Chapter 4: The scars I Never Showed Him

BUTTERCUP

I watched the door close behind Draven as he went to see Seraphina, and I felt my emotions finally snapping inside me.

“Enough of this shit,” I muttered to myself, sliding off his bed. My legs still felt weak but I forced myself to move. I grabbed my dress from the floor and pulled it on, not caring how messy I looked. I wasn’t staying here like some pathetic toy he could use whenever he felt guilty.

I stormed down the hallway to the small room I’d been staying in and started throwing clothes into a bag. “Why did you even save me, Draven? Just to make me worse than they did?”

The door burst open behind me. I didn’t need to turn around to know it was him.

“Buttercup, please stop.”

“Get out,” I said without looking at him, shoving another shirt into the bag. My hands shook as I did. “Go be with your Luna. I’m done.”

Draven stepped inside and shut the door. “You’re not leaving here.”

I spun around with my eyes burning. “Why the hell not? You made your choice. You fucked me twice and still ran to her. Tell me why you saved me two years ago if this is how it ends. I deserve more than this.”

He moved closer, his big frame filling the room. The claw tattoo on his chest was still visible from our earlier time together. “I saw you that night and you were bleeding and barely alive, being dragged by those low-life wolves who bought you. I couldn’t just walk away.”

Then I said. “So you brought me here, fucked me, made me fall in love, and now you throw me away? Great plan, Alpha.”

Draven reached for my arm but I jerked back. “It wasn’t like that. You were different. You still are.”

“Different how?” I stepped closer, poking his chest hard. “Different enough to hide? Different enough to fuck but not be chosen? I need to know, Draven. Why save a broken human girl just to destroy her?”

He grabbed my wrist, not hard but firm. His eyes searched my face. “Because the moment I pulled you out of that hellhole, I knew you were mine. Even if the pack rules said I couldn’t keep you.”

Tears stung my eyes and I tried to pull away but he held on. “Then why does it feel like you’re killing me now?”

Draven’s other hand moved to the back of my dress. Before I could stop him, he slowly unzipped it. The fabric slid down my shoulders and I froze, breathing fast.

“Don’t,” I whispered, but my voice broke.

He turned me around gently. His fingers traced the faded scars across my back. The ugly marks from belts, from whips, from the people who were supposed to protect me.

“Who did this to you?” His voice was low, almost shaking.

I closed my eyes and the memories flooding in through the touch. “The first person was my father, Then when he sold me to those wolves… they were worse. They said a human like me only existed to breed strong pups. Every time I fought back, they made sure I paid.”

Draven’s fingers kept moving over the scars, slow and careful, like he was trying to memorize every line. “I killed them... All of them. The ones who hurt you.”

I turned back to face him, dress half fallen, tears running down my cheeks. “Then why couldn’t you fight for me? Why save me from them only to hand me this kind of pain?”

He pulled me against his chest, his arms wrapping around me tight. “Because my father chose love over the pack. He picked a human woman and it got him killed. Got half of our people killed. I can’t do that to everyone who depends on me. But fuck, Buttercup...seeing these scars again makes me want to burn everything down.”

I hit his chest weakly. “Then burn it or let me go. Stop holding me here like this.”

“I can’t let you go.” His voice got rough. He tilted my chin up and kissed me. This time it was slower, deeper, full of all the things he wouldn’t say out loud.

I kissed him back even though it hurt. My hands gripped his shoulders as he lifted me onto the bed. We didn’t rush this time. He laid me down and kissed every scar on my back, whispering “I’m sorry” against my skin between each one.

“You make me feel safe and worthless at the same time,” I said, my voice cracking as he moved over me. “How do you do that?”

Draven looked down at me, his eyes full of conflict. “Because I’m selfish. I need you even when I know I should stay away.”

We moved together slowly this time...Not just sex but closer to it. Every touch, every whisper made the tears fall harder. I held onto him like he was still my savior, even while knowing he was also the one breaking me.

“I hate that I still love you,” I whispered against his neck as pleasure built.

“I know,” he breathed, holding me tighter. “I know, little one.”

For those few minutes, it felt like maybe he really saw me...All of me. The broken parts and everything.

Then the door suddenly opened.

“Well, well, well,...” a smooth female voice said from the doorway. “Am I interrupting the show?”

Seraphina stood there in her red gown, her arms crossed, and she wore a nasty smirk on her perfect face as she looked at us tangled together on the bed.