"Mattie, wake up." I whispered, kissing his head. "We're at the house."

He mumbled something, then lifted his head with a soft yawn. I kissed his head again and opened the car door. Matteo stiffly unbuckled himself and climbed out with my body tucked against his left side. I was so sleepy again. I closed my eyes for a moment, then heard whispering and not long after I was laid down on softness. I snuggled into the bedding and felt something soft placed in my hands.

It was Viola. I hugged her to my chest and curled up, then smiled to myself as warmth was tucked around me. In just a few moments, I was in the darkness.

__________________________

"Useless little shit. Why did it have to be you?"

I listened with a blank face, my eyes staring through her midsection as her shoes slammed down on my chest and stomach. I remained still, but blood burst into my mouth and dribbled from my lips.

One constant question remained in my aching mind.

A lone tear rolled down my cheek and I closed my eyes as her fingernails dug into my throat.

"Ugly! You're so fucking ugly! Why the fuck were you born? You should have died in the womb when I tried to off you."

Her hurtful words were just another drop in the bucket. Yet, another tear slipped down my opposite cheek. Heat warmed my neck as blood trickled down my bruised flesh. My air was slowly getting cut off, but I wanted it. I wanted to be released from my constant torment.

Even though I wanted death, would never allow me to have it. I want her to love me. Why won't she love me? Am I really that ugly? People seemed to like me at school. So why?

"Hey, pay attention!"

My neck cracked and my cheek stung from the force of her slap. I bit my cheek and fresh blood entered my mouth. My vision blurred and then refocused as I turned my head to look at her cold, black eyes.

"There, now that I have your peabrain attention span refocused on me, you're to go outside and stay out there tonight."

She flung my body hard enough that my back hit the wall. I slid down and slumped over like a lifeless doll. She stomped over and smashed the back of my head against the wall. The pain was all throughout my body, so the throbbing in my head did nothing to deter my agony.

"Bitch." she spat, spitting on my face. "If you don't get your ass outside, I will do more than this."

I felt my hair being pulled, so it occurred to me that I was being dragged outside. She kicked me down the steps and slammed the door, firmly locking it.

For so long, I laid in the grass at the bottom of the steps, shallowly breathing in the scent of the soil. The sun fell below the horizon and clouds began to gather. In the dark of night, I forced myself to my knees and elbows, swaying back and forth. I couldn't really breathe, but I managed to force myself to the familiar shelter under the boughs of a gnarled oak tree.

Thunder rolled in the air, the temperature dropping rapidly. I shivered, gasping in pain as each movement caused another layer of agony. I curled up as lightning flashed in the distance. A horrible crack rang out not even a second later, the bone-chilling rain starting pour as the thunder vibrated the air waves and the ground below me.

I curled tighter and covered my ears, the silent tears washing away with the rain.

__________________________

The sensation of warmth moving across my face made me turn, cuddling close to the heat emitted from another body. I sighed and nosed the pillow, then stretched under the blankets.

"Hmm?"

"Anwyll, were you having a bad dream?"

I peeled open my eyelids and peered at Matteo, who was laying on his side next to me with his fingers brushing over my exposed cheek. I rubbed my eyes, feeling the wetness on my face.

"Oh, not exactly." I smiled sadly, then scooted closer to him.

Matteo curled his arm around my waist and I pressed my face into his chest. I sighed softly and nosed his collarbones.

"Are you all right?"

"Mm, kinda. Mattie, do you dream of the past, too?"

He tensed, curling around my small form. "Yes, I do."

I glanced behind me to see the door shut and locked, then scooted higher to peck his lips. "Mattie, may I look? I don't have any visible scars to speak of, I'm sorry."

Matteo shook his head as he moved to sit up. "Don't apologize, Anwyll."

I watched him remove his shirt and turn around. The horrible scars on his tanned skin made my stomach churn. The gruesome ones between his shoulder blades made me want to cry. I knew those had come from the illegal bullfighting.

"M-may I—?"

"Do what you want, Anwyll. I love you."

I blushed, then laid my fingers on his chiseled back. He shivered, then made a muffled noise when I began to trace each scar and kiss every single one I could reach. When my lips landed on the scars from the lance, I let my tears fall. Matteo shuddered as I pressed my cheek there.

"I love you, Matteo."

His shoulders shook as he began to sob under his breath. I wrapped my arms around his waist and he held my hands as he cried. I curled my tail around his side, gently kissing all the marks of his abuse.

"My Anwyll, my little wolf, I love you. I love you so much." he croaked, so I squeezed him a bit tighter.

"I love you so much too, Matteo. You can do this. I'm here for you."

"I know, and I am ever so grateful to you for it." he said as he turned, so I slid my hands up his chest and laced my fingers at his nape.

I gently pressed upwards and we met each other's lips in a slow, languid kiss that made me so happy and aroused at the same time. Matteo's hands slid to my left thigh and between my shoulder blades to pull my body closer. I hugged his neck and licked his tongue as an invitation to deepen the kiss.

"Mattie," I murmured, when the kiss ended. I buried my right hand in his thick, dark hair and cupped his jaw with my left hand. "Mattie, I love you."

Matteo was holding himself up on his forearms above me, his expression of love not lost on me. He had such a tender expression that it made my heart pound. I rubbed his scalp, just looking at him for awhile. Matteo lowered himself to meet my small form and gently kissed me.

"Master..." he whispered ever so softly. "My master."

I smiled and kissed his forehead. "I love you."

"I love you too, Master Anwyll. I'm so happy I gave my all to you." he whispered, and his bottom lip trembled. "It feels good to know that I can love you and be loved by you in return."

I stroked his cheeks with both of my thumbs this time, then slid my hands to his shoulders. I eased him down to lay on top of me, relaxing as his full upper body weight settled on my form. While he settled himself in my arms, I continued to trace each scar I could reach. Matteo was happy and relaxed, so he never tensed up. There were so many long and deep scars crisscrossing with short and light ones. It hurt to feel them, but I accepted the minute pain and all of Matteo. His scent, his warmth, his weight.

Matteo nosed my throat with a happy hum in his own. "This feels good."

"Mmhm, it surely does." I responded quietly. "It would feel better if I was undressed, though, but I'm happy to stay like this with you. We can do it when I'm bare another time."

He chuckled. "That is true."

A little while later, our peaceful resting time was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Mom says dinner is ready." stated Markus through the door. "Come down in a few minutes or else Mom will not let you eat."

I frowned, but answered him in Matteo's stead. "Okay, thanks for the heads up."

Markus grunted and turned away, but then paused and sighed against the door. "Is my brother sleeping?"

"He is resting comfortably." I responded, petting Matteo's dark waves.

"Then is it uncomfortable for that coward to answer me?"

Matteo tensed, but relaxed when I gripped his hair. I growled, but kept my anger to a minimum.

"It's uncomfortable to even be in this house again for him, Markus. Try thinking more from Matteo's perspective and then you'll understand that this took a lot of courage for him to come back here. He's not a coward, Markus. If anything, you're the coward. You can't even ask your brother why he left, and you are instead patronizing him."

"Shut up!" growled Markus, then he stomped back downstairs.

I huffed and rolled my eyes, still petting my bull's hair. "Well, that went wonderfully."

Matteo chuckled as he moved to get up. "I love you so much, my cute wolf."

I blushed, but grinned widely at him. "And I love you so much, my cute bull."

His skin flushed a bit, but he helped me fix my clothes and hair, then put his shirt back on. We left the room and washed up in the adjoining bathroom and then carefully walked downstairs.

A lithe woman with long blonde hair was setting the round table next to the kitchen with glasses of water and napkins. Her blue eyes appeared to be tired and overall she looked exhausted. I hopped down the last step and she glanced up.

Her eyes widened and a few sparkles appeared in them. "Hello, little one. What's your name?"

I bounced over with a grin and held her hands. "My name is Anwyll."

"Oh, what a nice name. My name is Sara."

"Markus' mom, right?"

She smiled and patted my head. "Yes, and who do you belong to?"

Matteo remained on the bottom step, but I heard him snort uneasily.

"My family." I beamed. "And Mattie is part of it!"

Her blue eyes filled with regret and sadness. "Oh, is he happy?"

"Happier, yes. But I hope he will be happy at the end of this trip." I said with a small smile.

Sara pulled back with a look of shock, so I immediately realized she had misunderstood. I grasped her hands again.

"That's not what I meant. He's facing his fears by coming back here, Sara."

She nodded with a more relaxed expression. "How about you call me Ms. Sara?"

I hummed. "I suppose so. You are older than me. It'd be rude not to."

Her eyes flickered with confusion, but I left her to grab Matteo's hand. He balked a bit, but I managed to get him down the last step and towards his step-mother. Matteo eyed her with caution and she stared up at him with a broken expression. Markus stood by with a tense posture, his killer glare bouncing off my barrier with no damage to my mind.

Sara suddenly burst into tears and Matteo looked panicked. I elbowed him, but he shook his head. His eyes were whirling again. I bit my lip and moved between them, pressing my back against him. Matteo pressed a hand to my chest, and I held Sara's hands as she slowly sank to the floor.

"I'm sorry!" she cried. "I'm so sorry, Matteo!"

Markus was in a tough position, completely unsure of what to do in such an odd situation.

"I'm sorry I didn't help you!" she sobbed, and Matteo grunted.

"Stop crying. You never shed a tear for me before and let him do those things to me to save Markus' hide." spat Matteo. "The only reason I took care of your son was to save the life you cherished more than anyone else's."

"No," she whimpered, rocking from side to side. "No, Matteo!"

"Shut up. You shouldn't have called me here. I hate that bastard with every fiber of my being. He tortured me, traumatized my mother and me, and had the gall to throw my mother away on her deathbed to marry you."

Sara shuddered and sobbed, but I refused to let go of her hands. I glanced to Markus, who was pale-faced and nervous.

"I'm sorry, Matteo... I had no idea he was still married up until that point. I was horrified, but I had no choice but to marry him."

Matteo snorted. "You had a fucking choice, but you're not exactly a home-wrecker. No, that title is solely reserved for the man who raped my mother."

I blinked. Oh...I get it now. It all makes sense now.

Sara wailed, and my heart dropped to my stomach. I squeezed her hands, refusing to let go of her.

I curled my tail around Matteo's ankles as I moved to kneel. He didn't move, but I did to hug his stepmother.

"Sara, I am not pitying you. I understand what you went through, and I am so sorry for your loss."

She shuddered. "What the hell do you know? You're just a kid."

I forced her head up and stared into her teary eyes. "Look at me, Sara. Am I really a kid?"

Sara's sapphire blue eyes focused on my violet and silver-ringed orbs. More tears spilled down her cheeks and she dropped her forehead onto my shoulder. Her shoulders heaved with sobs.

"I know you did your best to love him despite all of the bad things he did to you. I know you tried your best to live with him despite having no one to turn to. I know you cared for Markus as much as you could to save him from the torment that Matteo, his mother, and you went through. You've done well, Sara. Far better than you realize." I said softly, holding her head.

She weakly wrapped her arms around me and continued to cry. I held her close and closed my eyes with a soft sigh.