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| Damon |
The night Aysel left, Damon was convinced he'd never see Remus or Romulus again. He was certain that he'd failed his brother, that he'd failed to protect the people Alaric pleaded him to. And although Aysel and Romulus were still out there somewhere, Remus was right in front of him.
He couldn't feel relief, though. How could he? His son...Alaric's son was lying there frozen and covered in wounds. He had no idea what Remus had been through or how he'd got here, and it wasn't like he could ask the unicorn. They couldn't speak.
But...they could understand.
Damon reluctantly took his eyes off his son and looked back at the unicorn's burrow. Maybe he could find out what happened; what if it could somehow tell him how it found his son and where Aysel and Romulus and the rest of the separate pack were? Not knowing where they were and how they were doing had been eating him up since Aysel left, and as much as he loathed her and Elias for doing this...he still cared. She was still Alaric's mate, and he owed it to his brother to ensure that no matter where she was, she was okay.
He got up and started making his way towards the burrow. But that was when his guilt crept in again. He questioned all his choices, he asked himself once more if it was selfish of him to choose Jackson, and he wondered if he should have just stayed with Aysel if it meant the packs would still be together.
With a quiet sigh, he tried his best to put aside those thoughts so that he could ask the unicorn his questions. He stood at the entrance to the beast's burrow and saw the unicorn laying on the ground. It stopped cleaning its hooves with the ethos from its horn and lifted its head to look at him.
"Thank you for saving my son," he said sincerely.
The unicorn grunted at him as it jerked its head in a nod-like motion.
Damon slowly sat down. "Was it just him out there?"
It nodded again.
"There weren't any other wolf walkers?"
With a quiet grunt, the unicorn shook its head.
Damon sighed and looked down at the snow, but he knew better than to take his eyes off something as elegant as a unicorn. He quickly lifted his head to resume eye contact. "Do you know what happened to him?"
The unicorn nodded, but then its horn started pulsing. It moved its head as close to him as it could and whinnied.
What did it want from him? "I don't...understand."
As it grunted, it brushed its long tail over its face.
"You...want me to...touch your face?"
The unicorn nodded.
He wasn't sure why—perhaps it was another test of trust. So, he got up and lifted his paw—
But the unicorn pulled its head away and snorted, shaking its head. It looked him up and down and shook its head again.
It didn't take Damon long to understand. "In my human form?"
The unicorn nodded and leaned its head towards him again.
Damon did as the beast asked and morphed out of his wolf form. Then, he moved closer, sat in front of the unicorn, and gently placed his hand on its face.
A flash of golden light suddenly stole his sight. His heart started racing, and when the gold faded, it left a haze in his eyes—like he was caught in a dream. He couldn't see the unicorn or the burrow; what lay before him was a murky forest, and in the light of the moon, the shadow of the unicorn cast onto the snow.
It was showing him a memory—its memory.
He watched as the beast moved through the woods, following a trail of blood and wolf prints. When it moved down into a ditch, it located Remus, who lay bleeding and panting. The unicorn looked around for whatever did that to Damon's son, but there was nothing and no one, only Remus bloodied and beaten.
But the unicorn showed him the memory again.
And again.
And only when he saw it a fourth time did Damon notice something. It was only for a brief moment, but he saw the flicker that came from a wolf walker's eyes in the presence of light.
Somebody was out there, and considering they didn't come running out to claim Remus told Damon that they might be the one who did this to his son.
As he was freed from the unicorn's memory, Damon gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. "Did you see the wolf?"
It shook its head.
Damon exhaled deeply and tried to compose himself. He was furious; he wanted to find the piece of shit who did this to his son—he wanted to hunt them down and tear them apart. But right now, he had to be there for Remus. He couldn't leave to feed his desire for vengeance and let his son wake up without him there.
"Thank you," he said once more to the unicorn. Then, he shifted back into his wolf form and left the burrow.
He made his way over to the shimmering blue fire. But on his way, he spotted Jackson sitting with Wilson. The muto scowled at him when they locked eyes, but Damon didn't have the interest nor the energy to deal with him right now.
"Anything?" he asked Bly as he sat beside her.
"His wounds are healing," she said while soothing what was left of the herb paste into Remus' wounds. "His body temp is rising, and all the ice is gone."
Damon stared sullenly at Remus' wounds. Now that he knew a wolf walker had done this, he felt even worse. Could it have been a desperate rogue looking for a meal? Or could it have been something much more dangerous, such as a member of Kane's pack?
He took his eyes off Remus and looked over at Julian. Could their ex-Alpha have Etas out there looking for his pack? They had, after all, killed the wolves Kane sent after them the first time, and if their places had been reversed—and if he had the numbers—Damon would have sent wolves out to find those that killed his packmates, too. But was this going to be a problem? Was Kane's pack going to get in the way of their mission?
"Julian," he called.
The silvery-black wolf lifted their head from their paws and looked over at him. "Y-yes, sir?"
"Come here."
Julian left Jackson—who stared curiously—and Wilson and made their way over to him. "Do you need something?"
"I need you to tell me about your old Alpha."
"What about him?"
"He'd want to kill us for killing his wolves, correct?"
"Uh...from what I saw when I was there...yeah."
"How far would he be willing to trail us?"
Julian thought to themselves for a moment. "Kane would track people for weeks, even outside his territory. He was never afraid of coming across other packs, either. Kane's...well, he's strong, sir."
Damon frowned in confliction as he looked down at his son. "So, it's possible that he's still looking for us."
"Yeah. He probably knows that his plan to lead those hunters towards us didn't work. He's got eyes everywhere. They..." Julian paused and looked around, "could be watching us right now."
That made him feel a little anxious, especially since his son was so vulnerable, and Jackson wasn't yet trained properly to fight and defend himself. However, he couldn't let his worry get to him. He focused his senses and scoured the area, but he couldn't sense anything.
He wasn't going to take any risks, though. "Tokala, Leon, Brando, and Enola."
The four wolves stopped what they were doing and hurried over to him.
"I need the four of you to check the treeline. Be thorough."
They nodded and headed towards the trees.
Damon then stood up and called, "Everyone be on high alert. Whoever did this to Remus might still be out there." He looked at Julian. "You can go."
With a nod, Julian got up and went back over to Jackson and Wilson.
But as Damon sat down, he saw Jackson getting up. He knew he probably had questions—some that everyone probably had—and although he still felt like he wanted to be left alone with his thoughts, maybe talking about the possibility that Kane's wolves might be out there would distract him from his dismay.
"Is everything okay?" Jackson asked quietly when he stopped beside him.
He glanced at him and sighed. "I talked to the unicorn."
Jackson frowned as he sat down. "Wait, they can talk?"
"No, I talked and it just...nodded. It showed me where it found Remus, though, and there was a wolf walker lurking in the trees. Someone did this to him."
"Who?" he asked worriedly. "I-I mean...well, I'm not actually sure what I mean," he mumbled with an embarrassed look on his face.
Damon smiled slightly, but a frown stole his face when he said, "I don't know. I was thinking that it could have been a rogue, or maybe it was one of Kane's wolves. Julian told me that Kane might still be looking for us, and if his wolves found Aysel and her pack, then...." He scowled sullenly and looked down at his paws. The last thing he wanted was to think about what might have happened to them, but how could he not? His son was laying right in front of him beaten and bruised.
Jackson moved a little closer to him. "Remus is gonna be fine, Damon. Bly's got him. And...if Kane sends more wolves, we'll just stop them, too. We have Sebastien and Wilson this time, and—"
"We don't need some muto helping us," he interjected irritably.
Jackson frowned at him. "I was just saying that—"
Damon sighed and shook his head as guilt began outweighing his annoyance. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you."
"You're worried. It's okay," Jackson assured him. "If Kane really does have wolves out there looking for us, then...we'll be okay, right? We have you."
That didn't make him feel much better. What was the use of the power he had if he couldn't even protect his brother's family? He wasn't deserving of the title Alaric gave him, nor was he worthy of the power his bloodline blessed him with. Seeing Remus like this was more proof of that than anything.
"Damon?"
He snapped out of his despondent thoughts and set his eyes on Jackson. "You should start training with Sebastien."
Jackson frowned again. "What?"
"You need to start learning to use your demon ethos. The sooner you do that, the sooner you'll be able to fight and better defend yourself. We have no idea what might be waiting for us out there," he said, nodding at the forest. "I don't want to take any more risks. And if there's ever a time where I can't protect you, I.... I'd never forgive myself if anything happened to you."
With a sullen frown, Jackson looked at the fire. He was quiet for a moment, but then he said, "What if I suck?"
Damon raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What?"
"What if I suck at learning? I don't wanna make an idiot of myself."
"Jackson, first of all, no one here is going to think you're an idiot. Second, that's what learning is all about. You're going to mess up, you're not going to get the hang of something on the first try. And if Sebastien thinks otherwise, then perhaps he isn't the best person to be teaching you."
Jackson sighed and glanced at him. "I don't know, I just...I'm scared of losing control."
"Of your anger?"
He nodded but there was a conflicted look on his face.
"What is it?" Damon asked him.
Jackson shrugged. "What if...I hurt someone that I don't mean to hurt?"
Damon didn't know everything about demons, but he had heard of a lot of cases where demons lost control of themselves and ended up lashing out and killing someone they didn't mean to. That was one of the main reasons a lot of demons ended up in trouble with the Venaticus.
He didn't know what to say, though. There was a very real probability that Jackson might lose control a time or two while training. "I'm sure that Sebastien will know how to keep you from hurting anyone if that were to happen, but I'll also be here for you," he said quietly. "I don't know what I can do when it comes to demons, but...I'll try."
Jackson smiled a little as he looked at him. "Thanks, Damon."
Damon edged nearer to nuzzle the side of Jackson's face, but that was when he heard a pained cough, and Bly gasped in shock. The Alpha took his eyes off Jackson and looked down at his son, and as he watched him slowly open his eyes while he stifled his breaths, his heart started racing.
"Remus?" he asked worriedly, moving closer to him.
Bly moved out of the way as Damon lay in front of his son and watched him wake up.
After a few seconds of squinting and looking around, Remus stared at Damon, and a sullen frown quickly stole his tired, confused expression. "Dad?" he asked, his voice shaky.
Damon nodded and moved his paw over Remus'. "It's okay, Rem. I'm right here."
But Remus started sniffling and tried to get up. "I-I tried to—"
"Don't get up," Damon told him, shaking his head. "You need to rest."
Although he stayed where he was, he didn't stop trying to explain himself. "I-I...tried to find you," he said, his voice breaking. "I didn't know where you were, and...I-I got...lost," he said shamefully.
Damon frowned and shook his head again as he moved a little closer to him. "That's not your fault, Rem."
His son grunted and rested the side of his head on the ground again. He closed his eyes and exhaled painfully, gritting his teeth.
"What happened out there?" Damon asked him.
Remus didn't immediately answer. He exhaled through his teeth and adorned an almost tormented look.
"Alpha, I think he should rest a little more and get some food in him before he tries remembering anything," Bly said.
As much as Damon wanted to know what happened, and desperately as he wanted to know whether Remus remembered who did this to him, he wasn't about to pressure his son or make him feel worse. All that mattered right now was ensuring that Remus recovered, and now that he was awake, he needed food. But there was no sign of Lalo, Alastor, and Wesley.
"Have Lalo and the others not come back yet?"
Bly glanced around. "Maybe they're tracking something."
"It's been over an hour," Damon mumbled. He was starting to feel concerned. What if something had happened to them out there?
"Should some of us go and look for them?" Jackson suddenly asked.
Damon looked back at him. He was a little surprised that he hadn't gone back to Wilson by now. But in response, he sighed and pondered for a moment. He wasn't going to leave Remus, nor did he want to send Jackson out there. He'd usually send Tokala, but he was busy searching the tree line, and he didn't want to risk sending anyone else. If there were other wolves out there, then him sending more of his wolves away would be exactly what they were waiting for.
He glanced at Sebastien and Wilson. As much as he might like to send Jackson's friend away, he wasn't going to be so cruel as to put his life at risk, nor did he want to give that muto a reason to act like he was hot shit. Although Sebastien would be a better asset here if a fight was to happen, he was the only other guy he was willing to send.
The Alpha set his eyes back on Jackson. "Go and tell Sebastien to track them."
Jackson nodded. "Do you want me to go with—"
"No. I want you here where I can see you," he said possessively. But he quickly added, "I need you here in case anything happens."
With another nod, Jackson headed over to Sebastien.
"Smooth, Dad," Remus suddenly snickered.
Damon looked down at him and frowned. "What?"
Remus opened his eyes as he snickered again. "Nothing."
"No, what?" he insisted.
His son closed his eyes again and exhaled deeply. "Nothing, really."
He glanced at Bly and caught her smiling. What was so funny? He frowned in confusion and set his sights back on Remus.
Remus opened his eyes again, and when he saw Damon's face, he smirked amusedly. "You suck at wording things sometimes."
Damon tried his best to keep himself from feeling embarrassed. He rolled his eyes and sat up. "No more talking. Rest. We'll have food at some point." He looked at Bly. "What did the Venaticus give you?"
"I checked everyone's bags, and most of the provisions were those Caeleste protein bars—the ones Lewis brought to the packhouse before—as well as some other stuff. No meat, though."
The thought of those protein bars made him grimace.
"Wait," Remus uttered, lifting his head to look at them. "You...you actually met the Venaticus?"
Damon gently pushed his son's head back down. "No more talking," he said sternly. "We'll update each other after you've eaten."
Remus nodded and closed his eyes.
"They taste like shit," Damon grumbled, "but they'll be useful if we can't find anything to hunt."
Bly nodded and then shifted into her wolf form. "I'm going to go and find some more herbs."
"All right. Thank you."
She smiled and headed towards the trees, leaving him alone with Remus.
He sighed and watched as Sebastien got up and raced into the woods, and when he shifted his sights to Jackson, Damon caught Wilson glaring at him again. What the fuck was this guy's problem? Did he seriously think that sitting there scowling at him from across the glade was going to do anything? If he had a bone to pick, he'd better bring his sorry ass over to Damon.
But then he huffed irritably and stared at the fire. He didn't want to be the one to start a fight—in fact, there was a part of him that felt like he didn't want to get into it with Wilson at all. He knew if he started fighting Wilson, then Jackson would get upset and maybe even mad at him. Was that why Wilson was sticking to snarky comments and mutters under his breath? Was he also afraid of upsetting Jackson?
Damon scowled irritably. There was more to it. There had to be. When Jackson told him about Wilson, there was a part of him that suspected that maybe there was something else going on. And after seeing the way Wilson was acting around Jackson—around him—he was almost sure that Wilson might want their friendship to be more than that.
Was he overthinking? Was he letting his hatred of muto and general disliking of Wilson make him jump to conclusions? Or was he right? Was that why Wilson was giving him dirty looks and making comments?
As much as he might like to call him out, he didn't have enough evidence yet. For now, he was going to have to control and keep himself from falling victim to his possessive, protective instincts. If he snapped at Wilson for what would appear as no reason to Jackson, then that would only damage his and Jackson's relationship. That wasn't something he was willing to let happen, and if he had to guess, he'd think—no, he was almost certain—that Wilson's scowls and comments were an attempt to make him do exactly that.
With an irritated snarl, he shifted his eyes to Remus. He needed to stop thinking about Wilson; he was getting frustrated, and that was the last thing anyone needed right now.
"How are you feeling, Rem?" Damon asked.
"Just...tired and hungry," he mumbled.
"Lalo should—"
"I thought I heard you say Lalo," Remus interjected, opening his eyes again. "He's...alive?"
"Another story to tell when you're feeling better."
Remus smiled a little and closed his eyes. "Okay. But...Dad?"
"Mm-hmm?"
"I'm glad you're here."
Damon smiled. "Me too." He couldn't explain how happy it made him to hear that. The last things his sons had said to him broke his heart. But he wasn't about to sit there and overthink that, either. There was no more room for overthinking. Half of his very small pack was out in the woods, and he had no idea where they were or what they were doing. All he could do was hope that Tokala's group were fine and that when Sebastien found Lalo's group, he found them safe and unharmed.
The Alpha lay down and watched the blue fire flicker. He felt as though it was a good sign that he nor Jackson had a bad feeling right now, but that could change at any moment.
And if it did, he was readyto fight whatever might come. He wasn't going to lose anyone else.
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