The Alpha's First Choice

16. The good Man

I stopped only when we reached the countryside where there was not a single person or establishment in sight. Ray hasn't spoken a word to me since the incident.

He got out of the car as soon as I parked. He sat down on the edge of the pavement and buried his face in his hands. I gave him a moment before going over and sitting next to him. He flinched a little but didn't move away.

"Say something" I whispered hesitantly. I was nervous around Ray for the first time since I met him.

"Is he......he going to live?" That was his first concern? He was trying to keep his voice steady.

"Yes" I spoke softly "Yes, he's going to be fine. We sort of heal faster than hu_ I mean normal people"

He took a sharp breath; almost gasped at my slip up "It was his own brother" he murmured.

"We work more by hierarchy" I hope I was explaining it right "our other form only understands the law of the jungle. We are his subjects. He's the strongest of us all. He protects us. If we disrespect him, we are challenging his authority"

He let out a mirthless laugh "I think I'm going crazy. How does that even make sense?"

"I gave you hints that we were different"

He turned to look at me for the first time after the incident "That you are in a cult?" he scorned.

"I'm sorry, Ray" I took his hands in mine "we aren't supposed to let outsiders know."

"Do you...." He hesitated "Change too?" he looked like he already knew the answer but was somehow hoping that I would say no.

I nodded. I couldn't utter the word. His perception about me will change from this day on. He will never look at me the same way ever again. I will be a new person to him, someone he probably was afraid of. He would probably not want to be associated with me henceforth.

His eyes widened, he took his hand out of my clasp. I pulled them back into my grasp

"I'm the same person Ray. Nothing has changed. It's just a part of me just like every other aspect of me that you know"

"How can you say that" his voice came out harsher than he probably intended "You are not even a..... a..." he fumbled

"A human?" I offered. He looked away.

"It's all..... it's like I'm walking by some parallel world" he sighed "I can't believe how someone can even do that"

"Should I show you how?" I asked him slowly.

"NO" came his panicked reply. I understood that he didn't want to go into details yet or perhaps never.

I didn't say anything after that. We sat in silence.

"Did you...... ever k..kill anyone?" he whispered. Had I been a human, I wouldn't have heard that.

"We don't kill mindlessly Ray. Most of us, including me have never been in a hunt. A hunt is when you chase down those of us who have gone astray and are a danger to us and humans. Only the pack fighters do that. The alpha leads them. There are other creatures that we sometimes have clashes with. But we never kill humans. Killing a human earns us death sentence"

He sighed in relief "How come I've never heard of an entire group of people who are so different from us" he was slowly returning to normal. I smiled. That didn't go as bad as I expected it to. I think my warm-up talks all these years have helped him receive the news well. He was still avoiding my gaze as much as possible but I knew it was temporary. My being an animal would be weird for him anyways.