The Boy in the Woods (boyxboy)

Chapter 14

Warnings: Brutal Death/Child Violence

Damian's POV

It was quiet for a long moment after Yuki stated his thoughts. From what I could see in the large room we were in, everybody in my line of sight had risen their eyebrows. I felt shocked as well, even though I knew I shouldn't be, as Yuki doesn't really know anything about propriety.

There was a brief, almost hysterical giggle that resounded from the rafters, which I knew to be Charlie's. That seemed to break the momentary silence, because everybody started laughing, some muffling their laughter behind their hands. Yuki looked around, probably confused as to what made everybody laugh so hard. Galen huffed out a laugh beside me, and I could feel him shaking his head. I closed my eyes and looked up at the ceiling for a brief second. I brought my gaze back to Yuki's bright green eyes and calmly explained it to him the best I could.

"It's not really appropriate to... declare your desires for such a thing in public," I explained. Yuki adopted a confused look and scrunched up his nose. The laughter had died down, but a few chuckles could be heard.

"But I thought pack is family, so isn't public," he said slowly. I could hear awing from our audience, but I ignored it and smiled at Yuki.

"Yeah, I guess that's true. We can talk about it later. And when we're alone." I stopped talking and looked over at my dad, who was doing the creepy thing where he smiled indulgently at us. Gross. I brought my gaze to Galen, to give him the silent queue to talk. He smirked and nodded.

"Well, this has been a nice talk and everything, but you can go back to what you were doing. We just wanted to introduce Yuki", he declared, proudly. The pack huffed out a laugh and started proceeding out. Before the first person stepped out, He added, "Oh! And I shouldn't have to warn you not to tell people about this matter again, but I'm gonna' do it anyways. If you tell people about Yuki, being as 'rare' as he is, we'd have some powerful people coming after us for him. That includes hunters, the Council, other races, other packs, and so on. We don't want a war on our hands, so it'd be better for your well-being, as well as ours, for you not to mention this to anyone." He smiled brightly and finished on that note.

There were a few grumbles about 'over-protective wolves' and 'paranoids', but other than that, everything went well. Galen looked over at me and Yuki climbed over Galen to look over at our Dad curiously.

My Dad looked back and made a funny face, making Yuki giggle and duck to hide behind Galen's shoulder. I smiled and was going to comment on how we handled the meeting, but I was interrupted by a tug on my pants.

I looked behind me to see Naya , seven-year-old daughter of one of the nicest woman in the world. Maybe not the nicest. More like, the most badass woman in the world but was there for Galen and I after our Mom died. She's more a little sister than anyone else. She smiled up at me, missing tooth and all. I laughed and picked her up and held her on my hip. She gripped my shirt, black-painted nails scrunching up the fabric. Her bright, beautiful brown eyes sparkled. It is common knowledge that she has the cutest damn eyes around here, and she knows it.

"Damian! I thought you were gonna' be my mate! You promised!" She huffed indignantly. I laughed and heard the others behind me doing so as well. She stuck her tongue out at them and turned back to me, releasing her grip and crossing her arms. "It's not funny! You broke your pinky promise!" I heard a gasp from behind me, probably Yuki, as he knows the importance of a pinky promise, which I didn't break.

"No, I said I'd be your mate if you didn't find your mate, who you haven't been looking for!" I said in a haughty voice, looking away as if I've won the argument, which I haven't. She made a protesting noise and flipped her brown hair over her shoulder, which I could see from the corner of my eye.