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Chapter 69

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Elliot's POV

I expected Deimos to return when I woke up the next day. For him to just appear out of nowhere, and as usual, act as if he never left.

After an entire day of waiting, however, I realized that that wasn't going to happen. 


Marley kept me company,, however, and we got to spend a lot of time together. That didn't stop me from worrying, however. My horn finally came off that evening, and I disposed of it in the usual fashion.


"So the horn corrupts everything around it once it's broken off? Why doesn't it do that while on your head?" Marley asked me as we returned from the quarantined area. "I don't know. M-my theory is that it falls off the same way that old fruit falls off of a tree."


"It drops before it rots. . ."


"Y-yeah, like that."  

She hummed, before walking ahead of me. "That form. . . why is it so hard to shift back from?" She asked, before turning around to face me. "Can you talk about it? Are you able to?"


I frowned at the question, and she quickly continued. 


"You told me a lot of things recently, but you never really touched on what happened when you lost control. . . and how you recovered from it."


I nodded, knowing that she was right.


"There's a lot I don't know about it myself. And there's also a few things I need to confirm first. . . I-it's not like I don't want to tell you or anything-"


"I know that Elly", she said, shaking her head. "You're so much more complex than I thought you were, Elly", she said, and I made a face. "I-I'm just, you know, normal",  I said, twirling my hair.   

She ignored me.


"And it's all because of that damn Cursed wolf!" She exclaimed angrily, before wrapping her arms around me. "He turned my cute, adorable little girl into this violent warrior! She was supposed to be cute, Deimos! That was her character!" She yelled to the sky, for some reason. "Now look at her. Look at this grotesque monster!"


"Hey!"


I whimpered, and she grinned, before planting a kiss on my forehead. "Just kidding. You could never be grotesque. Not with your cute wolf ears, your tiny, oddly placed horn, and these two super soft tails!" She said, before burying her face into the soft fur of my tail. "I-It's a pain to wash, and to brush."


"You're just lazy."


I puffed my cheeks at her. "I'm busy."


"Doing what?" she asked, still playing with my tail. "Doing Luna stuff", I said with folded arms. ". . . . Whatever you say, Luna."


She released me, before holding my hand. "Now then, what should we do with all this time on our hands?" She asked, and I shrugged. "I don't know", I replied, causing her to frown. "Hey, don't be like that."


I couldn't really help it.


Despite being with Marley for almost the entire day, It felt like I was elsewhere. I still couldn't sense his presence, and this had me almost on edge, waiting for any scent, sound, or silhouette that resembled my mate. 


"I hope you're not still thinking about him", she said, and I lowered my gaze. "No, no, no we can't have that. While he's off doing you know what, do you think he's worried about you like you are to him?"


"Well, Deimos doesn't worry about anything-"


She shushed me, before continuing.

"You've been stuck to him like a leech for so long. It's good that he's gone. Sometimes mates need some time alone. It'll help the maturity of the mate bond", she said, matter-of-factly. 


"Just take deep breaths, and try to focus on anything else. Ponder on it for too long, and you'll go crazy."


'Crazy, huh?'  I thought, before sighing. "I'll do my best", I said with a hint of enthusiasm. Marley smiled at me, then stared at the vast tents that covered our area. I looked there as well and focused instead on the people that were moving between the tents. It strangely looked as though they were moving quite quickly as if they were in a hurry. Last night, they were also quite active all through the night. Why was that?


"A fun fact about Alphas and Lunas. . ."


Marley suddenly spoke, and I immediately turned in her direction. "The Leader's strong emotions can sometimes be felt by their people, and can lead to those members reacting in specific ways."


I frowned at first, but then understood what she was trying to say.


"You mean. . . my worry is affecting my pack members?"


"Yup", she said before rubbing her forehead. "They're all anxious now, without knowing why. It's making people work more than they should, lest they become the reason for your negative emotion."


"I'll never direct any negativity to my people", I said, and Marley almost appeared hesitant. "I know that. That wasn't what I was trying to say."


In a brief moment, she seemed. . . anxious.


"I know. . . sorry. I'll try to get my emotions under control", I said, before squeezing her hand. As we finally made our way back to my pack, I was greeted by my pack members. It was still so strange how I became the center of attention as soon as I returned from outside the territory. It was as if I was gone for a long time, like some long lost relative. Marley said that the same happened when she became Luna and that it usually diminished within a few months. 


I tried my best to show a more positive side to my pack members, and they seemed a bit less anxious around me. I was once again reminded of our limited resources and the fact that my pack was now using those resources at a much faster rate, due to our size. 


"A thousand wolves", I murmured, and Marley turned to look at me. "I can't believe that Moonshine is this big now", I continued, and Marley hummed in acknowledgment. "I know. Even at full strength, we still only had a couple of hundred members."


"So many mouths to feed, at a time like this."