Artifice - Man x Man - Book Six

Chapter 37

I don't have time to process the view before me as the door swings open, and Marisol shoves Helen out onto the front steps. "Go get some manners!" She spits after her, grasping Tyler by the arm as he tries to run out after her. "Where is your damn shirt?" The Spanish woman commands across the yard, flipping her hand in frustration.

"I rather like that shirt; if I had to shift, I didn't want to destroy it." His voice is calm, even as he takes calculated breaths. The icy gaze settles on Helen; judging by the look in her pale eyes the woman before us is Malka controlling her vessel. 

She bares her teeth at him, crouching back defensively. 

"I'm going to give you a moment to rethink your choices, you're young, but I won't tolerate that disrespect again. Now. Your name."

Hesitation crosses her face, she pauses, almost appearing to be confused as she takes him in. His very presence makes my breath catch, the return of the true lycan lord, the return of Alpha. The sight hadn't graced me since he 'died,' or so it felt. Shortly after we rescued him, the lycan army began to fall apart, and he let them go to live whatever lives they could etch out for themselves.

 Humans didn't need such intensity, such as domination, and the need for 'Alpha' had shifted to the demand for his more human side. A sane person would not miss their captor, I'd grown to love the man he was, but there was still a side of me that thoroughly enjoyed the persona that earned him the dubbing of my warlord. "You know that I'm not Helen?"

"Of course I do. Marisol and I are lycans, just as you are. If you were using your nose instead of acting like a wild beast, you'd see that. Smell." Her chest rises and falls and straightens a little more. "You knew that, though. You've been trying to get out."

"I suspected." She hesitates, glancing back towards Marisol and flashing her teeth. "That woman is vile."

I can see the grin in his eyes though it doesn't transfer over to his face. "She is your superior, so you'd be wise to hold your tongue. There are rules; you can't act how ever you like. If you value your life and that of your vessel, I suggest you stand down, or I shall promptly put you in your place." 

Tyler jerks and Marisol holds him back, jerking him to stand beside her with a look of annoyance at his lack of self-control. Surely he wouldn't kill her? She looks so weak, her body thin and pale, her eyes surrounded by dark circles from a lack of sleep.

She shakes her head, taking a quick step back. It takes everything in me not to chase after her; if she escapes, how would we ever find her again? "I won't go back! I don't want to go back in the dark! You can't make me!"

His hand raises, encouraging her to stop. "You can learn to share, but you must learn. There will be a time for you, but that time is not now. Helen is very weak; her body can not take much more of your interference." 

He begins to walk, taking deliberate steps toward her. The closer he gets, the more her body begins to lower, an effect I've seen many times. It would seem his stance, the way he carried himself, and maybe even his scent, was a beacon of superior breeding that brought many wolves to their knees, even after he gave up his title. "Prove that you can behave yourself, then we will revisit this topic."

Her eyes dart around frantically, considering an escape, but something in her compels her to bow down, to submit to his will. Helen drops to one knee, stiff as if she's resisting. 

"Why-" She grits her teeth, glancing towards the ground. "Why is this happening? Why can't I-" Her shoulders relax, dropping from their hunched state.

Marisol scoffs. "Because he's the Alpha. Even for a wild little she-beast like you."