Page 44 of Demon Reform Academy, Term 3

44

brAM

H unter’s office smelled like strong espresso and caramel—one of those things I couldn’t stand. The other, I fucking craved.

I stretched out on his soft sofa, letting my shoes hang off the edge, tapping the sole against the armrest. It annoyed him just enough to make me feel a little bit of chaos, but not enough for him to actually say anything to me.

“Glad you're okay, by the way. After being stabbed and all,” I drawled, eyes flicking up to meet his.

Hunter raised an eyebrow. It was his turn to smirk. “Yeah, well, I was a bit busy with our mate.”

I snorted, crossing my arms behind my head. “That makes all the sense in the world.”

“We need to talk about those attacks, Bram,” he said, leaning forward, his fingers steepling in that counselor-way. “Dark Veil is not letting up. Pandora?—”

“I know ,” I cut him off, the smirk slipping off my face faster than I intended. I sat up, leaning forward and resting my elbows on my knees. “They're after her, and we have to fucking stop it.”

Hunter’s silence told me more than his words ever could. He was just as scared as I was. And if Hunter—the fucking vengeance demon representative on the Demon Council—was scared, that meant it was bad.

“I don’t know how much longer we can keep her safe,” I said quietly. “I mean, we’ve got targets painted on all our backs. Dark Veil’s not playing games anymore.”

“They were never playing games, Bram. They just shifted their intent with our mate.” Hunter’s voice was steady, but I caught the flicker of worry behind his white eyes.

I leaned back again, scrubbing my hand over my face. “She doesn’t deserve any of this, you know? And neither do you. You almost died, dude. We have all almost died.”

Hunter’s expression softened, and for a second, it was like I wasn’t some screwed-up chaos demon in front of him. I was just… Bram. His outlook of me was changing.

“You don’t have to carry this alone, Bram. We’re a team. Pandora, Reed, Dex, Skel, you, and me. We protect each other. It’s what being part of this bond means.”

I swallowed hard, not trusting myself to speak for a moment. Because it was more than that, wasn’t it? Pandora was our fated mate. We could not lose her.

The one thing I had never thought I’d be worthy of, and yet…here we were. I had to fucking protect her.

“I don’t want to mess this up,” I said quietly. “I’ve already messed up so much. She forgave me, but sometimes I don’t know why. I don’t know what she sees in me. It’s not just because I’m her mate, either. She sees me.”

Hunter’s gaze softened even more, and there was a look of pride he sometimes got when he talked to me about my progress. I hated how much that meant to me. It meant so fucking much.

I didn’t grow up with anyone being proud of me until now.

“She forgave you because she sees the work you’ve put in,” Hunter stated simply. “I see it too. You’ve cut ties with your parents, with the Hemlock family. You’ve stopped drinking. You’re bettering yourself, Bram. And she’s proud of you. Fates, so am I.”

I laughed bitterly, the sound coming out harsher than I intended. “Cutting ties with the Hemlocks,” I muttered, shaking my head. “That’s not a small thing. In our culture, it’s pretty much a death sentence. I’m not Bram Hemlock anymore. Just… Bram . No last name. Makes me even more of an outcast than I already was.”

Hunter thinned his lips into a line. “You were never like your parents, Bram. They tried to break you, but they didn’t. You walked away. That takes more strength than they’ll ever have. Fuck their last name.”

I chuckled dryly, the weight of it all pressing down on my chest. “Well, I’ve always been an outcast. What’s one more reason for the demons to hate me?”

“You aren’t an outcast anymore, Bram,” Hunter said firmly. "When Pandora was kidnapped, you were infected. You didn’t tell us, and that was stupid. You need to understand— your life matters too.”

I looked away, the words hitting me harder in the chest than they should have. It was easier to believe I was worthless because that was what I was told all the time. But hearing the opposite? I didn’t know how to feel about it.

“I didn’t want to be a liability,” I said after a moment. “We were all worried about Pandora. Tensions were high. I didn’t want to make it worse.”

Hunter sighed, shaking his head. “You’re not a liability, Bram. You’re important. To her. To me. And you should be to yourself, too.”

I didn’t know what to say to that, so I didn’t say anything. I just bobbed my head in agreement.

“You’ve got people who care about you,” Hunter continued. “Slater and Melinda Havoc, for example—they’ve both been checking in on you, making sure you’re doing okay.”

I scoffed, but there wasn’t any heat in it. “Yeah, well, turns out they weren’t as bad as my father made them out to be growing up.”

Hunter gave me a look. “You figured that out already.”

I had. After talking with Slater, it was easy to realize that he and his mom were never the monsters my father painted them as.

“I like them,” I admitted quietly. “Slater, definitely. Even Melinda. They’re good. Better than I gave them credit for.”

Hunter nodded, a small smile playing on his lips. “You’re learning to see people for who they really are. That’s growth, Bram. The ability to open yourself up to others shows your emotional maturity.”

I swallowed thickly, the words I wanted to say catching in my throat.

Growth .

Emotional maturity.

Those words were completely fucking foreign to me. But I liked them. I was trying to be the demon Pandora deserved, the one who could protect her, stand beside her, love her the way she needed.

“I’m trying,” I whispered, my leg bouncing.

“And that’s enough,” Hunter replied, his tone soft but firm. “You’re enough, Bram. For her, for yourself. You’re becoming the demon you need to be—for all of us. To be completely honest, I thought you’d fuck this up and Death would eat your soul.”

I rolled my eyes. “Too bad you were wrong then.”

“I’m glad I was wrong,” he said sharply.

The weight of his words settled over me, but for the first time in a long time, I didn’t feel like a burden.