Chapter 113 The voice
the voice
Milo pov
I forced a weak laugh, shaking my head, but I couldn’t look at anyone in the face. Especially not at James, who sat stiffly across the fire, his face shadowed in unreadable silence.
And still, the teasing didn’t stop. Questions started flying around. Questions no one had ever dared to ask me before. About Damon. About my past. At the same time they made jokes about Damon’s “protective stares” and how I seemed to “pull his leash tighter than the commander himself ever could.”
All the while, I felt like the world would open and swallow me. I tried to shrink into myself, my cheeks blazing like wild fire. As I didn’t even know what to do with my hands anymore that kept in the air defensively.
But then like a savior, James stepped in. “Enough of his private life, go talk about something else.” he said, his face in a frown he tried really hard to keep.
“Nooooo,” they groaned, all having a displeased look on their faces, like children that were told bedtime comes early.
And then, just when I thought the heat couldn’t burn hotter, the young Shadow spoke up.
“Speaking of mates,” the boy drawled, grinning wickedly, “remember when leader almost—”
“Enough!.”
James’ voice cut through the merry atmosphere like a blade pressed against the air.
Their laughter faltered, for a heartbeat, nobody talked.“
The Shadow who spoke up chuckled awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck. “Ah… I was just teasing, leader.”
I blinked at the tension in James' face, the way his eyes dropped to the fire, as if it held something he didn’t want anyone to see. I could have sworn I saw a flicker of something that resembled pain or something, but then it was gone.
He glanced at me once, catching the embarrassment and curiosity on my face, then raised his voice. “It’s time.”
The shadows turned to him, their faces mirroring my confused face for a while, until the meaning of his words sank in.
“The wolf run!” someone shouted, and suddenly the depressing air shifted again. Excitement crackled like lightning.
Before I could blink two times, the shadows began stripping their clothes, laughing and shouting like wild children released into the night. Some tore their shirts off with a single swipe of their hands, others kicked their boots away into the firelight.
bones cracked, and snapped, the familiar sound of their bones reconstructing filled the air, as one by one they emerged covered with fur instead of the human skin, their howls of joy rising deep into the night.
I sat frozen, watching the wild spectacle, unable to tear my gaze away from the majestic wolves that stood where men had stood seconds before.
The first to finish was shadowflames, his wolf a hulking beast of jet black, shoulders broad as a boulder, eyes burning like embers in the firelight, a testament to his name. My eyes unconsciously went to the pair—, the two lovers, their transformation was almost in synchronization, like they had done it side by side a thousand times before.
One emerged as a sleek silver wolf, his fur catching the flames so sharply it looked as though he had been dipped in starlight. His partner stood beside him, a golden-brown wolf, heavier, with eyes that glowed like molten amber. They nudged each other once with their muzzles, a quiet and intimate touch of their two wolves acknowledging each other. and for reasons I didn’t understand, my chest tightened watching it.
The Shadows’ wolves were… extraordinary. Or even more than I could have imagined. All of them were dark phantoms with eyes that glowed crimson in the dark. They were bigger, and taller their sizes could easily dwarf most of the beta, the second ranked wolf in a pack.
These were not just any normal wolves. They were warriors. killing machines that were trained for one purpose— sometimes mere thinking that any of them can easily cripple an entire pack sends a chill down my spine.
I sat there, speechless, my hands curling in the dirt, my body trembling with emotions I couldn’t name. Amazement, awe… and something else,
Something I didn't ever think I would feel—
A part of me ached to run with them. I have never felt the urge to know how it feels to turn into my wolf. To feel my own bones break and reform, to leap through the trees with fire in my veins. My wolf, lior stirred faintly inside, but that was it, he but it was no more than a whisper.
He was tired from lending me his strength during the trial.
I felt James' presence beside me. He was already half-shifted. His claws were half way out with his eyes glowing glowing gold red through the smoke and fire.
"Don't force yourself,” he murmured, voice low enough that only I could hear. “You don’t have to run like them. I told them it's a precaution by the pack doctors.”
A lump formed in my throat.
He thought I don't have a wolf, from the way his eyes softened Into understanding—
but what he doesn't know is that I have found my wolf.
I wanted to tell him. I wanted to explain that I wasn’t completely empty, that the problem was not from my wolf— but from something rooted deeper inside me. Something even Damon didn't know about. was the only one who knew.
But before I could find the right words, James’ body convulsed, his skin giving way to a menacing looking big brown furred wolf. his howl splitting the air, called to the others who howled in response.
With one last glance at me, he leapt into the bush, the packs having one last howl before they followed suit, their howls of excitement echoing around the bush.
I sat back against a fallen log, the firelight brushing against my face as I stared at the spot they had disappeared to. My chest aching with a strange yearning. Part of me wanted to leap after them, to tear through the woods with fangs bared, to feel what they felt. But how did I even begin? I had heard the shift was agony, that bones shattered and reformed, that the spirit dragged flesh into its true form. What if I wasn’t strong enough to survive it?— I shuddered at my train of thought, quickly banishing any form of shifting away from my mind.
I choose to enjoy the little quietness, only the sound of the crackling fire echoing around me.
“Milo…”
My head snapped up at the sound of my name, the wolves were too lost in their wild circle to be around me anymore. It had definitely not come from them.
“Milo”
The voice came again, low as if it was beckoning me.
I was now officially worried,The hairs on my neck rose, as I slowly stood up, my heartbeat rising quickly.
I was not mistaken, I have heard my name two times. I can still hear the faint howls of the wolves I the distance, and James was basically with them—
My brain tried to process what was going on. just for an instant, I remembered the dark tall silhouette
… Damon?
My feet moved before I could stop them. As if I was compelled to answer the call, leaving the light behind, I slipped into the trees following the whisper of my own name.