Chapter 103 A SMALL GIFT
SEBASTIAN'S POV
Dax is waiting right in front of my house and in his hands is a small wrapped box.
I stop a few steps away.
“What are you doing here?” I ask.
Dax looks up as a faint smile touches his lips.
“I was wondering when you would return and please call me Dax.”
My eyes flick to the box.
“That for someone else?”
Dax straightens slowly.
“No.”
He steps forward and holds it out to me.
“For you.”
I stare at him.
Confused.
“How did you–”
“Happy birthday, Sebastian.”
The words hit me like a physical blow and my throat tightens slightly.
“You… knew?”
Dax’s expression softens slightly.
“I didn't know it's your birthday or I would have brought something,” he says calmly.
“This was waiting for you when I got here.”
He thrusts the gift in my direction.
Right.
Big misunderstanding I guess.
I take the box slowly from him.
It’s not very big but it’s wrapped neatly in dark paper and tied with a simple silver ribbon.
From Torin, it reads and for a moment I just hold it there not sure what to say or react.
Dax watches me quietly. “As an apology, I wanted to tell you that if you ever found your mate, you could finish the bond and merge with your ancient wolf fully,” he says.
“You didn’t have to come all the way here and tell me that.”
“Perhaps not.”
His gaze drifts briefly toward the direction of the training yard.
“But it was wrong of me to surprise you like that yesterday.”
That’s one way to put it.
I let out a small breath.
“Yeah.”
Dax smiles faintly again.
“Well, next time we meet, I'll have an actual gift for you.” He steps back.
“I won’t keep you.”
“You’re leaving already?” I ask.
“Yes.”
He nods once toward the box in my hands.
“I hope you enjoy your gift, Sebastian.”
Then he turns and begins walking back into the forest and within moments, the trees swallow his figure completely.
I stand there in front of the cabin, staring down at the small wrapped package.
And for a long time, I don’t move.
Two people that I don't even know of have wished me a happy birthday, I even got a gift.
And Ragnar didn't do anything for me
The box Dax had handed me sat heavy in my hands and I stared at it for a moment, half expecting it to jump out and bite me.
I open it to see… a book?
Is Torin calling me illiterate?
It's an old leather-bound book with yellowed pages, smelling like dust and… you know, old book smell.
I set the box down on the table with my fingers brushing the rough surface as I open the book.
The first page feels dusty under my touch with the handwriting uneven.
It's almost like someone had hastily scribbled on information they weren’t meant to share.
I skimmed the lines and immediately felt that familiar tug of my skin and then…
“Really? This is what he thought I needed right now?” I muttered.
It was the kind of stuff I already knew about: wolves who were too strong, too rare and dangerous.
Almost if not all of them were hunted and killed.
“…wolves of exceptional lineage are often discovered and terminated immediately,” one passage even read.
Yep.
I flipped a page, frowning at the fragmented sentences of the writer that trailed off mid-thought.
“…some survived, long enough to be observed, but records are incomplete. Survivors were isolated, feared, or both…”
I snorted once more. The book was just telling me what I already know.
And yet… I couldn’t stop reading. I mean it's the only birthday gift I've gotten in years.
But after a while, I ran a hand through my hair, leaning back against the table to exhale.
The book wasn’t giving me new answers. But it wasn’t exactly wrong either.
Every word from it just pressed a little weight into my chest, a subtle reminder that I was living on borrowed time.
Way to make me feel fear today.
I just wanted a calm and peaceful day.
I turned to another page.
“…temperament unpredictable…”
Sounds like Alisander. “... Few left records as they are even feared by their own kind and by those who lead. Survivors, almost none.”
I closed the book for a moment, letting it rest in my lap.
It was infuriating and baiting me at the same time.
The book told everything and nothing all at the same time. I already knew all of it.
“…ancient vessels, upon discovery, were removed from packs immediately...”
I sighed, letting the words wash over me.
Did anyone ever try to talk to them?
“Yeah, okay,” I muttered, shaking my head. “I get it. I’m dangerous. I might die. Happy now?”
I flipped forward again, morbidly curious despite myself. The writing grew more frantic from here and would often stop mid sentence.
I was rare and dangerous according to this. I was feared not by anything of my choice or actions but simply because of what I was.
And yet, there was something else underneath all of that. Something subtle that I didn’t expect.
Maybe that's what Torin is trying to show me despite the grim gift he's giving me.
The book made it clear, most vessels were killed immediately on sight.
But here I was, still alive, standing, reading and celebrating my nineteenth birthday.
I guess that was his gift.
An appreciation for life.
.
.
.
He could've just told me or wrote a note or something, instead of going all about it in this manner.
A small, reluctant smile tugged at the corners of my mouth.
I flipped it open one last time, scanning the pages like they might suddenly reveal some secret I’d missed.
But no. There's nothing new, it's just fragments, half-stories and repeated warnings from an undocumented maniac.
The author of this book needs to be checked.
I leaned back in my chair, letting the weight of the book sink into my hands.
A small part of me wanted to throw it across the room and scream in frustration.
Another part of me wanted to memorize every line or every half-told story just in case I missed something the first two times.
Maybe that was the point.
I closed the book fully and placed it on the table beside me.
Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew it was more than just a book. But I realize that I don’t need to understand exactly why yet.
At least not today.