The Touch of Demise │18+

30: The Seutis

DEMISE

Grace knew Demise was behind her as she fled from the castle. In the bare cold, she raced out the door, Goliath jumping from the balcony above to join them on a run. She stopped to judge how tired she was. 

"Grace, don't over do it."

She smiled at Demise. 

"What's going on?"

She looked at Goliath. "How fast are you?"

He cocked his head with a raised eyebrow, the challenge immediately intriguing him. "Fast."

She bit her lip with a grin and then looked at Demise. "And you?"

Demise didn't bother to answer because everyone knew that he was the fastest of all of them. She looked up above her at the branches above her. The lower portion of the great pines was bare with vibrant canopy yards above her. Her eyesight focused on a singular snowflake rolling down from the sky, glistening. She watched its shape morph into crystals and then part into other snowflakes. 

She hadn't shifted in years. She'd only ever shifted once and it was the most painful experience of her life. Since the first time she hadn't been able to and she was always warned that she shouldn't considering how sick she was. But now...now she felt great.

So she lept up. She didn't shift. She wanted to climb. The claws from her hands dug into the pine and helped her up the length of the tree. She stood on a branch, looking down at the other men. 

"Since when are you able to do that?"

She smiled at Goliath. "Coming?"

She felt the tree shake under her as the men joined her in her climb. She jumped to the next tree and then the next. She laughed, loudly. She'd never felt so free. She found the highest tree she could, stood on the highest branch, turned around, and then fell off. Halfway through her fall, she transitioned and it was much easier than the first time. 

She fell on her paws with a thud. 

"Grace."

She looked up to see her mate still on the tree. 

"Don't ever do that again. I almost had a heart attack."

"She acts like a pup," Goliath said. "But she's larger than I would have expected. She has the sizing of a prima, Demise."

Demise nodded, a grin plastered on him. "She's beautiful."

"And," Goliath whispered. "She wants to play. Are you going to chase her or shall I?"

Before Demise could react, Goliath jumped off, shifted, and then landed beside his mate. Chasing a female was an important tradition for them and he would be damn if Goliath got the first honor.  

Demise leaped and took his time shifting. When he was finished, he landed in front of his mate in his lycan. While Goliath was larger than Demise in his human form, Demise towered over both of them. 

Show off, Grace's voice trailed in her head. 

Oh, my precious mate, you haven't seen anything.

And then the three took off. They dashed through the forest, hunting what they saw, trampling over one another, and playing together as pups would - As Demise and Goliath had when they were younger, and what Grace was always denied. They allowed her the fun she so craved and they were there to keep her safe. 

When they finished, the sun was beginning to rise. Grace fell asleep on Demise, Goliath fell asleep in front of his King, and Demise remained awake, protecting his people.