Chapter 17
1254 Words
Delilah smiled, waving goodbye to Kad and Kaz as Kai drove them off, and she looked back at Raz with a soft smile. "They are very nice." She raised an eyebrow as he chuckled softly, shaking his head. "What's so funny?"
Raz shook his head again. "Oh, you'd just be surprised by what Kai used to do for work. He looks kind, but I wouldn't mess with him." She followed him back into the bar, and couldn't help but look around, as she followed Raz upstairs.
She couldn't help but stop at the door that was open. The entire back wall was a window that looked over the bar, and there was a desk with a chair. "This is the office. I've been using it until my office and room at the packhouse were finished. I wanted to make sure everyone had a place before I did."
She looked at him curiously, and smiled gently. "You are much kinder than the Alpha I met. He would have put himself first." She looked back into the room as he spoke. "I figured this pack had seen enough of that, and as Alpha, it's my responsibility to make sure they are all cared for. The one who did that to you will be punished."
Delilah shuddered thinking of Alpha, and crossed her arms, digging her nails into her arms. She expected to wake up to find herself back in that closet, and this was all just a dream. She couldn't quite shake that feeling, and when Raz placed a hand on her shoulder.
She felt him squeeze her shoulder, and she laid her cheek against his hand. His touch was very comforting to her, and she looked back at him. "Come on, there is a spare room down the hall." She followed him, and he stopped at a door. "If you need anything, this is my apartment. It will never be locked."
He walked further down the hall to another door, and she realized how far down the hall she would be away from him. He was standing at the door of the other room looking at her, with a raised eyebrow. "Do you want to see it."
She bit her lip, shaking her head, and he looked at her confused. "Do you not want your own room?" He walked back to her, and she sighed. "I was locked in a room by myself. He said it was my room. After the closet, it still felt like a prison. If he comes here for me, and you're sleeping. You won't hear me."
He chuckled gently, and she watched him open the door, and she couldn't help looking inside the apartment. The walls were a plan white, and there was a small kitchen, along with what looked like a small living room. "You can have my room, and I'll sleep on the couch."
She looked at him, before looking back at the red couch, sitting in front of a fireplace. "Does that fireplace work?" She looked at him, and he nodded. "Yes it does, do you want me to light a fire?"
Delilah walked into the room over to the fireplace as Raz followed her. He set a few logs in, before putting some kindling under it, and pulling some weird long thing from a box, and scratching it along the side. She watched the flame suddenly appear at the end, and she couldn't help but stand up.
She reached out to touch it, and he pulled it back. "Careful it will burn." She shook her head with a soft giggle. "Actually, flames still don't bother me. May I?" She gently took the stick from him before leaning down, and lighting the kindling.
She sat back watching the wood start to burn, and smiled, watching the flames dance. "If you don't mind, I'll sleep on the couch. It's been a long time since I've been able to sleep near a fire. I miss the warmth, and watching the flames dance."
Delilah looked over to see Raz sitting down in a chair, and she noticed a book on the table beside his chair, and figured it was his usual spot. "May I ask if you were born with wings?"
She nodded softly as she pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them and resting her chin on her knees. "I was born with wings, but they were cut off the night I was taken. It hurt a lot, but it's sadder I don't have magic anymore."
She held out her one hand, staring at it wishing she could summon a small flame, and couldn't help but wiggle her fingers. "I miss feeling the warmth of the flames in my hand." She looked at him with a slight frown. "Things that magic normally does for me that I took advantage of. My hair was always perfect, and it was never knotted. I never really needed to clean it. The natural slight glow of my skin. If I was angry, I used to be able to set things on fire."
Delilah couldn't help but giggle softly. "I once set my sister's bed on fire while I was sitting on it, and she confessed to me that she borrowed my favorite earrings, and lost one of them. I was so angry at her for that, and it was so silly, and I regret that now, but at the time they had been made for me by Dairan."
She shook her head gently. "I could have stayed with him, even after everything that had happened to me. I still wouldn't choose differently. I would still have come here, because giving up someone who was made for me. The other half of my soul, I still don't want to do that. As much as I want to go home, I still want to find them."
Raz eyes widened slightly. "You came here looking for your mate?" She nodded her head, looking back at the fire. "I did, but now I might never find my soulmate. Not until this mark gone anyway. I am sure they wouldn't want me any more anyway. I'm broken in so many ways."
She wasn't expecting him to reply, but he let out a soft sigh. "Delilah, look at me." She turned her head toward him. "If your mate doesn't want you because of what happened to you, then they do not deserve you to begin with. There is nothing wrong with you, and you are not broken. You will get past this, it will just take time."
Delilah looked back at the flames with a soft frown. "I hope you are right." She was surprised when she felt something brush against her arm, and he was sitting beside her, and smiled at her. "I'd happily accept you regardless of what happened to you if you were my mate."
She couldn't help but smile back at him, and it did make her feel better. "Thanks Raz for everything. It's odd, but I feel comfortable around you, and I just feel safer."
He shrugged at her as he looked at the fire. "I'm glad, because most don't feel comfortable with me since I used to be a Rogue. You are welcome to stay by my side as long as you like, and I'll make sure nothing happens to you. If Alpha comes to try to take you, I'll tear his head off."
She couldn't help the small giggle that left her, as she shook her head.
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