Lycan's Affection

Eleanor felt the tears run down her cheeks in slow torrents, then suddenly break a dam through her eyes. She fell to the floor in a bundle of the silk waiting dress she had worn, her hand coming to cover her mouth.

"What have I done?" She asked, her heart clenching as the image of Conaan, writhing in pain, his beautiful, always silent lips coated red in his own blood.

And she had fed him that pudding. She brought her fingers to her hair, her eyes wide.

"How can I be so foolish?" She asked herself again, her lips quivering. She rocked herself back and forth, trying as hard as she could to keep her balance and the tears. Suddenly, her eyes caught a sword propped up on the corner of the tent.

She stood up, the tears now frozen in her eyes, her teeth clamping down hard on her lower lip. She walked to the sword and grabbed it, then made her way out of the tent.

Alexander's fingers fillled the spaces between Jane's as they stepped to the illuminated floor. Jane was all smiles, but Alexander's smile had a bit more meaning.

None of the lycans were present, and he knew Conaan had eaten that pudding. He gave a small smile as it came to his mind again, the way he'd laced it, and how pretty it had looked right after.

Coupled with a beautiful woman like Eleanor offering it...in the end, Conaan was still a red blooded man. It would be too hard for him not to want it.

He smiled again and gently pushed Jane so he could twirl her, her hand above her head as she did. She soon came back to him, and his hand cupped her waist gently and he smiled down at her.

It could have been perfect with Conaan gone, and he'd almost thought so, until suddenly, like a flash, a cold blade was placed right next to Jane's throat.

"Eleanor. What are you doing?" Alexander asked, his eyes wide at the wild looking woman.

She still looked beautiful, hell she always did, and he was glad he'd gotten a piece of her before this entire thing. But now she seemed crazy, her hair out of place, her eyes wide with anger.

The colour that had previously decked her up now ran her face in pools with her tears, staining the fair skin underneath.

"How dare you do that to Conaan?" Alexander asked as she pulled Jane rightly away from him, earning muffled gasps from the audience. It was one hell of a dramatic wedding, and Alexander knew he would become a laughing stock within the league of alphas. Something like an inside joke.

The thought only made him move further towards the two women, one squirming in front, her eyes wide with naked fear, the other determined to spill blood. Both had been his, one will be his, the other he had abandoned.

"What are you talking about?"

"Like hell, you know what I am talking about! I was stupid to trust you! You brought that damned pudding, and gave it to me because you knew Conaan would take it for me. And like hell...Conaan...." Her voice trailed off as her breath faltered, remembering how Conaan had looked at the spoon. She hadn't noticed it then. She had been clueless.

But if she had known, she could have stopped him. He had probably thought his very own mate wanted him dead. After leaving him with a scar, he had thought she believed he was her obstacle to Alexander, and would gladly accept whatever she gave him. A scar, a bowl of broth, or poison.

"Damn you, Alexander," She cussed, then roughly kicked Jane aside, earning a yell from the woman. She fell to the floor, a gasp of pain leaving her lips.

Before Alexander could help her, Eleanor's blade was pointed straight at him, her hand trembling, yet having an incredibly strong hold on the sword. He knew what Eleanor was capable of. He'd seen her at it, and she used those blades without batting an eyelash. Like she hadn't just reduced a population.

"Don't you dare. I won't let you go scot free for what you have done."

Alexander gave s small sigh. "I never quite thought of you as naive but you have been disappointing me lately, Eleanor. Don't you think your little lycan lover needs you more?"

She bit down on her lips. She couldn't even go to Conaan. He needed her, but did he really? All she had done was hurt him. In more ways than one.

"I think Conaan would be proud if l left a number on you, Akexander."

He smiled. A charming smile he knew she always fell for, then slowly closed in on the blade with his hand.

"Will you really hurt me, Eleanor? After everything?" His voice was soft, the kind he used to coo her out of bed, to whisper sweet nothings right before he kissed her. The kind he used when his fingers traced up her arm, getting her heart to run to him at the soweed of light.

Eleanor's grip on the sword loosened a bit, her eyes losing the darkness behind them. She swallowed, then looked up to him, just as Jane gave a small grunt from where she was.

It wasn't much, but it was enough to bring back the events of the day, the way he had cast her aside like she had meant nothing. Everything had been a lie.

She looked up to him, her face hardening again. "Exactly, Alexander. After everything."

With brutal force, she pulled the sword out of his hand, tearing his palm as she did. But his surprised grunt of pain wasn't enough. Blinded by feral rage, she raised the sword, letting go of everything she had held back, including her lycan wolf. It came tearing through her, tinting her eyes into a dark orange, a color only second to Conaan's, A dark, beautiful red.

She swung it in the air, the scent of her own wolf hitting her nose, then ripped though Alexander's shoulder.

He let out a yell as his robe tore off his shoulder, leaving a big mark where she had struck him, blood oozing out of it, just like it had oozed out of Conaan.

Her eyes widened as Alexander fell to his knees, his eyes watering in pain. The anger started to clear off little by little, offering a dreadful clarity.

"She...that scent..." An alpha said from behind, and Alexander straightened, holding his hand up.

His eyes were wide with both pain and surprise, his lips parted. "You are lycan."