WORD PERFECTION

Wilona's P.O.V

I watch feeling pity for the first time towards Damon.

Not because he seemed so fragile within this moment but because he seemed so alone. So desperate to keep someone close that he'd risk losing them now rather than later on, so terrified of the future he wanted to rid it of the worst fates.

It broke my heart to see him like this... a delicate thing that just needed someone to handle him with care.

I rest the glass down and make my way to Damon, stopping right before him so I could take his hands into my own. They were rough as always, calloused and tattered but stiff in my hold as he waited anxiously for me to run.

"Damon," I say studying our joint hands for a moment longer, opposite in almost every way but someone fitting together like two puzzle pieces. I look up at him and smile. "You are my happiness."

He takes in a quick breath, hands squeezing mine as he looks down at them.

"I've hurt a lot of people." He whispers sadly.

"You are my happiness," I repeat, not taking my eyes off him so that the moment he'd look back at me he'd find me waiting for him.

"I've killed a lot of people." He corrects and I swallow before replying.

"We will work on that, together." I manage somehow, repeating to myself that there were things I needed time to understand and more that would take time to accept.

"I can't control it." He reminds me.

"You just did and you will keep controlling it," I replied making a mental note to get him to explain this properly when he wasn't so wound up.

"I like doing it," He confesses making me freeze. "It makes the pain go away."

Minutes pass between us as I work with my mind and body to not release his hands, knowing that if I did it would only solidify his fears. I think of the Damon I'd come to know over the last few months, think about the person he was to me and for me. And finally, I think about the sadness that laid behind the Damon I didn't quite know, the pure agony that rested behind the anger in his eyes.

I think about that Damon until I've circled my way back to him.

"We will work on that too," I promise, the response making Damon's eyes shoot up to mine. The clear hope glazing over them worth any future that meant a challenge to come, to make that hope a reality was quickly becoming a goal for me.

"I'm not a good person Will." He says finally and I can't help but smile.

"Now that couldn't be further from the truth," I reply with complete confidence. "I don't know who you were before we met or all the things you've done, but I know the light that shines through you Damon. You are a wonderful person who literally embodies the word perfection. There's nothing you can say or throw at me that will change my mind on this. You are a good person, that will never change."

I did expect the hug that came but not the tears that came with them. Didn't see the heartwrenching, quiet sobs that raked through Damon as he buried his face into my neck or the way his body trembled as if he'd dropped a shell of armor that he'd always wore.

It was like if something broke inside of Damon or more accurately, something opened inside of him. Something I don't think he let free for a long time, maybe not ever.

Either way, I was protecting him from anything and anyone who tried to break him down.

----

Damon's P.O.V

"Is it painful?" Will asks, her eyes flicking between my canines and my eyes. "It looks painful."

I retract my canines, happy to put them away after sating her curiosity once more. Her head tilts from side to side on my chest, chin resting on her hands as she looks up at me, awaiting an answer.

"It doesn't hurt after the first couple of times," I reply as I continue combing her hair with my fingers. "It may sting every now and then as I grow but nothing unbearable."

Will's expression turns at this, in that way it did every time I shared something about wolves that hinted towards pain.

She'd been curious these last few days, asking every question she could possibly think of. Some were expected, others hadn't even crossed my mind, but I answered them all with unbound honesty.

I didn't have anything to hide from Will.

Not because we were mates, but because it was Will. The only person to ever stay instead of running, listen instead of blaming and seeing instead of believing.

Will chose to try and understand parts of me I was yet to completely understand, so I couldn't lie to the only person who saw me in a light greater than the shadow I deserved.

I never thought I could be so completely open with another person, never dreamt that I could share my thoughts, my past, my habits without fearing judgment or retribution of some kind. But Will defied all my previously constructed fears, listening to everything I had to share with interest and an unprecedented level of understanding that honestly scared me.

Will... confused me.

I couldn't, yet, wrap my head around the way she tried to take it all in, her seemingly neverending acceptance to all things foreign to her. It went beyond the mate bond, her ability to calm the storms in me, to listen and act accordingly.

They were qualities I'd seen in betas, the calm reassurance of their presence for an alpha but also qualities which were said to shine through in lunas, the need to comfort.

Theo marked these moments as a build to the metaphorical wolf that rested within her, development to a strength that laid in her if she chose to follow the path that waited for her with me.

Will would be an amazing leader to our people, I didn't doubt that for a single moment. If she chose to take the role alongside me, she would be cherished by all, I knew she had it in her, even if she didn't know it herself.