Chapter 111 Signs of jealousy
Signs of jealousy
Milo Pov
The after party celebration was nothing like I had imagined.
no clashing mugs of ale. or tearing into each other in a form of a twisted dark celebration of their numerous rituals.
Instead, we all left the pack entirely, slipping through the dark forests until we emerged into a vast clearing, not too far from the pack’s territory. All through my life I have never stepped foot outside of a pack before. And now stepping beyond the borders of a pack… the air felt… different, Wilder, Freer.
I took a deep breath, filling my lungs with the air that felt a lot different from the confined environment of the pack. I suddenly felt the urge to run for the first time in my life.
We werewolves live in packs together, but in as much as we live together, we are free beings, that's why, one or two times a month, a pack would fix a pack run for its entire members outside the pack.
Something I have never experienced for once, due to my condition of not having a wolf.
“Close your mouth before fly enters.” James nudged me from the back, chuckling at my reactions.
My face flushed a little as I immediately shut my mouth. I didn't know I was hanging open like a dog, shut. Thankfully nobody else was paying attention to me to notice my moment of silliness.
I followed them until they stopped in the middle of a clearing to set up the woods and other things. Despite my pleas to help, nobody gave me a listening chance.
Things like, “today is your day”
“Let's show you how it's done” was all I could get.
I stood there, speechless and dumbfounded until James who was supervising them came beside me. “Don’t just stare. Watch and Learn.”
I obeyed, but my mind couldn’t stay still. Eventually, I found myself whispering what has been in my head for a while now, since James mentioned it. “James… Who is she?”
“Who?” James' lips quirked slightly.
“T…the mystery woman you refused to tell me about.”
“I can't seem to remember Who you are talking about”
“You said you will tell me if I should win, and I guess it's the trial, and I won.” I stumbled my feet on the floor like a little child.
But I couldn’t help it. I knew James was acting ignorant, and I wouldn't lie if I say I desperately want to know the woman that can call Damon by his name.
“Is that jealousy I am seeing”
“What…, No…” I stammered, my face flushing annoyingly red.
James raised an eyebrow, not helping the weird awkward feeling I was experiencing.
“How did the stoic James suddenly turn into a big time tease and bully?”
“you know what, nevermind …” I said in a mock pouting, already turning to flee,
“…her name was Rosa”
I stopped in my tracks, a small smile colouring my face as I turned back to look at James' hardened face who looked like he had swallowed an egg.
“Who, and where is she?” I asked, my voice coming out louder than I intended.
She was a fierce warrior. Everybody liked her. The people, the elders, the shadows, even selene, damon sister had a deep acknowledgement for her… the whole pack mourned her at the news of her death.”
I swallowed hard, completely caught off guard from what I was hearing. Damon had someone he cherished… even Selene had no choice but to accept her…
A felt the bitter taste of bile creeping up my throat. A strange feeling I could not put my hands on enveloped me. I suddenly felt tired. The merry people around me, the thrill of winning the trial, and even reaching the diamond stage, everything seems bland and interesting to me now. I just wanted to go home and sleep.
But James was not in the slightest done.
“She was the first ever person to ever break his barrier he put around him, when Selene abandoned him. It was so deep that when she was gone, he almost turned feral. Cutting off any form of human emotions and fully embracing his fathers legacy, as the mafia king, the ruler of the Unrighteous packs.” James' face looked distant and unreadable. I could feel his pain as he told the story like he was the one in it. I can't even I
Start Imagining how it had felt to lose somebody that was like an anchor to you.
Awkward silence enveloped the two of us. I shifted from foot to foot, not knowing what to say or how to do with the awful thoughts and emotions that were brewing in my chest. I clenched my fist to keep the frustration at bay. This was the first time I didn’t feel pity about someone that died…
“H…how did she die?” I spoke out to keep my mind moving. The urge to know was too strong to even ignore.
But one look at James' face I knew that was a mistake question to ask. His body tensed, his face becoming even more sober and a little pained than before.
but before he could talk, laughter suddenly erupted around us, stopping him from saying what he wanted to say. One of the shadows came towards us.
“Leader all is ready.” he saluted James, while clapping me at the back so hard I nearly fell down.
James saluted back, before leaving almost in a hurry, giving me no choice but to follow him to where the entire shadows were gathered around bundles of woods in the middle.
Within minutes, a massive bonfire roared to life in the center of the clearing, flames licking high into the night sky. The atmosphere cracked with the sound of the huge fire that continued to send sparks into the night sky.
Shadows circled it, their eyes glinting in the firelight, their happy faces half glowing in the flickering shadows as they laughed, shouted, and jeered at one another with such raw energy, that surprised me. They didn’t look like ruthless warriors anymore, it felt like I was sitting with a family.
I sat close enough to feel the heat on my face, blinking at their bickerings. I could even spot two young male shadows, shadow-wings and shadowspeed, as I heard them being called numeroise times, were cuddleed together, soo close and doing some lovey dovey togetherl, something that cannot be seen in my father's pack, but hear, nobody gives a fuck.
One by one they joked about random things, bickering among themselves and at intervals the loudest among them, who they call shadowflame, would bring up an old song for them to sing.
“Our diamond bearer is already not in the mood.”
My head snapped to them, to see all eyes on me.