Predator

12.

Two days passed and everything had been going well. No arguments, no violent outbursts, except all there had been was love and safety. Ryan hadn't been wearing his gloves and Damien trusts the couple enough so they can be left on their own now. Ryan had been thinking for awhile to get himself and Neela a house together.

The couple just woken up that day and by the silence Ryan could hear, "we're alone." He lifted up just a small part of Neela's shirt to draw little heart designs on her bare hip, "it's also raining."

Before Neela could say anything, three loud knocks were heard downstairs. It couldn't be any of Ryan's family as they all had keys, so whoever was knocking was a stranger. "Stay here, please." Ryan quickly put on a dress shirt and some khakis and ventured downstairs, Neela made sure to shut the door behind him while he ventured.

Ryan quickly tried to make his hair look presentable for the guest before opening the door. "Yes?" Ryan's protective side definitely began to show as his legs instinctively spread at the sight of one of Egin's guards. "Is the man of the house here?" This guards' voice was thin, he was also short with red eyes.

"I'm one of the men of the house," Ryan's eyes got darker as his senses heightened, prepared to fight. "Egin's wishes are that this letter get to this place of residency," Aamon spoke while retrieving a rectangular envelope from his robes and handed it to Ryan. He transported away without another word.

Ryan shut the mahogany door and begun inspecting the discolored paper that had no word on it and a wax seal on the back of it. "May I come down?" Neela spoke normally, knowing Ryan could hear her. "It's safe, come here!" Ryan raised his voice so his little mortal could hear his register.

As Neela walked back down the stairs, Ryan begun opening the envelope. "Who was that?"

"A bastard who helped in damning my father."

To whom it may concern,

Your family and my family aren't so different. However, once coming into power I've learned how to behave like a proper demon, I can now distinguish what's right and wrong. I know the rules of being a demon.
Now that I am in power, all my citizens are very important to me, no matter mortal or immortal. The welfare of the people under my control is what I worry about the most. I care that none of you are in relationships with mortals, times have changed. However, I am worried. Humans are in high danger when in this realm but they have their mates to guide and protect them, yes? I thought so but the danger is with the person that one(1) mortal is living with!
Days ago, a person that is in the Soptic family by marriage, came to me to report abuse of Ryan Soptic's mate, Neela Oh, who is an 18 year old mortal. The person who committed these violations are none other than Neela's mate, Ryan Soptic.
These allegations, which have been proven and shown to Egin, involved broken bones, branding, mental abuse, and scarring and bruises that may never heal.
The council requests that everyone living in the place of residency, that this letter was appointed to, comes to a meeting to settle all of this. We hope to see even Neela there so she can speak to the council. We'd like for this meeting to happen in the next month.

"What is it?" Now standing next to Ryan, Neela spoke. She couldn't read the letter as the whole letter was in Latin. "Get away from me," Ryan harshly growled while shoving Neela by her broken arm.

"Ah," Neela yelped as she fell to the floor. Ryan snapped his head to Neela when the tiny whimper of pain came out of her mouth. "Tell me, did you betray your family, your mate? Did you tell someone to report us?"

"No! Why would I do that? Our relationship is becoming so good!" Fear filled Neela to the brim. This sight, the tone of voice was too familiar to her. "Please don't hurt me!"

"You fucking betrayed us! You let Gerald see your memories!" Ryan's leg then came into contact with Neela's stomach which made her yell out in pain, "oh shut the fuck up!" He squatted to get into Neela's face, "Do you know how much pain you put me in doing something this stupid?!" Neela took a closer look and saw that Ryan's demon was freed, his eyes were red and the scarring was slowly beginning to form on his face.

"Ryan, please, I didn't do anything!" Neela yelled, just hoping that the real Ryan would come back. "Please come back," she whispered and silently cried to herself. "This isn't you, this isn't the Ryan I know!"

Excitement grew in Neela once she saw Ryan's hand come toward her casted one. "You know, little one," he stared at the white cast that surrounded Neela's forearm. He looked at each of the signed names, some were her friends, others were her family. "I really wished that I had done this to you."

Neela was going to sit up, to embrace Ryan, to make him come back. She was. She really was going to.

Ryan wrapped his hand around the cast that enclosed Neela's arm and begun yanking at it. "Ryan, stop! You're breaking it!"

When the cast wouldn't come off, Ryan threw Neela's arm away from him and got up to stand. Neela let her, once again, broken arm lay on the floor dead. She wanted to hold her arm, she wanted to run away. Before she could have even came up with an escape plan, Ryan begun stomping his foot on the material that safely enclosed Neela's arm. "Stop, please! It hurts so much!"

The cast finally broke, fiberglass from inside the cast flew everywhere. The stitches Neela had previously gotten were ripped out from when Ryan first started to yank on her arm. Neela cringed at the feeling of Ryan's tongue licking at her open wounds. "I wish," lick, "that you could just hear," lick, lick, "how loud he's yelling for you, begging me to stop."

~~

Neela was out cold by the time the abuse had stopped. She tried to pull her away from Ryan's mouth and he just got up and kicked her in the face, knocking her out. All Ryan could do was try to take Neela's pain away, scream in his head, and cry out for Neela. The real Ryan couldn't do anything for her. The most painful part about this attack? He saw it happen, that was something he knew he was going to remember.

After the demon licked the blood off Neela's arm for a few more moments, he let the real Ryan come back. Ryan wished that he could have just stayed in his head. The aftermath of it all looked a lot less vile in his head than seeing it in person.

The swelling and bruising has already started to present itself on her beautiful face. Ryan carefully moved Neela so she was lying on her back to lift her shirt and see the damage done to her stomach. The thick marking was red when he first looked, he knew it would become more purple as time went on.

"Cmon, Neela," Ryan whispered to himself as he brought his mates head onto his lap. "Please let me heal you," he quietly sobbed while biting his own wrist and put it to her mouth.

Ryan had to guide Neela's mouth opened, he had to guide her mouth to latch onto his skin. "Drink, baby, please drink it."

No matter how much of his blood dripped into her throat, the swelling, the bruising, none of it was going away. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Ryan cursed himself through gritted teeth and gently laid Neela on the couch. He knew Neela wasn't dead nor was she dying, her heartbeat was off the walls and she was dreaming.

"Dad, father help us." Ryan cried while going upstairs to his phone. With blurry water sight, he went to Damien's contact and had the speaker on. "Yes? Quick question, do you think Neela would like her chicken bread—"

"Dad!" Ryan yelled through his tears. "Please come home. N-Neela, my baby!" Ryan couldn't get his words of anguish to erupt from his throat, sobs would only cut him off. "What happened?" Damien dropped everything he was holding to begin his journey to the car with the rest of his boys, who were, once again, all packed in the backseat.

"Please come home!"