"You couldn’t have predicted a car accident," Brynn said gently.
"I should have been more careful. Should have..." Damon stopped, unable to form coherent sentences.
Eve moved to him, taking his hand. "This isn’t your fault."
But Damon couldn’t accept that. Couldn’t let go of the guilt that was clawing up his throat.
Because this was the pattern, wasn’t it? He held everything together. He kept everyone safe. He made sure nothing fell apart.
And when things fell apart anyway....because sotis they did, sotis fate didn’t care about his careful planning, it ant he’d failed.
The waiting was torture.
Damon sat in the dical wing’s family room, unable to relax, unable to accept comfort. His brothers tried. Eve tried. But Damon couldn’t let them help because if he let go of holding everything together, what would happen?
Three hours later, the doctor erged.
"Jas is stable," the doctor said. "Fractured ribs, broken arm, significant bruising, but no internal bleeding and no spinal damage. He’s going to recover fully."
The relief should have flooded through him.
Instead, Damon felt the crack inside him widen.
Because he’d been prepared for the worst. Had already started grieving. Had already begun the process of carrying that weight.
And now he had to sohow... not. Had to just accept the good outco and move on.
But moving on ant letting go of the guilt. And if he let go of that, if he stopped holding onto the weight of responsibility, what was left?
"That’s good news," Eve said, squeezing his hand. "Really good news."
Damon nodded numbly.
***
That evening, after Jas had been moved to recovery and the imdiate crisis was over, Damon found himself in one of the empty guest rooms instead of going back to their shared bedroom.
He needed space. Needed to process. Needed to figure out how to be the warm, playful, protective one when inside he was fracturing.
He was sitting on the bed, staring at nothing, when Eve appeared in the doorway.
"Hey," she said softly. "Your brothers are worried. You hasn’t co to dinner. Haven’t co to bed. This isn’t like you."
"I’m fine," Damon said automatically. "Just needed so space."
"You’re not fine," Eve said, moving closer. "I can feel it. Sothing happened to you when you got that ssage about Jas."
Damon couldn’t respond. Couldn’t explain the pressure that was building in his chest. The weight that had been there so long he’d forgotten it wasn’t normal.
"Talk to ," Eve said, sitting beside him on the bed. "Please."
"I can’t..." Damon started, then stopped. "If I let this out, I don’t know how to put it back together."
"Maybe you don’t need to put it back together," Eve said gently. "Maybe you just need to let it out."
Damon felt sothing break inside him then. Sothing that had been cracking for a long ti finally giving way completely.
"I can’t protect everyone," he said, his voice breaking. "I’ve been trying so hard. Holding everything together. Keeping everyone safe. But I can’t. And today Jas....he could have died and it would have been my fault because I wasn’t careful enough and...."
"I’m sorry," he said roughly. "That was....I shouldn’t...."
"Don’t apologize," Eve said firmly. "Don’t you dare apologize for having feelings. For being overwheld. For being human."
"I’m not human," Damon said, his voice still rough. "I’m an Alpha. I’m supposed to be strong. Supposed to protect. Supposed to...."
"Be allowed to need things too," Eve finished. "Allowed to break sotis. Allowed to let soone else be strong for you."
Damon looked at her, and saw absolute certainty in her expression. No judgnt. No disappointnt. Just pure acceptance.
"I don’t know how to do that," he admitted. "Don’t know how to not be the protector."
"Then let teach you," Eve said. "Let be strong for you right now. Let take care of you instead of the other way around."
Sothing in Damon’s chest shifted.
"Okay," he said quietly. "Okay."
Eve undressed him slowly, deliberately, her hands gentle but purposeful.
When he was completely naked, she positioned him on the bed with his back against the headboard.
"What are you...." Damon started.
"Shhh," Eve said. "Just let ."
She straddled him, but instead of moving into sex imdiately, she just held him. Her body pressed against his, her arms around his neck, her face buried in his shoulder.
They stayed like that for a long ti. Just breathing. Just existing together in the quiet space.
When Damon finally felt ready, he shifted slightly. Eve understood imdiately.
She positioned herself in his lap, and when he pushed inside her, it was with a desperation that bordered on despair.
"I’ve got you," Eve said against his neck. "Let go. I’m here. I’ve got you."
Damon moved inside her with desperate intensity, not the playful energy he usually brought to sex, but sothing raw and broken and absolutely needy.
He needed her to ground him. Needed to feel that she was real and present and not going anywhere.
Eve held him through it, her body accepting his intensity without fear. Without judgnt.
"You’re not alone," she said softly. "You don’t have to hold everything together by yourself. I’m here. Your brothers are here. Let us help."
The orgasm that tore through him was different from anything he’d experienced before.
He ca inside her with a hoarse cry that sounded almost like despair.
Eve held him close, pressing kisses to his temple, his cheek, his mouth.
"It’s okay," she whispered. "It’s okay to break sotis. It’s okay to need help. It’s okay to not be perfect."
They stayed tangled together for a long ti afterward.
Damon couldn’t bring himself to move. Couldn’t separate from her because the mont he did, he was afraid the weight would crash back down on him.
"I’ve been holding this for so long," Damon said eventually. "The pressure. The responsibility. Being the one who keeps everyone together."
"I know," Eve said. "I can feel it. All that weight you’ve been carrying."
"What if I can’t do it anymore? What if I break?"
"Then you break," Eve said simply. "And I’ll be here. Your brothers will be here. The pack will be here. We’ll put you back together."
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