No black magic can't control me
And no curse can let you own me

No matter how much she pressed through the tangle of the shadowy woods, the she-cat couldn't quite catch up with him. All she was met with was the hiss of cold air that pressed upon her face, the slippery alpha always remained just out of reach. Any moment she felt as though he were within reach, he moved forward with a renewed burst of impossible speed. She couldn't get a single swipe of her paws in, nor even a chance to sink a single tooth to grasp at even the ebony tufts of fur. The man was elusive as a whisper on the wind. It proved nothing short of a game of infuriation. Like she had trodden upon a mud slick slope, her feet seeking traction only to slip further and further away. Of course, it hardly stopped her from trying to defy gravity itself to claim a semblance of victory despite those futile odds. So she pushed and pressed on, fueled by an endless vat of determination. The woman would have carved a path through mountains if she needed to. But even she knew, she was only making a fool of herself with every stumble, every moment she pushed her lungs that burned. If only her failing body could keep up with her very mind. She would be unstoppable. One day. That silent promise was whispered into the darkness of night, nothing more than a growl that was carried off into the sweet embrace of oblivion heard only by her own mind.

One thing for certain as she veered from that cruel and trying course, the allure of water and rest far more alluring than chasing after a carrot dangled before her nose. Tetradore could run circles around within the forest to his little heart's content. The imagery drew a trickle of amusement as she took her fill of the crisp clean waters that seemed to soothe that burning exhaustion that hindered her frame. It was at that moment that the she-jaguar found a semblance of enjoyment of the quietude of that vivid night. It felt good to rest, even though she panted, her sides heaved until she could eventually catch her own much needed breath. Her body had already undergone such a tremendous assault, she could still feel the foreignness of it within her feline bones. It was a strange thing, being still very much you and yet being in a body that was distinctly not her own. Harley in her slice of momentary silence took to pondering just that, that gnarled tree she tested beneath stood like a protective sentinel of her resting form.

It would seem that momentary peace was short-lived. Tetradore had found her, not that she made it difficult to be found, she knew the scent of her would be an easy trail to follow. Her gaze followed him as she idly licked her own paw. She flashed him that glimpse of warning to keep his distance, her ivory fangs vivid as the moon that peeked through the latticework of branches over head. That look alone was all bravado as if it lacked her usual conviction she once possessed. She was fucking tired, too tired to deal with his shit any longer. Her limbs that ached as if she had the work out of their life all but screamed their protest, solidifying the fact that she was not moving.

After a few long moments of watching the imposing jaguar king take his fill from the babbling brook, content to ignore her but she knew better to know it was no mere mistake. Some other lesson in dominance, that not even she could purge herself of him. She licked her paw idly, watching him astutely, with long languid strokes of her tongue to clean the hurt pad of her paw. It had already healed quickly, that wound nothing but superficial especially as she offered it rest to heal. The silence was far from comfortable, despite it appearing almost serene beneath the vivid hunter's moon. It was Harley that shattered that unbearable silence first.

He offered her very little in explanation to her questions, of course, she should have expected no less from him. He spoke very little in general, in better conditions. Perhaps she was entirely grateful to be spared from those bullshit sage words of wisdom, or false comfort. Yet in the same breath, Tetradore challenged her, made the were-woman learn the hard way. That final question seemed to cause him to raise his gaze, her tail idly lashed too and fro as if it possessed a life of its own, unphased by the weight of those glowing haunting emerald eyes.

That scoff betrayed she hardly believed him, there was very little reason to believe him. She cursed herself for even asking. Yet, truly that should have been the end of it, but her unique eyes all but bore into his own no shortage of that lost inner spirit. It was a simple answer, uncomplicated.... And should she consider those words far more closely than she had, she would have found some thoughtfulness behind his actions. Yet, it was still a precarious place. A place meant for a lover's lips to graze and not a demon's bite. Of course, if it were swimwear season she would have been royally fucked then.

Her eyes narrowed... The desire to question him further, to press, to cultivate some kind of answer that would make it easier to hate him. But she was tired. Her head was already full, her body wanted nothing more than to remain in this position for far longer than she should have indulged within. Most likely the sun would have kissed the horizon and truthfully a bed would have been a far more comfortable choice. God. She never thought she would miss them. She drew in a long breath, that had by now steadied to a normal rhythm once more. She could fight him, forever and would still be left with more questions than not. She was sure of it. She gave a final lick of her paw before placing it flat upon the earth, her ears flickered toward him as he approached. Nothing good ever happened with him near.

That was when he spoke those words that might have very well been the best damn thing he had spoken within her mind, that invasive she would have done anything to force out.

Home. Not the Ark. Not Syn. Not a beaten and battered. Home. She heaved a sigh as he merely walked by. "I think that's the best thing I have ever heard you say." Harley chimed sardonically within his mind before she rose to her paws. How her body protested, as though it demanded her still. For a hint of a nanosecond, there was almost a camaraderie between them. Exhaustion seemed to quell even the angriest of creatures.

Harley's tail seemed to lower naturally, curled in a lazy long 'J' the tip nearly kissing the earth as she moved a far more languid pace back to the car. It felt like a lifetime ago and yet that shift still replayed like something invasive and unpleasant within her own mind.

"You know.. One day... It will be you striving to keep up with my pace." Of course, it was impossible to know for sure but the conviction behind it left little to argue with. But if one knew the potency of resilience within the newly turned jaguar, was that she had no qualms with defying the odds set to be stacked against her.

They wove through the forest in silence, both exhausted with each other as their bodies were from that near punishing race through the woods. It was a kindness that once her head met her pillow the woman slept like a rock, dreamless and heavy even though she knew her life would no longer be the same.