That almost pleading look in her eye tore at a part of him that he tried so hard to bury over the years. The part of him that was somehow still innocent. Still pure. The part he felt was lost long ago but somehow still lingered at the mere sight of her.
His eyes cast downward in shame as she spoke. He never wanted to cause her pain or worry. But at the time and even in the years since he thought it was best to simply disappear. Even if it was a lie that he told himself over and over again.
“It wasn’t safe...” he began, trying to find the words to explain it to her. “I wasn’t safe...” he concluded with more shame than he cared to admit. Still he had yet to truly answer any questions. To really explain it. With that thought, he took a deep breath.
“I was attacked that night... it was a full moon... a wolf. And dragged off to... heal I guess. Or die. I’m not sure. Either way I didn’t die... though I’ve often wished I had.” The admittance to such a wish was almost whispered.
“I could feel my power leaving me with the first bite. That first bit of poison sinking into my flesh and blood... and I knew... nothing would be as it was.” And it hadn’t been. He had gone from a powerful witch set to marry and mate with another of power. Their whole lives planned out before them and ripped away just as quickly. Then he was simply nothing. Or at least nothing of importance anymore. Just the low man on the totem pole, forced to endure those above him.
“I wasn’t safe...” he repeated, the memories of his first few years and the turns that shook him to the core, leaving him wildly feral and with no control.