Chapter 160 A choice
Chapter 160: A choice
Damon's pov
"She told me once that every curse could be broken by its opposite. The beast curse was born from years of rage and violence, as a result of the twisting bloodlines of my ancestors. rage and violence. Only something equally powerful but opposite could break it."
"Love," Milo said softly, his voice almost sounding foreign in my ears. But I signed sadly,
"So I thought. But I later realized it was just a lie, it was just a mother's attempt to give her cursed son hope." I moved through the water, creating little distortions, as I came up to the ground, leaving Milo who stared at me with confusion in his face.
I sighed again, forcing my gaze away from him, memories I had buried deep inside resurfacing with their pain.
"I believed her, until she died in my hands… my first ever mate…” I said quietly, looking off in the distance as memories swarmed inside me.
“What we had was close to it, close to what my mother described, but when we were about to evolve further, to seal our bond with the seed of another wolf… she…”
“You don't have to say it Damon,” Milo's voice came beside me. I didn't know when he left the water to stand beside me.
"Is that why you are closed off? Building a thick wall around you, chasing everybody around you away. Because… you are mourning?”
“I was brokened” I projected through our bond, in one day I lost all that was precious to me, my kingdom, my mother, my mate, my unborn child…”
“The Council”
He didn't say it as a question, more like he was piercing two and two together.
“The council stands for the righteous pack, while your father and ancestors together with few others stand for the unrighteous.”
I watched in amazement as he stitched the broken pieces together.
“They deserve to die, all of them…” I paused, for a moment, I had felt a strong shift in milo energy. When I said my last words. Unease, guilt, or maybe it was probably my grief affecting me.
I caught myself, shocked at what I had said and done, finally registered inside my head. I allowed my emotions to get over me.
And my grief and story has indirectly affected Milo, who was biting his fingers nervously, his eyes cast to the ground.
Stupid me.
I felt like slapping myself, at my carelessness.
I used my nozzle to nudge him, getting his attention.
"Those are in the past now, milo,” I started carefully, The words becoming harder to say than fighting a hundred ferals, but I have to. "When I am with you, I remember what it is like to be human. To want human things I thought I didn't need."
"What kind of things?" He looked up, his voice dropping to barely above a whisper.
"To hold you without fear of breaking you. To kiss you without fangs getting in the way. To wake up beside you as myself, not this." I gestured at my massive form with one paw.
Milo moved closer, his hand pressing against my chest. Even through thick fur, I could feel his warmth, the warmth only him could bring.. "You are yourself, This is you too. And I love all of you."
"How can you love this? I am trapped between forms. Neither wolf nor man."
"You are Damon. That is all that matters to me." He smiled, that impossible bright smile that made everything else fade away. "Besides, your fur is very soft. Like sleeping next to the world's largest, warmest blanket."
I snorted, which in this form sounded like a small thunderclap. "You are impossible."
"And you are overthinking." He pushed away from me, standing up to look at the pond, lifting his hands. "Your mother was right. This place is special. I can feel it in me. Like something ancient is watching, waiting."
If I was in my human firm, I would have been fighting not to roll my eyes, but I forced myself to play along.
"Waiting for what?"
"I do not know. But it feels... expectant. Like it has been waiting for us specifically."
As if responding to his words, the moss above pulsed brighter. The crystals hummed with a frequency just below hearing. The water itself seemed to warm another degree.
"We should go," I said suddenly, getting up "The pack will worry."
"Not yet. Please. Just a few more minutes." He held my legs. "When was the last time you just existed without responsibility, without the weight of being Alpha?"
I could not remember. Even before the curse fully manifested, I had been the heir, the future Alpha, the one everyone looked to for answers.
"Exactly," Milo said, reading my silence. "So just for now, just for a few minutes, just be Damon. Not the Alpha, not the beast, just you."
I wanted to argue against him, but everything vanished when I looked at those eyes.
My mistake.
“Okay.”
So that was how we found ourselves, back together in the sacred pool with Milo, letting the blessed water wash away months of pain and fear and self-hatred. We talked about nothing and everything. He told me about his childhood, about dreams he had before becoming part of the pack. I told him about the crushing weight of leadership, about the faces of every pack member I had failed to save.
"You cannot save everyone," he said gently.
"But I have to try."
"No. You have to lead. Sometimes that means letting others save themselves." He found a ledge to sit on, still mostly submerged. "You take too much on yourself. The beast curse, the pack's safety, everyone's happiness. When will you get to be happy?"
"Alphas do not get to be happy. They get to be responsible." I unconsciously quoted one of my father's favorites.
"That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard." His bluntness made me laugh, actually laugh, though it sounded more like a bunch of laughing hyenas, "You deserve happiness just as much as anyone. More, considering what you sacrifice."
"I have happiness," I said. "I have you."
That made cheeks flushed pink even in the blue light. "Smooth talker."
"I am a giant beast. I do not think smoothness is possible."
We stayed until our skin pruned and exhaustion pulled at both of us. Finally, reluctantly, we left the pool. I shook myself dry while Milo wrung out his clothes.
"Thank you," he said suddenly. "For sharing this with me. For trusting me with something so sacred."
"Thank you for making it feel sacred again instead of just painful."
We curled up together on the soft sand, my large form creating a warm shelter for him. His breathing evened out as soon as he lay down, exhausted, finally winning. But I stayed awake, thinking.
My mothers words continue to run through my mind. “The curse could be broken by its opposite.” Milo's love, pure and unconditional, was the opposite of everything the beast represented. But knowing that and achieving it were very different things.
If I was given the opportunity to go through this moment again, I would realise to my shock that I had unconsciously agreed to my mothers words.
As sleep finally claimed me, I felt something shift deep inside. Not painful, but like ice beginning to crack under the spring sun. The beast was still there, might always be there, but for the first time, it did not see it as a prison, again…
It felt like a choice.