Blue rarely cried. Tears had escaped three, perhaps four times in her entire life. Never when she endured physical pain, such as a broken arm or sprained ankle; those weren't really hurts. Just speed bumps in life's road, or some such.
The first time she recalled her guard falling enough for tears to escape was when she'd finally acknowledged Owen's authority and accepted him--however grudgingly--as her and the pack's Alpha. She'd not an hour before dug her talons into his chest, trying to rip out his heart, but he'd stopped her--even though it hadn't been easy for him to sit there while an eight year old girl with hard animal eyes tried to sink her fingernails into his flesh--but the chastisement she'd been fully expecting had never come.
He'd simply pressed a cloth over the seeping wounds with one hand and reached out for her with the other. Her sisters had been huddled back against the playroom wall, scared and unsure, but Blue had stood her ground, furious that she'd been thwarted, but taken completely off guard by the peace offering. And, with his gaze still firmly focused on her, she'd felt it, for the first time.
Submission.
Blue had tentatively, so very hesitantly, reached out her blood-stained hand and put in his, and that had been it. Her tears had spilled over when Owen quietly pulled her into his arms and held her close, promising that from that day on, she would never again be alone. Or unprotected. The other girls had immediately followed suit, crowding around their new Alpha--their father--and huddled near, but it had been Blue who'd silently sobbed into Owen's bloody shirt.
The same as she did into Omega's, some eight years later.
But these were not tears of submission, an emotional relief so vast it couldn't be contained and had to spill over her cheeks. No, now she wept because she had been broken, rendered helpless, forced to give her subjection to those who were not worthy, and the memory of that horror lingered thick and wicked behind her tightly closed eyes.
That her mate and her family had come for her meant...so much; that Omega had moved hell and earth to bring her from that nightmare--Blue had no words for that. Perhaps there were none. She was safe, she knew that; nothing would ever harm her again, as long as they were near. But not even Dr. Gwen could fix her inside. Inside simply felt...hollow. Cavernous. Empty.
But Blue did have a small idea of how to fill it, just perhaps a little. She finally lifted her tear-wet face from Omega's chest and rested her lips against his, breath trembling between them. She licked their lips clean of salty tears and whispered shakily, a bare breath, "...I love you."
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The first time she recalled her guard falling enough for tears to escape was when she'd finally acknowledged Owen's authority and accepted him--however grudgingly--as her and the pack's Alpha. She'd not an hour before dug her talons into his chest, trying to rip out his heart, but he'd stopped her--even though it hadn't been easy for him to sit there while an eight year old girl with hard animal eyes tried to sink her fingernails into his flesh--but the chastisement she'd been fully expecting had never come.
He'd simply pressed a cloth over the seeping wounds with one hand and reached out for her with the other. Her sisters had been huddled back against the playroom wall, scared and unsure, but Blue had stood her ground, furious that she'd been thwarted, but taken completely off guard by the peace offering. And, with his gaze still firmly focused on her, she'd felt it, for the first time.
Submission.
Blue had tentatively, so very hesitantly, reached out her blood-stained hand and put in his, and that had been it. Her tears had spilled over when Owen quietly pulled her into his arms and held her close, promising that from that day on, she would never again be alone. Or unprotected. The other girls had immediately followed suit, crowding around their new Alpha--their father--and huddled near, but it had been Blue who'd silently sobbed into Owen's bloody shirt.
The same as she did into Omega's, some eight years later.
But these were not tears of submission, an emotional relief so vast it couldn't be contained and had to spill over her cheeks. No, now she wept because she had been broken, rendered helpless, forced to give her subjection to those who were not worthy, and the memory of that horror lingered thick and wicked behind her tightly closed eyes.
That her mate and her family had come for her meant...so much; that Omega had moved hell and earth to bring her from that nightmare--Blue had no words for that. Perhaps there were none. She was safe, she knew that; nothing would ever harm her again, as long as they were near. But not even Dr. Gwen could fix her inside. Inside simply felt...hollow. Cavernous. Empty.
But Blue did have a small idea of how to fill it, just perhaps a little. She finally lifted her tear-wet face from Omega's chest and rested her lips against his, breath trembling between them. She licked their lips clean of salty tears and whispered shakily, a bare breath, "...I love you."