Things were fucking rough.
Trying to move on after something so traumatic wasn't as easy as I thought it would be.
Realising we had to go back into the nest where two bodies of our own laid had everyone hesitating at the doors.
Even Sparrow couldn't bring himself to see his brother still buried in the ooze.
He paced, picking his nails and wringing his hands as he tried to find the courage to face the horrors.
Buckets stacked in each hand and mountains of towels layered over our shoulders were what we had to combat the destruction with.
It was the bodies we couldn't bring ourselves to look at again.
Dashiell decided to be the one to enter first.
With his demon withdrawn behind his Skin, he now had the courage to lift himself from the corner.
I heard his feet slop through the river that spilled out around our own feet, and grimaced when I saw the massive black lump embedded into the nape of his neck.
He knew. He had come to terms with his fate. He was only here to help before he decided on his own life for the safety of the family.
I listened to him grunting as he hauled up what I assumed was Resolve before trekking him around to where Havok was collapsed.
With the side clear, we could enter to begin scraping a path into the floor.
Sparrow didn't join us lining the walls to begin scrubbing. He only stood there, fighting with himself if he should push past the broken eggs to see his dead brother, or let him be carried out discretely.
Our own sniffles and bitten sobs were the only other noise other than the slapping towels and tumbling bodies of the curled babies.
We had to wipe away the painful memories so we could try and start over.
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None of us intervened. We didn't even speak to each other.
Sparrow decided that dropping down to scrub the opposite wall was easier than trying to see the horrible fate Resolve had been dealt. We all kept our heads low and focused on the floor when Dashiell trudged past with one body after the other.
Hearing Sparrow try to keep his cries silenced was heartbreaking. He knew what would happen if he let his grief take hold again.
For now, we scrubbed and ran buckets to Tor's room.
He would be the best for disposing of so many tiny bodies. We had no other choice within our home.
Buckets were emptied and returned. Sparrow appointed himself as the runner since he was the only other that Tor doted over so lovingly.
It would keep the gigantic demon quiet too by piling in so much food.
He'd be too preoccupied in filling his mouth than to let his wails ring past the walls.
It's the way things had to be.
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Dashiell had cleaned both Resolve and Havok and encased them in thick layers of webs when the floor was wiped over with a clean towel to remove the last of the water sloshed over it.
Thier bodies laid outside the bedroom on the floor, mummified.
It was strange to see them looking so surreal. Both cylinders glistened from the silver linings wrapped tightly around them. There was darkness in the middle where both demons laid, but it was shrouded.
Everyone gathered, exhausted, at the bodies.
Naturally, Resolve was passed to Sparrow.
Certain species had different customs to what they did with thier dead. It would only be right for Sparrow to carry that out with his brother.
Leaving Tor to rip through the infected bodies and destroyed eggs, Sparrow carried his brother from the room and out the door.
Havok remained unclaimed.
He had been the main interest of Stone and Arson, both of which couldn't claim his body.
Carrion had been sharing a room, but he wasn't the same species. None of us were. We couldn't give him a proper passing as his kind would have had it.
Seeing nobody claim him was heartbreaking. Even in death, the time where he should have been surrounded by family and laid to rest peacefully, no-one could grant him that.
That left Shie with the decision as his Queen.
With her kind being born of the darkness where nothing was wasted, the choice to pass Havok's soul herself was made.
Eating the dead didn't concern the others as it did me. We buried ours and talked about how they would be looking over us from above or in another form. Never would I have thought of eating the flesh off a dead man even as a demon now.
It reminded me of what Solanine had said when he had done the same to the dead Soul on the bed he stripped.
They ate the souls to pass into thier children. He believed that wholeheartedly. The lives would be recycled if the body was freed.
Shie thought the same. It could have been more common around here than I realised.
Without a word, Shie claimed Havok's body so she could carry it back into her bedroom.
Carrion closed the doors behind her to give her peace so she could begin the process.
With both bodies gone, we were left to continue our cleansing of the walls further downstairs.
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It was too quiet without the others here.
Moving from cleaning the surfaces, we started to shell out the rooms of the belongings now left behind.
Garbage bags were dropped outside the doors to be filled, one for each person inside.
We mutually decided not to touch rooms of the ones particularly close to us.
Talio and Arson went to Carrion. I wouldn't be able to do it myself. I'd only want to curl up on the bed and bury my head into Talio's pillow until my body seized up.
I'd want to snatch up all of his things and stash them away under my bed. Hearing them being dumped like actual trash only made doing the same to Havok's items wring guilt through me.
"What about Rush?" Ransom called from Noma and Rush's room to Dashiell.
We all poked our heads out to see Dashiell peer from Resolve's.
"Rush isn't dead" he said simply, his hands playing over the crystals he held "just clean up Noma's things."
Ransom shot us a grimace and slipped back inside.
"Well, how do we know for sure....? " I mumbled at the doorway while dropping in more items into my bag.
"Toxiorbs don't kill females" Carrion huffed back, doing the same.
"HE" Dashiell snapped back "is just like anyone here! And HE will be back."
We watched him dissappear back inside, Carrion rolling his eyes.
"It's the truth" he whispered to me "put it bluntly, Stone won't kill Rush."
It made me relieved, but also dirty at knowing how something Rush was trying to move from was his reason for being kept alive.
"Let's just keep our opinions to ourselves and get the work done" Blight rolled off more bags to hand to Carrion and Ransom "it's not the time to be talking badly about the dead."
Dashiell emerged with a glare that Blight tapped with the roll.
"Which Rush is not until it's confirmed" Blight added to his grumble and our stares "OK?"
"So, whose doing that?" Ransom mumbled back, realizing that we had heard him "are we sending out another one of us to the parasite? We are low enough on numbers as it is."
"I'll do it" Dashiell flipped out his bag "I'm already infected. I just want to make sure Rush walks through those doors safely. I'll be here until he does or until I need to go out and find him."
"But..." Ransom hesitated.
He didn't want to continue. Dashiell was already wringing the handle of the garbage bag while glaring at his face disappearing once more.
"Won't he be...." I started instead "....you know...."
Infested. He'd be crawling with those horrible things if what I had heard was true.
"When he comes back" Blight rested a hand on Dashiell's shoulder "then we can deal with the rest."
"I'm sorry, but he's not coming through those doors" Carrion barged to his doorframe and pointed "let him in here? Shie barely made it out of the shit the last Toxiorb threw at us! We aren't letting another just waltz through here!"
"He's my brother!" Dashiell growled.
"And he's not just yours to make decisions for! We all know him as well as you do!" Carrion bit back, baring his teeth "you know I'm right! He's not coming in here! If he comes back, there's no way the rest of us are fucking dying for a family reunion."
Dashiell went to storm for Carrion, but was held in place by Blight who dug in his fingers painfully into the shoulder he gripped.
"Control yourself" he hissed to Dashiell swatting him away "we are all hurting."
"Fuck you" Dashiell hissed to Blight, jabbing a finger to Carrion "and fuck you!"
"I'll kill you myself, mother fucker!" Carrion shouted back "try me!"
"God damn, get a room you two!" Ransom groaned inside his.
"Fuck off!" Carrion snarled to him as he smashed a fist into the wall and stormed back inside.
"Eat my dick, arsehole!" Dashiell bit back to Ransom before storming back inside the room noisily.
I smirked to myself as I stuffed more into my bag I lugged out.
You could feel the tension in the air. Despite both men sounding like they wanted to tear each other's throats out, there was something more to it like what Ransom had insinuated.
Eat my dick.
I couldn't help but snort at how it sounded when it was shouted so aggressively.
Blight held his head, sighing, handing me another bag he rolled off.
"Don't" he warned me with a small smile at my withheld laughter. His voice held suppresed laughter on it too.
"Lips are zipped" I smirked as I flipped my bag out.
"Keep them that way" he jabbed my chest playfully as he moved into Dashiell and Plague's room.
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Bags were bundled on the floor beside the kitchen area. Each one had the names of the dead marked across them.
We all stood there, unsure of what to do next with the heap.
Did.... we just throw them away? Burn the stuff? Bury it? Share it amongst ourselves?
"What now?" I voiced.
"Resolve was making protection charms for everyone" Dashiell gestured back to the stairs "I left those on the table for Sparrow to deal with. There were a few unfinished ones, and it felt wrong to just throw them away."
My eyes locked onto Talio's bags mixed into the rest. I could see the little pot he used to cook his food in when we first met filled with books, trinkets, and gifts that were brimming over the top.
I wanted to remember him through his belongings he held most preciously in his life. It felt like it was being stolen from me by having it all smothered in plastic.
"I would like to remember my mates" Dashiell spoke softly "Noma kept a little ring that didn't fit him. He put it on an old chain that was broken at the back. Plague had a tiny worry doll under his pillow that I told him would help him with his problems" Dashiell smiled while fighting the tears "I'd like to have those things back."
What did Talio have that I wanted to remember him by?
His pot was way too large. The memory of him using it would be enough for me rather than keeping the actual thing.
I saw his little billy in there too. Rather than being used, it held fake flowers and crystal towers twined around the stems and sticks.
He must have put things he thought were most important into it. I wasn't going to disrupt that. It was nice to see his thought process come to life.
I wanted that. It made me smile at remembering Talio being so attentive to the billy when we first met.
To me, it was a reminder of simpler times and my first newfound feelings towards Talio.
"I'll take that" I pointed out the billy "and whatever is in it."
Tearing it out of the bag I quickly restuffed the spilling items back into and reknotted, my arms cradled the cold metal close.
I could still smell old remnants of stale tea inside. The twine around the crystals and the bark on the sticks really made me feel like I was on my Mission back near that forestry and Talio was there, toying with me.
It was like he was back here with us. The smell sparked the pain inside me again.
I smiled as my fingers traced the familiarity that melted my aching heart.
Blight bent down to tear a hole into Havok's bag so he could tease out an item he shielded in his hand that quickly pocketed it.
"Ransom?" Carrion offered.
"I'm good" he folded his arms beside me, hanging back "there wasn't really anything that the others had."
Carrion glanced to him then the others, stepping from the bags.
"Nothing there for me either" he said.
"We should at least bring something from each person to Shie" Dashiell spoke up "as a memorium she can remember them by."
I nodded with the others.
That was a great idea. In her own time and way she could grieve those she had lost and let go of.
"I've got something of mine I'd like to add" Dashiell shrugged with a sad smile to us "let's face it, I'm not going to be around much longer. I'd rather see her love it before Rush comes back."
There was silence as we tried to dodge around the heavier things we were already struggling with.
"It's OK" he reassured us "I'll stay away from her. One of you can take it in with the rest."
Ransom nudged me with his elbow, dropping his voice.
"Why don't you do it?"
I glanced to make sure the others hadn't noticed and turned to him so I could block him.
"Me? I'm... not the right one for it."
"Bullshit" he huffed back, glancing over my shoulder "you belong here just as much as they do. You should take the things to her and show that you care."
I looked elsewhere, trying to find my escape.
My gut bubbled uncomfortably and I held the billy tighter.
"I'm not the one she needs. Blight can..."
"Blight is always with her" Ransom glared at me as he placed a hand over mine rubbing the metal for comfort "you might not see it, but I think she needs someone who doesn't know every little thing about her. Dashiell is infected. Blight is her shadow, Carrion doesn't deal with feelings, and I wasn't really close with any of the others."
I snorted in disbelief.
"I'm sure y..."
"I'm serious" he pushed "take the mementos to her; just sit and listen."
I pursed my lips, still unsure about the weight of it all thrown onto me.
"Philly says he'll do it!" Ransom called to the others while pointing to me.
I scowled to Ransom who held out his hands for the billy.
"Ill keep it safe, promise. You'll be fine."
"Just.." I bit out as my fingers gripped it, unwilling to let go "....don't let anything happen to it."
"It'll have a nice place in our room" Ransom wedged his fingers around mine so he could dig out the billy to hold it close "I'll make sure no-one takes it, ok?"
Grabbing for my shirt instead, the fabric wrung in my hands trying to find comfort while the others finished digging out the chosen possessions.
I looked to Ransom who smiled and gestured for me to move towards them.
"Be careful with these" Carrion warned me "some of these are breakable."
"Use your shirt to carry them" Ransom suggested to me.
There were so many things being placed into my shirt I held out. The weight of it all was a stinging reminder of how much we had lost so suddenly.
This many? Did Shie really want to be reminded about it all every time she looked up from her bed?
"I don't know if we should..." I whimpered.
"It'll be fine, Phillius" Dashiell reassured with a rub of my shoulder.
I shuffled towards the stairs, pausing at them to frown back at the others still encouraging me silently to continue.
Hesitantly, I took each step one at a time, balancing the items and fretting over the unknown.
Would I be walking into something I didn't want to see?
Was she done with Havok? Did she want to see anyone at all? Would she scream at me to leave her when she saw what I had?
Trembling, I slid my way to the closed door and juggled my shirt so I could rap on it quickly.
I waited, making sure nothing was going to tumble out the sides so close to the end.
"Come in."
Her voice was so small. I heard the tears through it when I carefully inched open the door to peer inwards.
Shie sat on the floor in front of the bed with a thick blanket of webs laid out before her. The bones of Havok were resting in it that she was carefully folding over to pin closed.
Shie wiped her eyes when she saw me, straightening.
"I.. uh..." I started, unsure where to look ".... the guys wanted me to bring you these."
Make sure to mention them. Just in case things don't go as planned.
"Close the door."
I shoved it with my arse and hurried for the bed so I could tip the items on the end of it, sitting beside them.
Shie folded over the webs so gently and intricately. I watched her pinch and tuck in the segements so that a perfectly formed parcel remained on the floor that she left.
Her weight sank opposite the nest of items her fingers brushed over.
"There is one from each one" I explained when she picked up a wallet to flick it open and smile at the card she partially lifted out "they thought...."
"What did you think?" she addressed me now.
My heart jolted at her directness, and I felt my brain suddenly run blank.
"Well, I've never done anything like this before" I admitted to her "it's all still new to me."
Shie's fingers placed down the wallet so she could straighten the other items, picking up a pink crystal shaped into a frog that had her wiping her eyes again.
"You've never lost anyone before?"
I shook my head, fighting the tears that had my throat aching already.
You're strong, Philly. You don't need to make her anymore upset.
"I stopped putting them on display when I ran out of room" Shie revealed.
She shuffled to the side of the bed where she dragged out a hidden segment of the bed frame. Inside was a large compartment that had a long box she placed between us to open.
It was brimming with all sorts of items that didnt look significant at all.
A tattered baby shoe. Someone's book with a ripped cover. A necklace that had tarnished grey.
There were so many things here. Shie's hands dug around the items inside so she could gently place in the new ones.
"One day, I will have a big enough shelf to honour them all properly, but for now, we have to think of more important things."
Tears rolled down her cheeks when she slipped the box back out of sight and pressed the compartment into place.
She didn't make a noise when she cried. Only silent tears dripped onto the bed and over her wiping fingers.
Was she too exhausted? Or was it something else?
"My job is not to grieve" she said when she noticed me trying to figure her out "I was born as a Queen. Her job is to remain protected and give life to as many as she can. A Queen doesn't have time to wait. She has to keep going."
"That sounds exhausting" I mumbled to her and reached out to have her hand hold mine.
She felt fragile. There was no strength left in her grip when my thumb swept the top of her hand.
I could feel the bones beneath the thin layer. I didn't like that feeling.
"It's the way it is" her smile faltered "my mother was a Queen. She was supposed to be this magnificent beast that lived in the darkness. Her job was to birth continuously. The males around her made sure that her duty was held to them."
My scowl made Shie smile again, stronger this time.
"I didn't know it at the time, but that's what I was born into. A Queen only births males until she needs someone to take her role. We were born into the mouths of predators and males wanting to replace what had been taken from them."
"Is that the same here?" I whispered nervously.
I heard the stories of broken bones and guarding, but brushed it off as horny men being possessive. Now, it was more serious than I thought.
"My family is good to me" she lifted her other hand to pat mine holding hers "Blight keeps them in line. He's been with me since the start of it all."
That made sense. He was her favourite and the most protective after all.
"He saved me when I was born and got me away from the others. With just him, he helped me find the light of a dead soul so I could be here. He was the one who kept me safe so I could build my family."
"He wouldn't have taken that well" I joked.
"It's not his right to decide" she reminded me "I'm born for this. It was going to happen regardless. Others are..." her eyes darted elsewhere "...they are naturally drawn to me if they want to be or not. If it was like down there, I would have hundreds."
My gut dropped for her and I immediently felt sorry for the woman hoarding pills on her bedside to keep her own body under control.
"Fifteen is a good number" she nodded "that's doable. They don't kill each other that way."
"Carrion and Blight get pretty close sometimes" I jerked a thumb and snorted.
Shie chuckled and rubbed my hand.
"You have to understand he's only looking out for me. He gave me this life and the chance to have my children."
My gut clenched again at the mention.
I hadn't been there after we first had sex. It was my first time with a woman, and I had foolishly gone in unprotected like she wanted. Did she....
"Did.... I....?" I tried to find the words "....you know?"
How did it work? Was it instant? Did it take longer like a human, even if she wasn't?
"Phillius" she chuckled as she gently stroked my cheek "I've had hundreds more after yours. They were fine. You don't need to feel guilty for something that I wanted."
"But, I feel like I should have at least stayed or helped..."
Shie giggled and rested her hand on the side of my face I held there.
"It's over before you know it" she whispered "all it takes is a couple of hours to ready them, then another week for them to find thier way into the world. The best you can do is already done. It's safer for everyone if I have them by myself."
Was that why Talio was so desperate for me to brood his when we met? Why he protected me out in the middle of nowhere when I carried those spiders under my skin?
He smiled when they flooded out of me and away from him.
Didn't he want to keep his family close? Or was it simply in his nature to breed and hope that a fraction of them survived?
Was I supposed to be like that?
It sure felt like it with this demon from the darkness inside me. It liked being near it's Queen.
"I just..." I grumbled and lowered her hand from me so my fingers could run circles on it "...i just feel like I could have done more."
"I'm not a human" Shie reminded and giggled again "I understand you were before you became one of us. It's amusing how different our lives are."
I forced a smile but didn't agree.
It wasn't amusing. It was frustrating.
And now with everyone....
What did that mean for her?
"Would you like to see them this time? Maybe you'll understand it better if you see the process" her voice dropped and her hands slid under mine.
"So soon?" I blurted as I felt her need burn up through me and tug deep within "but..."
"I couldn't stop it if I wanted to" Shie said, sliding closer so our sides were touching "it's my duty. I'll be mated either way, by you or someone else."
My eyes darted to the door then back to her.
She really wanted this. It was clawing through me and making my gut bubble in anticipation. Her pull wasn't stronger than my guilt that lingered on the door to the nest opposite us.
Was she really ready to replace it all? The family she had lost so soon and sudden?
I wanted to bury myself within her, but that was only from the desire she called for. As a Queen, I was only here to keep her sated and protected in every way possible.
Was I stealing this from the others? Throwing thier memory aside for a foolish chance to get laid?
Blight would be up here soon. He'd take care of her call pulsing through everyone.
"Do you want to help me?" Shie whispered up at me "watch them before they leave?"
This was my chance. I could do better than before and really play the role I wanted to.
I heard it on her voice how badly she wanted me to do it. I wasn't diving into anything she wasn't already preparing for.
I just had to stop fighting her call.
"I'm not doing this for Blight to ruin it" I warned her "If I'm doing this, they have to be mine."
I wasn't going to spend all my time guarding his children. He was probably already waiting for his chance to plunge into Shie and destroy everything I had been given.
This possessiveness flooding through me was new and dangerous. It strengthened me and dug into the darkest parts that hadn't surfaced since dying to my demon.
It wanted her for itself. I wasn't going to deny that. I was too wired on keeping our sex undisturbed even before it started.
I was here to be hers. While I was here, she wouldn't know anything else.
"I'm not letting you near the others" I growled to her as my hands ran over a breast to cup it "I'm yours, Shie."
Her back arched when she turned it to me. I heard Shie's breath hitch when my lips kissed her neck and I inhaled the hot desire pouring out of her skin.
It was intoxicating. She smelled so ready for me. The sweet and musky scent filled my lungs and tugged at my cock.
Fuck, I wasn't going to fight it. It was me or them, she said so herself.
I just had to stop them from trying to tear this from me.
My fingers ran down her body and between her legs already parted for me. It was soaked before I even reached her pussy quivering at my fingers starting to rub her.
My body hunched over hers, shielding and bending her to me. Shie shuddered when my lubed fingers rolled circles over her clit.
The desire was raw and powerful now. It screamed through every inch of me panting to plunge into her and silence her fire moaning out of those soft lips.
My eyes darted to the door again before my lips tasted her heat. Shie whimpered when I slid my fingers back up her leg, abandoning the silent screams to fuck her right then and there.
We had to be barricaded. The others couldn't get through the door.
I could barely think straight. Shie hammered down my veins and through every cell as she slid up the bed and spread her legs so she could keep rubbing herself, gasping.
There was nothing to block us from the others. The bedside tables were too small and light to keep anyone out.
My eyes dragged over the bed itself. The doors had to swing inwards to open. The heavy bed would keep it from opening.
I could also block us into the nesting room. It had its own door, but nothing to keep it from opening.
It was a private area. Surely, it had something on it to keep it closed off?
"Does that one have a lock on the inside?" I barked to Shie desperately.
She nodded, shuddering as she soaked the sheets beneath her.
That's all I needed.
"That's my job" I ordered her when I barged for the bed and dug my hands under her body.
"Oh, really?" she teased back, grabbing onto my shirt to stabilize herself.
Her head nestled into my neck just as the door smashed open.
Rather than seeing Blight at the head, it was Carrion. He stood there, searching, until our eyes met as I barged Shie into the next room and dropped her down so I could lock the door.
I heard fists bang relentlessly on the other side, mostly in anger of what I was doing.
So soon after what happened and I was alone with Shie. It was dangerous alright.
I pressed Shie to the wall and smashed my lips to hers. She moaned in my mouth when I frantically yanked down my pants and hoisted her legs up around my hips.
My cock flexed against her body, burning between us. It bent painfully back against her pussy until it was fed through to be instantly choked.
Shie gasped when I groaned, slamming her against the wall with each deep thrust.
Her nails clawed my shoulders and her legs lifted towards them too so I could curve her against the wall and really plunge in deeper.
Her body was wailing for mine and I was too horny to stop ramming into her.
Peeling Shie from the wall, I pushed her against the next and arched her back so that her spread legs and swollen pussy were at the perfect angle for me.
Molding my body against her arched one, I used my hands to keep her lifted against me.
My fingers spread across both her hips that I rammed into relentlessly now at the sound of the anger on the other side of the door.
Shie braced herself against the wall I forced her into, moaning and grunting while I hammered eagerly.
I wanted to finish at least. If the others managed to burst through, at least I would have accomplished what she wanted.
"More" Shie gurgled.
I kept going, seeing her try to steady herself when I threw all of my effort into fucking her. My cock slipped through her effortlessly as her wet fire coated me. When I slipped out, I shoved myself back in and heard her gasp at the suddenness of it all.
I felt myself building to the peak. Usually, I'd be riding the high for a while, but my demon was born to spread his genes as quickly as possible.
By cutting the pleasure, I could be pumping Shie with life. It'd be shamefully quick, but I didn't have much time as it was.
Any moment and I could be torn from her. I wanted to be pulsing and cumming before that even came close.
The guys were practically tearing the door down to make sure thier Queen was safe.
Smothered beneath me now, I had her on her knees, face pressed to the floor, so I could rip my nails into the soft skin of her arse.
Nothing else mattered. I was tipping closer to cumming through her. My feet arched and my cock shuddered when I slammed it into her over and over.
I felt my body sieze up and crackle with electricity. She's silent signals for mating exploded when I did, buzzing and choking me as I forced every drop through her.
Her body clamped to make sure my job was complete. She lifted from the ground and arched against me again so I could keep her pressed against me, stabbing through her to force moans of pleasure.
My job was done. Shie was satisfied and I would branch my growing line further again.
We rose, her dress tumbling down to cover her front. I remained buried in the warmth of her body that jolted when I reached around to try and pluck more pleasure from.
Shie smiled, leaning her head back against my neck. I kissed the front of her throat, snapping my eyes to the door that finally gave out from the beating.
Carrion stumbled into the room, panting from throwing his shoulder into the door. The others gathered behind him to glare inwards at us.
I growled at the intrusion, tensing inside Shie. Keeping her guarded, my arm kept her against me as the skin on it started to tear.
I wasn't letting any of them near her! There was no reason why Shie couldn't be trusted with me until she had birthed my children and let me watch them go off into their own lives.
I understood the absolute mind-numbing anxiety and raw aggression Talio must have felt when I came along as his chance.
He was in the same situation I was in now, risking it all to keep what mattered most safe until the crucial moment came.
Nothing was stopping me. Not even family.
My demon tore the skin off my body and hissed at the one that burst upwards in response.
Carrion cast aside his form to meet my dribbling fangs with his. His massive brown arms struggled against mine trying to shove him further from what was mine.
The others scurried back to avoid being crushed. Carrion staggered when I shoved his from the doorway and back through the bedroom. His legs pressed against the back wall to stop him from being crushed to it.
My fangs sank into his face, then into the arm that tried to shove me away. His flared back, piercing my shoulder before I smashed his body into the wall.
Snarling and hissing, we tore up the room in our rage. I forced the others out of the door out of fear alone that they would be killed in the crossfire of anger.
Shie didn't try to stop us. I felt her desire rise once more through me when I pinned Carrion to the bed to strip the fur off the legs shielding his soft underside.
Shie would be there for the victor. She wanted strong genes to ensure the survival of her children. Whoever won would prove that.
And that would be me.
I'd kill him if I had to. Carrion may have been stronger, but I was bigger. I was from darkness and honed for slaughter. It was apparent he hadn't even touched the Dead Side yet, even when his fangs gouged through me in a frenzy.
Hurling my body into him, I smashed Carrion to the floor again. This time, my claws snapped around each arm and leg, keeping him exposed and vulnerable.
He was right there. I could feel the burning saliva dripping off my fangs that ached to carve into his throat.
I actually had him helpless beneath me. Carrion struggled, but my claws stabbed into his skin to draw blood the harder he tried.
"I give" he panted, struggling and crying out again.
I snarled, checking on Shie who was now in the doorway to watch us.
Her eyes were wide and she held her hands to her mouth to stop her from crying out.
She wanted him alive.
Blight went to comfort her until I snapped at him instead, flaring in warning.
If he wanted to overpower me too, he could try. The room was already swamped enough with the two of us destroying it.
"I give, damn it!" Carrion whimpered when my claws started to slice thier way through his limbs.
Pulling myself from him and blocking the way to Shie, I lunged when Carrion limped his way past me to safety.
Blight remained there, just glaring firmly as he boiled in rage, until he simply turned around and shepherded everyone from the room he slammed behind him.
Puffing myself up in victory, I felt the pride swell and bubble to my throat.
I bit down the warning scream to force it into a snarl instead. Everything inside me shook with the achievement flooding through me. I felt the fan across my back trembling from the thrill of the fight I had won.
I had actually done it! I had kept Shie safe! She was mine again!
She called for me, and this time I wasn't going to hesitate.
I'd have her in both forms and proudly answer every signal she pushed through me until this surging possessiveness released me from it's grip.
ns 15.158.61.6da2
