A Love Like War

Alastor didn't know how Manea would react to the revelation of his antics with Relm, but he had a vague idea. When he saw his wife's body go rigid and her hackles raise, he knew what sort of response he was about to get. Several long moments passed where neither wolf said nor did anything, both remaining stock still, save for Manea's subtle quivers of rage. Alastor had expected anger, but when the violet fae turned back towards him after some time, he saw a barely contained rage held within the dire fae's aqua eyes. Though her expression did its best to remain stony and impassive, Alastor already knew that Manea had chose violence. She stalked towards him like a predator, practically growling out words dripping with vitriol while she questioned if fucking Relm had felt good while she was working herself to the bone while carrying their children. Alastor's obsidian eyes narrowed some; the brute very nearly commented back about this being exactly why Manea needed to stop working through her pregnancy, but decided to be smart for once and held his tongue. Tight-lipped, Alastor simply held Manea's furious gaze, completely unfazed by her snarl. He didn't fear her—he never would. There was nothing Alastor feared, not even death, and if his doom was to be handled out by the Mendacium matriarch and his better half, then he was ready for the embrace of sweet oblivion.

Manea lunged for him with a vicious snarl, and for once Alastor did nothing to defend himself. He took the brunt of her attack, allowing himself to get rolled onto his back beneath his enraged mate. What choice did he have though? Fight back and risk harming his children? The very notion was inconceivable to the demon wolf. So he took her attack, took her pushing him to the ground and straddling his prone body. Were he not in such a dishonorable state and Manea so violently furious, this would have been pretty damn arousing. Ah, who the hell was he kidding? This was still arousing to the demented brute. But any lecherous thoughts or feelings this position would have provoked in him were overshadowed by impassive emptiness as one of Manea's massive leonine paws pressed down on his windpipe with all her might, choking him to the point where he couldn't even gasp or wheeze. Alastor's body jerked as it fought reflexively for air, strangled sputters and convulsions of his throat in her paw the only sort of resistance she got from him. Through her vise-like grip, he could feel his wife's anger, her hate, her scorn and her pain. It wasn't unjustly deserved, not in the least. Alastor was reaping his just desserts for telling her the truth of his transgression.

While Manea brought her muzzle to whisper a deadly quiet threat into his ear, Alastor choked and sputtered again, feeling his lungs draw tight as they filled with carbon dioxide and spasmed for breath. A tighter squeeze around his throat cut off his blood flow entirely, causing a sudden head rush of dizziness. Alastor's mouth fell open in a silent and breathless gasp, black eyes staring blankly up at the ceiling of the cave. Suffocation always seemed like such an awful way to go—unless it was in an erotic way. This wasn't the case however, and Al found himself wishing Manea would just rip his throat out and be done with it already. Darkness began to creep in on Alastor's vision, but he still couldn't fight back. He glanced down at the swollen belly of his mate, thinking of the little lives growing within. He couldn't—he just couldn't. Not even if it cost him his own life. Thankfully, just before he slipped out of consciousness, Manea relaxed her grip just enough for Alastor to swallow a few deep breaths, coughing to soothe his burning lungs. Manea demanded to know what Relm was to him, an excellent question, even of himself. "She's under my protection," he said back with a subtle growl in his deep tones, words broken apart by heavy breaths. "She's someone I care about. Like Kichi. Like Sera." Granted, he wasn't sleeping with Kichi or Seraphina, but the intent was still the same. The wolves he cared about were under his protection for as long as they lived. Relm was no different in that regard. But if she was asking if Relm was a romantic interest... "I don't care for her like that."

"Alastor Mendacium"