Heart of a Beast

Chapter 15 | Part 2 - Tiberius

His heartbeat pounded in his ears. Or was it Crystal's pounding louder and faster?

The raven cawed and clacked his beak. At the same time, a sharp pain struck the front of Tiberius' skull.

He growled and winced, pulling Crystal tighter against him and making her cry out as his claws cut into her soft flesh.

Nostrils flaring, Justin reacted. Lunging at Tiberius and shifting into his wolf in mid-air, he jumped on Tiberius and sank his teeth into the thick fur on Tiberius' nape. He tried to yank Tiberius back from his sister, but Tiberius was stronger.

Yowling in pain, Tiberius reached over his head and grabbed Justin's wolf, his sharp claws slicing through flesh and fur and pull the smaller wolf from him.

A blast of ice shot through his veins. It was so cold it burned and while Crystal screamed in shock, Tiberius' snarl caught in his throat as his body froze in place.

A whimper inches from his ears told him that Justin was struck with the same icy blow. Both of them were frozen in place, their breaths puffing out before them as Madame Papillon stepped into Tiberius' line of vision with her wand pointed between his eyes.

"You will both chill, do you hear me? I will not have a pack of dogs destroy my livelihood over a few drops of blood," she snapped as Jackson took Crystal by the shoulders and guided her to the corner of the room.

That male touching his mate only infuriated Tiberius more. Instinct gripped him and he tried to wrestle free of the witch's spell and tear that son of a bitch in two, but the greater the burn of his rage, the greater the burn of the ice that crippled him.

"Relax, Lycan. The spell will release you once you cool your jets. The more you rage, the stronger the bite of ice," Madame Papillon said, her wand and gaze still fixated on his.

"He's upset that I'm touching you, Crystal," Jackson whispered to her. "We should move out of his line of sight."

Seething, Tiberius watched his wide-eyed mate stare at him, her cloak torn, with blood dripping down her arms as she disappeared from his vision. It only enraged him more.

He should be the one comforting her and treating the wounds he accidentally inflicted on her. He should be the only one touching her. That male had a mate. He should keep his grimy paws to himself. He shouldn't touch what didn't belong to him.

[If you want her to love you, don't think of her as an object of your possession,] a voice whispered into his mind.

Tiberius growled. He didn't recognize the voice. It was male with a French accent.

The raven was still perched on Madame Papillon's shoulder, his beady eyes staring through him and into his soul.

[I do not possess her in any way, shape, or form. She is free to do as she pleases, but I will put her life, safety, and well-being before my own at all times. And who are you to tell me otherwise?] Tiberius demanded, unable to tear his eyes away from the bottomless black depths of the raven's.

[Introspection. Why does it anger you when another touches her?]

[Because she is my mate and no one touches my mate.]

[Replace the word 'mate' with any other noun, and you have directly objectified her and turned her into a piece of your property, n'est-ce pas?]

Tiberius growled as Justin collapsed to the ground behind him, panting. A brief grinding of bones announced that he'd shifted back into his human form as his teeth chattered. "Damn, that was cold!" He cursed. "My clothes are destroyed."