long chappie!! with angst!!

Onyx walked beside Jude, after the pack meeting they needed to go over what they wanted from the council.

"I don't suppose they can have an Alpha come down and take over?" Jude was only half joking.

"I'm sure they can look for any Alpha's wanting to combine packs."

"You know... depending on how this goes..."

"I'm not leading this pack permanently. Over my dead body."

Jude's shoulders fell, "I know it was tough before-"

"It wasn't tough- it was horrible. It was the worst thing I'd ever experienced and this pack did nothing to ease my pain. I'm not staying here with my mate, how am I supposed to move on when I'm stuck here?" Onyx snarled.

Jude raised his hands in surrender. "Okay, I get it man. Message received- we did agree on a magic ward around the territory. So we have to worry less about our shitty patrols according to your mate."

"She was right they are shitty."

Jude sighed, "We need more healing elixirs and herbs for our pack doctor."

"We can do both of those easily."

Jude nodded gratefully. "Basic supplies to ease up on the Wolves work load would be helpful, our numbers are dwindling so everyone's responsibilities are doubling."

"What happened to the Alpha that stepped up after everything?"

"Ironically enough, he went missing. With everything your bringing to our attention it seems our Human neighbors might be responsible. But with everything going so poorly, most assumed he left."

Onyx had never heard of a pack so indifferent to their Alpha disappearing.

"Tell all the Warriors to be at training at 8 am. They need to get back into the packs old regimen. I saw it on the way to the meeting, it was pathetic."

Jude nodded while dragging a hand through his hair. "I'm sure they'll be thrilled."

Onyx didn't respond as he was already irritated. A scream made both of their head snap to the left.

It came from Onyx's cabin.

"Demi!" Onyx roared and broke into a sprint towards his mate.

He slammed into the house, seeing no sight of her. Jude kept up with him, the two darting into the woods.

Onyx caught Demi's scent and soon she was in his view. She had a group of children behind her, her wide hazel eyes on a carcass in front of them.

The Alpha wasted no time in gripping his mates face, looking over her for injuries. Jude checked the perimeter.

"I-I wasn't the one who screamed, don't worry I'm fine. They uh- I heard them and came running. They found that thing," she nodded towards the dead body by them.

"Okay," he mumbled. Onyx gazed at the children who cowered behind his mate, the oldest wasn't more than ten.

"You alright, pups?" he asked as gently as he could. They still flinched a little but all three nodded.

"My mate is going to take you to your parents," he looked up at Demi who nodded.

He kissed her quickly to calm his thumping heart. They left promptly as Demi picked up the two littler ones even if they were half her size.

Jude came back after securing the perimeter, both men glanced at what had caused the scene.

Onyx grimaced, he didn't even know what it was. It's skin was akin to humans. But it's bones and figure were wrong. It had joints at the mid-thigh, knees, and shins. It's stomach was torn open, the guts strewn everywhere.

It's face seemed to have imploded, similar to the Witch they'd found before.

Their hands only had three fingers, but none seemed to have been cut off. No they were made like that.

"W-What the hell?" Jude blurted.

"Don't touch it," Onyx gripped his shoulder. "Seems the humans view your land as dumping ground now. Demi's mother mentioned they could have test subjects. There's rumors of them creating species."

"They're mutating living beings?" Jude held his stomach as he felt sick.

"It seems so."

~

Demi was sat on the couch, petting Doctor Finley when Onyx finally came back.

She looked up out of her one sided conversation and smiled. 

He b-lined to kiss her on his way to the kitchen.

"I want to take you somewhere tonight," Onyx muttered as he thumbed through papers he'd been given.

Demi sat up on her knees, watching her mate meander towards the kitchen.

"Okay," she smiled. Something about Onyx's tone had her restricting any questions she wanted to ask.

"What was that thing in the woods?" She watched him move through the small house.

"Some fuckin' mess of an experiment. Could barely tell it's head from its ass," he grumbled. Demi frowned, that experiment used to be a person.

"It makes me sad to think about them like that."

Onyx's head popped up, he could've punched himself. He knew she was sensitive to this, he was so stupid.

"I'm sorry, princess," he sighed. "I just don't like them being so close to you." His Beast has been badgering him even before the scare. Both him and the Beast were so so scared to lose her.

Demi nodded as Finley began kneading her lap. She smiled and looked to see if Onyx was watching.

He gave her a soft grin.

"I've always wanted a cat, my dad hated them. When we leave Doctor Finley comes with." Her tone held no room for arguments, he nodded with a raised brow.

"Are you sure Doctor Finley would like that?"

Just as he asked the cat pressed their paws into her chest, resting their head in her neck.

Demi 'oohed', "You've got competition babe."

"Yeah right," he scoffed and bent over the back of the couch to nuzzle into her shoulder. He glared at the cat while she wasn't looking.

"Get ready to leave soon," he looked at the tights and small skirt she wore. "Put something more comfortable on please? It'll get dark soon and we might still be out. Maybe sweatpants?"

She pouted, she didn't hate sweatpants. It was the one pant she could wear. Onyx was learning, oh gosh.

"Do I have to?" Demi had puppy dog eyes.

Onyx stayed firm, "Yes."

"Do I really have to, Griffin?" She practically purred. He had been taking a sip of his coffee and spluttered, choking loudly. His cheeks went red as he looked down at her surprised.

"G-Go put on the damn sweatpants before you drive me crazy, woman."

Demi giggled and squeezed his cheeks playfully.

Later on, Onyx was giving Demi a tour of the grounds. After a good amount of time, Demi felt the peaceful atmosphere shift. His grip on her hand tightened, she glanced up and saw worry etch onto his face.

She hiccuped as her brows furrowed while she was being lead towards what looked like an overgrown greenhouse.

Her eyes saw that it seemed abandoned. Onyx brought her deep into the garden, it felt like another world as plants completely surrounded them. It was far from the central territory.

"What-" She whispered as it felt like somewhere they shouldn't be. "What are we doing here?"

"I've been wanting to take you here. When I was younger I'd come here to calm down. I thought maybe it would still work all these years later."

He sat her on top of him as he himself rested on a bench. He rest his head on top of her own as she burrowed into his warmth. The plants around them rustled as the wind picked up. It was pretty, a clear view of the stars through the ceiling.

"This was my mothers garden," he inhaled her scent quietly.

Her eyes widened a little but she hummed in interest.

"Was she good to you?" Demi turned in his grasp to look up at him. His dark eyes met hers, searching them.

"I loved my mom. She was kind and a good Luna for the pack. I used to look a lot like her." Demi frowned at his sad tone before running her fingers through his dark hair.

Demi didn't interrupt as she wanted to let him keep talking.

"My dad was never too involved with either of us. He always kept me away to train for being Alpha. I was their only kid which was unusual for wolves at least. My mom would always say it was because he was too busy being Alpha."

"You deserved a good father," Demi brushed her lips over his shoulder gently.

Onyx shook his head. "No I should've appreciated what I had. Because everything could've been so much worse. And it eventually was. Around my 13th birthday rumors were being spread around the pack. Rumors about my father and something he'd done before I was born began to spread."

Demi sat back in his lap, allowing his hands to secure his tightly on top of him. She looked up at him from beneath her lashes.

"A witch was telling people that she was his true mate. And that he'd banished her and refused the bond because she wasn't a wolf. Apparently that was right around the time he'd met my mother. They marked and mated quickly. People said it was so others wouldn't suspect him."

Demi stared at him, her interest peaked as she trailed her fingers up and down his forearms comfortingly.

"I cried to my mother, telling her everyone was staring at me, whispering about us. My father overheard and got so mad he actually hit the both of us. I screamed at him to leave my mom out of this but he thought since she wasn't defending him she was guilty as well."

Demi's tears stung at her eyes as they sat at her waterline.

"Before he could hurt us more, howls sounded. Alerting us someone was on the territory. When we all got there a woman with dark hair and I remember her eyes being so angry," Onyx's voice trembled.

She swallowed harshly and tried to run her fingers through her mates hair, bring him back to reality but he seemed lost to the memories.

"Griffin, you can take a break honey you don't have to tell me right now."

Onyx didn't register her while continuing. "She screamed on and on about how this was supposed to be her life and my father betrayed her by settling down with my mother. She was right."

He worried his lip as his grip on Demi's hips tightened. Her breath quickened when she slowly but surely felt his claws extend. Onyx himself was taking shallow panicked breaths.

"When she saw my mom behind my dad, I mean it was like something snapped. She used her magic- dragged me into the center of the crowd next to her. Everyone cried and screamed as my dad tried to snatch me back but she threatened to kill me where I stood."

Onyx scoffed, "I would've been better off."

Demi gasped at the admission but her mate only continued robotically. "She said how I should've been her son. And that my dad was so ashamed of having a magic bloodline with her offspring so she'd have to force it into his current one."

"Her magic was dark and cold," Onyx shuddered as he felt it pulse through him. "It wasn't warm and bright like my Demi's."

His mate cradled his head into her chest, rocking them back and forth to try and soothe her wolf.

"That witch, her name was Jocelyn, she- she cursed me that day. Made me into this monster. It was so much pain," his voice cracked. He pressed his forehead tightly into her chest as tears began flitting down his cheeks. He could feel everything again.

"She forced that magic into me and it invested my wolf- my poor wolf," Onyx'a voice shook. "It made him into a beast and he couldn't speak to me. These- These brandings on my skin burned for months after they etched their way onto my skin. They're the old symbols warning for monsters, in damn near every language. I was suddenly pale and sickly looking, my veins were gray, my hair was black. And my eyes, my eyes that my beautiful mother gave me were stained with the fucking curse!" He spat.

"Jocelyn did this in front of everyone. Now I resembled her pale skin and black hair. Her voice was in my head telling me I'd never be a wolf again, I'd been stripped of my mate, and my future. I'd have to live a long life alone with the beast she'd left inside of me."

Demi took a shaky breath, deep seated anger settled inside of her. Hatred for this witch and the craving for revenge began as she held on tightly to her mate.

"My mom attacked her once she was out of shock. Jocelyn killed my mother above my body, dropping her on top of me while I was still shifting from the curse. I was useless. My father reacted next but wasn't able to kill his true mate at first. Jocelyn didn't hesitate and slit his throat with a magic dagger. Before he choked on his blood, he snapped her neck. The two mates laid together in death at the end."

Demi wrapped her arms tightly around him, burying her head into his shoulder. Demi could feel his pain through their bond and tried with all her might to comfort him.

"What happened after?" she husked in a shaky whisper.

"The pack tried to treat my wounds but after a while I realized they wanted me gone. I'd actually been attacked by a couple adults one night, months after the curse. The Beast took over- all of them were slaughtered. I didn't stay long after that, they gave me the option of leaving or killing me. Although, I don't think they could've. I went rogue. I became the Onyx Wolf at some point and found my group along the way, and somehow someway I found my way to you."

Onyx began pressing his lips against Demi's beautiful, flawless brown skin. "Then suddenly, everything had meaning again."

He inhaled sharply as he looked at her nervously. "A-And I don't know if I c-can give you pups," his voice cracked. "I was supposed to be alone for my lifetime I don't know how the curse works a-"

Demi shook her head holding his cheeks to stop his worrying

She let out a choked sob, bringing his forehead against her own. "You're such an incredible man, Griffin. Better than all of them. Stronger than anyone I've met. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me and I would take all that pain away if I could. I lo-" She stopped herself abruptly and closed her eyes tightly. She didn't want to say the L word at the possibility of scaring him.

"We can have pups another way if it comes down to it, don't you dare blame yourself. I can't imagine my life without you. It's not a life I'd want to live."

Her hoarse whisper brushed against his lips as he shut him black eyes, basking in the words. Even after hearing about how he was so ultimately damaged. Beyond repair.

"You mean that?" Onyx asked weakly.

"With everything in me." And he could feel it was the truth.

They couldn't find it in themselves to move away from each other. Both of their eyes were closed as Onyx ran his nose down her own, brushing his lips against hers as he basked in her essence.

"I love you."

~~

👀👀 the big L word

thoughts on Onyx's long awaited for past? and how this is one of the more emotional moments he's had in the story like?