Who Will Falter, Who Will Conquer

Alastor had fully expected Relm to not pursue him. Given how the young fae had behaved in the past, he thought it safe to assume that she would just curl up on herself and remain in her self-imposed isolation from him and the rest of the world. Imagine his surprise when he heard paws running after him, and then suddenly there she was, standing in his path to prevent him from walking away. Obsidian eyes blinked wide with surprise, and for the briefest moment he thought that maybe Relm had a change of heart and had come to reconcile and save what remained of their damaged love. Instead, she simply demanded that he do what he had refused to do to her moments before in the den. Alastor stared hard at Relm. The psycho bitch actually wanted him to hit her!

It took Alastor’s brain a moment to process what she was actually telling him to do, but once he had he leered down at the deranged woman. "Are you actually out of your mind? You want me to strike you?! Have you forgotten what I did to you last time I lost control? What I did to your father?" Alastor growled out between clenched teeth, dark eyes narrowing down upon Relm. He didn't need to see the scars that ran down the length of her back to remember their existence; he would never forget that day for as long as he lived. Was he pissed off at Relm? Yes. Did he believe she deserved some sort of punishment? Yes again. But Manea had told him she would handle things as the alpha and he was to stand aside, so he was doing his damnedest to obey his wife's command, and he sure as hell didn't want to maim Relm in recompense for her trespasses. She was playing with fire and she knew it. That was what upset him the most. She knew his triggers and was trying to provoke him into doing something they'd both regret.

Alastor huffed and shook his head, still trying to wrap his head around Relm's self-destructive behavior. She was acting like he wanted to hurt her, like he wasn't dangerous and she wasn't someone he cared about, like he wanted any of this. Ruby-tipped ears folded back, black lips quivering over barely concealed fangs. Signs of a dangerous predator treading the edge, and a warning she really should be heeding. "Get out of my way, Relm. Go back to your den." His command came out in hard, forced words. If she was perceptive enough, Relm might have even noticed the small quiver of emotion in his gravelly voice. Alastor was using all of his willpower to keep himself in check so he didn't give in to his baser, monstrous behavior. He didn't want to hurt her. But he also wasn't above doing so either.

"Alastor"