Legoshi tracked Haru's scent through the building. It was emanating from one room. He could practically see the scent flowing from under the door. It called to him and he was drawn to it. The flowery scent enticed him to grab the handle and try turning it. The knob didn't budge so he forced it. Driven by furious rage, and the powerful canine instinct to save and protect his wife at all costs, he twisted the handle with all his might and felt the metal twist, bend, and warp. In one sudden motion, the metal snapped and the handle was torn off. The deadbolt was still an issue. With all his strength he kicked all his wight into the door, which snapped open, swinging on the hinges and slamming on the adjacent wall. He grabbed it with his claw on the rebound and stepped into the dark room. The light from the hallway streamed in and he saw Haru, strapped to a table with a needle in her arm. It was just dripping blood onto the floor.
"Haru!" he shouted.
He rushed to her side and carefully pulled out the needle, pressing his thumb on the wound to stop the bleeding. She groaned weakly in pain, not really registering he was there. Just that someone had taken the needle out of her arm. He held his ear to her chest and listened closely. She was barely breathing and her heartbeat was weak. He needed to get her to a hospital as soon as possible.
"It's okay," he whispered to her. "I've got you. You're okay. You're safe."
He unstrapped her from the table and picked her up in his arms. She hung limply and he kept his thumb on the needle wound. Though she most likely couldn't feel it, he held her as close and as tightly as he could and kissed her on the head. Cradling her he turned to the door.
It all happened so fast. A blur from the shadows in the corner of his vision as someone grabbed him from behind in a sort of back hug. He felt a searing pain as their claws sunk in and raked across the flesh of his stomach and chest. The weakened skin of his old scars opened up and he collapsed to his knees, doing his best to keep Haru safe and close to himself as he grabbed the stomach wound with his other, keeping it closed as best he could. He cradled his wife with one arm, applying as much pressure as he could to the worse wound. The slash to his stomach was deeper than his chest wound and the blood was hot, much more serious than Haru's, but he wouldn't let her lose another drop. He held his wife close and scootched them both to a nearby cabinet, propping himself up against it as he gasped for breath.
"Forgot I had claws now right?" Melon asked from the shadows. "Good. I wanted to surprise you."
The hybrid walked to the open door and closed it, shutting off the only light source for the room. Legoshi watched with his predatory night vision as Melon took a pot and used it to prop the door closed. Damn the gashes in his stomach were deeper than he thought. It hurt like fucking hell and he was still bleeding. He felt he would open up the gash even more if he dared to move and he dared not. So he sat as still as he could, cradling Haru in a steadily growing pool of his own blood.
Melon turned on a hanging overhead lightbulb and stood there, staring down at the married wolf and rabbit. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and just stared.
"What was your plan?" Melon asked. "Jump in, save your wife, kill me, and leave?"
Legoshi just looked up as the pain from exposed nerves started to make him spasm. Damn, Melon had gotten in good.
"You were going to deny me my life," Melon stated. "Help the serial killer with his master plan in bringing all of us down?"
Legoshi's mind switched to hostage survival mode. The blood loss was happening faster than he thought and it was making him delirious, but he had to keep his head. He was going to do or say anything that would most likely help him walk out of here alive. With Haru.
"No," he said shakily. "I-I-I wasn-I-I di-didn't-wasn't..."
"My freedom then," Melon reasoned. "Would you have taken that from me?"
Legoshi gave in to the pain and sealed his eyes as a wave of pain shot through his gut. He had accidently slipped a finger into one of the wounds and felt his intestines. The claw had nicked that open too, the contents in them slowly seeping into the blood. The wounds in his abdomen were going to go septic.
"Bring me to the police and confine me to a prison cell again?" Melon asked. "I've been there once before. Not a pleasant experience."
Legoshi gasped for air and struggled to keep his eyes open. It burned and he felt like he would vomit, but his body couldn't muster the strength to.
Melon walked from the column of light and squatted down in front of them. Legoshi's eyes were bloodshot as his brain tried to keep as much blood in his head as possible. They began tearing up as he held onto his wife through the cutting, mind intrusive pain. The hybrid smirked and looked down at the floor between them.
"Fate and circumstances seem to keep returning us to this moment," Melon said, using his finger to swirl the blood pool a little. "Right before the teacup shatters. How many times must we cause time to reverse before we get it right? I feel like we are destined to hurt each other forever and ever. Until one of us breaks beyond repair. And we can't do it ourselves. I've tried. One of us will have to kill the other to end this cycle of foolish trust, betrayal and then life threatening pain."
Legoshi shuddered again. He felt cold all of a sudden and Melon looked up at them. The hybrid reached forward and stroked Haru's head. The wolf tried to pull her away but the hybrid grabbed her by the neck and pulled her from his grasp. He let go of the wound on his abdomen and lunged forward to stop him, but his body exploded in pain. He screamed weakly and collapsed in the blood as Melon quickly stood, lifting Haru out of his reach and holding her like a ragdoll. Legoshi curled into a fetal position and grit his teeth. Melon just stood there and watched the wolf's struggles, the rabbit's body hanging limply in his hand. Legoshi looked up just in time to see the hybrid open his mouth as he brought the rabbit up towards his teeth.
"No no no no no no no!!!" the wolf begged, but it did nothing to stop Melon from biting deep into Haru's neck. The blood seeped through his teeth and past his lips, flowing down her body. The hybrid tore the chunk of flesh clean from her body and dropped her to the ground like a piece of discarded meat. Legoshi started sobbing in horror as he crawled through their blood towards his wife, biting his tongue through the physical and emotional trauma. He couldn't even form words when he reached her body and covered the gaping wound in her neck. He just sobbed and choked through everything.
Melon walked over and knelt down next to Legoshi. He swallowed the flesh and looked disappointed. He had been expecting something from the taste of a pure white herbivore but didn't get it.
"You can make it all go away," he said to the writhing wolf.
Legoshi couldn't even look at him.
"Tilt your head back," Melon said, bearing his claws and fangs. "Close your eyes. Wade into the quiet of the night."
Legoshi shut his eyes, but collapsed his throat. Melon frowned and stood. He walked to the door and opened it, light from the outside flooding in. He looked back once more before pulling out a medical mask and placing it over his mouth. He squinted his eyes and turned out to the hallway, closing the door after him and leaving the couple to bleed out in the dark.
Legoshi pulled Haru through the blood closer to himself and pressed onto her neck. The hole was bleeding and it would leave a scar. If she survived. And she had too. Even if he died, she couldn't die. He wouldn't let that happen. He couldn't. Despite the pain, he let go of his own wound and pressed both hands over hers. This sped up his own bleeding but he didn't care. He had a larger body. The two lay there in their pooling, swirling blood, Legoshi pressing on Haru's wound to stop the gushing blood. Their blood mixed, swirling in concoction of scents. It was probably the closest smell Legoshi would get to their unborn child.
His primal instincts kicked in and he saw them grow from the pooling blood.
"Just a bite," they wheezed. "You're going to die if you don't. You need to survive."
The wolf's mouth started salivating, and he opened his mouth ever so slightly. He didn't have enough strength to keep his tongue from lolling from his mouth. he tasted the blood and shut his eyes, dreading the loss of his control. But the taste came, he reflexively lapped it up, and nothing else happened. He opened his eyes and the bloody mess of his darker, carnivorous instinct lay dragging itself through the blood. It gasped for breath before sighing out and dying.
He fought for what felt like hours, but it had only been a minute. He squeezed as tight as he could for a second more, but eventually gave in. His body softened and he melted into the floor. He gave in to the septic shock and the blood loss. He couldn't keep fighting. He was too tired. He closed his eyes and his mouth opened again. Their mixed blood flowed into his mouth and as he tasted themselves mixed together, he had a sudden sense of calm. He saw himself and Haru in his dream, dancing in the meadow paradise, in front of the fountain. And it was nice.