Kai sat on the floor of the tiny cottage, his legs folding in front of him as he watched Tee sitting on the opposite side in their kitchen quarter with the same crossed legs as Kai.

The omega's face was buried in a plate, stuffing his mouth full of deer meat and rice; all the while being oblivious to Kai's tightly clenched jaw or the suspicion in his eyes. However, when their eyes eventually met for a passing second, Tee quickly looked back down at his plate as though the mere thought of looking at Kai sickened him.

Kai suppressed a growl before he returned to munch on his dinner in silence.

It had been five days since Tee went into the dark forest in search of him, and although he felt a great sense of pride and joy at his omega's willingness to go above and beyond to seek him out, something about Tee appeared oddly off-putting since they returned.

Tee had been watching him with strange glints in his eyes whenever he thought Kai wasn't looking, and he spoke less despite his lips twitching, seemingly wanting to incite a conversation. And although Tee stayed by his side night and day, Kai couldn't deny the tenseness in Tee's body whenever he lay the omega down at night.

It seemed Tee was always fighting with his thoughts from the way he stared up at Kai with questions and perhaps uncertainty in his big doe eyes before he eventually surrendered his body wholly over to Kai, melting against his embrace.

Kai enjoyed it; he enjoyed having Tee underneath him, spread open wide while taking his cock with ease. Tee had the most breathtaking moans, too. Regardless, whenever their lovemaking ended and Tee shifted to lay on his side in their shared bed, his body turned back unnervingly rigid whenever Kai pressed his chest against Tee's back, or whenever he wrapped his arms over his waist, or whenever he suckled a bruised kiss on Tee's neck.

In a sense, Tee reacted as though Kai's fingers were made of fire or ice — or something nasty; it irritated him greatly.

"What's wrong?" Kai demanded, his deep voice rippling through the empty cottage.

Tee almost flinched back from where he sat before making eye contact with Kai.

For a passing moment, a strange sense of a deep-rooted ache seemed to flash across his eyes. And despite Kai not understanding what might've triggered his omega's pain, every instinct in his body screamed at him to comfort Tee, to wrap him in his arms and coax him and kiss him, or snuggle him with love.

Goddammit; Kai gritted his teeth painfully hard.

Tee had somehow managed to turn him soft. Kai did not like it. Still, he did not resent it, either, because he knew his softness was only for Tee — anyone else he'd rip their throats out, and feast on their flesh for days to come. Tee was special. Tee was his companion; his lover, his best friend, and the only person alive who saw goodness in him.

"What..." Tee gulped down and looked elsewhere, not wanting to meet Kai's eyes. "What are you talking about?" he asked in a small voice.

Kai knew this look; he had seen it before on Tee's face during their first couple of encounters.

Was Tee... Afraid of him?

Kai had spent days trying to understand what stupid thoughts were going through Tee's head. To think all this time that Tee was afraid of him, it was outright outrageous, maddening.

He refused to believe Tee was afraid of him.

Tee had seen all of him; the good, the bad, the evil. He was never afraid; at least, he wasn't the moment Kai marked him. Tee looked at him as though he was special; no one had ever looked at him so. No one except his brother... Macau.

Kai gasped as memories of his young, carefree brother's laugh echoed in his mind.

Macau hadn't come to his mind in ages.

Quickly, Tee shoved the thoughts of his brother at the back of his mind and forced himself to speak: "Is something bothering you?" he questioned, making his voice as quiet as possible.

"No," Tee quickly spoke. "Not at all."

Kai's jaw twitched along with his right eye. "Is that so?" he asked in a whispered tone.

Tee chewed on his lower lip. "Yes," he said.

He could taste the blatant lie dripping from Tee's tongue; it tasted venomous — wrong, unlike Tee, who was always sweet and truthful. If he'd been as cruel as before, he would've wrapped his fingers over Tee's neck and forced the truth from his mouth in a heartbeat.

Kai took a sharp breath in. His thoughts might've been murderous; however, he could not bring himself to lay a hurtful finger on his omega.

"You're lying," he simply said. "Don't lie to me."

Tee set his plate down beside him before he stiffened a smile. "Kai," he said in a calm tone after he'd finally built the courage to look Kai in the eyes. "Believe me, there's nothing —"

"Tee," Kai bit out. "I'm not asking anymore. Tell me what is wrong."

It was a demand — an order, but it had no malicious intent behind it. Still, Tee gulped back loud, his throat bulging up and down and up and down.

Eventually, Tee sighed deeply. "It's nothing," he claimed; his words were less convincing than earlier though.

For a moment, Kai studied Tee. He took in the sight of the omega with deep interest, wanting to reach into his mind and snatch out his thoughts. It was an impossible thing to do, and he was no mind-reader. Still, it didn't take a genius to conclude that Tee was uneasy around him.

Kai gritted his teeth: he hated everything about this, so he slammed a fist into the floorboard and yelled, "God dammit, Tee!"

When Tee slightly flinched back, Kai regretted his actions and he tried his best to soften his features.

"Kai..." Tee said in a cautioned tone, seemingly choosing his words wisely. "I... I... It's just —"

"Tee —"

"I'm carrying our child," Tee blurted out in a panicked voice.

Immediately, Kai's mouth went slack at the confession, and he could've sworn his heart skipped an unhealthy amount of beats. Tee was carrying their child? Out of all the things that crossed his mind about Tee's strange behavior, it never occurred to him that his omega was carrying their child.

"What?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yes," Tee confirmed.

Kai smiled at the confirmation, a twisted, wicked ugly thing.

This was what he wanted — this was great — this was blissful music to his cold, dark soul.

You see, since he had marked Tee, he'd been trying to fuck a baby into him, and he'd been angry — delirious, even, when Tee wasn't showing any signs of pregnancy. Everything about this news was perfect — he was finally going to get a stable family, and he no longer had to worry about Tee finding out he had killed the old hag. Even if someday in the future Tee found out, what could the omega do? He couldn't do anything! Now, Tee wouldn't think about ever leaving him. And a child... He was going to be a Papa. The word Papa sounded foreign on his tongue, and it didn't help with how much he despised children — hated them with a passion. No matter; Kai would learn to love the little demon growing inside Tee's stomach. Yes — of course. Anything for Tee, anything for his newfound family.

"Kai," Tee spoke once more, snapping Kai out of his thoughts. "I — I wasn't sure at first. I didn't know how to tell you. It's —"

Quickly, Kai shuffled over to Tee, cupping his fat, chubby cheeks before kissing him on his dimple, on his nose — his pouty lips, his big doe eyes, and his scrunched-up forehead.

Tee must've been startled by Kais' quick movements because the alpha could sense Tee's breathing picking up; the omega turned oddly sweaty, and his lips slightly trembled too.

If it was some other time, Kai might've been concerned about Tee's behavior. The idea of them creating a family — a real family — clouded his rational thoughts though. And so, he whispered into Tee's ear, "Thank you, thank you," he said with sincerity after he cradled Tee's head against his chest, ignoring the neverending tremble igniting deep from Tee's bones.

Finally, he was reclaiming the family he had lost.

____________________________________

As Tee stared out the window at noontime, he caught a glimpse of Kai approaching the cottage gates with a bunch of purple perennials in one hand and the basket in another. The sight of his alpha smiling at himself made him shed a single tear. He wiped at it quickly, though, and went back to emptying the pot of boiling water in two cups with trembling fingers.

Since Tee returned from the dark forest, he viewed his alpha differently, as though his alpha might've been an outsider who slept on his mattress. Or a great trickster, perhaps.

To Tee , these days Kai looked like... Well like Kai, with his cunning smile, and with his gleaming, sometimes soulless eyes. His slightly overgrown hair, and his half-unbuttoned top. He looked like Kai. Yet, he... He looked like somebody else — somebody rotten and unforgiving. He talked like Kai too. All sinful, unfiltered — sometimes he whispered charming words into Tee's ears. Regardless, it did not matter because it always seemed as though someone else was speaking. It made Tee nervous; it made him unhappy. It made him a lair.

Tee never thought of himself as a liar. Yet, he told the biggest, most wrongful lie to Kai. And although he knew Kai was an immoral, deceitful alpha, he could not stop his heart from aching from the lie he told, nor from the dreadful act he was about to commit.

He didn't mean to lie — really, he didn't. Yet, when Kai questioned him yesterday with those angry eyes, Tee felt as though he was being choked by Kai's stare alone, and panicked before he blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

I'm carrying our child, he had said with not an ounce of guilt.

It was an awful lie, one which would surely crush Kai's spirit if he ever found out the truth. Still, Tee had no intention of telling his alpha. Why should he? Kai would be dead anyway.

Yes, dead.

Tee shed another tear at the realization.

In his heart, he greatly despised the thought of killing Kai; his alpha, his supposedly lifelong companion. His heart ached at the betrayal, though. A part of him wished this was merely a strange nightmare — that Kai wasn't a bastard who murdered his grandmother.

Kai...

What a wicked thing the alpha had done. Tee only wished to know what might've possessed his alpha to do such wrongfulness.

Seconds before the front door creaked open to Kai's damning footsteps, Tee took in a deep breath and withdrew a heavy account of nerium oleander from his pocket; dunking the poison into the cup of lemongrass tea he had brewed for his beloved alpha...

Tee only hoped Kai might somehow find in his dishonest heart to forgive him before he died.

Kai stood by the front door, staring at the purple perennials wrapped around his fingers before his lips twitched into a light smile.

At one point in time, he despised smiling. Just the thought made him want to throw up in his mouth. It ruined his icy face and made him appear soft, fragile — a weakling. Kai wasn't any of those things. He was a dangerous predator alpha, more powerful than most alphas and more immoral than evilness itself. However that didn't mean he never smiled before.

On the contrary, when he was a child, maybe five or six, he smiled and laughed an awful lot whenever he played with Macau. He did so in secret whenever his Papa, a vulgar alpha, wasn't around to unleash his unwarranted rage on Kai. At the time Macau was only a baby, so Papa never raised his hands on him. When Macau turned five, though. Well... It wasn't shameful to admit when he grew up to despise his Papa with the same effort he yearned for the man's approval. There was also no doubt he had his Papa's temper; his cunningness too.

All in all, he used to smile.

However, it changed one day when Macau spiraled out of control and took his life.

That was the day he stopped smiling. That was the day he killed his own Papa, too — butchered the older alpha in a nasty way.

Since then Kai never thought he could smile again — he never desired to, either. He went on his days, snarling at everyone and everything. He had thought about growing old and dying alone in the dark forest. Then a prey omega appeared in his life and stopped his thoughts altogether.

The bunny omega with his adorable poofy white ears, his big doe eyes, and his gentle nature had somehow managed to return Kai's smile.

Tee brought back happiness into Kai's life and made him feel whole. In fact, Tee was his happiness. Tee stole his whole heart. He had also done an excellent job at corrupting Kai's mind. Nevertheless, he was faultless. He was absolutely perfect. And despite Kai often frowned at the thought of becoming a Papa much like his own, he was sure their child — whatever gender the little demon spawn came out as — would be almost as perfect as Tee too.

Kai pushed the door open.

"Tee, baby?" he announced. Tee was standing next to the cooking area in the kitchen when he turned to look at Kai, his face unnervingly expressionless. He paid it no mind. Instead, his smile deepened as he walked over to his omega. "I have something for you," he said, settling the basket of berries on the floor before removing the hand behind his back to reveal the perennials. Tee did not seem surprised; it did nothing to dampen Kai's spirit, though. "I picked them near the dark forest... They're your grandma's favorite, right?"

At the mention of Tee's grandmother, the omega froze, and his eyes dilated. "Yes," he answered, smiling stiffly before collecting the flowers. "Yes, they are. Thank you."

"I'll pick more for you tomorrow," Kai promised.

For a passing second, Tee ignored Kai, his eyes trained on the perennials, seemingly reminiscing about a time in the past before he finally spoke. "I made tea. Your favorite," he said. "You should... You should have a seat. I'll bring it to you."

Kai said nothing. Instead, he let out a pleased humming sound and kissed Tee on his forehead before he left to sit on the floors in the opposite direction, straight across the cottage where they usually spent their days eating their meals.

There, Kai picked up a poetry book from beside him and worked his fingers through the crusty pages while he waited with patience with an almost invisible, crooked smile.

____________________________________

It was rather difficult to see how Tee's mere words were enough to disarm Kai in whatever situation it might be and stopped his thoughts from doing any sort of thinking. Such a gift was a dangerous tool, and sometimes it disturbed Kai. What choking grip Tee had around his throat, and he sometimes wondered if Tee only knew the power he possessed — and if he did know, what would he do with such great force?

Right now was one such time where Kai felt powerless and disarmed, yet he didn't understand what was troubling him.

Something seemed incredibly strange, though. Something unreadable appeared on Tee's face as he glanced out the window from where he sat the opposite of Kai, neglecting his tea till it turned cold. His eyes bore nothingness and an abundance of plenty of puzzling questions at the same time. And although Kai did not know what it was, while he sipped on his own tea, ignoring the odd, unfamiliar taste it carried, he concluded a theory.

It must've been Tee's rising hormones, he settled on.

He knew omegas had them when they were carrying a child, so he knew not to fret over such a trivial matter.

"Do you like it?" Tee spoke, breaking the silence between them; his eyes never strayed from outside, though.

Kai cleared his throat and sat his book down. "Yes," he said. And indeed, it tasted pleasant... Yet oddly unsettling, nonetheless. "It's strange though. What is it?"

"Kai, there's something I have to ask you... And I want you to be honest with me, okay?" Tee stated when some time passed, ignoring Kai's question.

"Mm?" Kai hummed, titling the cup to his lips.

"Did you kill Grandma?" Tee asked.

The question and the accusation which came along with it appeared suddenly and quite unexpected, rendering Kai motionless at the mention of the wretched witch who stopped him from having Tee earlier.

Instantly, the cup slipped from his fingers like honey — he could not believe his ears. How was it possible that Tee had somehow found out? He thought he had hidden it well...

Kai kept his face stone-like, despite his heart racing in his chest, making him feel lesser, perhaps cowardly. "Why would you? — Of course not," he said, calming his voice to fringe innocence. "Why would you think that I —"

"You're lying through your teeth," Tee said in a sharp tone, finally giving Kai his attention. "Just answer the question."

Tee looked angry. No... No amount of anger was enough to describe the madness flowing through his eyes. He was ravenous yet calm, both were equally deadly combinations and ones Kai had never seen before in anyone other than himself.

If it was another time, Kai would've been touched with pride to see his omega demonstrating such venom in his stare. It was not another time, though, and Tee directed this hatred toward him. It was undeniably unacceptable.

"Tee —"

"Did you poison my Grandma?" Tee raised the question a second time; his voice never quivered, and it remained calm.

"Tee..." Kai rubbed his temple as a lightness suddenly washed over him. It was a flashing thing, so he quickly recovered. "Let's just talk about this, okay?" he said. "I can explain better if we just —"

Tee sprang to his feet in one quick motion, his fists curled painfully tight as he glared down upon Kai, looking mean and broken. "What is there to explain — you killed her!" he yelled, trembling in his stance. "Just say you killed her!"

The sight of saddened tears falling from Tee's eyes put a seizing and unrelenting pain inside Kai's heart. And it was then he realized he needed to be reasonable, perhaps more understanding since this was his wrongdoing. If he raised his voice and lashed out — snarl, and acted recklessly, he might unintentionally harm Tee and their child.

When the wolf inside his head threatened to reveal itself, wanting to put Tee in his place for his blatant disrespect, Kai inhaled and cleared his thoughts. This time, he needed to be rational for Tee, and their little demon baby.

"I..." He spoke. "Tee... Listen to me. At the time, I didn't realize what —"

Tee slapped him hard across the face, and although Kai knew he deserved it, he couldn't stop a warning growl from bubbling up his throat.

He would not be disrespected.

Kai was fully ready to pounce on Tee and put the omega in chains if he had to, but when he cried again, sobbing, and heaving, Kai could not bring himself to move.

"You lied to me. All this time — you lied to me!" Tee cried. "You knew me long before I went into the dark forest too, didn't you? Your scent was stinking up my room long before I met you! I just didn't — I didn't want to believe it at first — I thought I was losing my mind. When I saw the poison flower in grandma's herbs... And then... I saw the same thing in your backyard — how could you?"

Shit, Kai mentally cursed. He had completely forgotten to burn the bloody tree.

When Kai was about to speak, the words were incredibly difficult to form, and he felt embolized, his body seized with weakness, and it seemed as though an invisible string was wrapped around his neck, choking him. His flesh turned feverish, and the hairs on his arms rose while his lips and his temple, and his veins throbbed. His head became heavier, too; weighing him down as though he weighed a ton. It was an unnatural feeling to experience...He could not breathe.

"Tee, I — I... I can't..." Kai snatched at his chest, gripping the loose cloth fabric as if it were the cause of his suffocation. "Tee," he choked, raising an arm for his omega to take — to help. When the omega remained unmoving, looking at him with fake bravery, realization drew on Kai, and immediately his wide eyes found Tee's. "What did you do?!" he snarled in Tee's direction.

Tee took a cautious step back.

He tried to show he did not care for Kai's struggles; his face betrayed him greatly though. He seemed deeply pained with his ears flattened, and lips wobbling. His eyes were coated in tears, too — and shoulders hunched over, making him appear pathetic and fragile, although he was not.

"Do you like it, Kai?" he asked in a forced cunning tone.

Kai choked before gasping. "What did you do?!" he yelled, gritting his teeth as he attempted to stand up, and found he could not. "Dammit Tee — what the hell did you give to me?!" Kai roared.

Tee was still in tears when he answered, "I just give you the same thing you used to kill my Grandma — how do you like it?!"

Kai's eyes doubled in disbelief. "You... You poisoned me?"

As Kai struggled to sit upright, a part of him refused to believe his darling omega could be this cruel. He was the cruel one — he was the bastard who murdered and feasted off skin and bones and blood and cries. Tee was a sweet angel who liked pain and torture under the sheets, an angel nonetheless. Tee was an anchor to Kai's demons. Tee could never be cruel — should never be.

Yet, looking back, Tee was, in a sense... Kai'svery own creation.

Kai had driven his omega to madness. Whatever Tee was feeling — whatever conflicting emotions he had stifling him was because of Kai's doings.

Unable to sit upright, Kai collapses on the floor.

Tee whined upon seeing Kai struggling, and his instincts kicked in before he inched forth with an outstretched arm to comfort his alpha. However, when realization drew on him, he quickly snapped out of his trance and backed away again.

"I didn't want to do this — but you left me with no choice!" Tee argued despite his trembling voice.

"I'm sorry," Kai said. "I wasn't thinking clearly. I just wanted the old witch dead, I was —"

"Dammit Kai— stop calling Grandma a witch," Tee bit back. "And I don't care if you're sorry. Your sorry won't bring her back, you bastard!"

And then Tee started sobbing again.

The omega's entire body shuddered with tears and snot running down his face. He looked so delicate, so breakable. Kai had done this to him. He had ruined his love — stomped on the trust Tee had for him; caused him misery after he vowed to protect him and keep him safe. Now Kai couldn't help the regret from appearing. Would Tee ever forgive him? Probably not...

If Kai could only go back in time, he would've spared the old lady's ridiculous life. He would've done things differently.

"Tee," he spoke in a hoarse tone. "Tee — You need to relax... The baby — our baby is going to —"

"There is no baby," Tee hissed with venom on his tongue.

At that, Kai's heart stilled.

"What?" he asked, wishing it was a lie — that Tee was only angry so he spoke lies.

"I lied to you — there is no baby!"

Little demon or not, Kai wanted a child.

In an instant, Kai's face hardened like steel while he stared at Tee with creeping destruction. Foolish, foolish Tee did not flinch, though. He was too brave, too angry for his own good that he couldn't see the dark glint flashing in Kai's eyes! He couldn't see Kai was losing his sanity by the second because if he did... If he did, he would've dropped to his knees in submission and bared his neck and begged Kai for forgiveness like a good omega he ought to be.

"Tee... How could you?" He hissed.

Tee's face morphed into something questioning and sad and angry in the span of seconds. "How could I?" he asked hysterically, pointing a finger at himself. "How could you?"

Kai knitted his eyebrows and gritted his teeth. He did not want to harm his omega — but if Tee believed he could deftly Kai and get away with it, he was damn wrong! He would cower to Tee no more! He would learn who was the alpha. He needed to remind Tee who he once was — who he still was.

"You know..." Kai sank his claws into the floorboards, peeling the wood to shreds. Right now he wanted nothing more than to wrap his fingers around Tee's neck — watch him choke and beg. "I was going to be good to you," he said, glaring at his disobedient omega before his lips etched into a sinful smile. "I was going to forgive you for poisoning me..."

This seemed to get Tee's attention, and his body unintentionally stiffened from where he stood. "What the hell are you talking about?" he asked, barely above a whisper.

Good.

Tee should be afraid. He should be afraid because Kai was going to make him pay for deceiving him!

If only Kai hadn't already given his whole self over to Tee, he would've laughed in the omega's face for his ignorance before he snatched his heart out and fed it to him.

Kai chuckled at his own sick joke.

"Tee," he said in a dangerously low tone. "Don't you know what I am?!" He stopped talking to look at Tee. The omega glowed more beautifully when he was confused and in fear — when he was questioning Kai's intentions. Kai tried to practice some sort of restraint, but his voice came out taunting. "I drink blood and eat people's hearts for dinner... Don't you know I can't be killed so easily?!... Nerium oleander can't kill me." He chuckled more, humorless and taunting.

It was true.

The poison might have been powerful. It might have put ease to Kai's abilities — might have weakened him and made him dizzy. However, he was a damning force to be reckoned with; he could not die because of it.

"I... Kai, I don't understand," Tee sniffled as he took another step back. "What..."

"You don't understand," Kai repeated in a mocking tone before he slammed a fist against the floorboards, causing it to quake. "You will understand soon enough!" he raged on.

Tee flinched back and his lips trembled as he stared at his alpha with frightened eyes. For a long time, he seemed to be contemplating, making decisions, and answering questions in that frail mind of his. Kai craved to know what he was thinking before he could open his mouth though, his omega took two steps back and sped away with long strides over to their shared bedroom, leaving Kai in a state of confusion.

The noises: the shuffling and the tumbling that came from their room were irritating to Kai's ears. Mainly because he didn't know what his omega was doing — what sort of dumb plan he had up his sleeve. Was Tee planning on killing him in a crueler way? Bash his head into the walls? Perhaps slice his throat? Or perhaps a more merciful death where Tee would simply cut his wrist and watch him bleed to death? Kai's jaw ticked, and he gritted his teeth while he lay helpless on the floor.

He could only listen and wait for Tee to come back out.

It felt like an eternity before Tee came out; he had his red cloak on and his face was wiped from any tears. The only indication he'd been crying came from the redness consuming his pale skin. Tee had a heavy sack strung over his shoulder with him, weighing him down the slightest. He did not spare Kai a glance either.

"Tee?" Kai forced himself to sit upright again despite how badly his bones pricked at his flesh. He managed to brace his back against the foot of a rocking chair, watching Tee rushing over to the kitchen and rummaging through the cupboards. "What are you doing?"

When Tee ignored him while he filled his basket with leftover meals and dried meat, a sinking feeling coiled in the wolf's stomach.

"Dammit — fucking answer me!" Kai yelled, hating at the amount of desperation dripping from his tongue.

When Tee's watery eyes reached him for a passing second, Kai's breath hitched. He knew what was happening — he knew what Tee was going to do... Tee was not going to kill him. He was going to do something worse. He was going to leave. No. Tee could not just up and leave him! Kai made another pathetic attempt at getting up. He gripped the chair leg, hoisting himself off the floor. However, his legs were too weak, so he slid back down.

"Cruelty does not suit you," Kai bit out, digging his claws into the floor.

Tee stepped out of the kitchen and despite his eyes being filled with sadness, he glared daggers into Kai's core. "How do you know what suits me?" he accused, tightening his fingers on the basket handle.

"Because I know you!" Kai barked in fury, his entire body vibrating. "You are no monster... You are not me."

Tee stood in silence for a minute, slowly hunching in on himself. "You're right," he concluded in a soft voice. "I am no monster... I am not you... That's why I'm leaving."

Kai's body went numb; seized with weakness. He couldn't express this feeling. If he could put a word to it, he might use a simple one as hopelessness. He barely had the energy to hold up the damn book he'd been reading moments ago, and Tee's confession only seemed to weaken his bones further. Right now he didn't know what to do. He didn't know how he could stop Tee from leaving.

He was such a hard-headed omega.

Did he not know about the dangers lurking on the outside? How could Kai protect him once he left? What if someone harmed him — what foolishness was Tee thinking?!

"Tee, be serious," Kai said. He could feel his mask slipping, revealing the wicked wolf inside him. Any minute he would explode, and he would snarl — he just wanted to sink his canines into Tee's pretty neck and put him in his place. "Where will you go?" he went on, pining Tee in place with his gaze. "Who will take care of you? You've never been on your own — you don't know what it's like out there. Tee?" Tee ignored him. Instead, he just looked on with somber eyes, contemplating stupid thoughts in his stupid head. "I'm asking you a question!" Kai growled, irritated at the lack of response. "Answer me!!"

"You deserve this," Tee said before he sucked in a deep breath. "And... And I'm afraid of you. I'm afraid you're going to kill me."

Kai furrowed his eyebrows at Tee's ridiculous statement.

Kill him?

Never.

Kai might chain him to the cottage floors, and stuff his tight hole full of cock and come every day to remind the wayward omega to whom he belonged — to remind him of the consequence of lying to Kai. He could never kill his precious Tee, though. He would rather rip out his own heart than kill Tee.

"Don't you know I'll never hurt you?" Kai said. "You said it yourself. Remember?... Tee?... Baby? — I'm sorry."

"That was when I thought you were someone else," Tee said in a monotone. "Now I don't know who you are anymore."

Then Tee went for the front door with the swell of fresh tears threatening to spill from his eyes, and Kai's body went ice-cold.

"Wait," Kai pleaded. "Stay... Tee, stay. Don't you know that I'll never hurt you?... Baby?"

Yet, no amount of pleading affected Tee.

This time with great difficulty, Kai gripped the chair arm and lifted his weak body. And though his legs wobbled, the room spinning and Tee's face blurring, he stood straight, unmoving.

When Tee's steps went reaching for the door, Kai pushed himself to move forth. He took the first two steps; on the third, his legs gave out and he dropped to the floor, groaning in frustration.

"Please come to me," he cried desperately, shedding frustrated tears. "Let's talk, okay? ... Tee?... Come here... Tee?... Tee!"

Kai did not know what to do — he was trying — losing his dignity over Tee — begging like some lowly rejected alpha. Tee was too stubborn!

Tee stopped in front of the door. "I'm sorry," he mumbled without looking over his shoulder.

Tee sounded sincere, and Kai's face gleamed with hope — he'd truly believe Tee had changed his mind. Tee wasn't going to leave him — Tee loved him. Tee wouldn't abandon him.

The smile on Kai's lips went as quickly as it appeared when Tee opened the door and took a step foot outside.

This was it; Tee was leaving.

Kai gasped for air on the floor like a dying, drowning man.

What was there to do?

Make him stay, Kai; the wicked wolf inside of his chimed. Put him in his place. Let him know to whom he belongs ... Bare his neck and mark him again... Taste his blood and put him in chains.

It seemed to be the only logical thing to do, and before Kai could come up with a sane conclusion, his eyes blackened, and he growled with a deep, terrifying sound. "TEE?!" he commanded, baring his sharp canines. "DON'T YOU DARE LEAVE ME!"

It might've been a million sensations flooding through Tee's body, yet Kai didn't bother to read them. However, when Tee stiffened, his expression genuinely pained, seemingly taken aback by Kai's alpha's command, Kai's heart stung a little as he recalled the promise that he made many moons ago.

He had promised he would never use the command on Tee again after the first time. What a lie... He was full of lies and deception. He did not feel quilted, not anymore. In fact, he let loose a humorless laugh because Tee had no choice but to stay.

Any minute now Tee would close the door and return to Kai.

Any minute.

None of that happened, though.

The one thing that should've worked failed Kai in his time of need. It was because of the damn poison, he blamed. It weakened his body and made him fragile. He was nothing anymore. Perhaps useless, like how his Papa would always say.

Kai gritted his teeth; he couldn't wait to recover; he couldn't wait to teach his disobedient omega a lesson he would never forget!

Tee turned around, his eyes wide with tears. He opened and closed his mouth one too many times before he spoke; "Why did you — never mind... I have to go."

Tee's words were like a sore; they struck Kai in the wrong way; caused his heart great pain and made him choke on nothing.

"Wait — Stop...Tee! Baby?... Don't you dare walk out that door!" the words tumbled out of Kai's mouth with desperation before turning demonic-sounding; mean and angry. "I SAID COME BACK HERE! TEE?!!"

This time Kai dug his claws into the floorboards and tried to crawl over to Tee despite his weak hands and knees.

He knew he must've looked pathetic, yet he did not care. The only thing he truly cared about was Tee — his teeth on Tee's throat, to be more precise.

Tee's body froze as panic pooled in his eyes the closer Kai came into his reach; looking possessed with soulless eyes and a sour face. And just when Kai thought he would be able to grab Tee by the ankle and drag his disobedient mate to the floors alongside him, Tee spoke: "Goodbye Kai," his quivering, deceitful lips said before he was out of the door, running away... Leaving.

No! The wolf inside Kai growled, deep and deafening before completely taking over.

"Where do you think you're going?" Kai yelled in a demonic voice, trashing on the floor to get up. "Dammit, Tee! I will find you — YOU HEAR ME?!" Kai didn't want this — he didn't want to lose control like this. If he managed to get up, he might really cause Tee bodily harm — he might do something he would regret. He might kill Tee... So he fought with his thoughts, trying to get back some sanity. It refused to return, though. He wanted Tee to suffer — like how Tee made him suffer.

"YOU CAN'T RUN AWAY FROM ME!" Kai snarled. "I WILL FIND YOU AND DRAG YOU BACK HERE IF I HAVE TO!! TEE!?!?!"

____________________________________

Lonesomeness: Tee could not imagine the emptiness of it. Kai had known lonesomeness as though it might've been a second skin. It lived with him for a long time, stretching over the years. It dug a hole inside him. However, when Tee came into his life, he took it away — he filled the hole with warmth, love, and an abundance of joy. Now that he was gone, running away while Kai withered on the floor; Kai could feel the nothingness, the emptiness returning once more. It felt cold, a numbing sensation he could not shed...

Soon, an hour went by with Kai on the floor, his eyes fighting to keep open, and his breathing barely there. With his weakened body screaming to shut down, Kai felt the most powerless and hopeless he'd ever felt in his life. All he craved was his perfect Tee...

Kai finally closed his eyes.

Tee was so perfect. Whenever Kai do find him, he would wipe that perfectness off Tee. He would kiss it away from him until Tee turned imperfect. A mess — a measly little thing Kai could pick apart with his fingers and toy with. Then he would kill Tee.

Yes...

Tee could run — it was in his nature, embedded in his bones like a coward. The prey hybrid could not hide, though. He could never hide from his alpha... And when Kai did find him, he would kiss Tee with his venomous tongue; ruin his soft pink lips, and then he would sink his teeth into Tee's pretty neck and snatch his soul until he was no more.