Chapter Seven
The throbbing in his hand grew less after the omega left. It got dark, and Beast slept. When he woke, the pain in his hand was gone. Pulling off the white stuff the omega had wrapped around it, he held it up to the light, and turned it back and forth. The cuts had closed, the skin had healed, and every trace of blood was gone. Except on the wall, the stain a dark red, almost black. It was because of the omega; he’d tended to his hand, taken the pain away. It was strange to think they cared so much that they’d go to the trouble of healing him. That, alongside all the food, told Beast he was important somehow. They must have wanted him to fight, there was no other explanation for it. But why wait so long?
He went to sit by the door, his chain dragging along the floor behind him. It no longer bothered him. He knew how far he could get before it hobbled him. The morning passed slowly, the sun inching its way up the sky. Beast moved outside, sitting with his back to the wall. The sun fell across him, bathing him in warmth, and he closed his eyes. He wasn’t sleeping, just listening and scenting, knowing the omega would come soon. Unless… unless he didn’t.
The sound of footsteps moving through the forest had him opening his eyes and leaning forward in anticipation. There. He caught a glimpse of the omega through the trees, his body relaxing. The omega stopped in his usual spot, crouching close to the ground. He set his bag down and went to open it. Beast got to his feet, and the omega paused. Moving slowly, Beast went inside, sat down against the wall, and waited.
At first, he worried the omega would just leave. No food, no water. But the other shifter appeared in the doorway and started talking like normal. He came inside and sat down, pulling the food and water from his bag. Beast waited expectantly, his eyes on the bag. The omega made a strange sound, but when Beast looked at his face, he seemed to be smiling.
A moment later, a bright colored ball rolled toward him, followed by another and another. Beast picked one up and went to bite into it, them remembering the previous day, started to tear the orange skin off first with his fingers. Before he bit into it, he looked down at the other two orange things by his feet and back up at the omega. Taking one in his hand, he rolled it back to the omega.
“Good,” he told him.
The omega’s smile grew wider, and he nodded.
“Good.”
Griffin hadn’t known what to think when the alpha got up and went inside the cottage. Mindful that Ronan was very likely watching the camera feed, he moved forward cautiously, ready to bolt at the first sign of danger. Inside, the alpha sat calmly against the wall, as if waiting for him. When Griffin sat down, his eyes went expectantly to the bag held loosely in his hands.
Keeping to their usual routine, he doled out the food, unsurprised when the alpha went to eat the fruit first. Just as Ronan had promised, they’d got more oranges. What he wasn’t expecting, was the alpha to give one back to him, accompanied by only the second word Griffin had heard him speak.
“Good.”
Griffin echoed him, picking up the orange and peeling it. He didn’t like to take food meant for the alpha, but the other shifter was watching him expectantly. The alpha frowned when Griffin broke off a segment and popped it in his mouth, staring down at the pulpy mess in his hand that was all that was left of the one he’d eaten.
“If you peel it, you can break it up into little pieces,” he said, showing them to the alpha. “It means all the juicy goodness goes in your mouth and not all over your hands.”
He held out the open orange to the alpha, encouraging him to take some. The shifter cautiously reached out, snagged two segments, and stuck them in his mouth.
Now that they’d opened the lines of communication, Griffin tried to put some context on things.
“I’m Griffin,” he said, watching the alpha tuck into the second orange with gusto. “Griffin, that’s me.” He illustrated his words by pointing to his chest each time he said his name.
At first, the alpha seemed not to hear him. But, at some point, the repetition seemed to catch his attention, and he watched as Griffin said his name, again and again, pointing to himself each time. Whether he was getting through to the alpha was anyone’s guess.
When he took a break, the alpha crawled closer, staring at Griffin’s hand. He tried again, pointing to his chest. “Griffin.”
The alpha’s hand closed over his, turning it this way and that as if unsure what it was. Then he pointed Griffin’s own hand to his chest and waited, an expectant look on his face.
“Griffin,” the omega repeated, hoping they were making some sort of progress.
The other shifter let go of his hand before lifting his own hand and pressing his finger to Griffin’s chest.
“Griffin,” the omega said again, trying not to giggle. The alpha repeated the motion, over and over, as if intrigued by the fact that the action itself seemed to get Griffin to speak.
“You?” Griffin tried, pointing his finger at the alpha’s chest. The alpha frowned for a long moment, and Griffin tried again, poking him gently with an index finger. “You?”
“Griffin,” the alpha said.
“No,” Griffin shook his head, pointing back to his own chest. “That’s me. Griffin. And you are…” He pointed to the alpha’s chest once more.
“Griffin,” the alpha said.
“No. I’m Griffin. Me. Griffin. You—” He reached out to touch the alpha’s chest again just as, somewhere in the distance, a bang sounded, like a car backfiring. It startled the alpha, and he reacted by pushing forward, knocking Griffin down onto his back.
He struggled to free himself, knowing that he had only seconds before the alpha would overpower him and minutes before he was dead. Until he realized the alpha wasn’t hurting him, wasn’t fighting him, but was simply pinning him to the ground. He peeked upward, finding the other shifter alert above him, his gaze toward the door, intent and listening out for danger. The alpha wasn’t trying to harm Griffin, he was shielding him, protecting him, stopping Griffin from running outside, into the danger he thought was waiting.
“It’s okay,” he said, keeping his voice low and soothing. “Nothing bad is going to happen. It was probably just Quinn working on that old truck he’s so fond of. That’s all. Just a loud noise. No one is coming, there’s no danger. I promise. But you did so good, protecting me, keeping me safe.”
He half-expected running footsteps, Ronan and others coming to his rescue, but though he could hear people in the near distance, they weren’t coming any closer. Good, that was good. They didn’t need to escalate this, they needed the alpha calm.
Keeping his voice down, he continued to talk, watching as the alpha above him slowly went from alert and ready to fight to calm and curious.
He was suddenly very aware of how close he and the alpha were. Their bodies were pressed together, the alpha’s hands on his wrists, his knees on his legs. It would be almost impossible to get out from under him, but Griffin felt no need to move just yet. He waited until the alpha sat back, until the hands left his wrists, before he slowly sat up, giving the other shifter a warm smile.
“Thank you, for trying to protect me.” He pointed to his chest again. “Griffin, that’s me. You,” he added, pointing to the alpha’s chest. “You protected me. You protected Griffin.”
The alpha reached out, catching his hand before it could leave his chest.
“Griffin,” the alpha said softly.
“That’s right. I’m Griffin. And you? Who are you?” With his free hand, he touched the alpha’s chest lightly. The alpha sighed and pulled his hand away. He seemed to be between two minds, dropping his hand to the ground before lifting it again, pressing it to his chest with one mumbled word.
“Beast.”
Griffin’s heart sank. He hoped he was wrong, that he’d misheard. “Me, Griffin. You…?” He pointed to each of them in turn.
The alpha huffed, tapping his chest twice with the palm of his hand. “Beast.”
Griffin had seen and heard a lot of difficult things in his life, but none of them had caused such a river of sadness and anger as seeing an alpha who’d become exactly what he’d been trained to be. Nothing more than an animal.
Yet, in his eyes, Griffin could see something, some spark, some light, which told him there was more than just a beast within the alpha’s body. Somewhere in there, buried down deep, lay a very human soul.