His dark voice trails down her spine, lighting a path of desire that renders her breathless. "If only I were in a position of no consequence."
Alia's breath wavers when the pad of his thumb slowly glides across her bottom lip.
"Then I could give in...
Crunch. Brittle leaves break underneath the weight of a creature and Valen's eyes snap over to the sound.
But before he can visualise the being, a cold sensation brushes against his left bicep. His mind rushes back to his environment, body recoiling from the touch. His right hand has already found itself covering the exposed skin, and his eyes are wide as his body shakes at the resurfacing memories that spiral into his consciousness. Within the span of a second, thousands of memories flash through his mind, all depicting different times when the skin was brutalised.
A furious, roaring voice fills the hall.
Valen only catches the end of a sentence, mind frazzled at the resurgence of parts of his fractured past.
"-all killed!"
Blades slice the skin, stabbing, slicing, peeling, burning, and it makesValen's breathing turn faster, heavier, and his eyes eventually become alight with rage.
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Frozen in front of the wall, Alia is wide-eyed as she watches the scene play out in front of her. Her Gamma has a woman's throat in his clawed grip, canines elongated and expression livid.
"You fool!" Christian roars, the brunette suffocating in his hold. "You could have gotten us all killed!"
What happened? Alia's eyes dart to Valen. What did she do?
With a hand on his left bicep, Valen is glaring at the space in front of him with an expression of pure, murderous rage. His breathing is rough, chest rising and falling at a quickening pace.
Alarm bells ring out inside her head. It's a warning, Alia realises. A warning of oncoming destruction. Gamma Christian's words and actions cause uneasiness to grace the pit of Alia's stomach, and her eyes flicker between the exit and Valen. Should she leave?
"Valen!" Christian shouts, demanding obedience. "Calm yourself!"
Like a switch, Valen normalises his erratic breathing, calming his primal instincts from breaking through his ordinarily composed self. His eyes, however, burn with hatred. The true nature of his thoughts remaining unhidden.
Did the girl... touch him?
Alia shakes her head in disbelief, remembering what Valen told her in the forest - his rules.
Mind. Home. Touch.
All off-limits.
Surely not, Alia doubts, trying to convince herself on the matter. Surely the girl couldn't have been that stupid?
