Page 139 of Caged Between the Beta & Alpha
We will always be here for you, to help you through it,I added through the link.No matter how fucking hard it is or how angry we are at you.
Our eyes met for a moment before I turned and left the cell…
Raven
Dad’s punishment wascarried out the following day in the cells at the hands of Damon, followed by being bandaged and returned to his home, where he would be kept under complete watch. From what I heard, he wouldn’t last longer than a few months at most. Was it wrong that I didn’t really care? There were some people who hurt you, but you could still love them, but Dad… there was no space for that when I felt nothing but bitterness towards him.
I returned to training, and it seemed that everyone had been warned to behave. Either that or the truth about Dad had made a few people feel guilty. Owen still acted like a prick, but that was his nature, and it wouldn’t ever change.
After training, I showered, got dressed, and spent the afternoon pondering over everything. What I needed to do and what I wanted. I had taken the photographs of Robyn and Damon and headed out to his place in the late afternoon. I rang the doorbell, and he opened soon after, looking as handsome as ever. I would always appreciate him, but I didn’t know what the Goddess wanted. It was a mess.
“Hey,” he said, pulling me tightly into his arms. I hugged him back, the tingles of sparks reminding me of our mate bond, but in life, there were a lot of bonds aside from the mate bond…
“Hey, how are you? Was the lashing okay? I didn’t realise you would have to do it,” I said quietly.
“I wanted to,” he said, closing the door behind me.
“Ah… I see… Damon, I visited Liam the other day, and he mentioned that he received a picture of us kissing….” I said, taking a seat on the couch as I took out the envelope I had received, too. “That’s what triggered him off before he came to find us…” The image of him marking me flashed through my mind, and that familiar squeeze in my chest returned. Our happy moments, sad moments, and painful memories all flashed before me.
“A picture of us kissing… I received something similar,” Damon said, frowning.
Turning on his heels, he suddenly left the room before I could continue, and I heard him run up the stairs. My brows furrowed as I stared down at my envelope. Had we all received something similar? Oh, how I wished I had mentioned this sooner. Damon returned, holding an envelope, seeming to hesitate before he held it out to me.
“I got pictures, too,” I said softly, holding out the envelope of him and Robyn.
We took each other’s envelopes, and I slid the pictures out, my cheeks burning as I realised what it was. Shit! I quickly pushed the images back in. The day Liam went down on me outside the Alphas’ home! I looked up at Damon, who looked utterly guilty as he looked down at his own pictures and pushed them back in, running his fingers through his curls.
“I’m sorry you had to see these… I, uh… guess it’s good that Liam only got a kissing picture….”
“Yeah…” I said, shoving my pictures into my bag. A tense silence followed before he spoke,
“Someone’s trying to cause issues…”
“Owen?” I suggested, frowning. There was no one else who hated me as much as he did.
“I don’t know... maybe. It could be him. He is a piece of shit. Well, now that we know, we’ll work on figuring it out.”
“Yeah.”
We both fell silent, and I realised that, somehow, things really had changed.
“I went to see Liam, too,” Damon said quietly, making me look up at him sharply. “He wants me to deliver his punishment.” My heart thudded, and I looked at him.
“Would you be able to?” He smiled sadly.
“He doesn’t want Uncle El to do it, knowing it’ll be hard for him. At the time, I didn’t think of it, but… I think he knows how angry I am at him, too, and this is probably the only way I can vent my anger. He is my Alpha and there’s not really a chance where I can vent my anger, so this is… it.” He frowned as if he had just realised what he had said and closed his eyes.
I looked down, my chest squeezing. Yeah, that sounded like Liam…
“His punishment won’t be light, will it?”
“No,” Damon said quietly. I nodded. I thought as much. I turned to him.
“Thank you for being an amazing friend and mate,” I said softly, reaching out and taking his hand in mine, my heart pounding in my chest at what I was about to do. He smiled, a glimmer of sadness in his eyes. We both knew he knew what was coming. “You’re no one’s second choice, and I won’t treat you as such. I love you, and I always will. We will remain friends. We haven’t done anything that could make it awkward,” I joked. Damon nodded.
“I saw it coming. You… you’ve seemed different over the last few days. Smiling less, more lost in thought… but you seem to be… content.” He brushed his fingers over my knuckles, sending a ripple of sparks through me.
“I seem to have gotten some clarity. How can I love anyone when I don’t even love myself?” I said quietly. “When I’m so concerned about others’ opinions and emotions? Since the start, I’ve felt like this thing, caged between the two of you, feeling guilty, torn, and upset. A king once told me that I need to stop trying to accept things, to think deeply about what I want- I want to be happy.”
