"It's a demon," he breathed, answering the question I didn't bother to ask.

I didn't see how this knowledge helped at all. Maybe identifying this thing as a demon would have helped one of his own people, but it wasn't going to change anything for me. My only option was to make assessments as I fought. Because there was no doubt that I had to fight. I glanced quickly at the forest around the demon, surveying the level of total death that followed it. Nothing had survived; even the strongest trees were actively crumbling before my eyes.

I didn't see it move even an inch, but I was reacting before I realized it was attacking. A dark tentacle stretched from its position at an impossible speed. I can only describe it as an extension of the darkness that enveloped the beast itself, as if it had reached out to us with its aura of sickness and death. I roared in aggression and surprise as I focused the fire along my arms, shooting my palms outward in time to catch' the dark energy and project my fire forward. There was a short burst of flame where its tentacle clashed against my hands, but I remained unharmed. After a second of surprise, I brushed the disgusting thing forward, and it dissipated before my eyes.

Apollo was already in action. His bow had formed in its instant, blue light; arrow already flexed. He cried out with the effort, letting loose a flash of deceptively beautiful light. The launch of the arrow was so powerful that the deadened debris on the ground behind him exploded outward from the back blast. I thought the shot he took at me was impressive, but I realized now that the feline had only used a fraction of power contained in those bangles of his.

The streak of light singed the air and struck its target in less than the time it took to blink, slamming into what I thought must have been the demon's face. A shriek cracked through the air as its head jerked backward from the force of impact.

"Now," he whispered, and I was in motion. I darted forward with more speed than I knew I was capable of, freed by the lack of vegetation in my way. My large paws destroyed the dead wood and leaves where ever they struck the ground, setting aflame everything else within a meter of my skin. The air I passed through burned, leaving waves of radiation and a path of destruction in my wake. And still I felt I could go faster if I tried.

I heard the leopard moving behind me, but I had already decided to trust him at my back. I needed to trust him with my life, and that meant being a competent partner in battle. Apollo did not disappoint me. We read each other's movements and intentions with virtually flawless accuracy, displaying a level of coordination I'd only seen from warriors who had fought together all their lives.

I made contact with the demon only seconds after starting my charge, and I tried to put everything I had into my frontal assault. I was still uncomfortable with the amount of destructive force I was using, because I had never faced anything like this. There was an conic explosion of flame where the mass of my body and aura met with the demon's, destroying everything in front of me for several meters.

For a moment I couldn't see anything through the confusion; the fire was too bright and the creature too dark to make out its features. But I felt it. I felt the disgusting body beneath my hands, slimy and rancid and without definitive shape. Its skin moved beneath my hands, gave way and tried to slide into my fur, to envelope my fingers. These things I could handle, because the important thing was it was not immune to my assault. It fell back a few steps with the force of my momentum and body, and through the clash of our auras I knew it was suffering.

Its shriek wracked my eardrums and I was forced to recoil, pinning my ears to my skull. I knew better, tactically, to fall back when I had the advantage, but the utter repulsion this thing emanated--coupled with the force of its voice--overrode my instinct. I took a few steps backward, throwing my fire forward as a guard.

Apollo already had my back. I felt the sizzle of energy as one of his arrows shot over my shoulder, inches from my ear. Again, it struck the shrieking demon directly in the face, this time with even more force. A starburst of light shone out from the concussion of the arrow, allowing me to see it clearly for the first time. I used the precious instant to analyze my enemy with the sharp accuracy of a trained Half-Moon warrior.

The demon had no permanent face, its flesh (if it could be so called flesh) seemed to shift on its face, constantly changing its overall appearance. It dripped its own filth from every extremity on its body, but from what I could see it had no internal system, no way to physically wound it. It was larger than me, extremely dense in composition and robust in shape. It used four tree-trunk limbs to support itself, though it used its front two appendages as hands, so I could never be sure how it really moved. It was solid, barely, but I could touch it. I could move it.

I could kill it.

In the instant it took to evaluate my odds, the creature fell back onto its frontal limbs and attacked us in a flailing panic, shooting its metaphysical tentacles at us in twos and threes. Apollo cried out in pain, and I saw blood fly from his shoulder as he was struck violently by the extended filth. He was thrown backward by the force of it, even as his bangles did their work. He crossed his wrists in front of him and touched the two ornaments together, extending a shield of light in front of him to fend off the attack. I think he landed on his feet, but soon I was busy with my own problems.

I didn't have enough time to project another attack forward, but thankfully most of my energy was already focused between myself and the monster. A sickening dread filled my gut as a tentacle pierced my defense, but I didn't have long to contemplate my fate. It struck me in the face. The repulsiveness and pestilence that devastated my senses was like nothing I have never known. My vision was gone, rendering me useless for a precious second. My nose and throat and ears filled with intolerable disease. I bled immediately, from every orifice it touched, even as the fire burnt away the sickness like the purest panacea.

Still, I was incapacitated for too long. The demon moved on its own for the first time it had arrived. I could not see its advance, but I certainly felt the bones in my shoulder crunch as the beast grabbed me. Its appendage was harder than any metal I knew, heavier and more dense than any mountainous stone. My flesh, no matter how strengthened by fire, was still flesh, and could not hope to stand against such impossible mass. I could feel it pulling me by my ruined shoulder to the ground, where it could infest and destroy me at its leisure. At great pains to myself, I pulled away from it. It was not terribly strong, not in the physical way that my own strength was. If I was perfectly healthy, I think I could have even pulled myself free. But as it was, with my senses dulled and my shoulder crushingly gripped, I couldn't stay on my feet for long. The blood in my eyes--my blood--stung me as I screamed in rage and pain.

I felt the concussive force of the arrows hitting the demon more than I saw them. Three violent cracks to the side of its head, consecutive and within less than a second of each other, bombarding the creature with powerful blows. The relief on my shoulder was immediate as the creature let go, and the ground shook as it stumbled over its own enormous limbs.

I wrenched away and jumped out of its reach as soon as I could, using my good arm to wipe the blood from my eyes. As soon as I was able, I evaluated the demon as it shrieked again. Somehow the pain in my shoulder made the sound of its voice a mere discomfort in comparison. The creature was oozing pure blackened filth from the side of its face, and I saw it hesitating as its left eye tried to reform itself.

Whatever reluctance I felt in unleashing the full extent of my power, I was no longer hindered by it. All I felt was rage at this abomination, an emotion so powerful and all-encompassing that I could no longer think clearly.

When I stepped forward, I felt free, and the fire I tapped was like nothing I'd felt before. Fire is so much more pure than people see it; more powerful even than the hottest raging flames. What I felt was like molten plasma, dug from the pit of my pure rage, as if from the center of the sun itself. It was terrifying to feel this power in my grasp. Somehow I felt I had no right to control it; that I might set the world on fire if I tried to use it. It felt like there was someone on my side that day, unseen, helping me from behind the stage. The power scared me, but I used it. I was so angry.

I lifted my one good hand at the beast in front of me. I was expecting a stream of flame, but there was nothing visible. Those trees in front of me with enough substance to remain standing quickly blackened and curled before setting on fire, burning under the power of my radiation. Even the demon shrieked in its terrible voice as it shuddered under the waves of heat, and through my bloody vision I could see its stinking flesh begin to melt. Its face could not reform, and its limbs lost some of their solidity. Pools of filth began to form under its dripping frame, and it suddenly moved forward in a last ditch attempt to stop me. I shut my eyes tightly, concentrating on the unprecedented energy I was using. I would not fall back. I had to destroy it.

Apollo's beautiful voice spoke something in sparkling clarity behind me. I couldn't understand the language, but I could feel the empowering energy gathering. 

"Arch!" His voice was so desperate; uncertain.

"Do it!" I roared at him in a voice I didn't recognize. I opened my eyes, and the beast's hand was slowly descending toward mine, defiant even in the face of--what I thought was--my incredible power. Where the fuck did this thing come from?

Time seemed to slow as the demon's immense body came over me, intending to crush me beneath its terrible weight and substance. I could see the arrow's trajectory as it whipped by me, curving to strike the demon in the dead center of its body. I released, all of my rage and pain, all my uncertainty and doubt as a new pack leader, as a man discovering my very real mortality. I put my soul into this fire, and my power exploded in a blast of irradiated flame and heat. The combination of our attacks forced me back.

I caught only a glimpse as I fell, a snapshot in my brain before the light blinded me: The demon frozen in place while lunging at me, its body shredded and pulled apart by the explosion of light and waves of radiant fire, never reaching its intended target.

I smiled, and the extended effort overcame me, turning my vision black.

==================================================

I awoke to pain.

"Damn it!" I gasped through a shocked bark as my shoulder was locked back into place. In spite of my weariness I was sitting up in an instant, fully awake.

The leopard kneeling at my side took his hands off me quickly and pulled away, retaining a half-hearted defensive position. Which was well, because it took some effort to refrain from punching him. I knew it was unfair to be angry with him, but I shot him a dirty look as I felt my shoulder with my good hand, assessing the damage. Apollo seemed amused by the cranky attitude I had woken up with, and gave me my space as I regained my composure.

The potency of my fire had already started to heal the bones and flesh where the beast had grabbed me, much faster than a normal wolf, but still slowly enough to be a nuisance. I prodded my fingers into the bone to make sure they had been set in the right place and would not heal crooked. I was surprised to find that everything was as it should be. When I looked at Apollo again, I had the decency to at least stop glaring at him, but I couldn't bring myself to thank him just yet. Now that the danger was over, I was all too aware that I was keeping company with one of the enemy.

Apollo crossed his arms over his smooth, white-furred chest and spoke in his young, musical voice. "Well, you're welcome anyway."

I huffed at him as I leaned back on one good elbow, surprised at how fatigued I was. I had never used so much elemental power in a single sitting, and I was learning that I did indeed have limits. But the results of my unleashed rage did not escape me. Far beyond the demon's decimation of life in the forest around us, I could see where the fight had taken place because the earth was utterly destroyed. An entire field had been wiped away to reveal smooth, rocky surface. No debris had survived, not even the thickest tree trunks. It looked as if a volcano had swept through a solitary area in the forest, melting the once fertile ground and turning it to rock. If the effect of my eruption was not bad enough, the sheer size of the area I had destroyed was appalling.

The guilt must have shown on my face. "It was already gone, wolf," Apollo said.

I looked at him, ignoring the way he called me by my race. I guess I was the one who started that. He looked uncomfortable, for some reason. Almost sheepish. And I noticed he had a hard time looking at me for any extended length of time. I frowned, trying to read his behavior.

"That thing is dead, right?" I asked.

He nodded in response. "Yes, and I suppose I owe you for that. I've never seen a single person wield so much--" he trailed off, and looked at me again. I'd be lying if I said I didn't appreciate the awe in his expression. It made me grin, and the feline quickly looked away from me again. If I didn't know better I would have said he was blushing.

That's when I realized that my loincloth, and with it everything on my waist, had been burned away during the fight. I suddenly understood the way he was acting, and it immediately triggered the Alpha in me. His behavior was shy and feminine, very unlike the reaction of a male who was repelled at the sight of another. I sat up a little straighter, and for the first time since before the fight I allowed myself to appreciate the sight of the smaller male.

I was sure he was not feminine by his own race's standards, but when compared to a wolf, any male feline would have trouble looking very tough. Such was my opinion, anyway. Cats were graceful and beautiful in nature, while canines were inherently rough, brutish, and oversized (their words, not mine). Being one of the largest males in my pack, and carrying myself with the overwhelming dominance and masculinity required of an Alpha Male, I thought I could understand some of what Apollo was feeling. Because of all the leopards I'd had interactions with, Apollo was by far the most attractive male I had ever laid eyes on, in his race or my own.

I was suddenly swimming in confidence, all of my intelligence and personality focused directly on the pretty feline before me. It may not have been the best time to mess with him, but I was attracted to his shyness like a shark to blood. His discomfort at seeing me naked was irresistible to me.

"You're looking at me like you've never seen a wolf before," I insinuated, poking fun at his embarrassment while not calling out the obvious. He'd probably had contact with wolves in general, but it was a different thing all together to be introduced to the sight of a naked canine by the Alpha himself. I try not to openly brag, but even at this point when I was not fully grown, I was one of the most heavily endowed males in my pack. And, if you didn't know, even the largest predatory felines were generally lacking in that department. When compared to wolves, male kitties literally did not measure up. I studied his face, wondering exactly what he was thinking. "Have you ever had any contact with my wolves, Apollo? I think I would have heard about your particular fighting style," I inquired, urging a response.

"I've been present for some of your more diplomatic attempts, Arch," he said my name with aggression, getting over some of his embarrassment. He must have sensed I was teasing him, and like any respectable male he didn't intend to let me have the upper hand. He also spoke of my diplomacy like it wasn't diplomatic at all. I frowned.

"If you were present then at least you know I tried. I seem to remember some of my envoys being treated rather inhospitably," I pointed out. His eyes had lightened a little bit, and I think he was thrown off guard by the intelligence in my speech. I didn't fault him for assuming I was a brute who only knew how to fight. I was sure I was painted in much less flattering light in his world. Still, he was ready with what sounded like a prepared answer.

"And I remember several of our customs being rudely ignored," he retorted in his clear, appealing voice.

I pursed my lips and grinned, refusing to get into this argument with him and frankly amused that we were both reduced to squabbling so quickly. I would have to be careful about the topic of conversation if I wanted this to turn out right. I don't know what I was hoping for, but there was one outcome I had decided on. I wanted Apollo to be my ally. He looked at me sternly, still prepared to verbally defend his people, but he was disarmed when he saw me grinning at him.

"What?" he asked, confused and probably frustrated at me.

"I'm just trying to understand you."

I shrugged, and winced a little at the pain in my healing shoulder. I was surprised to see the feline cringe at my pain, and it was my turned to be confused with him. He was patriotic enough to his race to defend them, but he was obviously sympathetic.

"From what I've seen, I believe you came running this way to lead that thing away from the other leopards," I began, trying to gauge his reaction. His face had fallen to a concerned blankness, simply listening to my assessments. "This leads me to believe that the danger originated from your people. Judging by your interactions with the creature, and the fact that my units met no opposition when entering your lands, I think your best and brightest lost control of whatever they were doing, and now you have bigger problems than us pesky wolves. Stop me if I'm getting off track."

Apollo only looked at me, his eyes absent but for the heavy concern behind them. I looked at him for a moment in silence, before nodding. So I was dead on. After that, I noticed he was understandably upset. I could only imagine what was going on at the feline's home.

He started to lift himself up to stand, and my predatory switch was flicked on. I saw the toned muscles in his pretty legs as they flexed, saw where he planned on planting his hand to support himself when he stood. I reached out and wrapped my large fingers around his slender wrist, pulling his arm toward me at the opportune moment. His balance was thrown off--not a simple fault for a feline, I assure you--for a split second, and he was on his knees at my side. His eyes widened and he caught himself before he could face-plant directly onto my stomach. But to pull that off, his other hand shot out to press against my chest, keeping himself upright. For a second he was too shocked to realize we were rather intimately engaged.

When I grinned at him, my lips pulled back just enough to show the tips of my enormous upper fangs. It was a playful expression, but I'm sure it was enough to snap him out of his brief lapse in concentration. He recovered and planted a foot on the ground, yanking hard away from my grip. I responded by pulling him in even closer, forcing him back down to his knees even after he thought he'd gotten a good foot hold on the ground. He was surprised and I think a little frightened by how easily I held him with just one of my hands, and he must have decided to let me hold his wrist, rather than risk another embarrassing attempt to get away.

He growled in his high-pitched feline tone and put as much intimidation as he could into it when he glared at me. "Arch..." he warned. The sound of my name in his voice made my ears twitch in delight, and I think that's when I forgot what I had pulled him down for. Because it was around that time the scent of his fur and skin reached my sensitive nose, and I was lost to the Alpha in my blood.

"Give me a minute," I commanded in a low, powerful bass, my muzzle so close to his ears already. I felt the resistance in his arms go slack at the sound of my voice, and the submission in his obedience pleased me to no end. I pulled him down, closer to me, rather than moving to meet him. He was forced into an even more compromising position, dropping his hand from my chest to my hard stomach, keeping himself from simply falling forward. I touched my muzzle to the fur on the top of his head, breathing, and I was not shy about the way I stole his scent from him. He smelled wonderful, even in the field of death where we sat. He was clean and distinctly feline, his fur ridiculously smooth beneath my nose and fingers compared to the shaggy coat of a wolf. It was difficult enough not to snuffle my snout through his fur like a common canine, but given his body language at the time I don't think he would have objected.

I was not oblivious to the way he was bent forward on his knees. The view I had over the top of his head gave me a generous glance of where his girlish hips had bent to appease me, and the shape of his rear where it was left prone. He was still clothed in a two-sided loincloth, and it covered generous portions of his white-furred privates, but it did nothing to hide the shape of his body from my scrutiny. I was vaguely aware of the rush of blood to my groin, and I didn't care that he would be able to see my sheath thickening. The Alpha in me wanted him to see my penis, to intimidate the feminine kitty with the black mass of veined, wolven flesh. It would likely be the most masculine thing he'd ever seen.

I licked him, bold and unashamed that I was handling a former enemy and a near stranger. I slid my enormous, smooth tongue over the top of his head, leaving a wake of very canine saliva in his fur. I felt him jerk and shift beneath my hand, this time lowering his head in the shock of it, trying to break whatever hypnotism I had him under.

He gasped weakly. "This is inappropriate," he said shakily, trying to regain some of his dignity. It sounded like he was going to address me at the end of his complaint, but he had either figured out it would only excite me, or he had trouble summoning the bravery it took to say my name. Either way, I was more than pleased with the breakdown of his regal composure. He swallowed, and tried again with a sturdier voice. "My people would not allow you to touch me like this," he said, giving away more information about his identity than I think he wanted to.

Having already recognized that he must have been an important person at his home, I was unfazed by this revelation. And I had better things on my mind.

"Then tell me to stop," I growled, and the force of it vibrated against the bones in his arm and even along the earth where I sat. I do have a powerful set of lungs.

He let out a very feline sound of protest, but his silence rang out louder than any growl I could have made. It made me realize that he was enjoying this. By the gods, I don't know how I could have been so fortunate. The odds were against me, after all. Not only was Apollo the most beautiful male I'd ever seen, but it was kind of important he at least consent to being handled by a wolf, let alone another male. More than just being interested, the fascinating leopard was reacting to my dominant attention exactly as I would have wanted him to do in my personal fantasies. He was into this.

So I decided to press my luck. I grabbed his other wrist and tugged his light body easily forward with just the strength in my arms. I pulled him until his waist was placed next to mine, sitting him so that his hips leaned against the side of my leg. I transferred one of his wrists into the other, holding both of the skinny limbs in a single, massive hand. With this new freedom of movement, I curled the fingers of my other hand into the scruff on the back of his neck, handling him as if he were just a cub. He cried out in surprise at the way he was so easily secured in my powerful grip, and the sound was feminine enough to cause my body to physically react. I resisted a shudder when my black-skinned cock hardened until the head was out of its sheath; the rest sure to follow.

Apollo looked at me with wild eyes, and I could imagine what he was thinking. The cat could have activated his powerful little bracelets and we could have had a real fight on our hands. So he had to wonder, the way I was manhandling him into a position that was very hard to fight back from, exactly what my intentions were. I didn't leave him hanging for long.

I used the grip on his scruff to force his head backward, and it arched his slender body backwards over my lap, exposing his throat to me. My muzzle followed his down, and I touched the tip of my long canine muzzle to his boxy feline face, and I kissed him.

I stopped lowering him when I was sure he could feel the sheer heat and hardness of my large erection against his back. I knew it had touched him because his whole body jerked in surprise, trying to bend to avoid it. But when our lips met, he was quick to give up, leaning down against my lap. The feel of his incredibly smooth fur against my cock, and the submission in his body language as he relaxed, threatened to drive me wild with lust. But I had more self control than that. Not to disappoint anyone, but I was not looking to ravage the poor feline.

Bolder still, I touched my oversized canine tongue to the cat's lips. I felt him flinch in surprise at the heat and wetness of it, and I think he parted his lips just so that I wouldn't drool all over his pretty whiskers. But if that was his intention, it wasn't very well planned. Because once I had access to the inside of his little muzzle, I was ruthless.

I felt him gasp at the taste and size of my tongue as I licked at the roof of his muzzle. His smaller, raspy tongue met mine and tried to guide it, I think, but it was quickly overcome. I locked my powerful jaw against his and kissed him deeply; subjecting him, willingly or not, to the full experience of being kissed by a male canine. I could feel that I overwhelmed him a bit, but at that point I was too lost in the clean taste of him. Since I had him in the submissive position, with my muzzle over his, I'm sure he swallowed more wolf drool than he ever in his life wished to. But whether he enjoyed it or not, the feline was certainly a good sport about it, because he never complained.

I eased my hand off of his scruff and was left simply hold the back of his skull in my palm. I also slid my fingers off of his wrists, allowing him the use of his hands, while my hand found a new destination. I laid my fingers and palm over the cat's flawless white belly, and I rubbed the tense, flat muscle of his stomach as gently as I knew how. When I noticed in my peripheral the small tent in the front of his loincloth, I couldn't help but grin at my incredible luck. And then he finally got to surprise me.

Whether it was the kiss or the hand on his belly, I'll never know, but I had never heard a leopard purr until then. I guess it's fairly common in the cat's world, but to a dominant canine, it was an amazing experience. Especially when considering the way I was handling the feline, he was well within his rights to claw my eyes out, rather than purr. I think I fell in love with him at that moment.

Apollo, now that he was allowed the freedom to use his hands, was quick to curl one of his small hands around my thick neck, holding onto me as we kissed. His other hand slid down to my leg, in order to support himself in the awkward arched position I had him in. But it was not my leg he found. When his feminine fingers brushed the girth of my cock, the kiss was broken to allow me to suck in a surprised breath of air. My penis was flexed in reaction to the softness of his hand, and I felt him grab me, wrapping his fingers around the impressive width of my shaft. He squeezed it gently, oddly, like he didn't know what it was. And I realized that's exactly what had happened.

He suddenly jerked away from me, pulling his hand in toward his chest. This kiss was already broken, and I no longer had a grip on any part of him, so he used the opportunity to wrench away from me. He rolled over to his knees and snapped quickly to his feet, standing with his back to me in an incredibly rigid position, his hands balled into fists at his sides. Even his tail was perfectly rigid--which I thought was rather cute--while he tried to regain his composure. He was no longer purring.

"I can't... we can't... We don't have time for this," he stuttered, breathing heavily.

I guess I understood why he so fervently wasn't looking at me. My dick lay its heavy weight along my thigh, not hard enough to stand on its own but enough to make a feline very uncomfortable. As for myself, I was torn, because as soon as he mentioned our limited time I knew he was right. If Apollo said we didn't have time, I knew, by now, that he was probably right.

I had the decency to feel a little embarrassed, pulling a move like that while there was still a danger to my wolves. But an occasional lapse in self control was something my pack could understand. I was barely out of adolescence and it would be an understatement to say I was in my prime. My sex drive was as a large contributor to my winning personality.

I took a breath and calmed myself, pushing myself up with my hands and standing. I brushed the debris from the fur on my back and rear before again looking at Apollo, glad to see he had relaxed a little bit. At least his tail was moving again.

I felt myself moving toward him before I had even decided on it, pulled by whatever bond had formed between us in those first few seconds of our meeting. It was an odd feeling. I knew my attraction to him was completely my fault--mine, and the dominant Alpha in my head who loved to prey on beautiful, feminine males. But there was more to it, an almost physical draw to be near the leopard; to not let him out of my sight, because I was sure harm would come to him otherwise. I didn't know if the feeling was my own or simply a characteristic of the alluring feline himself, but I did know that I didn't care at the time. I had bigger problems, and I was sure having Apollo around would come in handy.

I approached his small frame from behind and placed my hands on his shoulders, squeezing gently. I was expecting him to pull away or, at the very least, flinch at my touch, but he did neither. Apollo actually relaxed under my hands, again surprising me with his ease at being handled by a wolf. My jaw tightened, and I took a moment to breathe, resisting the temptation to take advantage of the opportunity. As if it was not enough I had my hands on a male taken directly from my fantasies, there is a distinct temptation that every male feels when he knows he could have someone, really have them, if he would but put a little effort forth. I let my hands slide off his delicate shoulders, falling to my sides.

And Reyna said I had no self control.

"There were others; not like that one," he said suddenly, bringing my thoughts back onto more important matters. And, I might add, completely killing the mood.

I released a frustrated sigh, and I think I startled him with the suddenness of it, because this time he did flinch. He looked over his shoulder at me, but I was already turned away, letting all the information and implications run through my mind very quickly. In a matter of seconds I had gone from flirtatious bliss to dreadful worry, the responsibilities of two species resting on my shoulders. I wouldn't let on so quickly but, yes, I was concerned about Apollo's people as well. They were a good people with a horrible leader and didn't deserve genocide.

"About that," I started, and from then on I was just trying to keep up with my own train of thought, "What the hell is going on down in kitty-land? Why is it that you've taken it upon yourself to come and warn me? Do you realize we were marching an offensive on your territory even as you came to save us...?" I trailed off, because something terrible had occurred to me. I turned slowly to face the leopard, and I found him already facing me, his pretty blue eyes grave with bad news.

"You knew we were coming?" I asked, but it came out more like a statement. I didn't need him to answer, the implications were already going through my head.

"We were visited by a wolf named Verin," he said softly, and I physically cringed at the name. I was less surprised than I should have been. I had been naiive, too trusting. I had ignored my instinct and kept Verin on my staff because I hadn't wanted to be confrontational. Kaudi had picked him, after all, and many warriors looked up to him. My jaw tightened and I glared at ground for a moment, shifting my priorities. Never again would I tolerate such dissension in my ranks, nor would I grant a position of power to any wolf in my pack that I did not trust with my life. And while I was at it, I would just have to prove to the remaining skeptics that I was the only Alpha Male who could lead this pack. I returned my eyes to the leopard, and I could feel the hardened resolve in my expression.

"Apparently he's been in contact with Rione and our intelligence unit for some time," Apollo started hesitantly. When I didn't say anything, he continued. "He's never given us anything useful. But he has a lot to say about you and your council members. He's explained how ruthless and powerful you are, how you'll kill us all if we can't stop you."

My eyes went wide as I listened, trying to fathom Verin's behavior and make it make sense. Apollo read the surprise in my face and offered me a serene smile. "Many of us knew Kaudi personally, Arch. We know the council members. Very few believed his words "

"Just the few that really mattered, right?" I cut him off, already knowing where he was going with this. Of course Rione believed it, and I was willing to bet his feeble advisors didn't help the situation, either. "So you resorted to what? Raising hell?"

"Rione decided it was the only course of action that would decisively eliminate the wolves and ensure our victory, without shedding another drop of feline blood on the battlefield'," he spoke in what was obviously a quote straight from Rione's lips.

I clenched my teeth, containing my rage. My success and victories that I had been so proud of had only served to back Rione into a corner. But I had no idea he would try something like this. I didn't know he was capable!

"Where did this underworld magic even come from?" I asked, a deep growl giving emphasis to my words.

Apollo huffed through his boxy little muzzle at me, looking a bit offended. "The wolves do not have a monopoly on magic, Arch, nor are yours the only types."

I waved it off. "Fine," I said, "So if I was correct before, your people lost control of it?"

Apollo nodded once, firmly, his jaw set.

"And you said there was more than one?"

"Three that I know of. Two now."

"And where are the other two?"

Apollo just looked at me and shook his head, his eyes shining with unshed tears. He looked away from me, forcing a frown, and for all the world trying not to cry. It broke my heart to see him in so much pain, like seeing a member of my own family experience a devastating loss. I stepped forward, wanting to comfort him, but stopped myself.

"Listen, Apollo. I'm going to help you. But first I need to see if my wolves are ok, and I need to warn them of this threat."

He blinked hard and moved his pretty blue eyes up to me, nodding. His voice was surprisingly clear when he said, "I understand. Thank you," and he was lost again to his worry.

I was silent for a second, not because I was hesitating, but because I was surprised he hadn't figured it out yet. "I want to take you with me."

This got his attention, and I noticed his tail went rigid again. It looked so odd on a feline, but this was not the time to tease him about it. He looked at me like I was crazy. "You want me to go to the wolves' caern?"

I didn't like the way he worded it, so I shook my head. "I want you to come with me, and I will personally escort you to my caern."

He still didn't seem to get it, or at least understand how I could think this was a good idea. I actually laughed, and I gave him my most charming smile. I closed the distance between us and placed a hand on his shoulder once more. He had to look up to compensate for our height distance.

I bent to give him a short, affectionate lick to the top of his head, and I swear I felt the beautiful male nearly swoon underneath my hand. I wasn't sure what he felt, but I knew I didn't want to leave his side. I had a traitor to kill, and two species to save. And Apollo and I had more than one thing to resolve before I could let him out of my sight. He managed one word in the face of my persuasive charm.

"Ok," he said. And we moved out.