[T/W: Mentions of self-harm and abuse]
[TAMIKO]
"You what, Tamiko? Cut the damn wrist and get it over with. We don't have the whole evening here. Besides, it's the mating ceremony day.
"I should be ready and good-looking for my mate. He or she will be blessed to have me anyway," Gabe said confidently, making Tamiko internally sigh.
"Okay, alpha," Tamiko said, before closing his eyes and running the blade thrice on his wrist. The feeling of the blade ripping through his veins was familiar, the tingling sensation and the cold before the pain hit his nerves was one too familiar.
It was almost different this time, especially when he felt Gabe and his bunch of friends hold him tightly to the side, while another blade cut through his uncut wrist. He was horrified at the pain, worried that he would wake up in a different version of hell.
Then again, it was impossible that there was a hell worse than this, but then he was already used to it anyway.
"Hold on, why is he turning pale suddenly? Did you cut the right vein or did you cut too deep?" Gabe asked ten minutes later, when Tamiko lay on the pavement, unconscious and blood seeping through his wrists.
He may have been out of it, but then to Gabe and his friends, it wasn't a new sight.
They knew Tamiko always fainted at the sight of blood, and that in itself made them feel like they were playing the best game ever. They wanted to remind the poor man that this was what his life would always remain as.
"It's not my fault that he is a weakling. He should be stronger and match his body size. How can he be this huge and still manage to faint at the sight of small things?" Zakhar asked and Gabe just sighed.
The mating ceremony would soon begin and they needed to prepare for it, instead of standing here next to the man who had decided to play games with them.
"Let's go. We should be ready in an hour," Gabe said and for a moment, Judd looked at his best friend, and then at the outcast on the ground, before turning to the people who were watching them.
Surely, they weren't going to leave the poor man on the ground, or would they?
"If you feel terrible for him, feel free to cuddle him, the evening is getting a little too cold and the winds aren't showing us any mercy either. The choice is yours, I'll just let you know that I don't plan on freezing out here," Gabe said casually as he walked out of the circle with Zakhar.
Seeing as there was no other way, Judd, conflicted as he was for some reason, managed to follow his friends, silently hoping that someone with a heart would check on Tamiko. He didn't want to have the guilt of whatever would happen to Tamiko.
It was one thing to tease Tamiko but it was another to make him unconscious and lose out on almost everything. He wasn't that cruel, right?
"Alright, let's go," Judd responded, as he went with his friends.
With the alpha's con and his friends gone, the crowd dispersed and everyone went back to their duties and preparations for the most beautiful night of the Grealor pack. They didn't care that Tamiko was unconscious on the floor, if anything, they pretended like they didn't see him.
By the time Tamiko regained consciousness, the square was quiet, and everyone was gone. He knew where they were and for the first time in so long, he cherished the silence. Maybe it was because right now, no one was staring at him like the outcast that he was.
"Nights can be beautiful at times, huh?" Tamiko whispered as he sat up, his body feeling a little too cold, and strangely enough, his wrists were healed. He could have sworn he didn't have a wolf, just like everyone who was his age, which meant that he didn't have super abilities.
"I guess the moon goddess took pity on me this time, huh?" Tamiko sighed, before getting up from the cold pavement. He only had one thing to worry about tonight, and that was his sleep.
Well, that would have gone really well if Danny hadn't shown up looking like he had gone through all the stages of grief.
"What the hell happened?" Tamiko asked, when Danny stayed silent, worrying Tamiko even more. If it was serious, then he needed to know so he could be of help to his only friend in the goddamned pack.
"I was waiting for everyone to leave so I could come for you. Before you complain about coming to my house with me; one, your cabin has been destroyed by you-know-who and his crude friends.
"Secondly, you're the only person I can take with me to events. And I need someone to go with, to the mating ball. Thirdly, before you complain, you're the only friend I have and I can't leave you out here… Should I go to the fourth, fifth, and even sixth reasons?
"—Because I planned at least twenty reasons to convince you," Danny said stubbornly and Tamiko facepalmed.
His friend knew that he hated the mating balls, because if he went there, he would be cursed with getting bonded to one of the Grealor assholes and he couldn't handle being tortured for life. That was just not on Tamiko's list and Danny knew that too.
"You know my stance on this, Danny," Tamiko argued.
He had always made it clear to his best friend that he hated the balls and everything that meant being in the same space as the pretentious Grealor idiots. He just didn't have the time and energy to put up with them, and not after what they had done to him today.
Tamiko was tired, and frankly, he just needed to get some rest and wallow like he always did when he was overwhelmed, and seemingly, his best friend had other plans for him, plans that Danny had clearly paid more attention to. Oh, Tamiko.
"You're not going for yourself, you're going for me. Besides, if you get a mate, you can always reject them, just like the whole pack rejected you, right? I would respect that decision, but until then, please, come with me to the mating ball," Danny whined.
Tamiko looked at Danny with a blank and bored face, like he was trying to tell his friend that he wouldn't be moving anywhere with him, but just as usual, Tamiko knew this was a battle he had already lost from the moment Danny had started giving him the hundreds of reasons.
But still, it was worth the try, right?
"I am poor, I have nothing to wear, even if I were to take you," Tamiko spelled out, though he could tell that that wasn't a good enough reason for Danny. Of course, it wasn't.
"I had already prepared a tux for you a few months ago. It's your perfect size and it's yours. So you don't have to worry about returning it or paying me for it. Think of taking me to the ball as compensation, yeah?"
"Fine. But I'll leave before midnight."
"Okay, I accept, now come along," Danny said excitedly.