This was hell.
"Hello, pretty baby, I've been looking for you."
"Go away," Elliot whispered. He closed his eyes as tightly as he could and began wishing with everything in him. If wishing had gotten him here in the first place, maybe wishing would take him away again.
The soft caress of a hand against his cheek yanked Elliot out of his wishful chanting. He jerked away, the touch of Tommy's hand too much for him to handle. It was something he wanted too much and something he couldn't have.
"Please," Elliot pleaded as he opened his eyes to look at Tommy, taking in his tall form with hungry eyes.
"Ssh, pretty baby, it's okay," Tommy said. "I'm here to take you home."
Elliot shook his head. He didn't want to go home even if it meant staying here. Home meant pain and anguish and people that didn't want him. It meant a mate that was afraid of him and betrayed everything he promised.
No, being here was better even if this place was dismal, Elliot thought to himself. Too many people in his life only offered their love and affection if he became who or what they wanted. No one wanted him unconditionally.
"Just leave me alone," Elliot cried out desperately as he pushed at the hands Tommy held out to him.
"Oh, baby, I can't do that," Tommy replied as he tried again to reach for Elliot. "You're going to die if you don't go back."
"Then let me die!"
"Elliot!"
Elliot couldn't tell if Tommy was angry with him or saddened by his words, but the man definitely did not look happy. Elliot just wasn't sure he cared. He had wanted just one night with Tommy, one night to savor in his memories.
Instead, Tommy had promised him the world until Elliot began to believe that it was possible to have someone in his life that truly wanted him. Elliot had let down all of his guards and allowed Tommy into his heart, a place he guarded from everyone.
Tommy's betrayal, his treachery, had ripped Elliot's heart into so many pieces he wasn't sure it could ever be repaired. Elliot couldn't go through that again. He couldn't start to believe again only to have it ripped away once more.
Elliot watched Tommy carefully as he pushed himself away from the man and crept closer to the edge of the ledge. He could feel the heat from the flaming lava against the skin of his back. He shook his head slowly.
"I'm not going back." His voice was shakier than he would have liked, but he was terrified that Tommy would make him return. "You can't make me go back."
"Elliot." Tommy's voice was rough, almost unnatural in its tone. He took a step closer to Elliot, reaching out for him. "Wha-"
"Stay away from me!" Elliot shouted. "Don't touch me."
He watched Tommy's eyebrows gather into a deep frown as the man's hand slowly fell to his sides. Elliot couldn't prevent the twinge of guilt he felt at the confusion and dawning sadness on Tommy's face.
"You don't want to go back, Elliot?" Tommy asked in a whisper of a voice. "You'll die if you don't go back, pretty baby."
"I don't care."
"Elliot, how can you say that?"
"There's nothing back there for me."
"So this is where you choose to be?" Tommy's arms spread wide. "Elliot, this is no place for you."
"And back there is?" Elliot snorted. "Everyone hates me there."
"Elliot, no one hates you."
"I don't believe you." Elliot swallowed hard and squared his shoulders as he glares at Tommy. "I don't believe anything you say."
An agonized expression moved across Tommy's face. "Elliot, you don't mean that."
"I do mean it. You've done nothing but lie to me from the moment we met." Elliot took a deep breath as his chaotic emotions threatened to overcome him. "You made me believe, and you lied to me."
"Elliot-"
"You lied to me," Elliot murmured. He bit his lip to stifle a sob as tears filled his eyes. His misery was so acute that it was a physical pain. Elliot wrapped his arms around his waist and dropped down to his knees in the dirt.
Tommy fell to his knees right in front of Elliot, but he didn't try and touch him. "Elliot, I never lied to you, I swear."
"You did," Elliot insisted as the tears he'd been holding back broke free and started trailing down his cheeks. "You promised we would always be together, that everything would be okay, and you lied."
"But, baby, we will be together if you just come back with me." Tommy's shoulders moved as he gave something that resembled half a shrug and waved his hands around the dark cavern. "Or we can stay here if that's what you want. I'll go wherever you want, stay wherever you want."
"I don't believe you." Elliot's anger and resentment started to build up in him. Tommy was saying the same old words, but his actions said differently.
"Elliot, what can I do to convince you?"
"Nothing," he spat out. "You proved your loyalty when you let them lock me away like a common criminal. You believed them. You-" Elliot snapped his mouth closed and shook his head. There just didn't seem to be anything more to say. Tommy couldn't sweet talk himself out of this. His actions more than proved to Elliot how the man really felt.
"Elliot." Tommy rubbed the top of his bald head. Elliot noted that Tommy's hand was shaking and wondered what his game was now. "You don't understand, Elliot. I had to let them lock you away. It was the only way to keep you safe. Joe was ready to explode after Nate passed out. I thought it was best for you to be somewhere safe while I calmed him down."
"That doesn't explain why you wouldn't touch me." Elliot steeled himself against the need he felt to give in to Tommy's words. He knew it would only bring him more heartache. "I needed you and you turned away from me."
"Elliot, I never turned away from you."
"You did!" Elliot dug his fingernails into the palms of his hands so he wouldn't try and pull at his hair. He felt frustrated, like he was talking to a brick wall. "I reached for you and you turned away from me."
"Because Nate said not to touch you, Elliot."
Elliot inhaled sharply as daggers of pain stabbed at his chest. "And you believed him."
"I couldn't take the chance that touching you would hurt you somehow." Tommy suddenly sat back on his legs and rubbed both of his hands down his face before resting them on his thighs. "You don't understand, Elliot. Nate has special abilities, abilities we don't have even as wolves, and I've learned to trust those abilities."
"More than you trust me."
"No!"
"Then why?"
"I told you, baby, until I could talk to Nate and find out what he meant by not touching you, I didn't know if it would harm you or not, and I'm not about to do anything that puts your life in jeopardy. You mean too much to me."
Elliot leaned his head back against the rock wall. He concentrated on his breathing, in and out, in and out. Anything else was simply beyond him at the moment. Too much of Elliot wanted to believe Tommy, to grasp what he had felt before and never let go, and that could be more dangerous than anything.
"Elliot, please, you have to believe me. I swear on my life that I never meant to hurt you. I was just trying to protect you the only way I knew how. I never meant for you to think I didn't want you."
Elliot tilted his head so that he could look at Tommy. The man really didn't look all that good. Tommy's lips were pulled tight, his jaw clenched. The normal sparkle in his dark silver grey eyes that Elliot was used to had turned to a dull grey, almost like the color of everything around them. But mostly, Tommy looked heartbroken.
"What happens if I come back?" Elliot murmured. "How will it change anything? Everyone still hates me. They still think I'm going to destroy the pack. I can't live somewhere where everyone hates me or thinks I'm a bad person, Tommy. I just can't do it."
"Then we'll go somewhere else, Elliot. There are a lot of packs out there that would take us in, and even if they don't, I know of a vampire coven we can join."
Elliot blinked. "Vampires are real?"
Tommy chuckled. "Yeah, vampires are real. I have a good friend, Devlin, who is actually mated to Prince Zacarius Ivinovav, a vampire."
"Prince?"
"He's the leader of his coven. That makes him a prince or something like that." Tommy shrugged. "I know we'd be welcome there if we asked."
"How would being there be any different than with your pack? My father is still a threat no matter where we are."