When Tee yelled at his alpha to leave him alone because he needed space, he didn't expect Kai to disappear for days.

It had been three days, though. Three days without Kai's taunting voice or his teasing fingers. His gentle touches and his strange, wicked laughter.

On the first day when Tee's rage finally vanished, he thought nothing of it. Instead, he worked on his own actions. He did believe he might've overreacted. Kai was a good alpha, and Tee had been acting like a nuisance — a nagging omega. Kai wasn't a monster as he made him out to be. Kai was his mate. His lifelong companion. His lover. His only friend. Kai deserved more respect from him. And so, Tee vowed to apologize once his alpha returned. He detached Kai from every wrongful thought, too. Sweet, sweet Kai wasn't capable of harming his grandmother — it was some lunatic alpha's doing. An alpha whom kai would one day catch and slaughter in the evilest ways imaginable.

On the second day, he stayed by the front door for hours, hoping to catch a glimpse of his alpha through the forest, coming back to their home with skin caked in stale blood and eyes blacker than a starless sky. However, Kai was nowhere in sight, and Tee grew tense. When night reached, bringing in an icy breeze through the cracks of the cottage, a fleeting thought crossed his mind. Perhaps Kai abandoned him? Such a foolish thought, it faded away as swiftly as it came. Kai loved him. He knew this much.

Now, on the third day, Tee went out searching for Kai. He scanned the whole forest for his alpha, calling Kai's name, hoping to hear his voice. Yet, Kai was nowhere to be, and a sickening fear coiled in Tee's stomach: his thoughts wandered.

Perhaps something had happened to his alpha?

Perhaps something sinister?

____________________________________

When the evening breeze drifted by, singing a haunting melody into Tee's ears, the bunny's icy fingers coiled on the basket's handle as a creeping shiver raced down his spine.

In front of him, he stared at the entrance of the dark forest, a frightening place he vowed never to return. His love for Kai was a fearless thing, though. And the mere possibility that Kai might be in there, injured or dead, was enough to make Tee brave through the damnest places to seek out his alpha. If it had been the other way, Kai would've done the same for him, too.

With a deep, shaky exhale, Tee tightened the strings on his red cloak and stepped into the forest floors.

The little light from the evening skies on the other side quickly disappeared, and a disturbing blackness swallowed him whole.

Unbothered by the piercing ache in his chest, he straightened his shoulders and put on a brave face, marching deeper into the forest floors.

Unlike before, Tee ventured off from the carved pathway that led down to the village and stepped into untouched grounds. He soon wished to discover his alpha alive and well. Yet, the whole forest seemed to be a neverending void of darkness, making it difficult to see. There were eerie whispers and uncanny chippers by the forest creatures, too. It frightened Tee dearly. He was a brave soul, though — Kai said so. He kissed Tee every night and whispered how he was the bravest among them all. In a sense, it was true. Only a brave man could be with a monster like Kai.

By midnight, with somber eyes, a pitiful sob burst from Tee's lips. "Kai?!" he yelled in a broken voice for the hundredth time. "Kai — Where are you?! Kai?!" And same as always, no one answered except for the passing breeze or a hooting owl.

Tee's feet staggered. Yet, he refused to stop. Instead, he took another path, pushing past weeds and twigs.

"Kai?" he called in a softer voice this time. "Please come back... I'm sorry... Don't leave me... You're all I have left," the words spilled from his mouth, empty and quivering. Almost... Pathetic.

Defeated, Tee's shoulders crouched over before sinking to his knees in exhaustion.

He felt so lost. So... Cold and lonesome. And although he rather not cry, bitter tears prickle at the corner of his eyes. Perhaps his alpha had indeed given up on him? Perhaps his alpha had simply had enough and left him to fend for himself?

"No..." Tee nodded frantically. It wasn't true. Kai loved him. The wolf loved him with his everything — with his whole being. Uncaring about the monsters, the predators, and the alphas roaming the forest, Tee screamed, "Kai?!! Are you in here?!!"

After a passing moment when nothing happened, he finally allowed his tears to flow, and he wondered if this was what hopelessness felt like.

Suddenly out of nowhere, a deep, threatening growl came from further down an uneven pathway, echoing through the forest. The ground quivered from its vibration, and Tee gasped.

Quickly his head snapped in the direction he heard the growl. "Kai," he whispered, getting to his feet. Immediately his eyes swell with glee. His lips finally etched into a smile, too. It was his alpha. He knew the wolf's growl. He knew his laughter. He knew his snarl. His cries. His groans — Tee knew them all. And so he raced with all his might. "I'm Coming!" He yelled in return, his voice cracking with laughter as he raced deeper into the woods. "I'm coming!"

The seconds were a passing phrase as the omega rummaged through lifeless frangipani trees and tripped over thick twigs lying on the ground and tree stumps. When he reached a large opening, he gasped, stumbling a step back at the sight that greeted him.

For a moment, Tee couldn't believe his eyes despite how big he opened them. There, in front of him stood the most significant bamboo structure he'd ever seen. The wooden home could've swallowed up nearly the entire village homes. It seemed to reach for the skies too! So magnificent, so aged. It had countless cracks. It lacked in color — vines and weeds consumed it as their own. And the closer Tee approached the opened door, crooked from its hinges, the more his skin pricked with goosebumps from the sudden drop in temperature.

"Kai? — Are you in here?" he called, stepping inside the house. The place seemed to be an ordinary home with tables and chairs, empty vases, and piles of chopped wood stacked in the corner. It lacked any sort of warmth a home should have, though. No colors or homely decorations.

Cautiously. Tee stepped into another room. This one was nearly pitch black. "Kai?" he called once again.

"Tee, what are you doing here?"

Tee gasped, quickly looking over his shoulder. This voice sounded like Kai. Yet... There was something about it. Something dark and possessive — demonic, perhaps. It was Kai, yet it wasn't.

"Kai?" he pried, taking a cautious step toward the voice.

When he'd finally caught a glimpse of Kai sitting on the dirty floor in the corner, hugging his knees into his chest with his face downcasted, Tee's heart ached in ways he didn't know possible before his fingers unknowingly stretched out, seeking to touch his alpha.

Kai seemed so empty, so scared — so cold and broken, like a weeping, lost, frightened child.

What had happened to him?

"Kai," Tee whispered, reaching for the wolf. "Are you hurt?"

Kai pressed his face into his knees. "Stay back," he growled, seemingly not wanting Tee to look at him.

Tee was too worried to care about Kai's outburst, "What's wrong?" he asked. When Kai refused to answer him, Tee dropped to his knees in front of the alpha. "Say something."

Kai groaned with annoyance into his knees. "Go home,," he gritted in such a harsh tone.

Tee couldn't stop the whimper that slipped from his lips."Do you not want me anymore?" he couldn't help but ask.

Still refusing to look up at Tee, an unsteady breath felt Kai's mouth before he replied, "I do... I want you more than anything. It's just, I — I'll come later — just go. I don't want to hurt you. "

What foolishness was Kai saying?

Kai would never hurt him.

Slowly Tee reached out, brushing the tips of his fingers through Kai's unkempt hair. "Don't be silly," he whispered, sniffing back snot and tears. "It's me... You're not going to hurt me. Come, let me take you home."

When Tee's fingers moved from the alpha's hair to caress the side of his face, Kai flinched back from his touch — as if it burned — seemingly trying harder to hide his face away into the creases of his knees.

"Tee, please don't touch me," Kai bit out in a desperate, pleading tone. "I don't want to hurt you!"

"Why would you hurt me?" Tee asked.

After a long pause, Kai slumped his shoulders in defeat and finally looked up. "Can't you see," he said in a hollow voice. "The wolf is in control."

Kai's eyes were black and evil and expressionless as he gazed at the omega in front of him — seemingly trying to snatch his soul and perhaps devour it. Or maybe he wanted to cherish it? Keep it safe? Protect it? Whatever it might've been, didn't Kai know Tee would willingly carve his own heart out if it meant satisfying Kai's wants and needs?

"I'm not afraid," Tee simply said. And indeed, he wasn't.

Kai growled once more with sheer irritation. "You know how this works," he gritted, not taking his eyes off Tee. And although they were mean and nasty, there was a glint of softness and a glint of adoration — of tenderness. "I'm a predator," he went on. "You're a... Do you know how hard it is to control myself when every instinct inside of me is screaming at me to rip you to pieces? ... Just go home. Please"

"No," Tee stubbornly bit back. "I'm not leaving you."

"Tee, please," Kai pleaded. "I'll return when everything's calm down. Can't you understand that I don't want to —"

"You won't hurt me," Tee interrupted.

Kai rolled his eyes at Tee's stubbornness and tightened his jaw. "I won't, but this thing inside of me —"

"Won't hurt me either," he insisted, resting a palm on Kai's forearm.

Tee knew he had a terrible habit of always seeing the good in everyone and everything around him, despite the apathy shown toward him by lurking alphas and snobby betas. Even the nice omegas who lived in the nearby village often teased. He was a fool; he knew this. And yet, he still had hope. He still wanted to believe there was goodness in the world. And he wanted it to be in the man he trusted the most. He wanted to find goodness within Kai.

Kai inched away from Tee's warm touches. "Dammit it," he barked. "I said leave!"

For a moment, they simply stared at each other. Kai's eyes were of steel, though; hard and unreadable — Tee's heart ached for him. Seemingly consumed with his own thoughts, Kai looked so utterly and hopelessly lost. So fragile. So empty. Tee needed to fix him... Tee also needed to cry. He needed to let out his frustration — his anger and pain. Kai needed to know he had also been suffering!

"Kai... You love me," Tee's face morphed into a sad look; his eyes tiny and tight; on the verge of tears. His lips were trembling and pouty — Kai's whole demeanor seemed to change at the sight. "Even the monster inside of you loves me," Tee went on in a broken voice. "And I'm hurt Kai. I thought you'd abandoned me. I thought you had left! I thought you were dead... I — Kai. All of you love me... You won't hurt me. So please, let me help you... Let me..."

When Tee choked back a sob and tears raced down his face, Ka's face immediately went lax with concern; his murderous eyes disappeared too; returned were the kind ones. And there, Kai simply took time; consuming the sight of his omega's tears with a deep understanding before finally stretching an arm out, thumbing away the tears from Tee's cheeks.

"Don't cry," Kai spoke in a tender, crumbled tone; defeated by Tee's words; by his softness — his caring nature, his somber eyes. "You're right... I won't hurt you. I will never hurt you. Not unless you want me to... And even then, I will never truly hurt you."

Tee knew what Kai meant, and his eyes gleamed at the idea of Kai's wolf fucking into him; fingers wrapped around his neck, canines sinking into his flesh, stuffing Tee full of seed. And threats — the prey part of the omega craved to hear his alpha, this predator, whispering false threats into his ear. Tee wanted to experience fear. He wanted to drown in it. He wanted —

"I love you," Kai continued, and Tee quickly buried the image at the back of his mind. "The monster inside of me loves you too. All of me loves you."

Tee blushed at the unexpected confession before leaning his cheek into the gentle touch of Kai's palm and closing his eyes. "Kai," he sighed, nearly choking on his words. "Come home?"

"I will, baby. I will," Kai promised before he wrapped his arms over Tee's shoulders. "Now come here. Let me hold you."

Still on his knees, Tee went willingly into his alpha's arms when Kai pulled him into a tight hug; his body going pliant at the feeling of his alpha's strong arms and his sandalwood scent.

Tee sighed in contentment and from the feel of something more — something like home. A homely feeling he always felt whenever he was in Kai's embrace. And when Kai parted his legs to give Tee better space in between them, Tee closed his tired eyes and pressed his face into his alpha's chest. It made the omegan body inside him blossom with warmth, and glee spread to his cheeks, coloring them red while tingles raced through the tips of his fingers.

Tee felt loved wholly: his alpha loved him wholly.

Together they stayed like that, motionless for a long, long time, wallowing in each other's embrace. Tee didn't know how much time had passed; he didn't care either. However, when he looked up from his alpha's chest to peek at him, Kai's eyes were already on him; watching him as though he was a precious jewel or a god perhaps. Still... What stood out the most was Kai's blackened, soulless eyes.

The wolf had returned.

Yet, fear refused to grip Tee's insides. His body seized with weakness and compliance, though. And his voice went silent, trapped in his mouth. Kai's gaze tied a comforting string around his throat, and he found himself embolized, and he craved nothing more than to please his alpha... So he rumbled a whine before baring his neck where Kai had claimed.

Kai's inner monster seemed pleased at the sight, and he exposed his canines to show his contentment before leaning to brush his soft lips on Tee's forehead.

Tee purred, closing his eyes for sleep.

The wolf stayed to stare at Tee or perhaps to simply admire him while he slept for an hour or two, Tee let him. However, as more time passed, Tee was awakened by Kai's fingers threading through his hair. He had hoped to greet Kai's wolf, but the creature had been gone, and Kai greeted him with a smile instead.

Now, Tee finally found his voice to speak:

"Kai?" he said in a hoarse tone as he rose from Kai's embrace to look him in the eyes.

Kai hummed. "What is it?"

Tee chewed on his lower lip before he cupped Kai's face with his hands and smoothed the alpha's cheeks with his thumbs. "Don't you dare run away from me again," he stated in a soft tone. There was a hidden demand — a threat, per se, and Kai seemed to notice it immediately. "Trust that you can control yourself around me... Because I trust you," Tee concluded.

Kai sighed, his face melting against Tee's gentle touches. "I promise," he said.

Tee glanced over his shoulder, scanning the rumbles; from broken glasses to chipped papers belonging to soiled books; from dried leaves to twigs and vines, littering the unkept floors. He couldn't imagine how easily Kai had found this filthy place to hide away. Then again, Kai once belonged to the dark forest, so he rather not think too much about it. He rather not be there at all!

It was when the morning sun glinted through the grime-covered window in the opposite direction, blinding Tee's vision for a passing second that he realized he had been with Kai throughout the night.

What a long night it had been.

Had it not?

"Kai?" Tee said.

"Yes, love?"

Tee had enough. He had shed enough tears. He had begged enough. Now, he had gotten his alpha back, and his alpha's dark-natured wolf by his side. He was appeased, and he was also tired. He was bubbling with glee, and he was also ravished by a bothersome hunger. All in all; he just wanted to return home with Kai and forget this ever happened!

"Let's go home," Tee said.

"Mm," Kai nodded in agreement.

____________________________________

When Tee stepped outside of the giant house with his alpha's fingers laced into his own as they held onto each other's hands with a gripping force, he couldn't help from stopping before turning around, wanting to take one last look at the ruins of a possibly a once magnificent place.

Tee did not know what was happening; a strange feeling suddenly surged through his body though, and he heard the calls of his grandmother's voice faintly whispering strange nonsensical words into his ears. What was she saying? He had no idea.

"What is this place?" Tee found himself asking in a whispered tone.

Tee didn't expect an answer, and he definitely didn't expect the answer Kai gave:

"This was my home," Kai said, looking up at the ruins alongside Tee, seemingly reminiscing about times Tee knew nothing of. "I used to live here," he concluded with a hardened face.

"Alone?" Tee asked.

"Yes. I thought I'd come back to clear my head. This damn place couldn't help with anything. Useless," Kai spat as a quiet growl reverberated from his chest. " It's trashed now — covered in weeds."

Tee looked at Kai. The alpha face had morphed into something strange: like wickedness and wrongness. It sent gleeful tingles down Tee's back.

"Don't you miss it?" Tee asked. "This place?"

After a long pause, Kai replied. "No," he said, venom seeping from his tongue. "This bloody place had never been much of a home anyway. Let's go home... Our real home."

Before Tee could respond, Kai turned his back and started walking away.

Tee took another glance at the olden place, thankful for the light of the morning sun. Now he could see things better than last night — every nook and cranny. And though by now, his grandma's voice had faded away; drifting off at the back of his mind where it rested, he thought of her though as he followed behind Kai, his eyes searching through the layers of vines surrounding the place — consuming the gates, and the grounds — the beds where a garden once lay, and a water-well in the far corner.

When Tee caught his footing in a coil of veins, his thoughts about his grandma vanished before he glanced in Kai's direction. Kai, however, seemed distracted; lost perhaps because he did not notice Tee's mayhem, and a part of Tee felt sorry for his alpha.

Kai never talked about the life he lived before meeting Tee — nor about this place, or anything else. It seemed this place scared him though, and he seemed to be in deep despair.

Tee quickly loosened his knotted foot and went back to following Kai. However, as he was about to race after Kai's quick strides, an unexpected, familiar scent in the air caught his attention, immediately stopping him back in his tracks.

Poison.

Nerium oleander.

Suddenly Tee gasped a shuddering breath. His eyes bulging before bile rose in his throat, choking him. No, it can't be: he screamed at the back of his mind. No-no-no!

He scanned his surroundings with madness in his eyes, hoping he might've made a terrible mistake — hoping it might've been a conscious thought — hoping the scent wasn't real. It was, though. And he soon realized it when he finally spotted a tree bearing pink flowers with cotton-like petals and a fragrance so sweet, it seemed terribly wrong to associate it with death, peeking out from the bushes inside the gates of this place — Kai's place; his home.

Tee's eyes quickly soaked up with tears.

He was no fool; he was not naive, or stupid, or delirious. He had a logical mind; he knew things; he questioned things too. This, though. This he had hoped would be a lie...

It was not, though.

Kai...

It was Kai who had been the one who was in his home, in his room whenever he slept, long before he had known the alpha. It was Kai's scent he had sensed suffocating the cottage floors, the scent he could not remember, yet not wholly forgotten. It was Kai who poisoned his grandmother's tea. It was Kai who had murdered her!

But why?

Suddenly, in a sense, Tee felt as though he was no longer standing there — like a part of him had disappeared. He felt utterly and hopelessly... Betrayed.

Kai; his cherished alpha had betrayed him; deceived him; wronged him.

KAI WAS A MONSTER, WITH A MONSTEROUS MIND.

Tee growled deeply in his throat, and soon his eyes burned with revenge as he stared at his alpha's — Kai's back, his murderous back. Tee tightly clenched his fists; he felt pained by this betrayal. He felt broken and weak. And at this moment, he craved to rip Kai's throat out. He also craved to weep into his arms and ask why he had done such a terrible thing.

However, when his grandmother's laughter seemed to echo into his ears, Tee found his thirst for vengeance shunned everything else.

____________________________________

That morning, Tee traveled through the dark forest floors alongside Kai; his alpha, his deceiver, his protector, his betrayer, his provider, his lover, his liar — his mate. And though he spoke of nothing throughout their journey, he couldn't deny how deeply Kai's betrayal damaged him, wounded him, and shattered him into pieces. Strangely enough, part of him wished he hadn't known the truth, perhaps living a lie would've been better...

____________________________________

When they arrived home, back to their tiny cottage, Tee reached into his pockets before drawing out a handful of crumbled-up flowers; the poison flowers.

It seemed; he needed to kill Kai.

Tee's heart burned at the thought of doing so.