Chapter 7. Goodbye, Second-Life Virginity... An Eulogy Delivered Mid-Blizzard

Chapter 7: 7. Goodbye, Second-Life Virginity... An Eulogy Delivered Mid-Blizzard

It did what I thought it would...

The behemoth fucking lunged at me.

I felt the wind of its paw before I felt the impact. Then something hit me in the chest like a wrecking ball, and I flew backward through the air, hit the ground, and rolled through the snow in a tangle of arms and legs.

Pain exploded through my ribs. I tasted blood, and my vision went white at the edges.

I lay there for a moment, staring up at the sky, and thought...

I really should have stayed in the shelter and fucking masturbated at this point...

But then... A distant shout cut through the wind. "LEOOOONNN!"

I rolled over with a groan, spitting blood onto the snow, and looked up to see Elsbeth standing at the edge of the tree line, her sword raised and her hair streaming behind her in the wind.

She was too far away to do anything, and she knew it... She hadn’t been able to catch up, because her injuries wouldn’t let her.

All she could do was watch how pathetic I am right now.

But... The Behemoth turned its head toward her.

Nah... no, you fucking don’t, you ugly fucker.

I don’t know what made me do it. Maybe it was the blood loss, or maybe it was just the stupidest, most reckless part of my brain taking control.

I grabbed the biggest rock I could find, a jagged, fist-sized thing, and I hurled it with every ounce of strength I had left.

The adrenaline helped again... or maybe it was another piece of plot armor?

It hit the Behemoth right in the open wound on its shoulder.

The creature let out a scream that shook the snow off the nearby trees.

GRAWWWWGGGGHHHHHHH!!!

It whirled around and thrashed in pain, and I took the chance to scramble to my feet and sprint straight into a dense stand of pines.

’I still have a chance...’

’It’s not bad to fight like this, just so that I can face the reality when I’m weak all of the sudden.’

I heard it crashing after me, but the thick trunks slowed it down, and a gust of wind whipped a curtain of snow between us. I cut hard to the left and dove into a hollow beneath a fallen tree, pressing myself flat against the ground.

"Hah... hah... hah..." I can feel my own sweat was cold enough for me to stay silent with all the hard breathing, and then I try to take a little peek.

The Behemoth snarled and snuffled around the trunk for a long, terrible minute. Then, finally... it lost the trail and stomped away into the blizzard, still roaring.

GRAAGGHHH! RAAAGGGHHHHHH!

I lay there for a long time, bleeding into the snow, and wondering how the fuck I was still alive. But then I keep thinking it was luck or maybe my privilege as the main character.

...

When I limped back into the shelter, I can see Elsbeth was waiting for me, and she did not look happy... like at all.

"You absolute fucking fool," she said, and I’d never heard anyone sound so angry and so relieved at the same time. "You could have died out there!"

"You could have simply run away, and you chose to face a beast that would have killed you in one blow?!"

"Why would you risk your life for someone you barely know?! Especially for a beastwoman like me?!"

I wiped a smear of blood from the corner of my mouth and dropped heavily against the wall. "Because you saved me from having to die alone in a snowbank... Oh, wait a minute... That was me saving you."

"Eh... Whatever... I’m terrible at keeping score."

She didn’t laugh. She just stared at me, and her ears stayed pressed flat against her head.

"Besides," I added, trying to push myself back up on shaking legs, "if I let you die, who else is going to explain how to survive in this frozen fuckin’ hell, huh?"

She didn’t answer right away. She just looked at me for a long time, in a way that made me feel like she was seeing something she hadn’t expected to find.

Ding!

[CRITICAL WARNING]

[Lust Energy: 4/100]

[Immediate intervention required!]

I swayed, and she caught my arm again. Her grip was gentle this time, and she guided me back down to the ground with surprising care.

Finally... the treatment that I want from a woman who I just saved her ass from.

I closed my eyes and listened to my heartbeat slowing, each beat farther apart than the last. And it’s not just my heart that was beating, but my cock was also beating hard.

Even in my dying state... my cock won’t just stay still, which is worse.

"Leon..." she said, and her voice had changed. "How long do you have...?"

"Not long, I think... A few hours... or maybe less."

"And the only way to stop it is..." She trailed off.

"Yep... weird, but effective... or efficient if you have to say it."

I felt her looking at me. I opened my eyes, and she was crouched in front of me, close enough that I could see the little gold flecks in her red irises.

Whoa there... what the fuck is she going to do to me...?

It’s close... and it’s just making things worse for my cock!

"You could have... you know... asked," she said. "At any point, since we met..."

"You could have used my injuries, or my gratitude, or the debt I owe you... but I was surprised that you did not." Elsbeth’s tail starts wagging around. "A human like you is... unusual."

"Told ya already... I’m not that guy..."

"But... you once said that you were a very bad man."

"I am... But there’s a level of bad, and then there’s that..." I rubbed my face with a shaking hand. "Look, I’ll be honest..."

"The radar is why I found you, and the curse... let’s say it as the system... it’s part of why I’m here..."

"I won’t pretend otherwise... But if you say yes just because you feel like you owe me, I don’t want it."

"I’d rather take my chances with the Behemoth."

The silence stretched out. The wind howled outside, and the little shelter creaked around us.

"I... do not trust you completely, Leon Levarion," she said at last.

I nodded weakly. "Well, eh... That’s fair."

"But I owe you my life... And I want to understand what kind of man you are when you are not trying to survive."

She moved closer, and I realized she was holding my gaze without blinking. I could feel her warmth, which was a welcome change from the constant cold.

Shit... I thought she was going to give me a time out, but she’s just keeping making it worse than before. Just get into it already, but at this condition...? How can I even enjoy it?

"Look... If we do this," she said quietly, "it will be because I choose to..."

"And well... not because you saved me, and not because of your curse... I mean, the system demands it."

My brain, which had never failed me with a woman in my entire life, suddenly decided to take a vacation. I opened my mouth, and nothing came out.

Whoa... what’s going on here? Why the fuck can’t I say some smartass shit...?

"For the record," I managed finally, "this is the first time a woman has made me nervous without threatening to break my legs..."

"What...?" She snorted. "Perhaps I should reconsider."

"Absolutely not... I’m just kidding! I withdraw that statement..."

And that was how I ended up having the most terrifying and the most honest conversation of my life with a half-dead wolf queen in a hole... and maybe in a rock... in the middle of a blizzard.

...

This is it...

It was all worth it all along...

Goodbye, my virginity in this miserable second life...

I’m going to feel heaven for a minute or maybe an hour...

The blizzard howled outside like a dying god, but inside this cramped, freezing shelter... the silence between us was screaming.

I could feel the blood seeping through my bandages, warm and sticky against the cold air, each pulse of pain in my ribs reminding me that I was still tethered to this mortal coil.

But that pain was being drowned out by something else... something primal... and something that demanded satisfaction before my heart stopped beating.

Elsbeth stared at me, those crimson irises reflecting the dim light. Her tail gave one last, uncertain wag before going still.

She looked vulnerable in a way a wolf queen shouldn’t. And yes... right now, she’s the most beautiful thing that I see, better than the blizzard outside.

"Leon..." she whispered, her voice cracking like thin ice. "Look... uhm... I have never... I have never done this with anyone..."

"Especially not a human..." She swallowed hard, her throat working visibly. "The pack teaches us to take what we need, to survive through strength... but this?"

"This requires a different kind of surrender."

She leaned closer, the heat from her body rolling off her in waves. "I want to believe you can survive this... That this won’t be the thing that finally breaks you."

"And if you die...? Consider the debt has been paid, okay...?"

That sounded like a red flag, but eh... I probably can handle this, and she’s the one that needs to worry about herself, whereas I have a switch at this kind of thing.

A bitter laugh bubbled up in my throat, tasting metallic with blood.

"Break me?" I gritted my teeth as a spasm of pain shot through my side. "Elsbeth, I’ve been broken before..."

"And honestly? I don’t want gentle."

"I don’t want some soft, pathetic attempt at comfort as well... If we’re doing this to save my fucking life, then do it properly."

"I like it rough! I want to feel every bit of you, even if it hurts..."

Her ears flicked forward at my words, sharp and alert. "H-huh...?"

"Rough?" she repeated, her voice dropping an octave, growing husky. "You want to be claimed like a beast...?"

"I want to feel alive," I growled, my inner mind screaming at the sheer audacity of my own arousal. ’Fuck, she’s gorgeous when she’s conflicted.’

"Now, stop talking and take what you owe me... besides, I can be the one taking control too."