Total pages in book: 33
Estimated words: 29882 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 149(@200wpm)___ 120(@250wpm)___ 100(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 29882 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 149(@200wpm)___ 120(@250wpm)___ 100(@300wpm)
“You fucking asshole. I trusted you.” Her father hit him again and again, until blood came out of his nose and the corner of his
mouth.
She charged forward, tried to pull her dad off of him, but it
was like moving a brick wall.
“Don’t get involved, Danika,” Damien said in a gruff voice. They fell to the floor with her father on top of Damien.
Knowing this had to stop, she pushed her dad off of Damien with a strength she didn’t know she had.
“Stop,” she pleaded, and held herself in front of Damien. “Please, he didn’t do anything I didn’t want. I’m not saying we are in love and will elope. I’m just asking you to try and accept this, Dad.” She stared into her father’s eyes. “Please.”
“I deserved everything you gave me—”
Her father stared at her, sat on the floor, and breathed out as if he were giving up. He looked at Damien. “You deserve a lot fucking more, Damien.”
“I do deserve a royal ass beating, worse than what you just gave to me because I didn’t tell you sooner, but you are like my brother, and the internal war I had with myself over this had me fucked in the head.”
She stared at Damien as he spoke to her father. It was hard seeing the man she had this unexplainable connection with fighting with the man that raised her and loved her unconditionally.
She might not know what in the hell this imprinting or mating thing really was besides what Damien had told her, but she did know she wanted to explore it more.
Her father didn’t speak for several seconds. He stared at the floor, as if in deep thought, and having his own internal war raging inside of him. Damien was on the floor now, too, and the three of them sat there in silence.
“Dad, I don’t want anyone fighting because of this, but I also want you to know that I want to see where this thing with Damien goes.” She looked at the shifter, feeling all kinds of confused because she knew this man meant it when he said he wouldn’t walk away from her.
She also felt excitement at the possibilities that this was her future, and also a little bit of fear because of the latter.
“I don’t blame you for being pissed at me, or deciding that you can no longer be friends with me because I betrayed you.”
She wanted to tell Damien that although they did sleep together without telling her father, there wasn’t a betrayal. He had left
four years ago, let her have time to grow up and decide what she wanted. Even if telling her dad should have been what they did right away, they were adults, and she didn’t need permission, even if she did want his acceptance.
“But I want to tell you again, and will over and over until both of you know what mating is for my kind, and how unbreakable the imprinting really is.” Damien paused for a moment, stared at her as if he wanted her to know that she was everything to him without actually saying those exact words.
He ran the back of his arm over his mouth, looked at the blood that covered his shirt, and exhaled.
“I meant it when I said I’d protect her with my life, Tyler. I would die for her.”
She held her breath as she stared at her father, waiting to see what his reaction would be now that he seemed a little calmer. He stared at Damien, this hard, intense look on his face, and then sighed heavily enough she knew he had relented his anger.
“I know how the imprinting bond works, Damien,” her father said slowly, softly. “And I know how unbreakable it is for shifters when they find their mate.” Her dad looked at her then. “She’s young, though, so young and hasn’t experienced life yet.”
Her throat clogged up at the words her father said, and the sadness that was reflected back at her.
“I don’t want to smother her, or stop her from experiencing things, Tyler. I just want to be part of her life, make sure she is safe, and give her whatever she needs to be happy.”
God, she could have cried at the emotion that was coming from her as she heard what her father and Damien said.
“Shit,” her dad said under his breath. “Even though this is pretty fucked-up I do know that if I had to pick one person to take care of my daughter it would be you, Damien.”
She stared at her dad, saw the way he looked at the other man, and knew that although her father might not be okay with this right now, he was going to let her decide how she wanted to live her life.
“Shit, Damien.” Her dad stood, looked him over a few times, and then shook his head. “You better treat her well because she’s all I have in this world.”