~ Maxim ~
He was going to strangle that damn tiger shifter. Once he got his hands on that male, he was going to wrap his fingers around his neck and squeeze and squeeze and squeeze. And then he'd start laughing as the light faded from the male's eyes. Lucien would fight back, he knew that for a fact. The male would probably even get some good bites and punches in, but Maxim was stronger, bigger, and angrier.
How fucking dare that tiger dream-walk with his female first! And the female was his. She would never be Lucien's, as Maxim would sooner gut himself than share his mate with another male... especially a damn Panthera shifter.
The Moon had to have made a mistake; there was simply no way that his female had two mates. There was no way. Never in the history of shifters had there ever been a triad bond. There was only ever one male and one female. Much like the Moon, there were only two sides of a matebond. The male was the dark side of the Moon, and the female was the light. Yin and Yang. Two halves that made a whole. There simply wasn't enough room in the bond to fit another person!
So, the solution was simple... Kill the tiger and keep the female to himself. Just like it should be, and just like it always should've been. Maxim didn't care that they'd been friends for the past ten years. He didn't care that the tiger had saved his ass many times, and vice versa. Lucien was no longer a friend to him, or even a faceless member of the Oracle's cadre. He was competition. Hell, Maxim's bear even went as far as labeling the tiger as a threat—a threat to what was rightfully Maxim's from the very beginning. The tiger had no claim to his female... Well, that was until the bastard dream-walked with her.
So, here he was. Creeping to Lucien's cabin in the dead of night. He stalked through the shadows, utilizing the darkness to disguise his movements. It would be tricky to sneak up on a tiger shifter, very tricky... But it wasn't impossible. Although Maxim wasn't naturally nocturnal, and he was currently stalking a very nocturnal creature, there was no chance of failure. Even now, he could taste the male's blood on his tongue. He'd catch the tiger off guard, end his life, and then focus on claiming his female. There would be no other male to steal her attention or affection. Maxim would be the only one to woo her, claim her, and then seduceher. And it would only be his bite on her neck, and it'd only be his cubs in her belly.
Well... if they could even have cubs? Pups? Would they be able to conceive at all? That thought made him pause, his body melting into the shadows. A darker shadow moved across his mind.
A triad bond wasn't the only issue... His female didn't have a bear to shift into; she wasn't Ursa. She wasn't even a powerless human, either. She was one of the big three... a wolf-shifter. Lycan. That had to mean that she was highly social, small, and utterly alien to him. As a Lycan, she had to have grown up in a pack. Her kind depended on pack bonds to survive in a world filled with bigger, badder supernaturals. That aspect of wolves had always mystified him. Ursa weren't social creatures. Yes, they often formed sleuths for protection, but they weren't for social reasons. Packs were nearly always larger, more organized, and more stable than Ursa sleuths. And Maxim couldn't remember the last time he had ever felt lonely... Hell, he wasn't even sure if he truly understood what that emotion felt like.
The bear in him was confident that such things wouldn't be an issue. Yes, they were different. But she was a female and he was a male, and the Moon had fated them to be together. Everything else would fall into place. But the man in him wasn't quite so sure. There were so many variables at play... So many differences between the two of them. When he eventually found her, what would she think of him? A she-wolf and a male Ursa... What a pairing.
Maxim shook his head and refocused his eyes.
'Focus on one thing at a time.' He snarled to himself. 'Just gotta kill that motherfucker and then figure out the matebond.'
The Ursa male began creeping forward again. He was just within eyesight of Lucien's cabin, but it was the scents that were emitting from it that had him pushing onward. The male was definitely in there... With flaring nostrils, the Ursa male paused again. His nose was full of Panthera scent, but not a single light was on in the cabin.
His bear roared in his head just as a snap sounded.
Spinning around, Maxim crouched low and growled. It was a deep, rumbling sound that would've scared off anyone with half a brain. But Lucien was a dumbass.
The feline male seemed to materialize from the darkness about ten feet in front of him. Pitch black eyes met glowing amber ones, and neither male could break the glare. Maxim had fought alongside the Panthera long enough to recognize the predatory glint in his eyes, as well as the coiled aggression just beneath his skin. It would only take one misstep to set the tiger off. But Maxim still had the upper hand, at least sort of... Lucien's ambush had been foiled, so he wouldn't have the element of surprise on his side. They were equally yoked now. It would be a battle of raw strength now.
The tiger's face twisted into a sneer. "Did I ruin your attack, too, bear? It seems like we were both trying to ambush the other." Lucien took one step closer. "However, I must say that I'm quite proud of you. I don't think I've ever seen an Ursa stalk a Panthera before. How did it feel, being on the other side of things? Usually it's the other way around, isn't it?"
The bear's fingers began to itch, burning with the need to rip the red hair right out of Lucien's scalp. And then after that? He'd gouge those taunting amber eyes right out of their sockets. His bear began to salivate at that thought.
Lucien cocked his head at the bear. If the sight of Maxim's barely contained rage scared him, he didn't show it. Or perhaps the male was too stupid to notice... "Are you cold out here, Maxim? You're really shaking. I thought bears had thicker fur than that."
He was going to kill that cat. "I'm going to kill you," he bit out.
Lucien let out a humorless laugh, then took another step closer. "Go for it, Ursa. I'm waiting. And when you're done, our little wolf can lick my wounds clean."
Maxim saw red. Surging forward, he went to tackle the male to the ground. But Lucien saw it coming. The tiger jumped out of the way at the last moment, sending the enraged Ursa barreling past him. With a roar of pure rage, Maxim spun around to face the smug bastard. Their eyes clashed again, both glowing now more than ever as their beasts pushed to the forefront of their minds.
"She is mine!" Maxim roared. "You have no claim to her, cat!"
Lucien hissed. "Have you dream-walked with her yet? I have! I've seen her in my mind, and I have talked to her. I have more of a claim to her than you do! Until you dream-walk with her, I have every right to claim her as mine and ONLY MINE!"
At that, the males ran at each other again. This time, they grappled for control. Neither shifted to their animal forms, but the beasts were just beneath their skin. Tufts of fur flew, claws gouged, and canines flashed as the males fought.
Swiping a foot out, Lucien knocked Maxim's feet out from under him. The males fell to the ground, with Lucien straddling the Ursa's torso. Punches flew into Maxim's face as he tried to buck the Panthera off of him, but Lucien refused to budge. Then, with pure determination, Maxim flipped Lucien over and landed on top of him. With his sheer weight, the Ursa held the smaller male down. With his knees, he pinned Lucien's arms to the ground.
A roar left Maxim's mouth as his hands immediately went to wrap around the feline's throat. He didn't even feel the male's teeth sink into his flesh; all he could feel was the wave of victory flooding over him.
'That female will be mine. All mine!'
Despite the Panthera's struggles, Maxim got his hands around his throat. His bear made a satisfied, dark sound when the whites of Lucien's eyes flashed.
'Good.' Maxim thought. 'You should be scared.'
Just as his hands began to apply pressure, a bolt of white hot pain erupted in his body. This time, a much different roar sounded... This one full of pain and outrage. For a split second, he tried to push past the torment. But the longer his fingers remained around Lucien's throat, the more intense the pain got. It began to radiate up and down his body in waves. As if he had his hand wrapped around a live wire, his muscles began to seize and lock.
With a buck, Lucien threw the Ursa off him.
Just as quickly as Maxim landed, he was pinned to the ground. This time, it was Lucien who was on top. Just like Maxim had, the Panthera immediately went for the throat. Like a bolt of lightning, he struck. However, instead of just his hands, he used his claws to wrap around Maxim's trachea. Or, at least that's what he tried to do before he, too, was violently thrown off.
All was silent in the forest for a long moment. The males were frozen in place by their locked muscles, unable to do anything more than just pant. High up above, the Moon shone through the trees. Maxim wasn't sure if She was taunting them, pitying them, or scolding them. Perhaps it was a mixture of all three.
Lucien was the first to speak. "The Moon prevented us from actually killing each other."
After a long pause, Maxim finally replied. "Thank you for pointing out the obvious, jackass."
An owl flew overhead just then, its shadow blotting out the Moon for just a second. The males watched as it passed beneath the stars, as silent as the night sky itself. Both of them were silent for a long while. Glowing black and amber eyes stared up at the sky as they fought for the right words... If there were even any at all.
"Well... What do we do now?" Lucien asked. His question was just about as heavy as the planet itself. "My plans only went as far as killing you. I was going to try to do that before she arrived."
Maxim sucked in a deep breath as he began to feel his muscles relaxing. His toes and fingers began to move again, followed by his arms and legs. But his stomach continued to cramp. Once he had regained enough control of his body, he sat up. Turning his head, he stared at the Panthera male. Lucien was pulling himself up to his feet, but paused to look back at Maxim.
The Ursa swallowed hard. "Now, we just wait for her to arrive. And pray that she doesn't freak out too much."
A bear, a tiger, and a wolf...
Just before Lucien slipped back into the shadows, Maxim let out a deep growl. "I still want to kill you. Don't forget that, cat. The Moon just saved your ass."
Lucien didn't turn back to look at him, but he let out a small laugh. "Glad to hear that the feeling's mutual, bear."
•••••
~ Adeline ~
She woke up to a soul filled with misery.
Groaning, she went to wipe her eyes, but her hand was stopped short by a firm yank. A rattling sound, and then she registered the press of metal against tender, abused flesh. An environment that was all too familiar met her eyes, and she let out another groan.
She was locked up in her cell. Chained like a criminal, her arms were stretched up above her head, shackles encased her wrists, and her legs were folded beneath her. However, this wasn't like any other time she'd been locked up. No... This time, she hurt.
From her head down to her toes, aches made themselves known. But it was a spot in the center of her chest that tore the breath from her lungs. In the spot right above her left breast, a red-hot piece of coal sat. There were moments when the pain would flare, followed by waves of slightly lesser pain... but it tormented her nonetheless.
What the Hell happened?
As if opening a book covered in dust and cobwebs, Adeline peeled through her memories. It all started to come back to her, piece by piece. Getting her hair cut... Mentions of her late mother... Her aunt hugging her...
Get out, get out, GET OUT! NOW!
Those screams echoed through her ears... and it took her a moment to realize that those had been her screams. They had come from her mouth. Those words weren't a figment of her imagination. They were real.
Bones cracking then reshaping... Claws sprouting from her fingers. Her body contorting into unnatural positions. Screaming, screaming, screaming.
Enforcers, get in here NOW! She's shifting! That's what her aunt had yelled when Adeline's beast resurfaced. It was clear that Adeline had tried to resist it the best she could, but like always... it hadn't been enough. She hadn't been enough. Her wolf was merciless in its ability to take over her mind. No matter how hard she resisted or how loud she screamed, the beast inside of her didn't care. All it cared about was causing pain to as many people as possible.
Adeline wasn't strong enough to hold back her wolf. And she wasn't strong enough to protect those around her.
And she'd attacked her aunt...
Short flashes began to pierce through the brain fog. Brown eyes, filled with fear. Alexandra shifting into her own wolf so that her niece wouldn't tear her apart. Teeth gnashing and claws tearing. At one point, Adeline had even pinned her aunt to the ground. The older female had struggled to get out from under her. Using her hind legs, she had kicked Adeline's vulnerable underbelly. Attacking such a sensitive spot normally would've pushed the aggressive wolf off, but the Beast was no normal wolf. In the heat of an attack, the concept of pain simply didn't exist. Hurt wasn't even a word in its vocabulary.
Adeline gagged as another memory came flooding in... her aunt's blood filling her mouth, mixing with the greyish-brown of her fur. She'd had her teeth wrapped around the female's throat... and the only reason she hadn't murdered her aunt was due to the enforcers rushing in. They practically had to pry Adeline's jaws open to get her to release the she-wolf.
Panting, she hung her head low. And she didn't lift it, not even when the door to the basement opened and then softly closed. The sound of footsteps, then the scents of two individuals. One male, one female. Her aunt and...
She lifted her head then, blue eyes immediately going to look at the male standing tall beside the Luna. When she narrowed her eyes at him, the male gave her an all-too-familiar toothy grin. He was much larger than she remembered him being. No longer was he acne-riddled and lanky... His body now told a story of endless training sessions and a couple of fights.
Clyde Martin. The son of the pack beta, and a newly trained enforcer.
"Long time no see, Addy." His voice was a tad deeper than she remembered, but it was still the voice of her old friend. Despite the changes in his appearance and voice, he was still regular ole' Clyde Martin... A slightly taller, older, more muscular Clyde. And despite the mental state she was in, she couldn't ignore the fact that he was handsome.
After all, he had been her childhood crush for many years... But what was left of that now? They were older, and he had been gone for two years to pursue enforcer training. They hadn't communicated at all during that time, and she had pretty much forgotten that he existed... He looked good, though, in that goofy way of his. But the butterflies that had once fluttered in her belly just weren't there. And her heart didn't start beating faster when their eyes met.
Despite the fact that she didn't answer him, there was a light that twinkled in his green eyes. One that was all too familiar to her. She dropped her gaze after that wink and took to staring at the floor. Claw marks scarred the concrete, and there were dried blood splatters all around her. She wasn't too sure how old those stains were... but the stains only seemed to grow and grow the longer she spent fighting her wolf.
Two years of blood stains. Over 700 days of battling the part of her that refused to submit... the one part that should've always been in sync.
Alexandra unlocked the cell and began to unchain her wrists. The Luna was silent as she released the metal from her niece's skin, and Adeline was relieved to see that she appeared to be unharmed. From her visible skin, there were no bruises or scratches. With a flare of her nostrils, she couldn't smell any blood either. Adeline then glanced at her aunt's neck and breathed a sigh of relief. She had a vivid memory of biting into the woman's neck and tasting her blood, but thankfully, wolves healed fast. All evidence of her attack was erased from existence...
Well, not entirely.
As Adeline pulled herself up to her feet, pain lanced through her body. Bone-deep aches screamed at her, and that spot right on her chest pulsed. She had to resist the urge to rub at that spot, knowing that it'd only make the pain worse. It was a pulsing pain, with the worst of it originating in one specific spot. What had she done to herself to cause such a wound?
With furrowed brows, she pulled at the collar of her shirt and peered down. Adeline sucked in a sharp breath at the sight that greeted her.
At her gasp, Alexandra grabbed her elbow. "What's wrong?"
She struggled to find the right words. Her mind was just blank at the bizarre thing spreading across her chest. "I- I don't even know... Look."
Alexandra peered down her shirt and gasped, too. There, spreading across Adeline's chest, were thin, inky tendrils. They started at the spot directly above her heart, with each tendril spreading to be several inches long. The inky black in contrast with her pale skin was shocking, disturbing even. With wide eyes, Alexandra pulled back. She stared at her niece for a long moment. Adeline stared back at her. Both females were unable to find the right words to verbalize the mix of emotions they were experiencing... horror, shock, dread, and confusion. There was no possible way to come to terms with the thing spreading across Adeline's chest.
Adeline sucked in a breath. "We leave for the Oracle's tomorrow, right?" Then, right as she said that, that spot on her chest pulsed. She damn near screwed her eyes shut from the intense pain. For three beats of her heart, that terrible spot shot pain through her nervous system. But, just as quickly as it had struck, the pain settled down to nothing more than a dull ache. It was there one minute and then gone the next.
It was a long, long moment before the Luna answered. Her voice was grim. "Originally, yes. But let me make a few phone calls."