Chapter Fourteen

Alice

My eyes blink a few times, seeing my vision is somehow blurry before I turn to look around, seeing a white interior. A warm touch manages to grab my attention, making me turn to look at Damon, his eyes staring at me with worry—the only person standing out, in his navy blue shirt tucked into his black slacks.

"Damon . . ."I breathe, feeling the soreness in my throat.

"You're okay. I'm here," He replies, caressing the side of my face before standing up to grab me a glass of water. "Your parents just went out to grab something to eat. They'll be back soon,"

It's more than enough to quench my thirst as I lean back, feeling exhausted. All I can do is to focus on Damon, loving the way he is rubbing the back of my hand with his thumb before slowly leaning in to place a kiss on my forehead, causing me to close my eyes. Then, tears begin to fill my eyes before they slowly fall down to my cheeks.

He frowns, "Hey, don't cry. Don't worry,"

I feel his fingers gently wiping away the tears, making me cry more. In an instant, I am being pulled towards him into a hug, surrounding me with his warmth. My arms wrap around his body before placing my head on his chest, liking the comfort. "I'm sorry,"

To my surprise, he starts to cup my face in order to stare deeply into my eyes, "What are you sorry for? You're here and you're safe. I'm glad I found you on time . . . I'm glad you're awake,"

"I . . . I couldn't stand it," I look down, avoiding his gaze.

"It's okay. Don't think about it," He leans in, slowly kissing my lips.

Our eyes meet in an instant as soon as he pulls back, causing me to grab him by the face and lean forward, kissing him again. The kiss starts off slow and sweet before turning passionate, making him push my hair away from my face as we enjoy this moment. Everything around me starts to disappear and all I can think of . . . is the man in front of me.

I want this man. I want him.

Our lips are moving in sync, as if merging our souls into one.

I slowly break the kiss, "Damon."

"Yeah?" He asks, smiling.

"I think I'm falling in love with you,"

Both of his eyes widen for a second before he leans in, kissing my cheeks. "You have no idea how happy that makes me feel. I'm falling in love with you too,"

I stutter, "What about your mate?"

As far as our feelings go, he is still a werewolf and he hasn't met his soulmate. It would be unfair for me to ruin that chance. I don't want to put him into an uncomfortable situation where he has to choose between me or his mate. It'd put both of us in pain and it'd be too hard to continue. So, before things can get more than this, I need a confirmation.

Even if it might hurt me.

"Alice . . ."

I cut him off, "I don't want you to choose between me and her. It's going to be her,"

He nods, "I will always choose her. Through everything, I'd do anything for her."

My heart sinks, as if breaking apart but I try my best not to fall in front of him. At least, I know how much our relationship would never go forward. As much as it hurts now, we'd move on and meet different people in our lives to numb the pain. As beautiful as our story together, his story with his mate would be perfect.

I clench my jaw, "She's a very lucky girl."

He cups onto my face, "You are a very lucky girl."

"What?" I frown, in confusion. "Me?"

"You're my soulmate, Alice. From the night at the charity event, it has always been you." He replies, causing my eyes to water. "You're the only person that I would go through everything with. I will always protect you, cherish you, be there for you and love you endlessly. You're perfect, you're mine. You are the person that I've been waiting my whole life,"

"Damon . . ." I breathe, smiling.

"It makes sense why I didn't meet anyone because it's you," He continues. "You're meant for me. We're meant for each other,"

I immediately kiss him on the lips, causing both of us to chuckle. The happiness is overwhelming and I feel as if I was being proposed but this comes out better. "You're not lying?"

"Why would I lie? I'm already in love with you,"

"That soon?" I raise an eyebrow, smirking.

"That is why I'm going to kill him." He replies, instantly causing the current situation to be tense. The way he utter out the words and by the deadly look in his eyes, it is pretty clear how he is serious. Our eyes are staring at one another and it takes me awhile to realise, he has been clenching his jaw this whole time.

The moment I woke up, he was already a bit tensed but he manages to cover it all up by seeing the positive thing happening today. However, as soon as he sees the scars on my wrists and the bruises up my forearm, I immediately pull up the blanket, wanting to hide them away. "Damon . . . you can't do that,"

"Why not? Look at what he had done to you. Look at what happened," He points.

I grab onto his hand, "Still . . . you shouldn't go to that extend for me,"

Both of his eyes stare down at my grip, as if he's fighting with himself before looking back up at me. The way he is slightly shaking with anger, his eyes hinting yellow and his body becoming warmer. "Fuck. I'm going to rip his head off. I'll find him and I'll cut him into pieces. I swear to god, Alice—"

I cut him off, "—you'll get caught. There might be evidence—"

"To what? I'll just make it seem like he was eaten by a wolf."

"In New York City?"

"I'll have my ways. It doesn't matter but he'll be dead by tonight."

"Damon—"

I am cut off by my parents entering the room, both of their eyes widen as soon as they see me sitting on the bed before rushing off to pull me in for a hug. They mutter soothing words in my ear about how much they are grateful I am still here and how they understand if I went through any struggle for me to have made that decision. Even as they cup my face and speak to me, I keep staring at Damon; as he stares back at me.

I know how capable Damon is in achieving things, even the darkest of things.

"Sweetheart," Mama says, shaking me off.

"Mmmm?" I look at her, seeing tears in her eyes and it brings regret as soon as I realise how sad they must have been the moment they saw me in that condition.

"We're really glad you're okay," She adds.

"I'm really sorry, ma. I didn't mean it,"

"It's okay, baby. Don't apologise . . . just want to know if you're feeling okay,"

"I'm fine,"

"It must be my fault. I wasn't there enough for you," Papa interrupts which causes me to shake my head and grab his hand, reassuring him that nothing is his fault or mama's fault. It was my own fault to have ever made the decision to hurt myself, I should've known better but at the moment, all I could think of was to end my misery.

"It wasn't anybody's fault." I respond before leaning back, "Ma, pa, can I just have a moment with Damon?"

My parents peck onto my cheeks before nodding, "We'll sneak in some food for you."

"That would be so great," I chuckle.

As soon as they have left the room, Damon and I continue to stare at each other. I lean forward towards him before pulling him by the hand, causing him to sit at the edge of the bed. My forehead leans on his, "I know what you're trying to do . . . it might be working," He mutters under his breath.

"I don't know . . . I don't know this whole mate thing,"

"This whole mate thing?" He raises an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I want to convince you otherwise about Eric but it seems as if nothing is possible to get through your head. You seem to have made your decision," I respond.

"He hurt you, Alice." His eyes turn yellow immediately, "In ways that I—I can't even say myself. I felt your pain, I felt everything and I will do anything to cut his head off. I swear, I'll do anything to protect you and after what he has done, he's going to get what is coming his way."

I grab onto his face, "Damon . . ."

"It's not working. I know how much you care about the people around you but you have to take care of yourself more. You need to put yourself as a priority and not your friends. I don't know if anyone has ever told you that but you need to hear it, you need to prioritise you." He leans in, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

"I know and I understand how much you care about me," I mutter.

"More than I care about myself."

"And that's okay?"

"That's perfect because you're my other half. Nothing would go on without you,"

Our lips meet in a slow kiss as I close my eyes, feeling the sparks overwhelming my body once again. The way his warm fingers are on my face and sliding up to my neck, the intensity has somehow gotten stronger especially after he had admitted us being soulmates. At this point, I understand why things never worked out with Eric, it is because of Damon.

Even if I meet half a hundred of people and have them as my lover, it would never work.

Damon. He's the one for me.

Werewolf or not.

I lean back, staring back into his eyes. "You don't feel real,"

"I'm as real as it gets. I'm here,"

"Forever?" I ask.

"Forever."

I smile, looking away.

As he grabs me by the chin, he starts to slowly make me turn to look at him. Our eyes meet once again and this time, there's a sincere concern in his eyes. My eyes begin to water, not quite believing what is happening to me—how this man is perfect and how he is actually made for me or how he waited centuries for me. My life has somehow turned into a story.

"What's wrong, Alice?" He asks, frowning.

"Nothing is wrong. I just . . . I feel different," I let the tears fall.

He wipes them away, "Different? Why?"

"I never expected my life to be this way. It was great and all but all of a sudden it turned pretty dark and then you showed up, you started bringing life into me again. Now, despite all the struggles and all the difficulties, you're the good part that stays." I reply, trying to smile. "You're like a gift from heaven to me,"

The way his lips curve up into a smile, "I waited for what feels like an eternity for you. You came into my life in the most unexpected way and you were the only one standing out that night—I"m sorry it took me so long to reach out. I didn't want to bring you into my life troubles,"

"Your life troubles?"

"I . . . haven't exactly showed you 'a daily life of a werewolf', did I?" He chuckles.

"It must be really different."

"Very but I know you'll be interested and impressed rather than it scaring you away." He grabs both of my hands before kissing the back of them, slowly. "Alice . . . I want you to know one thing, I will go through lengths for you, I will do anything to make sure you are happy and I will never leave you behind in my life. You're my future, you have to know how important you are."

"Damon . . . " I look down, cheeks heating up.

"I know, I understand how weird this is. We just got to know each other and I promise, I am following your pace. Despite the whole werewolf thing, I want you to be comfortable and I want you to really feel like you can trust me. I don't want to rush you into anything. We can take this slow," He adds.

"Mmm, perfect." I breathe.

"Yeah, and I'll start by killing him tonight."