Don’t take me back

Maddison’s POV

“Please… don’t take me back there.”

The plea left my lips before I could stop it.

My throat burned badly, my voice weak and cracked. Every part of my body hurt. Even breathing felt painful.

My ribs ached each time my chest moved and my head felt heavy like someone had stuffed cotton inside it.

The room around me was unfamiliar.

White walls.

Dim lights.

The faint scent of medicine.

For a second I thought maybe I was dead.

Then my eyes landed on the man sitting beside my bed.

Damian.

The memory of him flashed through my mind instantly.

The bar.

The hotel.

His hands on my skin.

His voice whispering my name gently in the dark.

Heat rushed to my face despite my weak state.

Damian stiffened slightly after hearing my words.

His sharp silver eyes stayed fixed on me for a moment before he slowly leaned forward in his chair.

“You’re safe here,” he said quietly.

“Safe”

The word sounded strange to me.

Almost unreal.

I swallowed painfully and tried to sit up but the sharp pain that shot through my ribs made me gasp loudly.

Damian stood immediately.

“Careful.”

Before I could protest, one of his hands moved behind my back carefully helping me up against the pillows. His touch was gentle.

Too gentle.

I froze slightly because I was not used to it.

Not anymore.

Fernando’s touch had always been rough.

Demanding.

Painful.

But Damian touched me like I was something fragile.

Something worth protecting.

The thought made my chest tighten.

“How long…” I whispered weakly. “How long have I been here?”

“Three weeks.”

My eyes widened instantly.

“What?”

“You were unconscious most of the time.”

Three weeks.

Panic slammed into me immediately.

“Liam.”

I pushed myself forward too quickly ignoring the pain. “I need to go back.”

Damian’s expression darkened slightly.

“You can barely stand.”

“My son is there.” My breathing became uneven. “I need to see him.”

“Maddison—”

“Fernando will turn him against me.”

The words came out broken.

Tears burned my eyes instantly.

I could already imagine Emma holding Liam.

Talking to him.

Making him forget me.

The thought shattered something inside my chest.

“I have to go back,” I whispered desperately.

Damian remained quiet for a few seconds before speaking carefully.

“The doctors said you almost died.”

I looked away.

Part of me remembered the headlights.

The impact.

The pain.

Then nothing.

“You need rest.”

“I can rest later.”

“No.”

The firmness in his voice surprised me.

I looked back at him slowly.

Damian rarely raised his voice but there was authority in the way he spoke. The kind that made people listen without question.

“You are injured,” he continued calmly. “Your body is still healing.”

I tightened my fingers around the blanket.

“I can’t stay here forever.”

“I never said forever.”

Silence fell between us.

The tension in the room became heavy.

Then Damian finally spoke again.

“Is Fernando the one who hurt you?”

My body froze instantly.

I looked down at my hands.

“No.”

The lie came too quickly.

Too automatically.

Damian noticed.

I knew he did.

“You’re a terrible liar,” he said quietly.

Embarrassment crawled through me.

“He’s my mate,” I whispered like that explained everything.

Damian leaned back slightly in his chair, studying me carefully.

“And?”

I frowned.

“What?”

“And that gives him the right to beat you?”

My lips parted slightly but no words came out.

Because deep down…

I did not know anymore.

Years ago I would have said no immediately.

But after years of insults, bruises and fear, my thoughts had become twisted.

Fernando always blamed me afterward.

Said I pushed him too far.

Said I embarrassed him.

Said I deserved it.

And after hearing something repeatedly, part of you begins to believe it.

“You begged me not to take you back there,” Damian continued quietly.

I looked away quickly.

“I didn’t mean to say that.”

“But you meant it.”

My throat tightened painfully.

Tears blurred my vision.

I hated how easily he could see through me.

The room became silent again except for the soft beeping of the machines beside me.

Finally, Damian stood up slowly.

“You should eat something.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“You haven’t eaten properly in weeks.”

“I said I’m not hungry.”

The irritation in my voice surprised even me.

Damian paused briefly before nodding once.

“Fine.”

He moved toward the table beside the window and poured water into a glass before handing it to me.

“Drink at least.”

I hesitated before taking it carefully.

“Thank you.”

The words came out quietly.

Our fingers brushed for a second.

A strange warmth rushed through me instantly.

Something deep inside me stirred softly.

My wolf.

I stiffened immediately.

No, no, no.

I knew that feeling.

My heart started pounding harder.

That was impossible.

Fernando was my mate.

Wasn’t he?

Panic flooded me suddenly.

I pulled my hand back too quickly causing water to spill slightly onto the blanket.

“Sorry,” I whispered automatically.

Damian’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“You apologize too much.”

The statement caught me off guard.

“I…”

“You say sorry for everything.” His voice remained calm but there was something darker beneath it now. “Even things that aren’t your fault.”

I stared at him silently.

Nobody had ever pointed that out before.

Not even me.

Damian took the glass gently from my shaking hands before placing it back on the table.

Then he looked at me again.

Longer this time.

His gaze made my chest tighten strangely.

“You’re scared of me too,” he said quietly.

I opened my mouth immediately. “No.”

“You flinch every time I move too fast.”

Heat rushed to my face.

Because he was right.

Even now my body remained tense around him although he had never once hurt me.

Trauma.

That was what the doctor had called it during one of the few moments I had been awake earlier that morning.

My body reacted before my mind did.

To loud voices.

To sudden movements.

To men.

Especially men.

“I’m trying not to,” I admitted softly.

Something unreadable crossed Damian’s expression.

Then surprisingly… he took a step back.

Giving me space.

Giving me room to breathe.

The simple action almost made me cry.

Fernando never stepped back.

Never stopped.

Never cared if I was afraid.

But Damian noticed every little reaction.

Every tremble.

Every flinch.

And somehow adjusted himself around it.

The realization felt overwhelming.

“You should rest,” he said after a moment.

I nodded weakly.

But before he could leave, panic rushed through me suddenly.

“Wait.”

Damian stopped near the door before turning back toward me.

My fingers tightened around the blanket again.

The room suddenly felt colder at the thought of being alone.

“When can I see Liam?”

Pain flickered briefly across Damian’s face before it disappeared again.

“Soon,” he answered carefully.

“That’s not an answer.”

“I know.”

Fear crawled back into my chest immediately.

“What if he forgets me?”

“He won’t.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I do.”

I frowned slightly.

Damian’s jaw tightened.

“When you were unconscious,” he said quietly, “you called his name every night.”

My face burned with embarrassment instantly.

“Oh God…”

“You love him.”

The words sounded so simple.

Yet they hit me painfully hard.

Because for years Fernando had made me feel like I was failing as a mother too.

Too weak.

Too emotional.

Too broken.

And maybe part of me had started believing that Liam deserved better than me.

A tear rolled down my cheek before I quickly wiped it away.

“I miss him.”

Damian was quiet for a long moment.

Then finally—

“We’ll bring him back to you.”

Something inside me cracked at those words.

Not because I fully believed him.

But because he said it with so much certainty.

Like protecting me was already becoming his instinct.

And that terrified me more than anything else.