunshine.”
She nods but doesn’t meet my gaze. Her eyes are somewhere else. Somewhere dark and far away.
“C’mon,” I murmur, brushing a knuckle along her cheek. “Let me take care of you.”
She hesitates, then gives me the tiniest nod.
I scoop her into my arms, and she clings to me like a scared kitten. She’s trembling, her eyes wide and glassy, and her fingers dig into my jacket like if she lets me go, I’ll disappear.
Their house smells faintly of the cleansing products I saw Lily cleaning yesterday. Everything in here is worn but clean, cozy in that crooked, lived-in way. 
My sunshine is barely holding herself together. Her voice is small when she says, “I’m sorry. I can’t stop shaking.”
“You’re safe now, sunshine. I’ve got you.”
Poppy leans into me, her face buried in my neck as I take her into the bathroom. It is barely big enough to stand in, but I manage to turn on the water, testing it until the steam begins to fog the small mirror. 
I sit her gently on the edge of the tub and start peeling off her hoodie. She flinches, and I stop.
“I’ll stop if you want me to.”
“No,” she whispers. “I… I want you to stay.”
I nod. “I’m not going anywhere,” I whisper, stroking her sweet face. 
She’s trying to be brave. My sweet, trembling girl is trying to hold herself together, and it’s killing me.
I slowly and carefully help her out of her clothes. Piece by piece, I undress her. She’s not a she-wolf. Unlike Lily, who I grew up with, I’ve never seen Poppy naked. Lily and I are both werewolves, so it was natural that as soon as our puberty hormones kicked in, we started looking at each other differently, and it wasn’t long before that that I couldn’t keep my hands off Lil, and she couldn’t keep hers off me as well.
But although my little witch isn’t ashamed right now, she is fragile. Her skin isn’t like mine. It’s like my mother. Easy to break. That’s why I handle my sunshine like she’s made of glass. 
My fingers tremble, not from lust, but from the rage still simmering under my skin. I could’ve killed that bastard. I still want to.
But Poppy is my priority.
Once she’s bare, I guide her into the tub. The warm water seems to pull the tension from her limbs. She relaxes by degrees, her head resting on the side of the tub, her lashes fluttering. I lower myself, kneeling beside her after rolling up my sleeves. Then I soak a cloth and run it gently down her back, her shoulders, her arms. 
She sighs.
She’s so small and thin. And I don’t think it’s by her choice.
“Mother would’ve turned that man into ash,” she whispers. Her eyes flutter shut, lashes wet with the tears she’s still holding in.
I do believe that evil witch would do that.
But not my Poppy.
She swallows hard. Her voice is barely there. “I know she was cruel... But she was powerful. I’m just… soft.”
I lean forward, resting my arms on the side of the tub. “You think soft means weak?”
Poppy nods slowly.
I reach out and cup her sweet face, my thumb stroking her cheek. “You held onto your light in a world that tried to smother it. You just didn’t kill that asshole because you are damn good, baby. And that’s strength. That’s power.”
She bites her lip, trembling. “I don’t know how to protect anyone, much less myself. I’m just… small. I wish I was a better mate to you and Lily.”
The pain in her voice guts me.
“No,” I snarl, my voice fierce. “You are not small to me. You are precious. So fucking precious. To Lily. To me. You hear me?”
Poppy meets my gaze.
“You’re everything to us, sunshine,” I whisper.
Her breath hitches. Her bottom lip quivers. “But—”
“No buts. I will burn the world down for you, Poppy. Don’t you ever say you don’t deserve us. You belong to us. You’re ours. You’re mine, Poppy. Mine. And I don’t care how many lifetimes it takes to prove that to you.”
Then Poppy leans forward and kisses me. Soft. Shy. But there’s a hunger under it, trembling like a flame that finally dares to flicker.
She’s so sweet, so delicate.
Her lips are soft, cautious, unsure. But the second I respond—deepening it, taking her mouth like I’ve wanted to since yesterday after I met her—she sighs into me, hands gripping the sides of the tub.
I slide one hand into her damp hair, and the other I cup her cheek. She gasps into my mouth, and I swear it’s the sweetest sound I’ve ever heard.
I pull back just enough to look into her doe eyes. “Can I touch you, sunshine?” I ask at the same time that I kiss her forehead, then her cheek, then lower—hovering just above her lips.
She nods, her cheeks flushed. “Please.”
That one pleading word undoes me.
She’s trembling, but not from fear anymore.
From something else. I can see it in her aura.
Need. Longing. Relief.
I pull back, breathing hard. “Let me dry you off.”
She nods, her pupils blown wide.
I wrap her in a towel and carry her out, setting her gently on the bed. She’s still wrapped up tight, her knees drawn in, her straight hair damp and a bit wild around her face.
I kneel in front of her again, hands resting on her thighs. “I’ll make you feel good,” I say. “I want to show you what it means to be mine.”
She blushes so hard her neck turns pink. She bites her lip again, hesitant. “I’ve never... Uh, I… just Lily, I...”
I kiss her thigh, just above the towel. “I know.”
I try to control the happy smile on my face, knowing she’s never had sex with anyone other than Lily before. That means she never has a cock inside her. My wolf howls in my mind.
Fuck, Lily’s right. I’m a possessive bastard.
I’ll not take that for granted. I swear to the Moon, I’ll treat her like she deserves. Like the sacred little thing she is.
I slowly unwrap the towel, watching Poppy’s body unfold like a delicate flower. She squirms, hands gripping the sheets, but she doesn’t stop me. Her breathing turns shallow, her chest rising in fast, nervous waves.
I press a kiss to her knee. 
Then higher. 
Her breath stutters. 
I look up at her. “Tell me to stop.” 
She doesn’t.
“Do you trust me?”
She nods, breathless.
I lower myself between her thighs and kiss the inside of her soft thigh again, slower this time. She whimpers.
I can feel the tension in her, the way she’s trying to stay still, trying not to panic or retreat. I keep my movements gentle, my mouth soft and steady as I take my time.
And when I finally press my lips to her pussy—she gasps.
“Az—”
“Shh,” I murmur, tongue flicking out.
She trembles. Her thighs quiver.
I take my time with her, slow and worshipful, teasing her gently, letting her relax into the sensation. 
I can hear someone approaching the house.
*It’s Lily*. 
Poppy’s shy fingers try to reach me out once, but they retreat before making contact, then she tries again, and this time she tangles her finger in my hair, weak at first, then tighter. 
Fuck. Me.
Her taste is so sweet, so addictive!
Her hips twitch, and her voice rises into breathy, broken little moans that make my cock throb with need.
I can hear Lily opening the door, probably hearing Poppy's moans now.
Her knees weaken, tremors wracking through her body as I growl into her core, continuing to suck and lick her clit until I roll her into orgasm.  
Poppy starts to fall apart under me, her sweet voice cracking, her body arching. “I can’t—I think I’m—”
“Let go, sunshine. Come for me!” I say against her clit.
She squirms and does as I told her.
My eyes snap at her face as my tongue keeps devouring her. She comes in a flood of moans and trembling limbs, her voice high and gasping, eyes squeezed shut, tears slipping down her cheek.
But then she opens her doe eyes and widens them as she looks over my head.
I don’t need to look back to know who is standing there because I already know.