It was a day after the big fight between Serafina and Nemesis. After the fight when Sera had felt well enough, the two retreated to their bedroom. He spent the night licking at her wounds as they embraced each other. That night was about rest, where as this night was about training. The two moons shined in the sky surrounded by tiny dots of light. The night was deep into its cycle as the seedy bars were packed with ideal victims to feed on. He had quite a night ahead of him. Serafina had promised him he would finally hunt, under her supervision though. She took plenty of precautions, having him drink from her before they left the manor. Before they reached the outskirts of the town, he would once more feed from her to satisfy his thirst so he would not lose control of his self while in town. Hunting was something he looked forward to, Sera made a sick a game out of it, and honestly, it turned him on.

After hunting, she promised him they would work on shifting to a wolf form, which excited him even more. He grew anxious to see Sera in her wolf form, and was looking forward to his as well. He was a second generation Werebear, his paternal grandfather being the first. He never was able to phase to a bear form, but the blood ran deep inside him. The thrill of a new form sat in his thoughts as he walked arm in with Sera.

"I am looking forward to finally hunting with you, my sadistic beauty." He purred, running a hand down her cheek. The city was quite a distance from them but he could faintly hear the sounds of the city as they walked closer to the bustling night life. "Should I do the talking and let you know the killing, or would you like it the other way around?" He asked with a grimace, his eyes shifting to a crimson red on their own. The thought of draining an entire body enticed him as he found his pace quickening. He had to focus on his eyes to change them back to his fake muddy brown to mask his identity. As they walked they talked comfortably each other until they had reached the outskirts of the city where she offered her neck up to him. He grazed her exposed neck softly with his lips, before puncturing a protruding vein and letting her blood pump onto his tongue, savoring the metallic sting. As he felt his thirst die down, he wiped his lips and asked her with a toothy grin, "What is your plan, my alpha?"

Serafina leaned into Xerxez as he caressed her cheek while the pair walked toward the city of Kurayo.  She had healed completely from the fight that had erupted between her and Nemesis, and there was no time to waste.  She was bound and determined to teach Xerxez how to control his bloodlust, to control his thirst, as quickly as she possibly could.  There were several techniques she planned to teach him, and of course, allowing him to feed on her blood would help satiate his thirst as well.  Learning to hunt efficiently would also help with that - until he was capable of hunting on his own, undetected, Serafina would not feel comfortable leaving Xerxez's side.

"You must be patient, Xerxez," she said, her voice soft.  "Hunting can be whatever we make it," she began explaining, not quite addressing his question on who would take on what role as of yet.  "We can make it violent, or peaceful.  We can make it messy, or clean.  We can make it purely for the purpose of feeding… or it can be incredibly erotic," she said, giving him a knowing glance.  "For tonight, I think I shall obtain our victims.  While I do not doubt your speaking abilities, your bloodlust is still too unpredictable.  I can't have you draining a bitch in the middle of a crowded tavern," she said, a smirk on her lips.

When they reached the edge of town, she paused and removed her arm from his.  Pulling her blonde, waved hair to one side, she tilted her head, offering her neck to Xerxez.  When he bent to drink from her, she let out a soft moan as his fangs punctured her neck.  After he pulled away, she gave him a dark smile in return to his toothy grin.  "Time for a lesson," she said, ignoring his question for the time being.  She took his hand into her own and brought it to her mouth, pricking the tip of his index finger.  A small droplet of blood came to the surface, and she brought his hand to her neck, smearing the small amount of blood over the puncture wounds on her neck.  She kept her head tilted to the side so Xerxez could see the puncture wounds disappear before his eyes.  "Our blood has healing properties," she said quietly, before bringing his finger she had pricked to her mouth, drawing it in and sucking on the tip of his finger rather seductively for a moment, her eyes locking onto his as she did so.  When she drew the digit back out, the puncture wound had disappeared.  "This is rather helpful if you don't want to kill the victim you are feeding on."

She paused for a moment.  "But where's the fun in leaving them alive?" she asked, grinning at him and giggling quietly.  Without another word, she stood up on the tips of her toes and pressed her lips into his for a brief moment before pulling away.  "We'll head to one of the taverns on the nicer side of town… I think something rather rich would suit your palate this evening," she said, her eyes narrowing and her smirk.  "We'll rent a room, of course - and then we'll take one of the nice, well-to-do whores from the bar.  I know, I know… another whore?  Why not something better?"  She took his hands in hers and continued to explain her reasoning.  "No one misses them."  She started to walk the pair towards the part of town in question.  

"Besides - we bring a whore up to the room, we can have a little fun with her before you tear her fucking throat out," she said, with a sinister smile.  "And if you do it right, if you stop when you need to without me needing to step in… you can toss the whore's corpse to the floor and have me as your reward," she added, looking away from him as she said such.  Before long they had entered a rather ritzy establishment.  Serafina spoke with the innkeeper who passed her a key with a numbered tag on it.  She looked to the seating area of the bar, and back to Xerxez.  "The brunette," she said, nodding towards a well-dressed woman with far too much cleavage at the bar.  "She looks… tasty," she said, before walking towards the woman with Xerxez on her arm.

It didn't take long for her to offer the woman enough silver to join them, and she seemed rather keen on taking on the pair of them.  With a glance at one another, the pair led her up the stairs and into the room they had secured, Serafina shutting the door behind her.  It was time for Xerxez to show her what he was already capable of, and she was oh so excited to find out.

Of course she would procure the meal. She had an aversion to letting Xerxez do the talking, fearing his primal instincts would blow their cover. But at least she is letting him play a more central part rather than waiting behind an alley way.

"Violent, messy and erotic. Just like our first time." He said, giving her hand a squeeze as they made their way into Kurayo. The lights of the city obscuring the horizon in the slight haze overhanging the city. She brought his hand up to her mouth and bit down, drawing a small amount of blood from his index finger. She smeared his blood on the many cuts dotting her neck. Her presence made forget the experience but as she brought his finger up to her wounds, he remembered his hatred for Nemesis. He was almost to observed by it he nearly missed seeing the cuts heal on their own as she explained to him their blood had healing properties, a new found fact for him. She must've sensed his change in attitude as she brought his finger up to her mouth and seductively playing with him. When she had finished, the puncture was gone. He made a mental note on healing properties. And it suddenly made sense why she had been feeding him her blood when she had changed him.

As she led the way, she talked about tonight's dinner, A la Whore. She made a comment on how nobody would miss a whore if she suddenly went missing. He stopped moving as he grabbed her arm and stopped her in her tracks with a pull. He yanked her into him and stared into her eyes with a serious look, his grip rather tight below her elbow. "I would miss you, Sera." He didn't bother with her reaction. She knew he cared about her, at least he hoped at least. He let her go as she suggested bringing the whore up to a room with them and having a bit of fun with her, just the way they liked it. She made a game out of it. If he didn't blow it, they could fool around with a full thirst. He smiled, having no intention of messing this up. He was determined to prove to her that he was ready to hunt on his own, but found the acidic dry burn in the back of his throat discomforting as they got close to the city. As they entered a more classy tavern they began searching for a target. They both found the same one as she pointed to a scantily clad brunette with a nod off her head. He leaned in to her and whispered over the noise, "What's with you and brunettes?" He said with a joking smile. "I can smell her from here, she is delicious. Lets have her." As Serafina handled talking to her, he went up to the bar keep and ordered a bottle wine, keeping his concentration on clouding his red eyes. The bar tender handed a fine bottle of wine as he rejoined with his mate. "Look what I got for our friend, dear. Are you thirsty, friend. We sure are." He said, with a dark smile, escorting the women up a fight of stairs and into their room.

Xerxez wondered off to a corner as he placed down the keys and easily popped the cork out of the wine. Too easily in fact, no human should be able to pop a cork with such ease. Luckily, Serafina had planned for this as she began playing with their guest, distracting her attention from Xerxez. Or maybe she was just horny. Wouldn't put it past her, he thought. It put into perspective that maybe he wasn't ready to hunt alone. He smiled at her, as he took a long swig of wine, tasting the acidic notes in the wine. He waited for the buzz but it never came. He cast an annoyed look at Serafina who only communicated with her eyes. He would have to question her about this later, she said nothing about losing the ability to be drunk. But now wasn't the time to be worried about such trivial matters. The sadistic way he would drink from his victims provided him a buzz enough, far more than simple alcohol. Serafina was riling their meal up, kissing at her neck as Xerxez carried the wine over to the women. Each one drank from the bottle and placed it down a near bedside table. He walked up to their guest who asked his name. "Shhhh. No. No. No. No. No. You don't get to know my name, sweet heart." He pushed her down onto the bed where she landed sitting. Xerxez straddled her and took her head in her hands and kissed her rather gently as Sera undid her dress from behind. The two began pleasuring the food, as she let moans as the two kissed her neck. Sera moved out of the way and Xerxez pushed her rather forcefully down onto the bed. Sera began undoing his buttoned black shirt, revealing his scarred body. He turned around and planted a hungry kiss on her lips, biting down on her lip as he drew back. He turned his attention on their meal, the anticipation clawing at his throat. The guest layed on her back over the bed, her legs and hand hanging of the sides of the bed. He crawled over top of her as he began starveling kissing her lips. He threw a slap on the whore, who yelped in surprise. "Darling, would you like a turn with her?" He asked seductively.

Serafina gladly complied, as he pushed his self off of her. Sera took his place on top of her as his hand played with the food's hair. He stood behind her head as his other hand reached for something off to the side. His hand found what he was looking for and covertly grabbed it as Serafina busied the the meal. "Move babe." His tone changed from the charming stranger to the hungry Xerxez. Serafina quickly dodged as he swung the wine bottle his hand was clutching downward. The bottle broke over the whore's head as she cried out in pain. The red wine dripping into a puddle as it mixed in with her brunette hair. He was quick to tear her dress into a strip and shoved it down her throat to keep her from screaming. He pushed her up sitting from behind and sat on the bed next to her as he held her down by the shoulders. His other hand parted her wet hair from her neck as he whispered into her ear. "You kiss like a bitch." With the words said, he bit down into the whores neck and let the blood fill his mouth. His eyes flashed red with delight as he pressed his self into her neck and draw deeper into her blood stream. The frenzy had started and he made moans of pleasure at the sting of the blood. As he continued to drink, he felt her pulse start to slow. But he was selfish, he kept drinking, his eyes on her neck as the warm liquid swashed around on his tongue. He looked up to Serafina who was beaming at the spectacle. He suddenly remembered the prize he was promised. She was enough to stop the frenzy as he pulled away the whore's neck.

"Have a drink, babe. And dispose of her when you're done. I saved some room for more of you're blood."

Serafina was, in fact, keeping their dinner guest distracted - though she was enjoying herself at the same time.  When she caught the look of disdain that Xerxez gave her, her eyes narrowed slightly.  Drinking regular wine and spirits could still manage to make them drunk but it took a much higher amount of them for such to happen.  There were ways around it, and she would teach them to Xerxez, but there were far more important things for him to learn before that.  Her nimble fingers worked at the ties at the back of the woman's dress as Xerxez bent to kiss her, and a surge of rage coursed through her blood.  

It was all a part of the game, a part of their hunt - but the pair was still forging their bond, and to see Xerxez - her Xerxez - with his lips to another… it was all the strength she could muster not to rip the woman's head clean off her shoulders then and there.  Instead, she pulled rather forcefully of at the ties of her dress, breaking quite a few of them in the process - but the woman was far too distracted by Xerxez for her to notice.  

She let out an excited giggle as the sound of Xerxez's hand connecting with their meal's cheek rang out through the room.  She climbed quickly on top of her, burying her face in the woman's neck only to move as soon as Xerxez gave warning, rolling out of the way just as he brought the wine bottle crashing down on the woman's head.  She stayed to the side, watching her creation work at his prey, a sinister smile spreading across her lips.  A fire burned in her blood as she watched him clamp down on the woman's neck.  She could hear the wet sounds of his drinking mingling with the sounds of enjoyment he emitted from the taste.  She moved so she was beside Xerxez as he fed, her hands splaying out on his thighs, fingers digging into him, urging him to drink.

She was prepared to pull him away and stop him, until he locked eyes with her and pulled away, having realized he had been at the brink.  She had to admit, she was proud of him for knowing when to stop, and her smile spread a bit wider.  "If you insist," she said, choosing a rather interesting way to join him.  She proceeded to straddle Xerxez's lap, one leg bent on either side of him.  Roughly, she grabbed the woman by the hair, who had little to no strength left, and dragged her so she was propped up behind Xerxez, her head lolling forward onto his shoulder.  Serafina sunk her fangs into the woman's neck while pressing her chest against Xerxez, drinking from her for only a few minutes before pulling away from her.  With a swift movement, she snapped the woman's neck and tossed her to the side, before moving to kiss Xerxez, a decent amount of their meal's blood still in her mouth as she kissed him forcefully.  She pulled back from him and tore his unbuttoned shirt from his torso, before dipping her head down and sinking her fangs into his chest, pushing him down onto the bed as she did so.  She pulled back from him, looking up at him with blazing crimson eyes.  "So well behaved… time for your prize," she breathed before plunging her fangs into him once again, her hands dragging down his body as she proceeded to reward him for a good hunt.

- 

A few hours later, Serafina climbed out of the bed.  This time, the bed had survived their celebration of a hunt well-ended - however as she bent to pick up her own dress to put it back on, it seemed that Xerxez had completely shredded it during its removal.  "Damn… this was one of my favorites," she said as she tossed the garment aside and looked at Xerxez with a pout on her lower lip.  She proceeded to remove the dress from the dead woman on the floor, though as she did she noticed the scrap that he had torn off to shove down the woman's throat had come straight from the chest.  "Oh, you ruined this one too… shame, shame," she said, playfully wagging her finger at him before dropping the woman to the floor with a thud.

She sat back down on the bed and looked at Xerxez with a smirk on her face.  "You did well," she began.  "Next time we hunt, you will procure and do everything on your own, and I'll just be with as a precaution," she said.  She brought a hand to her neck, feeling the seeral puncture wounds that had been inflicted during the last few hours.  "So, show me what you've learned," she said, tilting her neck and exposing it to him.  "And then… it's time for you to shift," she said, a hint of excitement and anticipation in her eyes.

Xexez buried his head into her neck as he he let out a purr of delight. He rubbed his hand up and down her thighs as began to sit up. He let out various amounts of moans in protest as he pleaded for her stay in bed. He kissed her hand passionately as she rummaged around the room looking for clothing as she scolded him for ripping hers. "I was hoping if I tore your dress, we would never leave the room and spend the rest of eternity in embrace." He said with a chuckle, pulling his pants over the marks that Sera had left on his thighs. He picked up his shirt off the ground and offered it to Serafina. "I have a feeling I wont be needing it for a few hours." He said with a nervous grin. Shifting would be hard for him, he only hoped he would be able to understand it when Serafina would teach him. As they both fell back onto the bed she careened her neck upwards so he could use their blood to heal the bite marks he had placed on her. He bent known taking a shard of the broken wine bottle and slitting his hand. He clenched his fist and rubbed his fingers along the cut and began slowly smearing his bloody palm around her jaw line and exposed neck.

He walked to the pale corpse on the floor and reached down into her throat and pulled out the wad of cloth he had shoved down to shut her up while they fed. He dabbed in a cup of water and began to wipe his blood of her glistening face, cleaning around the edges of her lips. He bent down to place a kiss and whispered in her ear. "You incredibly irresistible with the sight of blood on you, darling. It makes me want to go again." A dark expression on his face as growled. She kindly chided him as they got dressed and headed down stairs and out the door through the crowded tavern. As they left, a gentleman with neat, shortly cropped hair studied them with interest. He took her arm and pulled her into him as they walked down the lit paths of Kuyaro and out into the forest that the city neighbored. Tall dark trees towered above them as they entered the forsest. The sound of insects buzzing and the crunch of leaves under they're feet filled the area. Serfina began to lead the way as they filled the time with small talk and about his stunt with the wine bottle. They reached a small clearing off trees that led way to serene meadow that provided them with plenty of cover for their transformation.

"This seems like a good enough spot." He said with a grunt as he turned to Serafina. "What should I expect if I am able to transform?"

When the pair reached the meadow outside of town, Serafina broke away from Xerxez, separating her arm from his.  "This will do just fine," she said.  She looked Xerxez up and down in an approving manner before turning her back to him and taking a few steps further into the meadow.  As she did so, she began removing the clothing she had dressed in, dropping each article to the side until she was fully nude.  Unlike the other times she had been undressed in front of him, there was no sexual reason for this - shifting was simply easier with the absence of clothing.  Turning to face Xerxez, she began to explain to him what exactly it was that she focused on in her mind while she began the transformation.

"Shifting will come naturally to you after the first time you accomplish it," she began.  "Once you have done it even one time, it will no longer be difficult," she added.  Without another word, Serafina's form began changing, and within seconds a large, jet black wolf stood where the vaewolf had once stood.  She padded over to Xerxez on all fours, nuzzling his thigh with her head.  After a moment, she moved back to where she had transformed, shifting easily back into her normal appearance.

She tilted her head at Xerxez.  "The magic exists within you already - you merely need to learn how to harness it.  It is always easier after having just fed, as well - which is why we are trying this now… and this will help as well," she said.  She walked back over to him and bit into her wrist, offering it to him.  After he had drunk a small amount she drew it away and stepped back.  "Focus. The wolf is within you," she said.  There was no smile on her face, no look of sexual desire in her eyes as there had much of the time the two had spent together since Xerxez had been changed, but instead, the look was one of wisdom and teaching.  She was imparting her wisdom to him as much as she was capable.  "If you find it within you, you must only focus with your mind on drawing the wolf out… And the work will be done for you," she said, nodding to reaffirm her point.

"I have faith in you," she said, her voice taking a softer tone for just a moment.  She stood on tiptoe and planted a kiss on his lips briefly before stepping backward.  "Now," she said, folding her arms over her chest, the moonlight shining on her pale skin.  "Let's see what you can do, love," she said, giving him a smirk as she awaited his change.  If he was successful with his change, their next step would be to work on communication while in wolf form - telepathy was a natural ability given to them with the change, but she would need to help him harness the ability.

Xerxez watched dumbfound as Serafina's figure vibrated at the edges and a form of large wolf had replaced her. The large black wolf trotted up to him nuzzled his side. Running his hand through her fur, feeling the heat off of the form. Just as quickly as she had changed to a wolf, the figure bent into its self and the Serafina he was familiar with glittered in the moon light. She guided him through, slowly talking into his ear as she walked around him. she gently pushed him along with her words, encouraging him to change.

He closed his eyes, looking into his self image. He focused on something that resembled a wolf, but something kept blocking him. Every time he thought he was onto something, it was gone. Sera kept encouraging him, rubbing his back gently. He calmed his breathing as his shoulders visibly raised and lowered. He slowed the thoughts that were racing through his mind as he focused on an inner wolf. Not as an additional form, but an extension of his self. As the figure began to take shape in his mind, it was quickly shot down again. He let out an annoyed snort through his nose as he tried again. He tried using emotions to give his form an extra push and he had rapid success with his attention on rage. Nemesis filled his mind. Sera's beat up body and shrieks of anger fueled his anger as his breath quickened with a hurried pace. He thought about their shared past, and his fists began to clench as he felt a warm sensation run through his body. Lastly, his thoughts lingered on her love for Nemesis. Images of them in heated passion filled his brain as Xerxez's body began to visibly vibrate with seething anger.

An imaged flashed in front of his closed eyes. A massive russet brown wolf was running through the forest with Serfina's wolf form. His blood began to boil in his veins as the cool air felt hot and sticky against his skin. He felt his self stretching, his body being pulled from head to toe as his hands reached for the ground. He felt his self lowering close to the ground as his arms reached the ground. The  shift it's self only lasted no more than two seconds. In the short amount of time, he found standing on four legs discomforting as he stumbled around for a bit. However he was progressing with every second. The longer he stayed it, the more natural it felt for him. Sera's blood ran though his, the Vaewolf blood awakening him to his ancestors. With in minutes he felt in control of the form and began running around the field with energy as he noticed Serafina giggling at his excitement from across the clearing. He locked eyes with her, tilting his head to the side at angle for a second before flashing a wolfy grin. He ran full speed towards her as he jumped towards her, batting at her with his massive rust colored paws. He jumped on his hind legs as he snapped at her ear lobes, licking her finger tips when he had the chance. He launched back and landed with his back arched downward as he squared his back haunches as he prepared to lunge at her playfully.

The moonlight bounced off his russet body as he leaped through sky trying to pin her down. The two played for a bit before he sat on his back legs and thought about the wolf form. It was natural to him the longer he spent in it. Though the concept was foreign to at first, even intimidating, he found his self enjoying the form as it became second nature to him. He got up slowly and padded up to Sera as he jumped onto her, his paws on her shoulders as he licked at her face. He egged her to change form so they could frolic in their wolf forms as he let out enthusiastic barks at her.

Serafina beamed with pride as Xerxez found his form, though she fought the urge to chuckle at him as he moved awkwardly about at first.  She thought back, thousands of years previous, to the first time she had shifted - Nemesis had been helpful, just as she was to Xerxez now… but there was something between the two now that had never been there between Nemesis and Serafina.  

She stood her ground as he lunged at her, laughing playfully as he batted at her.  There was pure affection present in each action he made towards her, and she could feel is resonating off of him.  She let him have his way as he launched himself at her, falling on her back beneath him and allowing him his victory.  She let him egg her on for a bit, and then, she shifted back to the jet black form of her own wolf again and came over to nuzzle her companion's neck with her nose.  She circled him, rubbing her face against him as she did so - marking him with her scent.  He was hers, and any other wolves would smell her on him from this day forward.  

Nipping at his ear, she jumped backward from him, hunching down slightly and letting out a playful snarl.  Within a moment, however, she knew that as much fun as it would be to spend the evening running about the forest with no goal in mind, the sole purpose of the evening was to teach Xerxez how to use his new found abilities - telepathy in wolf form being one of them.

She lunged herself at him, pinning him to the ground playfully, her jaws closing around his neck.  It was somewhat a show of dominance, but also affection as she did not clamp her jaws down tight enough to inflict any pain.  She pulled away from him and sat back on her hind legs, looking at him, her large head tilting sideways.  "Next you need to learn how to communicate,"  she thought, pushing her thoughts at him.  "It's simple.  Just think, but instead of thinking to yourself, think to me… I'll give you a little prize if you do a good job."  

Even in her thoughts, there was a seductive promise to her phrasing as she circled him, waiting to see if he could follow her thoughts and send her some of his own.

Only the moon saw witness to the two wolfs play in the serenity of meadow. The forest cheered them on as the wind whistled through out the clearing and insects chattering in the woods around them. The two affectionately snared and snapped at each other as they chased the other around the clearing. Blurs of black and russet filled their small piece of privacy as they tumbled over each other and snapped at the exposed necks. It was a nice break to just spar with her and forget about the stress of returning to the manor. Since his turning, they had been so focused on keeping his thirst satisfied and introduced to his new world. After all the intense nights and the fight at the manor, he relished just being able to spend time in a friendly sparring match.  Serafina eventually was the one that ended up on top. She ended the spar with a loving bite to his throat, a reminder of the his fated meeting with her. As she bent down and clamped her jaws around his throat, he breathed in her scent and enjoyed her warm breath on his neck.  With her victory, she steeped off of him and sat down on her back haunches as she tilted her head and telepathically communicated with him. He instinctively tilted his head as he pinpointed the sound in his mind was coming from Serafina's elegant but lethal black wolf form.
 
She urged him to try communicating through his mind explaining it as pushing his thoughts to her. He thought of her scent and focused on the bond that tied them together. He imagined pushing the thought on the invisible ties that connected them together and he saw hear head tilt and her ears twitch. He had gotten through. "Just spending time with you like this is prize enough."  He walked to her slowly, the moonlight shining off the muscles of his new body. He nuzzled the side of his face against her neck as he rubbed his body against hers. He walked behind her, dropping his tail to touch hers as he rounded her from the other side. He passionately licked the other side of her face and sat down in front of her.

"This is quite convenient actually."  He sent the thought to her and locked his eyes onto hers. "There's actually something I've been wanting to say, but afraid to say out loud. I'm hoping like this, you can hear the emotion in my thoughts as I propose it."  She tilted her head at him curiously. He turned his head to the forest behind him, away from the city and the manor. "We could just run away, Sera." He said with passion as he stared into her eyes. "We could just run. Run away from Nemesis. Run away from the city. Run away from the manor."  He took a minute to collect his self, getting up from where he sat and facing behind him, careening his neck to continue looking in her eyes. "We'd find new hunting grounds, away from the other families and Nemesis. We'd keep to our selves and hunt to our hearts content. We could have this everynight to our selves with out having to share with anybody."  He said, gesturing with his neck to the area around him, sending her feelings of how content he is being with her.  "We'd find a meadow just like this one and build a small house in the middle of the woods. Far enough from civilization for privacy but close enough so we could drink the city dry whenever we wanted. We could do it, you and me."

He sat down on his haunches, facing Sera once again, with a more defeated tone than before. "Though at the same time, I know we can't." He didn't mean to, but accidentally sent her the pain he felt when ever he pictured her with Nemesis. "I know how you feel about him. Sera. It pains me knowing he is to you what you are to me. And I understand how you feel about me. I heard most of what went on through the fight. I know you care about us both, and you love him in your own special Serafina way, and things are complicated, I know."  He paused to nuzzle up against her neck as continued where he left off.  "Which is why I want to leave with you. I loathe him just as much as he despises me. We could get away from it all. Celeste is gonna kill us all if we don''t learn knitting and I know their baby is only going to bring you pain. And I want to take that away from you. We could have our own family of just me and you out in the middle of some damned meadow."  He let out a defeated sigh. "But it all comes down to family. You spent nearly two millennium with these people. It's a bond I cant even began to understand and tear you away from, but It's something I want you to know at least. If you started running, I would be right behind you."  With his piece said, he tried to gauge her reaction but drew a blank. He coulnd't tell if she was angry or hurt by his words. He hoped she had felt the same way, but he knew things were harder to understand under the surface. He got up on all four legs and bowed, arching his back low, keeping his head to the ground as he kept his eyes on her, a sign of respect and apology.

"You can punish me if you want, I just wanted you to know."

The ebony wolf tilted her head as she listened to Xerxez communicate to her with his mind, proud that he was able to do it so easily.  She made a soft whimpering sound as he claimed that he was satisfied only being with her and nothing else, thought the sentiment behind the statement was not lost.  A lick to his face as he passed by her showed this, which was returned in full force before he sat down in front of her.

She remained silent, sending no thoughts nor showing any sort of emotion his way throughout his entire monologue.  Her eyes followed him as he moved about, and soon she understood just what he was getting at: he wanted to leave.  Not leave her, oh no - he wanted to leave with her, to run away and start a new life together somewhere else, away from Nemesis and Celeste and their soon-to-be-born child, away from the complex past between Serafina and Nemesis.  She had to admit, it sounded wonderful in theory, but there was no way it would work.  Xerxez, at least, seemed to understand that, but he felt it important to share how he felt with her before explaining his understanding as well.

She let out a bit of a sad sound, her ears flattening on her head as he bowed to her after finishing his statement.  With a swift movement, she moved to him, using her own head to lift his own from the ground, so they stood as equals.  She still sent him no emotion through her thoughts, though she did pad two steps backward and shift quickly back into her human form.  Her face was emotionless as well, save her eyes, which were filled with some emotion that was indescribable.  Upon the moment Xerxez shifted back, where she rushed forward and embraced him, burying her face in his chest.

When she finally stepped away, she looked up at him, her eyes in their masked blue color.  Tears had welled in them, leaking down her face, though they were not the blood tears she had cried the day previous - these were emotional tears that held a mixture of joy and sadness.  "I would never punish you for speaking your mind to me, Xerxez.  I may be your sire, but I will treat you as my equal… as my companion, for as long as you should want to be with me," she said, standing up on her tiptoes to kiss him briefly.  

"Someday, we will leave.  Someday we will go to that meadow you spoke of, and we will have that little house, and we will no longer be a part of the Volkov clan," she said, looking up at him.  "But as you said.. we can't do that now," she added, reaching up to wipe away a tear from her face.  "Things are going to be tense at the manor for some time, I am afraid," she said, her hands resting on his chest.  "Until then, we must tread lightly," she said, with a sigh.

She turned away from him then, her hands dropping from his chest, her back towards him.  "I don't ever want you to feel chained to me, Xerxez," she said, turning to look at him once more.  "I want you to always feel completely free when you are with m-" Her words cut short as her eyes shot jet black and her fangs erupted from her canines.  She drew a sharp sniff of breath in.

"Do you smell that?" she hissed, urging him to sniff the air - urging to him hunt whatever it was that had interrupted them