Tempting My Trouble

Elias had been through a lot these last few days, to say the least. The new memories all of his travels from his frequent movement from East to West and back all the time were accumulating in the clutter of his mind as he waited in the den, watching Zuriel closely yet still having some trouble focusing on her. Where was the magnetic pull she had on him? He could feel her presence so close to him and he wanted her but he could not focus. No, it wasn't just memories from his recent occurrences around Boreas, memories from even before plumed into the clouded gloom in his brain but he didn't even want to acknowledge those nightmares.

Giving them thought was his own grave mistake as he remembered the brilliant white fur that flowed upon Kat’s nape every time he showered it with lavish attention, and then how brilliant red it became when he had come to his senses again and realized that he had hurt her on their last night together. He had wanted to throw himself into flames for what he had done to her and that sort of guilt didn't go away with time, not for Elias. He would always remember her but he really didn't want to think about that right now. He had to, though. He knew he did. He had to be aware of just how great he had let go of himself before and what had been caught suffering from his apparent craving for destruction.

Because even she wasn't safe.

Elias quietly watched her with his intense sanguine stare when she drew nearer to him. The smell of blood, herbs, and her naturally sweet fragrance flooded his senses all at once and he immediately became attracted to absolutely all of its consistency. It pulled him out of his memories and made the titan curl into her beautiful frame and embrace her, his neck lowering over her own as he brought her closer to his chest. He needed to focus on her and her alone at this moment and the feel of her warmth, her fur and everything about her was the hanging thread keeping him in reality and not the chaos he knew his mind could spurn at any given moment, no matter how much they had meant to him.

He reminded himself that it has been years and he had been so young and endured so much, he had changed. Rubies centering his pale gray face closed shut tight as he pressed his nose into the thick fur along the back of her neck when she lifted up to lick his ear. It nearly made him freeze with how it affected him, sending shocks all across his body in tune with the steady rhythm of his pulse until they would fade. His muscles tensed and then loosened all so quickly, but it was clear that he was feeling anything but relaxed even with her. His nose found the metal of her necklace and it reminded him of he and Aures’ son and the metal beings that they had found together in that field. There were so many of his bastard children that he had found and he silently cursed himself for even having them. That was something he would never admit out loud- but it was such a taboo for his bloodline to live without their young. There was so much power in blood, and theirs was a lineage that was forever a part of Ruina. These children had no idea, even Zuriel barely understood. He had so much to tell her. Could she handle it all? She had performed so fearlessly on Vale and had been so confidently decisive in her decision to leave Lirim that he was nearly beginning to believe she would.

”You did a really important thing for me today, Zuriel.” His eyes opened as he pulled himself from her and looked into her blue toned gaze, she had proved herself to be greater than any healer he had seen, and if Daelos was said to be even better than her….? He felt like he was nearly invincible with his faith in them to keep the pack alive.

”The blood oath you witnessed today- it's a very ancient practice by my family, and when my father expanded our family into a full on militia against the dangers of the jungle- he made every wolf and familiar we recruited take that oath. In our culture, that is big- we took them all into our family… for eternity. My father said it had been too long since our blood has spilled for what gave it life- and I believe he was right. I kept hearing from these new wolves that had become a part of our lifestyle that they were 'finally’ feeling as if they belonged somewhere or like they were a part of something. I felt that way my entire life with my father, so I didn't know what it was like to not feel a drive until I was on my own out here in Boreas. Until I lost everything.” He would likely never reveal the exact details of what he lost, who he lost, and how he had lost them but there was a distant sound to his voice as he spoke indirectly from his mind. He refocused on Zuriel.

”My father made me his heir before he died and I tried when I was younger to lead like he had but I was too inexperienced with too much blood being spilled in my grounds. It hardly was a family at all by the time it was nearly over- but just because I failed in keeping Ruina thriving then does not mean I am not still the heir. It is a lifelong bond, and I will be the Apollyon of Ruina until my life ends.”

He wanted to speak far less with her and simply give in to the feeling of her, but he couldn't. These children would not be bastard children, they would be the next leaders of his kingdom and would need to be brought into this life correctly. The spirits of Ruina needed true homes here within their pack, they needed bodies of their blood and of their devout. ”We call it a Kingdom when we present ourselves to other packs, but there is no King- there is no Queen- there are only demons, so I never understood. I think it is something my people stole from the Kingdoms they tore apart and enslaved, something they adapted to as means to blend in.” He suppressed the urge to growl as he was forced to admit the nature of his people, of the possibility of revealing the true horrors they were capable of and scaring her away. His mind was reeling and his emotions beginning to bubble up beneath his skin, threatening to melt him down until he succumbed.

His eyes glimmered in the soft light they caught briefly when he turned his head to the den entrance behind him, suddenly becoming a strange and eerie calm once again while he refocused. Their den had taken incredible work to clear- it was grand in comparison to the one his parents birthed him in. The walls could easily fit a group of ten adults the size of him, though most of the space had occurred naturally in the side of the mountain- he had just been lucky enough to discover it. Their new, grand home took only minor demolition and cleaning to preen for their arrival. He admired it, though his gaze seemed to set on two drying mountain goat hides from the days he had spent here working on it.

”You should probably know your calling now if you are to stay like you promised, Zuriel. Before you help me any further.” For as much as he loved her and wanted her to be comfortable, there was almost no amount of grace that could keep his words from feeling hauntingly ominous even to himself with the more he revealed. ”The mate of the Apollyon is The Demon Mother, and when you say legendary you have no idea just how old these legends are.”

He took a step in front of the entrance, shadowing her from the gentle light the overcast sky outside provided, though it was temporary as he kept moving and the light once again blessed her hallowed being. His left side had been presented to her as he began to circle her very slowly and calmly while he looked her over, secretly trying to keep himself busy as leaning against her was making it hard not to give into his craving to devour her before what was necessary was taken care of.