Chapter 5

"How did you know someone was coming?" I asked him in a low voice.

Damian's ears twitched. "Just a hunch. I've had the sense of being watched these past few days." He paused for a second, then added, "Besides, those dreams I've been having are getting clearer. I'm starting to remember things."

"About Sanctuary?" I asked.

He nodded, his eyes growing hollow. "It's... a huge place full of white walls, reeking of disinfectant. That's where they... experimented on us."

I asked, "Us?"

"Beastmen, but not all of us," Damian replied, tracing a strange symbol into the dirt with his claw. "Only a handful were chosen. They called us Prime Subjects."

My heart raced, and I blurted out, "What kind of experiments?"

Damian suddenly grabbed his head and whimpered in pain, "I can't remember... Just flashes, needles, electric shocks, some kind of blue liquid..." His breath grew heavier as he added, "And you."

I froze. "Me?"

"In my dream, I see a dying girl. She looks just like you, but I know she's not you." Damian stared at me, puzzled. "Her soul... is black, like it was tainted."

My blood ran cold. He was describing my past life's death.

I tried to keep my voice from shaking. "Damian, do you believe in a second life?"

He tilted his head to look at me, a little confused. "What do you mean?"

I replied, "I mean... when someone dies, their soul gets another chance at life."

Damian thought for a moment. "There are legends about that among beastmen. The cycle of souls. But who knows..." Suddenly, his ears perked up. "Someone's coming."

We quickly ducked behind a tree. A few seconds later, a familiar figure appeared on the path—Lily Carter, in her pajamas, holding a flashlight.

"Ash?" she called softly. "Are you out here?"

I was about to answer when Damian grabbed my arm. "Wait."

Lily looked around a few times, didn't spot us, and finally left. Damian kept sniffling. "She's alone. But just now, I caught another scent."

"What scent?" I asked.

"I can't say for sure. It smells familiar, but... Wait, something's wrong." Damian shook his head. "We should get back. Starting tomorrow, you need to learn how to protect yourself."

"What?" I blurted out.

Damian's eyes grew serious. "If Sanctuary really has its sights set on you, just me watching your back isn't enough. You need to learn to protect yourself."

And so, the next day, our secret training began. Damian was a tough coach, but his methods were surprisingly effective.

He seemed to have an instinctive sense for the human body's weak points and could take someone down in a flash.

"Humans always think strength is all about muscle, but true power isn't just about muscle. It comes from here," he said one evening, teaching me how to turn an enemy's weight against themselves.

He gently tapped my temple with his claw. "And here." Then he pointed at my stomach.

When he got close, I caught his scent—not that fake beastmen cologne you find in stores, but something untamed and primal, laced with pine and steel.

Oddly enough, that scent didn't frighten me at all—instead, it made me feel safe.

In return, I taught him the basics of human society—how to tell when someone's lying, how to read the expression on people's faces, and which laws worked for or against beastmen.

Damian learned crazy fast—his memory was freakishly good.

"Why are you helping me?" I asked after another round of training. "You could've just bailed, you know."

Damian was checking the sandbag I'd strapped to the tree. He paused, his ears flicking. "Honestly? I don't really know. At first, I thought I was just... repaying you for patching me up."

"But now..." His amber eyes met mine, steady and intense. "It feels like there's something binding us together, like we were meant to be."

Those words made my heart skip a beat.

Over the weekend, Rachel announced she was throwing a party, inviting all the young elites from the city's top families.

"You have to come, Ash," she said, her voice sickly sweet. "Especially now that you've got that... special beastman. Everyone's dying to meet him."

Damian's fur bristled instantly. "I'm not attending it."

Rachel raised an eyebrow. "I was asking my sister, not her pet."

"I said no," Damian growled, his voice low and dangerous. "It's not safe."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on. It's just music, drinks, and small talk. What's so dangerous about that?"

Damian didn't bother explaining. He just repeated, "It's not safe."

In the end, I decided to go. Part of me wanted to prove to Rachel she couldn't boss me around, and besides, I was dying to know why Damian was so dead set against it.

Damian said as I was getting ready to leave, "If you insist on going, at least take this." He handed me a small metal object—it looked just like a lipstick, but when I twisted it open, there was a thin needle inside, the tip shining with a strange blue gleam.

"Poison?" I asked, surprised.

"An anesthetic. Strong enough to drop a bear," Damian said, dead serious. "Don't let Rachel out of your sight. If anything feels off, let me know right away."