The Beast's Possession

**Bane

pov**

I saw the questions run through her mind even though none passed her lips. Aife was desperate for answers, but still held back from asking anything because of me.

I didn't deserve her. I knew that. She knew that. Damn it, the whole world knew that. And yet, I still held her closer and tighter every time I got a chance to wrap my arms around her. Selfish, I knew. But if being selfish meant I could have her, if only for a brief moment, I was about to become the most selfish man the world had known.

"How about we look at those photos?" I muttered, still gazing into her eyes.

As the realization hit her, I reminded myself that I had to be more careful around her. Somehow, Aife's presence made me let my guard down, possibly because I was too damn comfortable around her, and in turn, I almost spilled too much information.

This wasn't the time or place for me to come clean with her. I would, eventually, it was just too soon, too early in whatever we were building and the hurt I caused to her was still too fresh.

First, we had to grow and then, we could start dipping our fingers in my past.

"Yes," Aife agreed and cleared her throat. Her cheeks turned slightly pink as her eyes darted around the room. "The photos, that's what we came here for."

I tried my best to ignore how flushed she was. The little remarks she made amused me, but the pink tone of her skin and the little things she did really tested my ability to hold back.

Especially when she grew nervous and started chewing those lush lips. All I could focus on was how much I wanted to steal another taste of them.

Clearing my throat, I gestured towards the bed and waited until she sat down. One of the things I had noticed about her was that she didn't like new places, so when I grabbed the photo albums, I quickly sat right next to her, hoping that would make her more comfortable.

Slowly, I opened the first one and offered it to her.

Aife's eyes widened as she looked at me in disbelief. "Will you allow me to touch these?"

The question caught me off guard. Why wouldn't I?

"I can hold them if you don't want to, but I don't see a big deal about letting you go through the pages. I offered, didn't I?"

She nodded, a little hesitant. "You did, but.. These clearly mean a lot to you if you're holding them here, behind closed doors where no one could get their hands on them."

Aife had a point. The only issue was that I couldn't understand what I was doing anymore. I had held everything around here untouched, banned every pack member from approaching the door, let alone touch anything.

But here I was, sitting with Aife on my parents bed and handing her the most treasured thing I owned. I didn't have anything else left, but sharing this with her felt right...

"You can hold the album if you want." I tried to assure her.

Aife's hands started shaking as she slowly reached them out and took the album. She held it as if she knew the importance it held, so carefully, like a mother would hold her newborn.

My eyes followed her movements as she ran her fingertips over a photo and smiled. "This is you, right?" Aife whispered, eyes focused on a toddler grinning.

A chuckle left me before I could stop it. "Yeah, I'm missing a few teeth there as you can see. Let's say I was a fighter from a very early age and knew a couple of defeats."

"Or you lost teeth like every kid did," she rolled her eyes.

I didn't offer more explanations unless she asked questions. If anything, I was enjoying the silence that surrounded us while she flipped the pages and paid extra attention to every photo she saw. And then, she stopped.

At first, I didn't understand why she didn't flip the next page, but then I noticed how focused she was on the photo of my parents.

My father held my mother in his arms, both of them looked at each other, blinding smiles across their lips, the looks in their eyes gave out how crazy in love with each other they were.

Aife slowly ran her fingers over the photo and muttered, "I have seen this woman before. Who is she?"

I frowned. Where possibly she could have seen my mother if she died years ago? Unlike other women, my mother wasn't the social butterfly who strived to leave the pack territory. She was a very quiet woman who preferred to stay home. "That is my mother," I replied, silently hoping Aife would tell me more.

"Odd," she muttered.

Now, she caught my attention. As much as I wanted to ask her millions of questions, I remained silent. More often than not, she told me everything on her mind when she was ready. "Why was the painting of your mother displayed in the hall of my old pack house?"

I shrugged and tried to appear calm. Truth to be told, my heart instantly started beating faster and sweat broke out on my forehead.

Aife's old pack was connected to mine in more than a few ways, but I never thought that they would be so fucking shameless to display the paining of their victim in their damned house.

If not for them, my mother would be alive. The anger I buried years ago slowly found its way back to the surface, and this time, I struggled to push it back down. Aife was someone I wanted in my life, someone I had feelings for, not someone I wanted to harm.

At first, what I did was revenge. I wanted them all to feel a little bit of pain I felt over the years. I wanted them all to feel the desperation of the loss no one deserved. I gave them what they gave me. And that was why I kept the family alive. They lived knowing they would never see her.

But my plan backfired when I fell for the one, who was the pawn in my game of revenge. The woman, who looked at the photo of my parents with tears in her eyes and nothing but admiration in her gaze.

I fell for the best part of the monsters who stripped me of everything that ever mattered.

Sucking in a deep breath, I placed my hand over hers and slowly closed the photo album. My emotions were all over the place, threatening to break out with such strength, I feared the consequences.

And even more than that, I feared *him*, I feared he would take the moment to his advantage and then, I couldn't stop him from doing whatever he pleased.

In a desperate attempt to stop the storm before it started, I placed the photo albums on the nightstand next to the bed, turned to Aife and stole another kiss from her.

If nothing else, her lips could calm me. Her arms, wrapped around my neck and her fingers running through my hair was the anchor I needed to stop myself.

So, after all, this was the proof that my worst fear came to life. I became dependent on someone I couldn't have for good, no matter how much I tried or hoped otherwise.