Chapter 156 First step
Chapter 156: first step
Damon's POV
They didn't run.
I still couldn't believe it. My pack had seen me as a monster, and they didn't run, if anything it went well…
Way better than I expected.
Some were still afraid. I could smell their fear when they thought I was not looking. But they stayed.
The little girl who had hugged my leg came back three times throughout the day, bringing me wild flowers she picked.
"For the big puppy!" she would say, then run away giggling.
Her mother apologized each time, terrified I might be offended by her daughter's act.
Little did she know that I was far from being offended.
If only I could tell her that those flowers meant everything to me.
Milo stayed by my side throughout the communal clean up.
Now hours have passed, and the pack members, tired but determined, slowly return to their daily lives. Milo was exhausted, I could see it, but he refused to leave.
"Stop looking at me like that," he said. "I'm fine."
He wasn't fine, I could feel it through the bond, ever since I woke up, Milo has been acting off lately, the way he always bites his lips when he is alone, like he was nervous about something, I have caught him countless times staring off I to the distance, like he was waiting for somebody, and anytime I come closer, he would give a smile that did reach his eyes…
Something deep inside me keeps on telling me that Milo was hiding something, but then it might just be my mind playing tricks on me.
I shook my head to banish all sorts of crazy thoughts.
He had done a lot for me already, stayed with me even in my lowest of the low, the least I could do is to trust him, and believe that whatever it is that's bothering him, that he would tell me one-day, but for now, He needed rest,
Real rest.
I nudged him with my nose toward the cave.
"I'm not tired," he said, forcing a smile,
Another lie.
I nudged him again, harder.
"Okay, okay," he gave in. "But you are coming too."
Back in the cave, Milo finally let his exhaustion show. He practically collapsed against my side, before we could settle down.
"That went well," he said sleepily.
I made a sound that meant "you think so?"
"They didn't attack you," he pointed out. "That's a win."
A low bar for success, but he wasn't wrong.
"The little girl likes you," he added with a small smile. "She asked her mom if she could keep you."
A pet. The Alpha of the pack, kept as a pet by a five-year-old.
If I could have laughed, I would have laughed hard and tears would be rolling down my eyes.
Well, imaginary tears to be exact.
"Tomorrow will be better," Milo murmured, already half asleep. "You will see."
Tomorrow?
Tomorrow was the mourning day, followed by the pack run in memory of our dead comrades.
That was yet another big step towards my redemption.
I looked at Milo who had snuggled beside me, like he wanted to enter into my skin,
my heart twisted.
The curse felt stronger than ever. I could feel it even more, like it had settled into my bones, making itself permanent.
What if this was it? What if I stayed like this forever?
Could Milo really stay with a beast for the rest of his life?
"Stop it," Milo said without opening his eyes. "I can feel you doubting. The answer is yes. Always yes."
“Shit”
Sometimes I forget about the bond. How he could feel everything I felt.
"Sleep," he ordered, poking at my chest, "Big puppies need rest too."
Big puppy
If anyone else had called me that, I would have been insulted.
But from Milo, it just made my chest warm despite my fake show of anger.
"You know," he said quietly after a while of silence, "when I was with those bad people, I used to dream about being saved."
I turned my huge head to look at him, I couldn't help it.
"But in my dreams, it was always unrealistic. Angels coming down from the sky. Magic doors appearing. Silly things that are nearby for fairy tales"
His hand stroked my fur absently.
"I never dreamed someone would actually come for me. Fight for me, Become a literal beast to protect me."
I wanted to tell him it wasn't heroic. That I had lost control. That the beast was a curse, not a blessing.
But all that came out was a low rumble.
"Daphne told me about the curse," Milo continued. "How it runs in your family. How you have been fighting it your whole life."
James and his big mouth.
"But you know what I think?" Milo looked up at me. "I think it's not really a curse. I think it's just... you. The part of you that would do anything to protect the people you love."
I shook my massive head. He didn't understand. The beast was dangerous. It had killed before. It could kill again.
"You're thinking too loud," Milo said. "I can feel it through the bond. All that guilt and fear."
“Shit shit!”
The bond... Right.
He could feel what I felt, hear what I think, unless I focus on blocking him out.
Which was nigh impossible, as inside my head was pure chaos.
"You want to know what I feel?" he asked. "Close your eyes."
I looked at him skeptically. Well, as skeptically as a beast could look.
"Trust me," he said.
I hesitantly closed my eyes.
And then I felt it. Through our bond, like a gentle breeze, What Milo was feeling,
Safe.
He felt safe.
With me. With this monster body. He felt completely, utterly safe.
"See?" he whispered. "Not scared. Never scared of you."
The atmosphere became thick, and as if all the particles on earth were on stand still, only but Milo's joking smile that tugged at those plump cute lips I so much wanted to devour…
I think Milo felt the same, his hormones betrayed him, as it started to lick out of him filling the air, clouding my head.
Yes, Milo was still a pure omega, despite his alpha characteristics, and his special wolf.
I took another deep breath, my eyes snapping open as I swallowed the angry growl that almost escaped my throat,
I perceived him, before he came inside.
James.
"The pack is settling," he reported, clearly sensing the awkwardness in the air, but still kept a straight face, "There's still fear, but also curiosity. Some are calling you the Beast King."
Beast King, Wonderful, they can call me anything they want.
"The remaining unrighteous packs sent a messenger," James continued.
I felt Milo who had hidden with my body, tense hard beside me,
“What do they want?”
“They are planning to assemble at the crest concave in three days time to discuss the final attack on the queen.”
“Good,” I clenched my fist, Battle Spirit filling my beast bones, but it carried with it something else, taste for revenge.
Pound for pound, flesh for flesh.
Daphne entered the cave, the herbal scent of her medicine filled the entire cave.
She carried inside her basket, different types of flowers and herbs, many I couldn't recognize.
"I need to make the medicine," she said. "It might help with the curse. Or it might just taste really bad. Either way, you're drinking it."
I would have laughed if I could. Daphne hadn't changed. Still bossy.
She worked quickly, grinding the flowers and mixing them with other herbs. And just like she siad, the smell was... not good.
"This might hurt," she warned before pouring the mixture on my tongue.
It burned, not just my mouth, but all the way down. Like swallowing liquid fire.
I roared in pain.
"Damon!" Milo grabbed onto me, even though my thrashing could have hurt him.
The burning spread through my whole body. Every of my muscle, felt cramped. Every bone ached badly.
Was this it? Was I finally dying?
Then, as suddenly as it started, it stopped.
I was still a beast.
"It didn't work," Milo said the obvious.
"It wasn't supposed to," Daphne said. "Not completely. But it should help make the transformation easier when it does happen."
When…
I swallowed the urge to laugh.
I appreciated her optimism, even if I didn't share it