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Thor

H er scent thickened the air, sweet like something from a dream, intense and overpowering.

I breathed it in greedily, taking in the air like she was the only thing that mattered.

The beast could not get enough of her. Of the sweet yet bitter smell of the female we had to kill.

It was overwhelming. Too much. Too close .

I reared my head from the grass. The forest was dark, with light trembling amongst the trees. I’d followed the others here. Watcher and the rotten smelling male. And him . They were all here, but her scent was here, too. Hidden in the twisted trees.

Someone said not to enter the trees. That they would capture you and bleed you of your spirit. Two went in to search it and neither returned.

Kill. Kill. Kill .

The words repeated in my head as I stalked the boundary we were told not to cross. He had made certain no one could seek absolution within the darkness, that death would not be ours if we sought it. But he had torturers in his midst, those who would keep us in line even if we tried.

I felt the eyes of one watcher on my back as I slowed and dropped my snout to the ground. He had us searching for something. Something like her .

But the command to kill made me follow the sweet scent towards the only path into the woods. Her scent overpowered the stench of death that covered the land. There was rotting flesh clinging to each blade of grass.

Grass . We had not seen the earth in many years. Only rock and metal cages. Never this weak freedom. It would not last long. He would take us back to our cages once he had her .

Her scent grew thicker, and the command grew louder. With it came the promise of relief.

Kill her, kill me .

Perhaps he would release me once I gave him what he wanted.

She was close. My fur lifted, and I raised my snout to scent the air. I did not recognise the smell, other than from the prison. Once, it had filled the air in the darkness after a steaming liquid was thrown into one of the cages. It had burned the other beast.

It should have reminded me of pain, but it only made me want to follow it more. My beast, even knowing she had to die, wanted to breathe it in again, needed to taste it—taste her.

It was a war in my mind; do as commanded or seek the female out.

She would die. His words filled my head again.

I moved closer to the edge of the forest, filling my lungs deeply with her scent, mixed with the promise of blood.

My mouth salivated at the thought. At what she might taste like.

Was she as sweet as her scent? Or would she be a bitter reminder of the hold he had over me?

The battle in my mind almost made me stop. Though he wanted her dead, I did not. My beast even disliked the idea.

But kill, kill, kill echoed again, and I moved to the road cutting through the dark, haunting forest.

The scent grew thicker. The war raged on.

And then I saw her. I lifted my head, breathing in the scent again. She appeared between the trees, eyes on them . She did not even see me, the predator stalking her. The one who would be her end.

This close, I heard the beat of her heart pumping blood through her body. That blood would soon soak the ground, mine to consume.

But she was beautiful. The beast saw her and wanted to submit.

He wanted to be hers.

No . I shook my head, as his voice appeared in my head, reminding me what I really wanted from her.

To tear her limb from limb.

Her blood on my paws.

Her death to be mine.