Chapter 261: Life Debt
Of course, this custom of ’life debt’ fell out of favor with most packs, especially among fellow pack members, since pack members often saved one another from life-threatening occurrences. They were supposed to do so, so it seemed redundant to make pack members owe each other their lives. It would simply result in a running tally with no end.
The only reason why Kyle would think this was because he hadn’t seen me as a fellow pack member from the very beginning. In his eyes, I was an outsider he wanted gone, not a candidate for his future luna, no matter what Damon or Blaise said.
No wonder he thought I would toss him out at the first opportunity.
"If I send you away, what’s the problem? Damon will simply bring you back," I pointed out. Life debts are all well and good, but I didn’t think Damon would honor them as highly as he did the norms of ritual combat.
If he did, he would have demanded Thunderstrike be loyal to Fangborne, since he had saved Darach from the verge of death. Instead, Damon had waved goodbye to Darach without a second backward glance. He wanted Darach to succeed, not because he wanted him to bring Thunderstrike into the fold.
He simply wanted to make amends for his past actions.
Kyle paled further. "No, he wouldn’t! He wouldn’t keep me if you wanted me gone! You’re his fated mate; in comparison, I’m nobody!"
"So you finally admit I’m his fated mate? Not just... what was it you said― ah, a human slut that tried to crawl into his bed to seduce him, despite having my own mate?" I tried hard not to smile at Kyle’s dramatics, but it was hard to do.
I continued to list out all the insults I had overheard in the past week, a wicked grin on my face.
"Or wait, was I the vixen that was playing both brothers and forcing them to fight over me? Ah, how could I forget being called the harbinger of doom for Fangborne, since I’m nothing more than a mere human?"
At that last rumor, my smile faded. It seemed that Kyle’s words had a kernel of truth after all. But I didn’t realize how my reaction would be understood by Kyle. His face was now paper-pale, and it seemed that one strong gust of wind would have taken him out for good.
"I... I... I didn’t mean..." Kyle began to stutter and stammer, his eyes darting frantically around my face before he finally admitted it.
"I was wrong. Please accept my apologies," Kyle said, sounding politer than I have ever heard him. Sweat began to bead at his temples and he wiped his hands against his pants, most likely because his hands were sweating too.
I simply crossed my arms and stared at him silently, the very picture of nonchalance. Meanwhile, Kyle looked like he was about to piss his pants.
I could have let him stew further in his own anxiety, but I decided to give him a break and let him off.
"Kyle, I have made my decision," I started, and Kyle started trembling.
"Are you kicking me out?" He squawked out.
"No, Kyle," I said, restraining the urge to roll my eyes. "I don’t have the habit of kicking out my pack members, especially after I tried so hard to save them. Even if they are ungrateful little shits that spread rumors about me and try to destroy my reputation."
Kyle stared shamefacedly at the ground. "Luna Harper, I’m sorry."
I froze at how... regal my name suddenly sounded with the title in front. Suddenly, it made me sound a lot more impressive than how I actually felt, but thankfully, Kyle did not notice.
"If you want to make things up to me, then all I ask for is your unwavering support since I’m going to be your luna in the future," I decided, and Kyle’s head snapped up to look at me so quickly I wondered if he had injured his vertebrae doing so.
It felt terrifying to admit it after avoiding the elephant in the room for so long. But after Damon’s impromptu wake-up call, I realized there was no way for me to avoid my destiny. So long as Damon lived, I would be his luna.
Kyle gulped. "Yes, Luna Harper, I pledge to serve you loyally for the rest of my days."
I wanted to say there was no need for such solemnity, but then I held my tongue. If I made light of this moment, Kyle might not take me seriously afterward.
So I simply nodded and decided to get down to business.
"Kyle, I need to learn more about the pack," I said. "What can you tell me about its workings? How many men do we have stationed at each border? What do they do? How do operations work here?"
Kyle stared blankly at me. "...You don’t know this yet? What have you been doing all this while?"
I returned his stare. Good to know that his personality hadn’t been replaced despite him swearing eternal loyalty to me. "If I knew, I wouldn’t be asking you, would I?"
Elijah had brought me around the pack grounds, but since our tour got unceremoniously interrupted by stumbling upon a house with two dead bodies, I didn’t have a chance to ask any pressing questions.
Kyle snapped his mouth shut. "You got a point," he conceded reluctantly. "So I guess I’ll just run through everything then. If there’s anything you don’t understand, let me know."
And so he did. I got a crash course in Fangborne’s inner workings, and we stayed in the infirmary as Kyle continued to talk about everything he knew about Fangborne’s history.
However, I noticed that he steered clear of news about Damon’s father, only focusing on what happened after Damon became Alpha with Blaise at his side. He completely didn’t mention what happened during the years when Blaise went missing.
Perhaps he simply didn’t know. After all, he didn’t look too far from Damon’s age. Yet, how clueless could a young teen be? I supposed that was his way of letting me know that if I wanted more information, I should go ask the source. Judging from what I heard from Damon, I doubted it would be a pretty story.
I didn’t need to wait for long to find the source of truth, however. Even though Damon was preoccupied with other duties, someone else soon appeared.
"Am I interrupting anything?" Blaise asked, popping his head into view.
