Alvira watched, her heart a raw knot in her chest, as the powerful, primal form of her lover dissolved, sinews and bone cracking back into human shape. The moonlight painted a stark, cruel tableau across his body, illuminating the raw, angry burns that mapped his skin like a horrifying constellation.
"I thought you'd be excited to see me," she said, her voice softer than the rustle of leaves, trying to bridge the chasm of silence he had built around himself. She moved closer, a tentative hand reaching out, fingertips brushing the heat radiating from his neck. She leaned in, seeking the familiar comfort of his lips, a desperate attempt to erase the harsh reality of their world, but he flinched away, the rejection a physical blow. Undeterred, driven by a love that defied the laws of their warring species, Alvira pulled him back, her gaze locked onto his haunted eyes.
"I was worried about you," she whispered, the tremor in her voice betraying the careful calm she projected. "After I heard what Christopher did... I was terrified something catastrophic had happened to you." A single, crystalline tear escaped its dam, tracing a path of silver down her cheek.
A low, guttural growl, more wolf than man, ripped from his throat, echoing the sound of tearing metal and the crackle of fire. The memory was a fresh wound: Christopher, the formidable rival, standing amidst the inferno that had once been his home, a monument to defiance and power.
"How could your pack be so utterly reckless?" Alvira scoffed, frustration bleeding into her concern. "Going after Christopher after his marriage, knowing very well he is stronger than all of you combined. You might call it a bold move, but I call it a suicidal display of stupidity."
The air grew instantly colder. The man's self-control shattered like glass. His claws, sharp and deadly, slid into view as his hand shot out, wrapping around her throat in a vice-like grip that instantly choked off her gasp for air. "Just who do you think you are," he snarled, his eyes burning with primal fury, "to talk to me like that?"
He held her there for a heart-stopping moment, the life flickering in her eyes a mirror to his own internal darkness. Then, abruptly, he let her go. Alvira stumbled back, clutching her neck, hacking and struggling to pull oxygen back into her starved lungs, the raw power of his anger a physical weight in the atmosphere.
"Why do you always do this to me?" she sobbed, tears now a torrent. "All I have ever done was love you, unconditionally. Yet you consistently treat me like I am nothing but a minor inconvenience." She looked up, defiance mingling with despair. "I know the witches and wolves are sworn enemies, a hatred older than the ancient trees we stand under. That's precisely why I was ready to betray my coven, my family, for you."
The man turned his back on her entirely, dismissing her emotional outburst as background noise. He paced a few steps, his focus entirely on his own agenda. He didn't offer comfort, didn't wipe her tears. He simply pivoted back to the matters that actually held his interest.
"Now tell me," he asked, his voice low and urgent, the underlying purpose of their clandestine meeting finally surfacing. "Is she the one?"
Alvira wiped the lingering tears from her face, the shift in topic snapping her back to her duty. "The Queen Witch attempted to look into it," she said, her expression grim. "But the vision was obscured, clouded by a powerful force. We are at a standstill. We have to wait till the red moon, when the veil between worlds is thinnest."
"And Damien?" he pressed, the urgency returning with crushing force. "Christopher has held him hostage for decades, lost to us. Have you found out where he is? You know the wolves need him, he is our Alpha, our only hope."
"Not yet, but I'll do everything in my power..." she started, the familiar promise hanging in the air.
"This is not the first time you've said this, Alvira." The man's face hardened into an emotionless mask, clearly displeased by her lack of progress. "My patience is a finite resource, and it is nearly spent. Now, I do not want to see you again unless you are bringing me the concrete answers that I need to save my pack." He turned his back abruptly, the dismissal final.
"But I can investigate further, I just need more time..." she pleaded with his retreating back.
"Leave now," he commanded, the authority in his voice absolute and unforgiving.
Alvira flinched, the harshness of his command cutting deeper than any claw. Hurt and defeated, she turned away, disappearing into the shadows of the forest, the silence of the night swallowing her quiet retreat. The man remained alone, staring into the darkness, a figure consumed by vengeance and the desperate need for his Alpha.