46 - The Demon's Sparrow

River

I had walked into the bar that faithful night with one mission only: to get laid.

The black dress with lace hung to my body. I looked around the bar with a small smile. I tossed back another drink and sat on the barstool.

My eyes flitted over the men in the bar. I'd contemplated on going over to Daimen's to satisfy my needs, but it seemed too much a risk.

Maybe I'd get lucky tonight.

It wasn't long before a man caught my eye. This man had blue eyes and a scar on his left cheek. He was mildly attractive.

He kept shooting me glances which I returned a few times and soon he'd walked over to me.

He offered me a drink which I gratefully declined, telling him I'd already reached my limit. Scar Cheek frowned at this but gave a simple nod and drank the booze himself.

"So what's a pretty little thing like you doing here all alone?" He asked and I took in his deep, slightly annoying voice. So original.

"I'm just looking for a good time." I said truthfully. What can I say? I came looking for men, maybe I found one.

"Oh really? What kind of good time are you talking about? Because if you're thinking like me, we could get out of here, my place is about five minutes away." I was going to agree, but something made me stop. My stomach suddenly churned with uneasiness and I shook my head.

Never mind.

"No, I just wanted to drink." I said looking away from Scar Cheek.

"Aye, you started this. You're gonna finish it." He said grabbing my arm abruptly and I looked at him in shock.

"Let go." I said trying to keep my voice steady, but his grip was iron and his arms were ripped and he wasn't loosening his grip.

Dammit River, what did you get yourself into?

"Come on babe." He said tugging me toward the exit and I tried to make a scene, but he covered my mouth and leaned close to my ear.

"You mess with the pack, you get the wolves baby." He said with a poisonous voice and my whole body numbed. Oh no. No no no.

So now I was officially scared out of my wits. Maybe he was just saying some weird shit, right? That didn't mean he's part of The Pack, right?

"In ya go." He barked attempting to shove me into a silver Mercedes and I wriggled out of his grasp.

"Mm I like when they fight." Scar Cheek said and grabbed me before shoving me against the car. My heart was pounding now.

"Look, I'm not doing anything except going home." I hissed trying to be brave but my voice wavered.

"Wrong again sweetie." Scar Cheek said leaning closer, his lips coming close to mine. My hand reared up and slapped his face. Scar Cheek huffed and slapped me back and I gasped in pain. Another slap. Another. My vision blurred before me and I put out my hands trying to protect my face. The guy gave a sick chuckle and kneed me in the stomach. The wind rushed out of me and I gave a cry of pain.

My breath was wheezy as I struggled against him.

"You don't know when to give up, do you?" Scar Cheek hissed and I spit at him.

"Bitch." He growled and I reared up my leg and crashed it between his legs. He let me go with a groan and I pushed him away, satisfied as he lost his balance and crumpled to the ground. I quickly stepped around him and gave him a kick to the head before running away.

Tears burned my eyes as I sprinted the best I could, considering my body was killing me, towards the familiar home. His home.

"Way to go River. Way to get yourself into a whole lot of shit." I told myself as I hurried along, shooting glances behind me.

My feet stumbled up the sidewalk and soon I was hyperventilating, you could say. I found myself at his door after a while. My hands were pressed against the wood. I knocked a few times as I tried to compose myself. After a few more knocks and the ringing of his doorbell I heard the switch of his lock. I moved away from the door as it swung open and in the doorway stood a confused looking Daimen.

It was dark out and dark in his house and I could barely make out his features as he stood there. I suppose he could barely see me as well, and I was fine with that.

"River? What are you doing here?" He asked and I stepped to him before wrapping my arms around his neck and kissing him. He groaned in surprise but didn't pull away and soon we were inside. He carried me to his room and I was grateful the lights were off.

We settled into his bed and my hands led his to my clothes.

"River..." Daimen huffed sounding reluctant and I shook my head.

"Please." I breathed and he gave a sigh; I ignored the pain as he undressed me. I was fine with the pain his gentle touch left against my sore body, because I'd rather find pain from his soft caress than pain from any other man's hands.

"I need you." I whimpered and Daimen paused before kissing my neck. My breath hitched as his hands trailed my body.

"I don't know what happened tonight, we don't have to talk about it now, but tomorrow we're going to." Daimen sighed and got undressed before kissing me again.

My arms flung around his neck as the kiss deepened and soon my hands were trailing down his back. I whined as he stopped kissing me and dug my nails in his back.

"I love you." Daimen groaned before crashing his lips to mine. Tears slipped from my eyes as we kissed and I never felt safer in anyone else's arms.

I woke up to find a cold place beside me. The covers were piled on top of me and I looked around Daimen's room in sleepy confusion. A clearing of a throat made me look towards the bathroom and I saw Daimen leaned against his doorframe watching me with a tense expression. He was dressed in black sweatpants and a white wife beater. I noticed his right foot was tapping against the floor.

"So what happened?" He asked and I felt my stomach churn. I sat up a bit and he huffed and looked away from me.

"It was my fault really--" I began and Daimen snapped his eyes back to mine and there was such a look in them I ran out of words for a moment.

"I-I was in the mood and I didn't... I didn't want to come here. It would just complicate things even more, so I went out..." Daimen blinked at me. "I was just drinking a little and this guy came up. We talked a bit, but I didn't want to go home with him and he got mad. He said something about The Pack. I don't know if it was just the saying, ya know, mess with the wolves... or if he's actually a part of it. Well he took me out to his car and tried to make me get in it and I said no and he tried to kiss me... so I slapped him and he just started hitting me and stuff, but I got away and came here." I said softly and Daimen just stood there staring at me.

"I'm sorry it was stupid really, I shouldn't've gone out." I said and he just took in a ragged breath.

"How do you think I felt Riv?" Daimen growled and I watched him in silence. He ran a hand roughly through his hair.

"I wake up and see--all these bruises on you. You were all curled up on me and I just looked and--and--" Daimen's voice cracked and I felt my heart shatter as tears welled up in his eyes.

What've I done? He's hurt... its all my fault.

"Who was he? What's his name?" Daimen asked after a pause, his voice tight.

"I don't know." I said softly and he frowned.

"Well what do you know?" Daimen asked his voice rising and I felt my lip quiver as a tear ran down his face. He wiped it away quickly.

"He has blue eyes and a scar on his left cheek. He's about your height." I said.

"Where were you?" He asked taking in a ragged breath.

"At the bar by Shooly's." I sighed.

"Okay. Get dressed." He said and stomped out a the room, running a hand through his hair again. I looked at the closed door and let out a breath. I pushed myself up and groaned at the pain in my stomach. I pulled the covers away and clenched my jaw at the dark bruise on my abdomen.

Tears slipped from my eyes as I touched it gingerly and my brows screwed up at the pain.

Why did I have to be so stupid?

"River I--fuck." Daimen's voice grumbled cutting off and I looked over to find him paused mid-step into the room. His eyes roamed over me and stopped at the blankets jumbled at my waist.

"Princess..." he said in a shaky voice and my heart hurt. He strode over and pulled me out of bed and hugged me to him. I gasped in pain and he let me go.

"Shit. Sorry. I--baby." Daimen stuttered and ran his hands down my back. I laid my head against his chest and he kissed my hair.

His body shook against mine and I knew he was crying and that just made me start to cry.

"I love you. I love you. Damn you. I love you." Daimen gasped and I sobbed against him.

"I know." I breathed and he held me a little tighter, but careful not to hurt me.

"Where are we going?" I asked him softly after a while of just holding each other.

He sucked in a breath. "I'm going to find him. You're going to come with me so I can keep an eye on you." Daimen said and I shook my head.

"Daimen please, you can't go around searching for him." I said grabbing onto his arms and he only grumbled.

"Yes I can." He huffed and tried to move away. I held on tighter.

"Please Daimen. You don't even know what he looks like. You can't--" I began.

"Fine. I won't. I'll let it go." Daimen growled and pulled sharply away from me before climbing into bed and laying down with a huff.

I stood there, clad in only socks and underwear, watching him with a wounded heart. He looked at me after a bit and his eyes traveled over me with a gleam in them.

"Here." He said removing his wife beater and handing it to me. I slipped it on and Daimen grabbed my hand before pulling me into his lap. His arms wrapped around my waist and he held me close.

"I kneed him really hard and kicked him in the face, if that makes you feel any better." I said softly and Daimen gave a soft chuckle.

"Why didn't you just come here?" He asked and I couldn't help tensing some.

"I just didn't want to. I couldn't." I breathed.

"So you'd rather sleep with a stranger than me?" Daimen queried and I felt my heart start to beat harder.

"I don't know." I said softly.

"What's so hard about that question? It's a simple yes or no." Daimen grumbled loosening his hold on me. I found myself leaning more into him, silently begging him not to let go of me. But he did.

He shoved me gently away before turning his back to me and sitting on the opposite side of the bed.

I wanted to tell him that it was because I loved him, why I couldn't bring myself to initially come here last night. I wanted to tell him it was because of his love for me, his kindness, his everything. But I couldn't. This life-his life-was becoming too much for me. Yet still I know deep down I felt the love. I just wished things were different.

I wished no one hated Daimen Princeston.

If no one hated him to the point they'd drag me down to toy with him, hurt April, kill Daimen himself; then maybe we could've been something.

"I'm going to get breakfast... What do you want?" Daimen said standing and I felt my heart hurt a little.

"I'm not hungry." I sighed.

"River." Daimen pestered sounding annoyed.

"Pancakes..." I said softly and Daimen nodded before leaving out of the room.

I swallowed in self-annoyance and raised my eyebrows as Rocky came bounding into the room. The dog leapt onto the bed and landed beside me with a bark.

"Hey Rocky." I said scratching behind his ears and he wagged his tail and licked my hand. I couldn't help smiling and I rolled my eyes as he barreled into me and tried his best to fit his monstrous form in my lap.

"Calm down." I said and he wriggled around and his paw almost hit me in the face. He grumbled and rolled around so I wriggled my legs from under him.

After a bit I got up and went to the bathroom and opted for a nice shower.

The water was warm and my shower was quick. I got out of the shower and dried myself off before wrapping a towel around me and going to my room. I got dressed into a gray t shirt and jeans.

"Hey." I jumped slightly and turned to see Daimen standing in my doorway.

I looked at him expectantly.

"Food's here." He said and I followed him as we made our way to the kitchen.

"You have to come." April said and I gave a sigh. She was throwing a party and had been trying to talk me into going for about thirty minutes.

I leaned against the refrigerator and let out a breath. Daimen was washing away at the dishes. He'd insisted on doing them himself.

"Why should we?" Daimen asked loudly obviously annoyed that the conversation was carrying so long.

"You're with Daimen? Did y'all have sex? Is he coming too?" April asked and my face burned at the fact she was on speaker. Daimen chuckled.

"Yeah." Daimen answered.

"Wait--" I said. I kind of just wanted to stay here, not get decked out for a party.

"Okay see you two lovebirds at seven." April said.

"We're not lovebirds." I grumbled as she hung up.

Daimen laughed and came over to give me a hug taking the chance to kiss my neck. I felt my heart pump harder as his hands rubbed against my breasts before slipping down to my waist.

"Wanna waste some time?" He gently moved his kisses to my shoulder. "We've got a few hours... I think some repeats of last night would be great." I closed my eyes and leaned against him.

"Living room or your room?" I asked and he gripped my hips. I heard his smile as he sighed.

"Let's start in here and see where it takes us." Daimen huffed and picked me up before sitting me on the countertop...

April's house was full with a fair amount of people. Daimen and I made our way through before ending up in the living room. I looked around the people and sighed. I'd seen April earlier but now I didn't know where she was.

We walked side by side and I could tell Daimen was just about as done with it as I was.

I walked over to a table and grabbed a cookie before taking a bite. Daimen grabbed one as well but as soon as I took a bite I was slapping it out of his hand, dropping mine I held in the process.

He gave me a shocked look and I quickly wiped the crumbs from his hands.

"There's peanut butter in them. Come on." I said and led him to the kitchen to wash his hands. He smiled as he watched me and I gave him a pointed look.

"Look at you taking care of me." Daimen smirked and moved to kiss my lips. I shrank away.

"I ate part of the cookie." I said in exasperation. Daimen gave a nod and kissed the top of my head.

"I love you." He huffed and pulled me closer by my waist. My heart fluttered and I laid my head against his chest.

Suddenly a boy caught my eye and I felt my blood chill. What was he doing here?

I scowled as flashbacks of the other night rushed through my head as I saw the scar on his cheek. Recognition sparked in his blue eyes and he frowned.

I looked quickly away from Scar Cheek as he glared at me. Uh oh.

I should really just stop going to social events.

"Jagger. What's up your ass?" A boy beside Scar Cheek said before he slapped his back.

"Stop." He snapped and pushed the guy away.

"Y'all should've seen ole Play Boy yesterday; got his ass kicked at the bar by some girl." The guy said loudly. Daimen slowly let me go.

"Man shut up she kicked me in my shit." Scar Cheek-Jagger spat.

Time to go.

I gulped and looked up at Daimen about to ask him if we could leave, but he was staring past me his eyes narrowed into slits. Oh no. He stormed past me and launched himself at Jagger punching him in the face with a hard swing.

Jagger was taken by surprise and stumbled back before falling whereas his buddy jumped out of range with a WTF look. Daimen wasn't stopping and got on top of Scar Cheek before wailing on him.

"Daimen! Stop!" I yelled rushing over to him as people tried to pry him away. He only huffed and dragged Jagger with him.

"What's going on? Get him off!" April shouted coming to stand beside me.

River

I pulled out my phone, I'd retrieved it early yesterday, and hovered over Daimen's name. I clicked it and was about to message him when I stopped. With a sigh I closed it and shoved my phone back into my pocket.

After some time, Daimen hadn't returned and I decided to go after him.

I left the room, careful to keep it just ajar enough that I could get back inside being Daimen had the key.

It wasn't long before I found him. I was just passing the elevators and one opened and there he was...

I pulled up short when I saw him. His hair a mess, his clothes tousled, his lips smeared with red lipstick. He was looking at his feet; hadn't seen me. I wished seeing him like that didn't hurt, but it did. My stomach churned and I suddenly felt nauseous.

I'd began to turn to leave when he abruptly looked up and his amber eyes found me. He smiled gently at me and I felt my lip quiver as I scowled back. Sudden tears welled up in my eyes and I swiftly turned away and made my escape into an opposite elevator. I quickly hit the button for the lobby.

"River, I can explain--" Daimen's voice was cut off as the doors shut. My throat tightened and I swallowed forcefully.

"Are you alright dear?" A voice caused me to jump. I looked over to see an elderly woman holding a large maroon bag. Her brown eyes watched me curiously.

"Yes, I'm fine." I said but my voice cracked.

"I'm assuming you're River?" She asked and I gave a nod.

"And the man calling, who's he?" She asked.

"A friend." I said.

"Just a friend?" She questioned with a knowing look.

I shrugged and a sob slipped out of my mouth.

"He just told me that he loved me and now he's kissing someone else." I croaked. I hope he only kissed whoever it was.

"Well kick his ass then." The old lady said and I looked at her in shock. She gave me a soft smile.

"Show him that's not how the game works dear. You can't just run away from him, tell him off at least." She said reaching into her bag.

"Here." She said handing me a handkerchief and I paused before taking it. I wiped my eyes and handed it back.

She took it and the elevator stopped at the lobby. She started to step off.

"What's your name ma'am?" I asked.

She gave me a smile before stepping out of the elevator. Her brown eyes twinkled as she dipped her head, "Mrs. P."

I walked back into the room after a while, it was still open. Daimen was cleaned and pacing around when I entered. He turned to me and drew a hand through his hair.

"Nothing happened." Was the first thing he said and I scowled.

I gave a slow nod and he huffed. He walked toward me and I felt myself tense as he grabbed my waist and pulled me to him.

"Sure. Get off me." I hissed and wrenched away from him.

"Come on Princess, it's not my fault Katina--" he began and my patience was zapped into oblivion.

Katina?!

"You don't tell someone you love them and then go make out with someone else especially not that whore!" I yelled and Daimen huffed.

"It wasn't like that." He spat. "She kissed me."

"Why the fuck was she even here Daimen?" I hissed.

"If you're implying that I planned this, you're insane." Daimen said glaring at me and I rolled my eyes.

"Go fuck yourself, I don't have time for this." I said glancing at my phone.

"Fine. You know what? I didn't even want Katina, but right now, she's looking pretty good." Daimen snapped and there was a pang in my heart.

"Great, well go get her then." I muttered.