Page 52 of Bully Alpha's Secret Baby

As Damien busies himself in the kitchen, I lean back on the couch, letting the tension in my body melt just a little. Maybe he’s right. Maybe I don’t have to carry this alone. The thought scares the hell out of me—letting someone else in, trusting them to hold the weight. But looking at Damien, the way he moves around the kitchen like it’s no big deal, the way Penny’s eyes light up every time he speaks… maybe it’s worth the risk.

For now, I’ll let him take care of dinner.

I settle back on the couch with Penny still snuggled in my lap. I glance over at Damien, watching him move around the kitchen with a kind of confidence that shouldn’t be as attractive as it is. He’s so calm about everything. Even when I’m falling apart, he just… holds me together without making a big deal out of it.

“Damien?” I call out softly, trying not to disturb Penny, who’s half-asleep in my arms.

“Yeah?” He turns to face me as he stirs a pot with one hand, looking every bit the domestic alpha I never expected to see in my lifetime.

“Why don’t you stop me? From using my magic so much, I mean. I know you need me to protect your pack, but… even though my name is cleared now, you know the other shifters still don’t like witches. If you wanted to, you could put your foot down. You’re the alpha, and I’m… well, I’m a witch. Isn’t that supposed to go against every fiber of your shifter instincts?”

He stops what he’s doing and rests the spoon against the edge of the pot as he turns to really look at me. There’s something in his expression, something deep and unreadable, that makes my heart skip a beat.

“Jade, I couldn’t stop you from protecting the people you care about even if I tried. That’s not who you are. You’d fight tooth and nail for anyone you love, for Penny, for the pack… for me.” He pauses, and his eyes soften as they meet mine. “And I don’t want to stop you. I want you to feel free. When you use your magic, you’re in your element. I’ve seen it. You feel alive, Jade. And if that’s what makes you feel like yourself, then who the hell am I to take that from you?”

His words sink in, slow and steady, and it’s like he’s peeled back a layer of myself I didn’t even know I’d been hiding. He sees me, truly sees me, and for the first time in a long time, I feel understood. Not judged, not feared, but accepted.

“Damien…” I don’t even know where to start. “You don’t… I mean, no one’s ever seen me like that. No one’s ever wanted me to just… be.”

He turns off the burner before he saunters back into the living room and sinks down beside me. His hand finds mine with that same quiet assurance before he declares, “That’s because no one’s taken the time to look, Jade. I have. I see you. And I’m not afraid of your magic. I’m not afraid of you.”

His words settle into the cracks of my heart, the ones I’ve tried to patch up on my own for years. And suddenly, it’s like the dam breaks. Everything I’ve been holding back—the fear, the guilt, the worry—it all comes pouring out.

“I’m scared, Damien,” I admit. “I’m scared of what’s out there, of what I can’t control. I’m scared of losing myself in the magic, of not being able to protect Penny… of not being enough.”

I expect him to say something comforting, to tell me I’m wrong, that I am enough. But he doesn’t. Instead, he just sits there, letting the silence wrap around us.

“I get it,” he finally says after a moment. “You think I don’t feel that way, too? Like I’m not enough? Hell, I’ve spent most of my life thinking people would reject me for who I am. Not just because I’m an alpha, but because of… everything else.”

My eyebrows pinch together. “Everything else?”

He sighs and runs a hand through his dark hair, a gesture that makes him seem so human every time he does it. “I’ve always felt like I had to be this… perfect version of myself. Like if I wasn’t strong enough, tough enough, people wouldn’t respect me. And it’s not just about being alpha. It’s about being the son of the former alpha. I had to live up to my dad’s legacy, and that pressure… it still sits on me, every damn day.”

His confession hits me harder than I expected. Damien’s always been this larger-than-life figure in my mind. Someone untouchable, someone who could handle anything. Hearing him admit that he struggles with the same insecurities I do levels the playing field in a way I wasn’t prepared for.

“I get that,” I sympathize. “Even before I found out I’m a witch, I know people looked at me and saw someone who didn’t fit it. My dad wasn’t an alpha, but he was a respected member of this pack, and so was my mother. And when I was never able to shift… God, I felt like such an outcast even before I actually was one. I had no idea what my role was in the pack, and even… my size. I mean, I know what people think when they see someone like me next to someone… thinner. I’m not exactly what the world considers the ideal woman. But since I’ve been back, you’ve never made me feel anything less than beautiful.”

He chuckles softly, and the sound is a little self-deprecating. “That’s because you are beautiful, Jade. Always have been. But I guess… I guess we all have our hang-ups.”

The honesty in his words, the way he’s letting me in like this… it’s more than I ever expected from him. And honestly, I never thought I’d see the day when I let him in, either. I lean into him and rest my head on his shoulder. It’s not just the magic, not just the guilt. It’s everything—the pressure, the expectations, the way we both feel like we’ve been fighting battles alone for so long.

“My parents never told me about the magic,” I tell him. “They never gave me the chance to understand who I was. I always felt… different, like something was missing. And then, when they were gone, I was left with this hole inside me that I didn’t know how to fill. The magic was part of it, but it was more than that. It was everything.”

“I know what you mean,” Damien says, his voice soft. “After my dad died, it was like the whole pack looked at me, waiting for me to become him overnight. But I’m not him. I’ll never be him. And sometimes… I think that’s a good thing. But other times, I wonder if I’m letting everyone down just by being myself.”

“Things were so different when we were kids,” I comment with a small smile tugging at my lips. “I remember running around the woods with you and my brother, causing all kinds of trouble. Your dad used to scold us, but he always had that look. Like he was proud of how wild we were.”

Damien laughs softly. “Yeah, he was a hardass, but he loved the chaos. I think that’s why I always felt like I had to live up to that. Like if I didn’t, I’d be letting him down.”

“You’re not letting him down,” I say quietly. “And neither am I.”

He doesn’t say anything for a moment, just pulls me closer and rests his chin on the top of my head. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“Me too.”

And in that moment, sitting there with Damien, with Penny softly breathing beside me, I realize something: I don’t have to carry the weight of the world alone. Neither does he. We’re in this together, facing the same fears, the same struggles. And for the first time in a long time, I feel like maybe I’m strong enough to face whatever comes next.

With Damien by my side, I think we both are.

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