The Ugly Duckling Of The Tiger Tribe-Chapter 328: Damar’s exit

The ten wolves stood in a formation that felt like a wall between my current life and the next two months without Damar.

Their gray and mottled fur waved in the morning breeze, and their yellow eyes were fixed on the tree line, ears twitching with the restless energy of a long-distance run.

They were ready.

The packs strapped to their powerful frames were filled with dried meat and supplies, but they didn’t carry the weight that was currently crushing my chest.

Damar stopped. He didn’t look at the warriors. He didn’t look at the village. He turned to me, his silver hair catching the light, and for a moment, he wasn’t the cold navigator or the lethal snake man.

He was just... my husband.

"The wind is picking up," he said softly. "It’s a good sign. It’ll carry our scent away."

"I don’t care about the wind, Damar," I whispered, stepping into his space, ignoring the eyes of the elders who were likely peering through the cracks of the hall doors, and ignoring the elite guard waiting for their ’new’ commander.

I reached up, my fingers tracing the line of his jaw one last time. He was so pale, so cool to the touch, and yet his firm eyes were the only thing keeping me from falling apart right now. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

"Two months. If you’re a day late, I’m sending Noah and Fenric to drag you back by your tail. Do you hear me?"

Damar let out that low, chuckle, one he hardly let out, but I loved so much. He caught my hand, pressing a lingering kiss to my palm, his slitted eyes softening just for me.

"I hear you, Ari. I’ll be back before the grass grows tall enough to hide the cubs."

Noah stood a few paces behind them with his arms crossed over his chest. He looked at Damar, then at me, and I saw the subtle shift in his posture. I didn’t know what he was thinking, but he didn’t interrupt. He knew this was a threshold we had to cross.

"Go," I said, the word catching in my throat.

Then, I reluctantly pulled my hand back, clenching it into a fist to keep it from reaching for him again.

"Before I change my mind and order the beavers to build a cage to keep you here."

It was my idea, my plan, but having Damar leave was never a part of it.

They say there’s always a sacrifice for the greater good. I want to be selfish and not have to sacrifice anything, but I guess I can’t always have what I want.

Two months... I’ll sacrifice two months away from Damar, and his chance to watch his daughter shift for the first time.

How cruel... It was so cruel.

Damar smiled—a real, fleeting smile—and then he pressed his lips on my forehead.

It was a long kiss, one cool and grounding me back to reality as he whispered,

"It’s not your fault."

Then, with a fluid grace that made my heart ache, he turned. He didn’t look back.

He probably told me it wasn’t my fault to make me feel better, but... how could I feel better?

He hissed and then turned into his full beast form, his silver scales catching the light, and his massive body occupying the front yard completely.

Then, he turned his head one last time, his slanted emerald eyes making a silent promise to me before he dashed forward, with the ten wolves following him from behind.

I watched his silver scales vanish into the treeline, followed by the gray blur of the wolf pack. The forest seemed to swallow them whole, the shadows of the oaks and pines closing behind them like a curtain.

Then, silence came, save for the whistling of the wind.

The silence was deafening and seemed to press on my already heavy heart.

"He’ll be back, Little Tiger," Noah’s voice rumbled behind me. He stepped up, his presence acting like a warm shield against the sudden emptiness of the square. "You know Damar is harder to kill than the mountains themselves."

"I know," I snapped, wiping a stray tear away before it could fall. I wasn’t going to act like a weeping widow. Damar was strong and healthy, and he would come back... soon.

If I go about doing this and that, and not paying attention to the days that flow by, it would all pass like birds flying in the sky.

I turned away from the gate, my eyes peering towards the direction of the construction site for the new village extension at Oakhaven.

"Well. He’s gone. And I have work to do. Noah, find Oryn for me. Tell him I want the foundations for the Rabbit dwellings marked by midday. If we’re bringing a whole tribe here, we’d better start preparing for their arrival; if not, they’d have to sleep in the dirt like refugees."

Noah blinked, clearly surprised by how fast I’d flipped back into ’Queen’ mode.

"You’re not going to rest?"

"Rest for what?" I asked. "It’s not like I’ve been working nonstop. I slept fine last night," I said, flipping my hand through my hair.

My waist does hurt a bit from Damar’s thrusts, but it’ll be fine. I want to keep feeling that ache, so I remember the sweet smile he looked at me with all night long.

"Besides, rest is for people who don’t have a kingdom to build," I said, already marching toward the workshop. "And if I sit still for too long, I’m going to start thinking about how long two months actually is. So, let’s get moving. We have a kingdom to extend."

And while I’m at it, I should look around for limestone.

Making houses out of wood is good and all, but it’s not going to last well. If there’s an erosion of termites or bugs that can eat up the wood, then the foundation will crumble.

Here, we do not have pest control spray to use on the wood, so it’s best to start thinking big.

I’m thinking of a palace made of limestone and rocks.

Ah, something similar to the ones the rabbits built for us, but even bigger with rooms to boost.

With this plan in mind, I knew I would pass the two months of waiting in no time.

Yes, even if it’s a bit stressful, I had to stay busy.

If I stopped, the grief would catch up. I can’t have that.

"Want me to come with you?" Fenric asked.