Did It Hurt? (bxb)

XXV

"Are you ready?"

Simon watched his brother from across the living room. Grant had to add more furniture to the room to accommodate all of his guests. Oliver sat with Angel on the couch. Mikaela floated by the arm rest on Oliver's side. Lexi was watching in wolf form at Simon's feet as he sat in a chair. Grant was in the other room, leaving his God-son to his friends while he took a nap. Olivia was beside Simon, leaning against the wall, watching them with her arms crossed. It was taking all his willpower not to look at her. Zydega and Lexi were the only survivors of the werewolf slaughter. Currently, he was out in the woods, scouting new territory, where as soon as this experiment was over, he would take Simon to begin his rule as the new pack leader.

Simon hate to think about leaving his brother, Angel, and Olivia. But he and Lexi were werewolves, and as such, they had a job to do. It was now his full responsibility to not only catch up on the sixteen years of lessons he'd missed on the ways of a wolf, but to start recruited new wayward werewolves into the pack. Zydega also said he was putting together a funeral for Ketua, Kekuatan, Umum, Pengikut, and of course, Raja. Simon didn't know any of the other wolves, or his father, but he promised to come. Not for himself, but for Lexi,-his adopted sister-. who was really distraught over the deaths of the only friends she'd ever known. He owed it to her to at least attend. 

Simon shook his head to make his thoughts fade away and focused on Oliver. Ever since the aftermath of the battle with Mira, Oliver had begun living the life of a regular human. He was still getting used to having to do regular human stuff, like eating actual food, drinking water, and sleeping, but he was getting along great. "It's not like I'm totally helpless," Oliver had said when Angel expressed worry. "I was human once." He didn't know all the details, but from what Simon could gather, because Oliver had drank angel blood, that was the reason he wasn't dead, and only human. Now if he did it again as such, he'd achieve immortality. 

All eyes were on him. He was clutched Angel's hand, and a cup in the other. Oliver insisted that Angel constantly stay by his side. Angel didn't argue. There was a bandage on Angel's forearm, where he'd made a cut to get the blood. Oliver took one last look around the room at everyone. He gave a small smile and raised the glass. "Here goes nothing." And he downed the blood. 

The air in the room was tense. When Oliver set the glass down on the coffee table in front of him, everyone watched him. Simon leaned forward. "How do you feel?"

Oliver lifted his arm and looked at the hand that wasn't holding Angel's. "I don't feel any different." He make a face and looked at Angel. "Your blood tastes like dirt." 

"Hey!" Angel protested. "You weren't complaining before."

Oliver's cheeks reddened. It was a new sight, but it was nice to see. "Maybe when I was a vampire, but I'm not now!"

"So..." Olivia leaned off the wall and crept closer to Oliver. "Are you immortal now or what?"

Oliver shrugged in response. "I guess so."

"Should we test it out?" Simon asked. 

"I could throw you off a cliff and see if you live," Olivia suggested with a smile.

Angel frowned at her, then at Lexi who was giggling. "Let's not."

"Alright!" Mikaela exclaimed excitedly, floating next to Oliver. "Welcome to the Living Forever Club!"

Oliver smiled sheepishly. "Glad to be here." He leaned his head on Angel's shoulder.

"Um, need I remind you," Simon piped up. Everyone looked at him. "Lexi and I aren't immortal. We just age super slowly."

Nobody said anything at first. "Wow," Olivia said finally. She was glaring at him. "That was depressing."

"But hey!" Lexi added. "At least he's learning stuff!" She blew a raspberry at her, which made Angel chuckle.