The Lycan King’s Warrior Mate

7: Long slumber

Damon’s POV

Willow leaned back beside me wirj his small shoulders easing into the heat and I let my eyes linger on him. It was subtle, the way his body softened when he thought no one was looking. The muscles in his neck uncoiled, his jaw unclenched and for a split second there was no resistance in him just quiet.

He didn’t realize how tense he always was until he wasn’t. His guard was constantly up and his words sharp and his movements calculated. But in that moment, right there in the thick warmth of the sauna he let it slip. Just a little and just enough for me to notice.

I took him in fully then. It’s not often I let myself study anyone. Most people aren’t worth the curiosity. But Willow there was something about him that never sat still in my mind. He had that jittery energy beneath the surface like a storm held inside a bottle. And he was different.

Orphan or not, the Nightshade War Institute didn’t just take in strays. Connections mattered and bloodlines also mattered. Strength mattered. Even if you were the best fighter alive, you still needed someone to vouch for you. Someone with power. So how did a small, agile wolf from the outskirts get in?

No one at the gate had spoken up for him. No noble house and no recognized alpha. He simply appeared.

I frowned slightly, the thought settling in like a slow itch beneath my skin. He didn’t talk mucj about his past and I hadn’t pressed yet. But there was something too polished about his lies. Like they were told too often and too clean. I wasn’t born yesterday so I know.

Still I couldn’t deny the fact that he fought with a purpose. Every movement he made was carved from survival and not training. That meant he’d seen real battles. Probably more than half the men in this place combined. His instincts were raw and unshaped but powerful.

And I wanted to train him more. Not just because of the mystery he carried like a second skin bur because some damn part of me kept pulling toward him. I had no idea I was going to hope a second in a command here but look at me.

Even now, as I leaned back and exhaled slowly that rope tugged in my chest. Irritating. I didn’t need distractions and i sure as hell didn’t need him avoiding me like I was cursed. The others resented him enough already. They hated that I chose him and hated that I made him my Shadow. But they didn’t dare say it to my face.

And yet, instead of enjoying the power that came with my favor he had been actively disappearing. Training then vanishing with James like I didn’t exist. Every day it was another excuse and anoyher detour around me.

It shouldn't have bothered me because I’ve ruled for over a century without needing anyone’s attention. But it was starting to crawl under my skin.

Still the heat was getting to me and for once, my mind stopped its endless spinning. The scent of the wood and the soft hiss of steam and the quiet beside me was strangely calming. I hadn’t slept more than a few hours straight in years.

War had carved that out of me long ago. But here, in the quiet of the sauna with Willow’s presence softly at my side I let my eyes close. I allowed my self to feeel someone else’s presence for the first time in a very lonb time.

And for the first time in a long time, sleep claimed me in mere seconds. When I opened my eyes again the world had shifted like I changed to another world.

Thesunlight was gone replaced by a bluish hue meaning it was was night. I blinked groggily, disoriented by how long I must have been out. My body was too still and too relaxed and when I shifted slightly I realized my head was resting on something firm and warm.

It was Willow’s laps and his quads are so firm and soft at the same time.

I stared still groggy then looked up to find hin leaning back against the wall also fast asleep. His chest rose and fell gently beneath the thick robe and one side was slightly parted. His face was tilted toward the ceiling and mouth parted slightly in deep sleep and I was caught for a moment (truly caught) hy how striking he looked like this.

His lashes were long and I mean ridiculously long and curled against his cheeks. His brows were carved and precise and his cheekbones hig almost too soft to belong to a man. But then there was his jaw all sharp and strong amd masculine.

I followed the curve of his neck down to where the robe fell open near his collarbone and saw the faint flutter of his pulse in his throat. It thudded quietly beneath the skin, so delicate and vulnerable that something strange twisted inside me.

It wasn’t lust. It was something quieter and to me it was farrrrr more dangerous than anything I have ever felt. When i feel lust, I go for it without a second thought and I always have whoever I want. Whatever specie that happens to be.

I sat up slowly forcing the feeling away and blinking it into submission. Not now and not ever because I don’t swing to that side. He stirred but didn’t wake shifting slightly in his sleep. My fingers brushed his arm and he flinched a little before his eyes slowly opened.

It was blue. So damn blue and also familiar again. They blinked at me dazed and half lidded like he was still stuck somewhere between sleep and the wakinh world. I stared at them trying and grasping at that memory that had been dancing at the edges of my mind for weeks now.

Where had I seen those eyes before? Who did they belong to in the fragments of a life long past?

But the moment slipped again. He sat up quickly then adjusting his robe and looking everywhere but at me.

“I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to -uh doze off like that.” He stammered still a little breathless from sleep and his voice was hisky.

I studied him amd the nervous edge in his voice wirh the way his hands trembled slightly as he tied his robe tighter.

“It’s fine. We should get dressed. It’s late.” I said my voice rough with sleep.

He nodded too fast like he needed an escape and then of course he said what I was expecting him to. But I have already planned on squashing down this whole thing as soon as possible.

“I should go check on James.”

That same excus as the one from everyday. I let my gaze linger on him leaving my eyes unreadable. He was already reaching for his clothes and avoiding my eyes.

“I didn’t get a chance to see him today. He is not feeling well and- -“ he continued voice uneven as if he was in a hurry to leave.

“Then he should be in the clinic.” I cut in flatly. My voice wasn’t raised but it didn’t need to be. He hesitated caught in his own lie and I didn’t say anything else. Just watched him and let him squirm.

He needed to understand something becausw James wouldn’t be his escape anymore. Whatever he thought he was hiding from and whatever he thought he could run from by staying away from me that was ending and it was going to end tonight.

He stood there avoiding my gaze and pulling on his uniform like it might shield him. But I already saw too much and I wasn’t done with him yet. Not even close. I’ll let him run but only be use I like to chase.