I tremble as the green eyed alpha of Raven's pack steps out of the Ark. He looks menacing on this evening and I try to shrink back behind Frost, if only to keep out of his eyesight. I know the moment he sees me and yet there's something like mercy in his eyes. I had thought that might relieve me but instead I only feel more punctured inside to know that he'll spare me despite me delivering her to him like this. I didn't do anything to save her, to stop him. I just let it happen. And he'll spare me? I feel more guilt weighing me down. I don't want his mercy. I want punishment. I am a horrible friend. I am a monster. When he looks at Frost, however, there is no glimpse of mercy to be seen. It doesn't take him long at all to shift into a huge black panther, parting his deadly jaws to roar at Frost in his anger before he launches at him. My gaze shifts from him to the boy who came out with him because of course I recognize Tobias. I could never forget the boy who picked me up and put me in his lap as a fox, who tackled an ice cream man and got mad because it melted between his fingers. There are good memories between Tobias and I and I was actually starting to think of him as a friend, but after this night I don't think that will be possible. Surely Raven will wake up and tell him I betrayed her, tell him I chose Frost over her. And then he'll hate me too. He'll probably hunt me down. He'll have a new name for me, I bet. Something much more suitable than Pretty.

He looks at me in confusion and I blink at him dully, a part of me wishing I could explain but knowing I wouldn't get very far and this point, I'm just too spent to try. When he looks at Raven though, I can see the pain in his eyes and he lets out an inhuman yowl that makes my ears burn. He reaches out of her, softly touching her fur and I feel myself recoil, my arms coming up to wrap around myself as I press back against the wall , wishing I could up and disappear. I watch as he too shifts, starting with the teeth and ending up as a large leopard, ready to fight for his alpha but something he gets from Tetradore seems to displease him. When he suddenly lunges toward me, I can only gasp and press against the wall, closing my eyes and waiting for the killing blow, sure somehow that he is coming to kill me. But I feel something soft press against my legs and I re-open my eyes, looking down to meet his gaze. I see the confusion there and my lips scowl. Again I feel an urge to explain but even as my lips part, he lunges away, shifting back to human form to grasp Raven firmly to his chest as he takes her into the Ark. I let out my breath in a drawn out sigh, both glad to have them out of harm's way and utterly defeated that I couldn't get a word out to explain to him, to leave a message for Raven or something. Now I really am lost to her, I guess.

I turn now to look at Frost as he faces off with Tetradore and my eyes narrow into slits, my hands balled up at my sides once more. I replay that moment before the two men came out of the Ark, the moment he pulled Raven out of my arms like garbage and threw her on the ground. He had eyed my fists then with amusement. His words goading me to hit him only made my body stiffen and my eyes narrow with utmost hatred but I didn't speak. I only glared at him, wishing I could rip him apart with nothing more than my gaze. He had lifted his brow at me, daring me to do something and knowing I wouldn't. Unlike him, I'm so used to being predictable. It's second nature by this point. When his hand had reached up, toying wtih a lock of hair before bringing it behind my ear, I had tilted my head away from his hand automatically, inhaling sharply through my teeth in distaste as my teeth clenched together. My eyes had continued to stare at him in pure loathing, my jaw tightening as he let his hand slide down my cheek. His words do goad a voice this time, my voice low, spit from between my teeth as I glared at him. "Go fuck yourself." I don't think I've ever talked like that before but god, it felt SO good to tell him that. I had stood my ground as his hand continued to trail downward, my skin shuddering under his touch as he got to my collar bone.

I was relieved when he did move away, muttering something about his party being ruined. He only seemed to get more pissed as the men turned to cats right before his eyes. I'm actually surprised that he didn't shift back to a horse. It seemed to be his preferred fighting form. And yet facing off with Tetradore, he stays as a human. It does seem to suit him as the panther launches at him, Frost merely crouching down low to let the large cat sail over him as he swivels around on his heels to face him and stands up again. Luckily I had already pressed myself to the wall on the side this time, a better seat than behind him would have been in this instance. He picks up a crow bar from a barrel beside him and my teeth bite into my bottom lip, already imagining him beating the panther with it. I look away, only to look back when I hear Frost's voice, talking about Raven this time. I glance toward the Ark, wondering if he's right, if she's really dying in there. My heart is hammering in my chest as I look between them, trying to gauge if Tetradore believes him or not.

alexis wilde