sam evans ( werewolf ) . (tamest) wrote in light_of_may, |
Home was an alien concept to Sam. It was as simple as that, not that anyone else could pick up on that. It was difficult for people to understand where he was coming from or why when they didn't know what exactly had made him how he was, how badly his own pack, his own family had treated him, how they had made him sleep in the basement and endure their assaults during the full moon, how they had made him eat the bare minimum because that was all an Omega should get and take their insults and abuse because he was no good for anything else. Years on end of that kind of treatment had taken its toll on his mind as much as it had his body, it had all moulded him and made him what he was today. Sam never took what he wanted or asked questions that made him seem forward, he never stepped out of line and he never looked a dominant in the eye for more than a few seconds, and in his mind everyone was more dominant than he was.
When Jo approached he had his gaze averted and he didn't see her coming, just as he didn't see her hand coming up. When it touched his shoulder, no matter how gently, it startled him and he jumped back, his own eyes wider now and his breathing coming quicker, his entire body tensing in preparation for a blow. Jo's words fell on deaf ears and one of Sam's hands gripped the edge of the counter he had bumped into when he'd jerked away from her, his grip so tight that his knuckles had gone wide. His eyes had closed after the initial moment of shock and alarm and his head had turned down and away from her just enough for there to be no mistaking the physical flinch. Under the surface Sam knew Jo hadn't meant anything by it, no one here had done anything aggressive towards him -- not counting Julian, of course, but even he had only acted that way during their first meeting and with good reason -- but he had only been here in Scarlet Oak for a little over a week and it took a lot longer than that to break a lifetime of habits.