Page 8 of Damon

When she unzipped it, it tipped over. The two largest items fell out onto her feet: her cane and her stuffed eagle. Her face heated. She hoped Damon wouldn’t think she was weird for bringing a stuffie with her.

“Who’s your friend?” he asked gently.

Olivia quickly unfolded her cane and popped all the sections into place before rising with her cane in one hand and her eagle in the other. She easily returned to her Daddy and held out the eagle. “This is Ava. Would you like to hold her while I explore?”

“I’d love to, Baby girl.” He took her out of Olivia’s hand. “Why an eagle?”

“They have the best vision of all the animals. She sleeps with me. I know I can trust her to alert me if there is ever danger.” Itwas silly, but for some reason, Olivia didn’t feel like Damon was going to judge her.

“That’s really smart. Has she ever needed to alert you?”

“Not yet. No one has ever snuck up on me, at least not that I was aware of.”

“And no one ever will. You will always be safe with me, Little rebel. Between Ava and me, you will rest easy.” His voice was serious. She detected not a hint of teasing.

“Thank you,” she whispered. “Now give me some guidance. Tell me what’s around me.”

“This room is an open floor plan. To your right is a sofa. It’s at an angle with this armchair. There’s an end table between them.”

She turned around and tapped the sofa with her cane before swinging it slowly through the air around the sofa. “No coffee table?”

“I got rid of it.”

She frowned. “Why?”

“I didn’t think it was safe, Baby girl. It had sharp edges and was so low to the floor I was afraid you might trip over it.”

She drew in a breath. His intentions were thoughtful, but how much of his home did he alter because of her? “Tell me more.”

“Directly across from the sofa on the wall is an entertainment center. Behind me is the kitchen. There’s a table that seats eight and an island with four bar stools.”

She turned that direction, holding her cane out in front of her so she could let the little ball roll across the hardwood as she moved toward the kitchen area. “Are there any rugs?”

“I got rid of those, too. There are no mats either. Just hardwood.”

She pursed her lips. Part of her was grateful he had so thoughtfully made his home easier for her. Part of her felt like hewas babying her. The doctors had always told her parents not to coddle her. She needed to figure things out on her own.

When her cane hit what she assumed was the leg of a stool or chair, Damon spoke again. “You’re at the island. There’s one chair in front of you, one to the left, and two to the right.”

“They’re all on the same side then?”

“Yes. The other side has the sink and work space.”

She nodded and headed left. When her cane hit something metal, she reached out her hand.

“Refrigerator.”

She continued along, trailing her fingers past the cool metal to the counter, keeping track in her mind of where the stove, oven, and dishwasher were located.

“The stove has the knobs up along the back so you can’t accidentally bump into them and turn on the gas.”

She cringed and turned around swiftly. “Damon, I’m not that helpless. You can’t baby me.”

Chapter Three

He was in front of her, his hands on her biceps in three seconds. “Olivia, I will baby you because it’s the way of the Alpha wolf. I will baby you because you’re precious to me, and I want to take care of your every need. It has nothing to do with your eyesight. I need you to understand that.”

She frowned. His words didn’t make sense to her.