Caged

Chapter 8.

I couldn't help but turn to face him as he smiled back at me. He looked like he was part of the landscape around me, like he was meant to be here.

"What is it that you want to know first then?" I asked hesitantly. I knew I was opening a can of worms I may not be able to close, but I didn't care. I needed to release the ache in my chest I'd been carrying.

"Why don't you just start at the beginning? What happened when you left?" He turned to face me, propping his leg up while the other swung off the edge.

I thought for a moment and sighed, realizing how long it had been since I went back to that day. "That was one of the hardest days of my life. I had pushed back the grief from my mother's death and just let the need to take my life into my own hands lead me. I ended up walking in to a diner the next town over who needed help and they gave me a job on the spot. It wasn't remotely close to enough money, but it was a start. I had to spend the whole first month in the shelter down the street. It's very...difficult for women alone there." I shivered at the memory.

He sat silent, watching me as the memory of my assault played in my thoughts. "You were attacked weren't you?"

My eyes flashed up to his, but instead of the shame or pity I'd expected, he just looked down at me with warmth and concern. Genuine emotion played across his face. I took a slow breath before nodding, my eyes dropping to my hands.

"After that I finally got enough money to get out of that hell hole and into an apartment of my own. It was awful and so run down. There were leaks in the ceiling, and the air didn't even work, but it was mine."

"So what was the hardest?" His voice seemed distant in thought.

"What?" I asked, taken aback by his shift in subject.

"You said the day you left was one of the hardest in your life. What was the hardest?" His eyes bore into mine, as if they could see into my very soul.

Without thinking, the words fell out of my brain and through my lips. "The day I had to leave him."

Rhett's eyebrows rose but he didn't say anything. He sat patiently, waiting for me to continue. I shifted uncomfortably, the shirt falling further down my shoulder. I took a deep breath and stared intently back down into the palms of my hands. Before my nerves could talk me out of it, I forced the words out of my mouth.

"Rhett, you should know that I spent the better part of three years in a very intense relationship. I honestly thought I loved him for a little while. He took care of me and coming from a life where no one had ever cared if I was even alive or not...I was doomed from the start. Before I met him, I could barely even pay my bills. He took me in, spoiled me even. But he became very controlling and he slowly isolated me to the point that I had no one. Nothing except him and the world he'd created around us. It took everything I had to finally get away from him. That's why I came here. I've been running for a year and I'm finally out of places to hide. I told you...I'm weak Rhett." My shoulders slumped slightly and I felt the tears threatening to fall. "I don't think I'm right for this. For you. You shouldn't accept me. I can't give you what you need in a mate or a Luna for this pack. I wouldn't even know where to begin."

The shame that had been festering inside of me finally burst out and I felt the dam break. Every horrible feeling I'd locked away in the tiny box inside was finally bubbling to the surface. I felt like my entire shameful past was written all over me and I was completely exposed.

His hand reached over to cup against my face and I leaned into it without realizing. I inhaled, letting his scent wrap around me like a warm blanket and reached up to place my hand against his. My body slowly began to relax in the hum of the bond.

"Look at me Lili." His voice was soft and as I looked up, his eyes sparkled with emotion.

"How can you even look at me right now?" My words hitched as the emotion threatened to clamp my throat shut all together. Tears filled my eyes and I fought the urge to let them fall freely.

"Do you know what I see?"

I shook my head as his thumb stroked against my cheek.

"I see someone who had the courage to do something on her own, with no help from anyone. You had the hope to look past someone's flaws in the face of something new and frightening. But even more, I see someone who had the courage to leave when you saw that you deserved better than the life he could give you. Lili, you should never be locked away in a cage, controlled by men who don't know who you truly are. You deserve the world, and I feel like we can give that to each other. Whatever is happening here, it's strong. I know you can feel that." His free hand reached up to brush my hair from my face, tucking it gently behind my ear. His eyes dropped to the mark in the crook of my neck and his gorgeous blue eyes swirled darker, almost an indigo as a muscle in his jaw ticked. "Did he hurt you?"

My jaw clenched tighter and I wrinkled my nose in distaste at the memories. I nodded shortly and looked away but he pulled my face back to look in to his dark gaze. "I will never hurt you, do you understand? And I will kill anyone who's ever laid a hand on you or caused you pain." His voice was low, dripping with the undercurrent of anger.

His hand brushed down my cheek and trailed my neck before picking up just slightly to avoid the mark before setting back down to trace circles into my shoulder. He was silent as the anger rolling off of him reigned in, his fingers tracing the black ink creeping up my shoulder. "What is this?" He asked finally.

I looked down, knowing what he was referring to. "It's one of my tattoos. I have a few."

His brows rose as a smirk slowly crept up his lips. "What is this one for then?"