harley westward

Here we are in the heart of the darkness

For a moment, the pair's eyes met unflinchingly, although it was more like a clash of pointed glares, they shot at the one another. Every fiber within her being felt the need to stand her ground even though she could feel the prickle of his invasive alpha energy that felt like it ate up the sparce space they shared. It made that cage feel alarmingly smaller. How her inner feline felt the need to spring forward, to challenge yet another being that sought only to pin her down into submission. Much like he had that night she shifted into the panther for the first time. Weak and uncertain, he forced her to submit when she could barely figure out the new body she was in. She hadn't forgiven him for that or the damage he had committed in the name of his vampire queen. She was no match for him and yet she refused to bow to a man who hadn't done a single thing to earn her respect. How was she supposed to see the man who nearly gutted her, carved her up like a fucking pumpkin... all while she couldn't even defend herself, tied to a damn chair or hanging in silver chains. He turned her into this creature, even if it was by decree of his master, it was his face that was burned in her mind. Feline or human it didn't change the nature in which she saw him.

His demand prompted that childish insult that formed and flew from her lips before she could stop it, like the words themselves were slippery things.... then again, holding the silver peaked, reckless tongue of hers was never her forte. She was quite sure for the briefest of moments that she saw the were-king's temper flare. Had she finally done it? Found a chink in his armour that he wore? It was difficult to determine as it was gone in a flash, as if it never existed in the first place. There was nothing else after that, the were-king more than content to ignore her existence entirely. Fine by her. If only she was capable of letting sleeping cats lie.

If only she could settle, the woman found it near impossible to do so in that cage, trapped with him. How could she settle when she'd been starved in a cage? When she was kept in a cage like some forgotten pet only to be taken out for entertainment purposes? Hell, the image of that dying were-cat dying in one of those many cages had all but made it worse. Tetradore's presence did very little to ease the tension that built within, that made her skin crawl. Or was that just the shift that threatened her.

The feelings only intensified with her emotions as the woman continued her pacing like an animal at the fucking zoo. It gave her a newfound appreciation for those trapped beasts. How badly she wanted out. The heat from she could feel the heat of the shift that threatened her felt like a fever from a sickness there was no sure. It caused her to slide the leather jacket from her arms, dropping it haphazardly in a corner, relishing in the cool air that brushed near comfortingly against her fevered skin. But it was not enough. She almost cursed herself for asking him that question he all but ignored. Why did she expect anything more from her cellmate? She finally muttered those final words to no one in particular, expecting to hear nothing but silence. Only then did Tetradore find it within himself to respond. A snort of amusement left his lips and how the sound was mocking to her ears. Oh, how he possessed some kind of uncanny ability to grow into a larger dick than before. Was he baiting her to fight him? It certainly seemed that way. She all but glowered at him a potent intensity as a scoff escaped her. One day. That looked seemed to promise. A vow echoed in her mind.

Most would back down, would look away. Maybe someone with far more self-preservation would have. Not her it would seem as she steeled her spine, lifted her chin as her arms rose, palms open in that universal sign of.. come get it. It was a battle she would lose and yet it was not one she would turn from, especially when he spoke like that. Only when she noted he wasn't going to raise to the bait he had bit, she turned away from him, looking out into the room with a frown. Anger, resentment, disgust could only converge into a perfect storm within her. Was every battle in this fucking hellhole one that she was destined to lose? Perhaps.

A shiver ran along down her spine from the burning of her skin caused Harley to take a ragged breath to soothe her inner animal.

She hadn't expected to hear Tetradore's voice once more, not even the sound was enough to be bothered to turn around. 'She doesn't want you dead yet.' She squeezed her eyes shut to gain some semblance of control over her own shift.. "Yet..." She parroted back, the word sounded bitter even to her own ears. "Can't say that I lack suspense in my life." She muttered with that usual sarcasm with a shrug. To what end?

Any chance for an amicable moment was destroyed as the bossy alphahole opened his mouth again, demanding she sit the fuck down. Someone was a little testy but so was she. Whoever said woman didn't have balls... clearly didn't realize they had them strapped on their chest instead. Defiance flared within her chest as he goaded her again. She couldn't even sit down if she wanted to.. that threatening shift made it near impossible to settle. "I can't." She admitted honestly, the promise of the shift was damn near painful. Yet she felt almost victorious that she was able to deny it this far. She used that build up inside of her to feed herself. How could she sit still when she wanted to rip off her own skin? When anything that meant to be appeasing was destroyed in one single sentence. ".. and I won't." She forced every last resolve she could forge within that statement, she grit her teeth hard enough that she thought they might shatter in her mouth.

Fight was something she thought would have left her by now but it was all she had. It still rose up inside of her, snarling like the wildcat she was.

Sarcasm escaped her, amazed that she could speak even though the strain upon her body was real. "I think I preferred you when you were broody jerk silent type. You are welcome to go back to your little catnap." She brushed him away like she could, but it was impossible with that annoying bond that still linked them. She lowered her purple gaze to eye the cage floor, noting how her foot had scuffed where she kicked it before. Hmm. On a thought, she silently moved to what she gauged as the cage's middle point. Not saying a single smug word that she could have, she took the heel of her boot and tried to purposefully scuff the floor with her black boot in an attempt to draw a line in the metaphorical sand. That black line seemed satisfying enough to her. There. He could have his side and she could have hers.. At least this seemed to offer her a semblance of petty satisfaction as if it would mean a single thing to him.

With a defiant hmph on her lips and hands on her hips she eyed her handy work. How strange that this simple act seemed to settle the beast. At least for a moment, even though the fever still persisted she could at the very least claim her own space in that small ass cage.

A few zen-like breaths and she would be fine. She didn't know shit about yoga but she was confident that she had that breathing down pat.