Page 33

T he King-Cougar struck, hitting his paw to Alphose's chest which caused a good amount of pain to travel through his half-shifted body like waves. "Hell! Alpha King!"

The King-Cougar raised his forepaws again, this time the sharp long claws slipped out, Alphose knows immediately that when he strikes this time, he will rip his heart from his chest. And there's no escaping him, not when the King-Cougar has him in this position.

So, he closed his eyes and awaited his faith, but hoping at the same time that his mate has ran to safety.

But, as the paw descended, the King-Cougar shifted.

The Alpha King laid above him, his hand hitting the floor above their heads and his breathing uneven .

"Oh, thank the gods." Alphose's relief was insurmountable. Yet, he held still, not moving, seeing the battle for control still going on inside the male above him.

Wolfariane Daminor Throne was bombarded with several kinds of emotions, he is teethering on the very edge of insanity. Again.

Kill.

Destroy.

Hate humans!

Protect mate!

Kill her! Kill him!

Destroy the obstacle!

Protect!

Protect!

Hate!! Kill! !

KILL!!!

DESTROOOOOY!!!!!!

The man roared. The muscles in his arms bunched tightly as he fought his own nature. A battle that is threatening to tear him to several pieces.

The wolf wants out.

The mountain lion wants out—and that is the one closest to the surface.

The wolf and the mountain lion battles inside him.

The man is trying to control them all; Himself, the Cougar and the Wolf. The emotions. The rage. The hate. The nothingness.

The man roared again.

The tension is all over him, inside and outside. It is in his bunched muscles and in his eyes that kept flicking all three colors. Green, amber, blue. More green .

"You can do this, Alpha King, you can do this!" Alphose shouted beneath him, desperation clawing at him as he saw the fierecest battle he has ever seen in his life going on above him.

Wolfariane has always kept people at arms length. Eline calls him 'Surrounded By All But Very Much Alone' and the female sentinel cougar is not wrong.

For the first time, he witnessed this battle for control by the King, and it caused tears to fill his eyes.

Who fights a battle like this all the time?

This is a losing battle.

The battle that causes insanity. And the tension in him is too much.

The day the tension will snap inside him, is the day he will loose this battle. And the day he will lose this battle is the day he will loose his sanity.

And that day, the Alpha King will become a Wild One.

Has he ever fought this battle before?

Just how long has he fought it?

Wolfariane raised his head again, and roared.

Ismena's heart was beating strongly on her chest as she sort refuge the only place her legs were able to carry her to as she was running for her life. Wolfariane's bedroom.

She'd been so out of her mind with fear, she wasn't thinking as she ran. Now, she sat on his bed breathing hard and staring around wide-eyed with fear. She'd bolted every lock the door has.

Heavens. What just happened ?

She'd almost become meat for two large lions, that is what happened.

Then, she'd heard the roar. It is an animalistic roar, same as before but different. A man's roar. Wolfariane's roar. She knows this in every part of her bone.

And the roar of anguish calls to her.

Ismena have not felt the intensity of what she's suddenly feeling before. There's no words to describe it, and so, she did her best to surpress it.

But when the roar came again, it spurred her into action. Ismena wasn't thinking as she sprang from the bed, and bolted into action.

I have to go to him! I have to go to him!

That is all that was ringing through her head as she unlocked the deadbolts and took off in a dead run towards the sound of that voice.

Alphose smelled her coming, even before he heard the splattering of footsteps thundering on the floor above them.

"What!? Ismena, don't come here!" He shouted at the very top of his voice.

Wolfariane roared again. His claws are still out; sharp, pointed and ready to kill. His eyes flickering; blue, green, amber, green, blue, green, amber greener...

"Stay where you are, Ismena! It's dangerous here!!" Alphose shouted again, when her footsteps kept coming closer. The sound of feet running down the stairs filled the air.

Shit! She's still coming !

The smell of her fear is choking, yet, it didn't stop her from running closer.

Ismena appeared in the hallway, ran straight to them and threw herself at the Alpha King's back. She wasn't thinking, instead, was driven by the greatest force ever.

The force of mate. She is only acting on instincts.

"I'm here now." She whispered, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Instantly, the Alpha King let go of Alphose, rose to his feet with the small female still hanging off his back and whirled around. She jumped down from his back, got in front of him and threw her arms around him.

"Noooo!" Alphose roared.

But Wolfariane didn't tear her apart. Instead, he caught her in his arms, pushed her to the nearest wall...and held on.

The war inside him stilled the instant the lightweight fell on his back, even the mountain lion went still, as confused where this calmness is coming from as the wolf and the man.

Whatever this weight is, he has to hold on to it. Has to grab onto it like a lifeline. It is the only thread that hold on to his sanity right now.

He is holding her tight, Ismena thought. Too tight. But she held on, breathing harshly into his sweaty neck. The scent of him surrounded her, until all she breathed is him.

He trembled. The man hugging her in a dead grip has slight tremors running down his body, instinctively, Ismena only held on tighter.

"I'm right here," she whispered again .

Alphose's broken jaw slackened.

He has no idea what is going on there, but whatever it is, he is all too glad for it. She is bringing him back!

"Keep talking to him, Ismena." If Wolfariane couldn't hear his own voice, maybe, he can hear hers. He wasn't even surprised this is happening, she is his mate.

Then, Wolfariane's lips descended on hers. The kiss was savage. Hard. Overwhelming in it's intensity.

Slowly, her legs touched the floor, she stood in front of him, caged in by him. His claws dug into her waist, cutting the skin.

Ismena yelped into his mouth, Impulsively, she tried to pull away. His claws dug in the more as he held on tighter.

"Keep still, don't fight him. Don't let him perceive you as a threat!" Alphose added, slowly getting up. He winced at the wounds on his body.

Ismena kept still like he instructed, closing her eyes, she allowed the kiss to swallow her whole. Her body came alive until his touch, her insides fluttering, her heart beating faster in her chest.

His lips plundered hers, his tongue delving into her mouth over and over again. Each time, stronger, deeper than the last time until Ismena felt like he's trying to plunder her soul. Like the fire he's igniting will burn away her soul.

In quick motions, his hands went to her thighs and spread her wide for him. He thrust once, the force of it banging her back against the wall.

Pain and pleasure shot through her body at the same time. Her silk panties is the only barrier separating his hard dick from her wet pussy .

An animalistic growl of frustration rumbled from his throat as his clawed-hand left her waist and reached for the panties to tear it away.

"No." Alphose took several steps towards them before he even realized what he was doing and stopped. But not before the Alpha King stiffened.

Tearing his mouth away from his mate, he swiveled his head and glared bloodshot eyes towards Alphose. Wolfariane was looking at his general direction, not at him pointedly, which tells him more than anything that the Alpha King hasn't regained himself completely.

But what kept his feet rooted to the spot is his eyes. It was blueish-amber-green. All three at once.

Shit. The Alpha King is riding on his basic instincts now. The snarl on his lips is telling Alphose that his step forward caused him to be seen as a threat of; either wanting to attack him or wanting to take his mate away from him.

So, Alphose took three steps back, and raised his hands in surrender. "I'm not taking your mate from you." He said the words even though he knows that the Alpha King isn't in his right mind to interpret them.

Thankfully, the Alpha King growled once again and turned back towards a wide-eyed Ismena whose scent of fear and arousal was high in the air, intoxicating to a changeling's hightened sense of smell.

His lips delved in again, taking the girl's mouth again. Ismena cried out, pressing closer to him and at the same time, pushing away from him. Scared of him, but excited at the same time.

She has never seen this particular wild look in his eyes.

"Don't let him get those panties off you, Ismena, not in this state. Especially since he has not had you in that penetrative way before." Alphose made sure to keep his tone the calmest, gentlest tone ever. "He will hurt you badly and he wouldn't know he is doing it."

Pulling her lips away from his, her head falls back and she offered the King her neck. "What do I do...?" She whispered softly, her arm tightening around his neck as he licked on that sensitive vein.

"Release. Give him release. Use your mouth, maybe, anything.

I'm unmated, so I don't know how these things work but I've ridden that height of tension before so I know that any sort of release does wonders.

Him taking a run is out of options here, obviously.

" He was still rooted on the spot, ignoring all the pains shooting from the bruises from several unidentifiable parts of his body.

"O-Okay. I—" Before she could say anything else, Wolfariane's demanding lips came down and swallowed hers whole.

"I need to get out of here before things get worse.

" He has to check on Nalaila too. He can still remember the rage of the wolf.

"I am not far away. The cougar does not like you, so beware of his eyes going all green.

Yell or scream if he attacks outrightly, Ismena, don't hesitate. Remember, he is not in his right mind."

With that, he walked behind them, putting one foot in front of the other quietly, until he was able to walk out, undetected by the unstable Alpha King.

As he walked towards Nalaila's dungeon-room, wobbling a bit on his feet at the bruises he'd acquired, he wondered if he did the right thing leaving that small woman with the Alpha King in the state he is in?

But there's no choice. It's either this or risking the Alpha King becoming a Wild One at this rate. Then, what will become of all of them?

Now, the question is... Will she do more good for him? Or will he do more harm to her?