Just a short one. Happy New Years.
Paul's (PoV)
It was as if a bomb had exploded inside Virgil. Intense pain stopping him in his tracks, leaving him incoherent and lifeless. The agony passed as quickly as it came, as if the tide of pain receded back to where it came from. He breathed easily again and to his credit he was the first to suggest we get back to what we were talking about. The more I saw of the boy I realised there was substance to him, more than the obvious youthful beauty. I was starting to understand why the Goddess paired these two...as unlikely and unsuitable as they might seem at first glance. I certainly would never admit to having such a thought to Damien or The Pure.
"How long has this been happening." I was curious. In the back of my mind a thought was ticking away, forming, not a pleasant thought.
"It started just before I left the pack. I put it down to being on my guard all the time. Me being me was bad enough but I was also a rejected mate, so I might as well have had TARGET tattoo on my forehead." Damien remained stone faced. "The bullying was pretty bad so I thought it might be mild panic attacks. It wasn't that much of a problem, my heart would beat fast for a while and that would be it."
Virgil sat in the same arm chair except this time he tucked his legs underneath him and fiddled with his hands, he looked more like a kid. The sudden pain had taken the tough guy persona he'd presented earlier with it. "It's gotten worse lately. James keeps nagging to go to the doctors. But Lycan physiology is different from humans. I can't just pop into the local medical centre can I. Try explaining for example why my normal heartrate is 20 beats per minute or that I have two livers." He threw up his hands. "I couldn't tell James..." He stopped when he saw the look on Damien's face turning sour.
As time is very much an issue I stood, walked to where Damien was sitting. I leaned over to whisper in his ear. "If you wouldn't mind Alpha." He gave me a wary look. "Please Sir."
He stood, there was an uncharacteristic awkwardness to his movements as he walked toward Virgil. The same wariness suddenly appeared on his face. I noticed the moment his hand started to flutter up to his chest. Damien stood behind the armchair and rested his hands lightly on Virgil's shoulders. Then he bent his face close to Virgil's neck, as close as he could get without touching him. I watched as Virgil's face turned pale. He grabbed at his chest.
"Let him go." I yelled, probably a little to loudly and they both jumped. Damien moved away quickly and sat back down. "You started to feel the pain in your chest...is that right?"
"Yes. I could feel that awful tremble just before it starts." He looked confused, he rubbed his neck. "It was just cause of him...he makes me nervous." Virgil pointed at Damien.
"I think you're right about it being because of Damien but I think it's more than nerves. I think you are being affected by the bond as well. Just in a different way. "Virgil and Damien both looked startled. "A fragmented version of it is perhaps pulling at both of you. You have been much luckier than Damien because it's only kicked now, maybe because you've come of age, or because you've had contact with the pack again."
I watched Damien lean in and I'm sure he was trying to chose his words wisely. "You need to come back with me. We need to speak to the Chapel Guardian. He's the expert on how the rituals work. I'm hoping he can clear this mess up." Well that was short and sweet, and looking at Virgil's face totally unacceptable.
"You really must be fucking insane if you think I'd ever set foot back there." Virgil was up and out of the chair ready for a fight. "You can't make me."
As the words came out of his mouth I thought he really is a kid, it took being that childishly naïve to push Damien's buttons like that. Damien stood up, flexed his muscles, he was smirking horribly and I could see his wolf flashing across his face. The Alpha's aura thrummed, the air in the room grew thick and heavy with it and when he spoke it was a loud, deep, intimidating growl. Virgil fell back in the arm chair, pulled his legs up and wrapped his arms around them, trying to disappear.
"Think about this. If you don't come with me. I will find James and I will thoroughly enjoy flaying him, slowly. I'll keep him alive long enough to tell him that you could have saved him but you didn't." I think Damien, having zero liking for James, was desperate enough to actually do that. After all, not matter how civilised and human he may have appeared, he was a Lycan Alpha doing what he needed to do for his pack.