How futile those soft, gentle words of beseeching were. His request near falling upon deaf ears as he all but drowned under the weight of those hypnotic glacier irises. She seemed bemused at best as if he was little more than a toy to pluck and pull at for her entertainment. Admittedly, that desperate imploring had never truly been the Alpha's specialty. Even in his youth, he had learned quickly just how purposeless it was, that pride instantly taking over in favor of the ineffective desperation. It was only now - with Tobias life so on the line, that he resorted back to that cautious pleading, even if it was just to buy him time to find some solution to rescue his friend from the very depths of that hellish office. That demand for his childhood companion's tail, however, brought that rebellious contempt rushing back to him - that command one he would always refuse. Tobias was one of the few, fleeting souls within his life he would die to protect. The spotted leopard had always been unwavering within his faith and dedication, that very trust so much more than Tetradore had ever before been gifted and, in return, he strove valiantly to be worth such a thing. How he so needed that skill of teleportation and yet, with those broken ribs so quickly following in the wake of that blood loss but mere days prior, Tetradore was the very weakest he had been since his vampiric mistress had disappeared from his life. Those shadows he so gravely called too all but ignored his commands, remaining still and unmoving in the very corners of the room.

His emerald irises snapped back towards her sensuous figure as she glided with feline grace, her hips swaying in that tantalizing fashion that so tended to draw the very gaze of ignorant men. Tetradore, however, was hardly one to fall prey to her voluptuous form, his own jaw set all too firmly as his hands balled into fists at his side. That soft sigh upon her lips caused his eyebrows to furrow and yet, he knew just as well as she did that whatever her plans were this evening would hardly cease just because he asked. No, he needed to distract her, to offer her something better than whatever thoughts danced so enticingly against the forefront of her mind. How willing he was to throw himself in harm's way for the sake of his friend - to be Risque's plaything if it promised Tobias' life. He watched as she moved around the spotted leopard, those shimmering heels tapping at the fallen creature. The hiss of silver upon the cat's flesh caused his own lips to curl in a sneer and yet, for the moment, Tetradore remained where he was. The very sight of her self-satisfied simper caused his own eyes to narrow and yet, in this, he would not falter. He was all too aware of that tapping of her heel against the wooden floors beneath her, that sound near reverberating in the otherwise silence of that office. How that singular word so angered her! And yet, how determined he was to utter it again. Her words caused his gaze to shift briefly away from her. He was silent for a long moment, contemplating that scathing remark before his own voice inquired, already anticipating the very worst. "And what would make you change your mind?" He was, it would seem, willing to play that very part of pet, to a certain extent.

He watched as the spotted feline twitched, offering some kindling of hope that he could be saved before the blood loss from that wound upon his shoulder so took him. How that slight hint of movement so renewed within the Were-King his refusal to so harm his companion any further. That utterance, however, hardly serving to appease his mistress in the slightest as her attention turned so fully to the fallen feline. That mere command to eat his own tongue prompted the cat to move, and in turn Tetradore too all but rushed to his side, ignoring the screams of protest from his own fractured ribs. Tobias was far more important than that pain that assaulted him. He all but fell at Tobias' side, his hand quickly jammed in the cat's mouth, trying desperately to save the boy's tongue, to hold it in place till that Were healing could so stitch together the nerves and return it to how it should be. How that very sound that left Tobias' lips would haunt him as he tried to sooth the cat, his free hand lightly brushing along the feline's head, as if trying to wordlessly remind him of that commitment that Tetradore had made. Never again would he let Tobias fall prey to Risque, never would he let her ensnare him. Never. Those soprano lyrics drew his emerald eyes upwards, the Alpha all but glaring at her with that defiance still within his irises before, finally, that singular syllable she so desired left his lips. Yes. Yes - she had his attention.

He watched as she slithered closer towards him, her fingers roughly dragging through his curly locks in a stroke he all but abhorred. Even so, Tetradore hardly showed his detest for that very touch, merely listening to that thick mockery as she so peered down at him. He could feel that power of her's brushing against his frame in an almost toying fashion and yet, even that anticipatory caress hardly prepared him for the veritable tsunami she all but unleashed upon him. His own figure seemed almost to freeze beneath the sway of her magic, just too as the leopard beneath him so seemed to stir in a reaction to her affinity. His gaze hardly deviated from her as her head tipped to the side, impressing upon him the very importance of tonight the next time he dared to decline her - oh how he so feared what that promise had in store for him. He swallowed as he watched her, her fingers running over her lips as she uttered those words he'd heard again and again for so much of his life - that he belonged to her, his life was a continued gift from her, and all that he held was, at the end of the day hers to do with as she saw fit. Already he knew what was coming - how many times had they been here before? That sheer despair saw him reach for those very shadows again, the Were-King all but commanding them with every ounce of strength he still possessed and, in turn, they so wavered, creeping towards him with sluggish certainty...but it was too late.

Her power all but slammed into his figure, the very force of it almost suffocating, leaving the man near gasping with the potency of it. He had felt the strength of that gift before but never quite like this. How she so ripped that feline from him, his body twisting and contorting in ways that so brought that cry of pain from his lips as those already injured ribs snapped, those fragments only further fracturing and splintering in ways they certainly should not. His cry twisted into a roar as those human vocal cords too twisted and snapped to that familiar larynx of his feline self and in the wake of that change, Tetradore was left near panting and dizzy. How long had it been since the shift had taken so very much out of him? He hardly had a moment to cope with that agony that so beset him, however, before that command was uttered from her lips, those chains so encircling him as his body moved of her accord. He was merely a marionette, those strings there for her manipulation and how effortlessly was she so capable of making him dance. His head all but shoved into the leopard, pushing Tobias onto his back if only to showcase that very chest just for his taking. How he so desperately tried to fight it, pulling at his own limbs with whatever strength he could find and yet, as those claws unsheathed, as they sliced the all too familiar fur of his spotted companion, pulling aside that delicate flesh for what lay underneath, he knew he had been foolish to hold any hopes that he might, one day, steal back that very control she robbed him of.

How aware he was of the way she so circled them, her power upon his form so delicately precise, just as he too was aware of that feeble beat of Tobias' heart and the way the feline so shuttered under his claws. He tried to reach for those very bonds that bound him to his pack, he tried to find that very cord to Tobias, to issue some sort of command to run, to find that very power of the Alpha blood that flowed through him and yet, all of it was for naught. The leopard hardly moved as Tetradore's paws quickly gave way in favor of those sharpened canines. Tobias' blood all but filled his mouth as his teeth tore through muscle, biting near effortlessly through those ribs. The hot liquid hardly seemed to sway his body, the panther's form wholly single-minded as he dug through the cat's body for that very heart. The blood pool around his feet, coating that wood with a slick, dark red and yet, he could feel Tobias form stilling beneath him, just as he could feel that life seeping away. He was helpless - helpless to save his companion, helpless to stop Risque, helpless to keep those uttered promises, helpless in everything he had tried so valiantly for. How he so dreaded the very sight of that heart and yet, it was too late. He knew it with such heart-wrenching finality. The leopard was already gone the moment his teeth ensnared that heart, pulling it from the depths of his chest cavity. He could hear the snapping of those arteries, that blood flowing afresh within his mouth in such a way it nearly made him gag, even if his body would hardly show such a reaction beneath Risque's skillful control.

The very taste of that heart was all but vile as he settled beside the fallen form of his companion, his teeth tearing into that still hot muscle. His paws were coated with that blood, just as much as his maw and forearms - his best friend's blood. How naive he had been to think he could keep them all safe. How absurd it was, to hope to have some sort of life beyond those four walls of this very office. They would forever be in danger under his care - Alexis, Henry, Reagan, Mira...and oh God, Raven. How could he even look at her now - when she was so gleefully throwing her all into that upcoming wedding, one that would never come to pass. Tetradore had stolen everything from her and yet, those teeth hardly stopped tearing at that very heart he so loved. Maybe...it was safer for them, all of them, if he just...stayed here. That very meat felt all but heavy within his stomach, that nausea all but assaulting him and yet, his body soldered on all the same in spite of that he felt. His very figure rose, circling that spotted feline much like she too did before he so found that tail she desire so greatly. His teeth encircled the cat's spine, severing those bones with just several moments of chewing only to leave that spotted tail dangling from his lips. Those depthless emerald eyes turned towards Risque as Tetradore returned to his mistress, sitting in front of her like the good pet he was to present her with that which she desired most of all - a broken man.