Feral Lust [18+ mature]

Tribulation

Elliot had squeezed his eyes shut because of the blinding white light. It had swallowed him whole and then it opened up to a darkness so black, he couldn't even see his hand.

He felt some shadows swirl around him, making his heart race.

Elliot had never witnessed a fear like this. Raw fear, he could sense it, emanating off of him in waves. There was something golden in front of him. A sleeping form of an animal, he saw. Ahead of that animal was a flicker of light. Something was calling out to him. He took a step forward, and the animal shifted all of a sudden, making Elliot halt halfway through.

It was a wolf, he realized when it turned around to look at Elliot, sniffing. The fur of the wolf was so golden, the light reflected off of it, blue eyes blinking and head tilting slightly as though it was trying to judge Elliot. It turned back again, probably on the account of the lulled voice that was beckoning them towards it.

Hesitantly, Elliot moved along the wolf. As a unit, both of them reached the now increasing light. As soon as they were in the vicinity of the glow emitting body, the wolf nuzzled it nose against Elliot's thigh. A shiver went down his spine, but he ignored it - focusing his attention solely on what was in front of him.

The light was getting dimmer and then a figure stepped out - like literally stepped out of it - and Elliot could only make out that the person was a male because of his bulky frame silhouetting against the brightness of the white behind him, making it almost impossible to see the figure's entirety of the face.

From what Elliot could see, the man had a straight nose, an eye so silver even the moon would be jealous and a mouth that seemed to support a permanent moue. This obviously he could discern from half of the face.

The man patted the wolf's head with a fatherly affection then turned to look at Elliot.

"Elliot!" The voice, though booming, held a soft cadence with an authoritative undertone.

"Your ride, until this time has been nothing but full of hurdles, however, from this point onwards, think of it as stepping into a warpath. Things that you have not faced before, situations that you have never dealt with and betrayals you could not even imagine in your worst nightmares, await you. The loyalty of the people around you will be tried. Don't fret, dear Elliot because there will be a select few who will always stand by you; support you. All you have to do is listen to voice right here."

Elliot felt a finger tap his chest, the flesh above his heart, although he didn't even see the person lift his hand. Once the tap was withdrawn, Elliot felt a sting on the place where the entity's power had just touched. He covered the tingling area with the palm of his right hand and nodded.

The figure then went silent and the wolf by his side looked up to him with a twinkle in its eyes which snapped something in Elliot and suddenly he was pulled back to the present; back to the clearing.

Elliot gasped for breath, trying to get up as soon as he noticed that he was lying on the ground. The Elders, his father and the tribe surrounding him with the look of concern, gave him some space to gather himself up. He did so, dusting off his clothes, suddenly feeling extraordinarily light, powerful and indurate, all at the same time.

By the looks on the faces of the people around him, it was vivid to Elliot that they could also see the shift of something substantial in Elliot. The crowd parted for him on Elder Eairdsidh's signaling wave.

No one tried to stop him or ask him about whatever had happened while he was unconscious. His own father was trying to avoid Elliot's gaze, staying clear and away from him. Elliot could not understand anything right from the point of the oath up till the present and then he remembered what that entity had relayed to him, "Think of it as stepping into a warpath."

And Elliot knew from the mortal movies that he had seen that a walk through the warpath was never easy, let alone walking unscathed and alive out of it.

As if in response and agreement, the flesh above Elliot's heart throbbed, stopping him dead on his way to his room, and then he was running. He didn't mind the people who were still watching him, didn't care about the escorts who were on his heels. He ran to his room, straight to the tiny attached washroom, ignoring the murmurs of the tribe outside; doubting if they had chosen the right one - whatever in heavens that meant.

Turning on the lights, he threw away the tee-shirt he had been donning and saw a brand seared on his chest. It resembled two moons; waning crescents - one big and another one small, backing two lone stars that were almost touching each other and something akin to a part sword and hilt piercing through the two moons, the tip of the sword merely touching the first star.

Elliot's skin seemed to lose all its color and when he looked up to meet his eyes in the mirror, he could see the dread and fear similar to what he had felt when Greta was in danger. Strangely though, his wolf was calm; happy even and weirdly accepting the events taking place.

With the thoughts of what his life had become, Elliot went to sleep without bothering to eat, worried for the tests waiting for him. No one disturbed him through his dreamless slumber until dawn when two wolves who were not his usual escorts, hauled him up and covered his eyes with a blindfold, taking him out of his room.

The three of them walked for a while, the path plain until suddenly Elliot sensed that they were walking up the mountain but through a secret tunnel which, thanks to the blindfold, he knew that no one believed him enough to show him the restricted way.

His heart begun to beat erratically, giving him the illusion of being taken for an execution, although he wished for the same; prayed for it to whatever Gods the Lycans pray to. The silence of the tunnels was soon morphed into roars and cheers of the crowd.

Through the blindfold, he could make out when the tunnel ended and could feel the moment they stepped out into the light. Elliot released a deep breath as the wolves next to him untied the cloth around his eyes and then blinking into the sudden brightness, his heart stopped beating for a moment.

In front of him, the land spread to a huge stadium surrounded by seats and seats of wolves watching Elliot with curious eyes. Overwhelmed by the increasing murmurs about him and his latent wolf, Elliot shifted his focus to the land where the sparring would take place.

Surrounded by mist and clouds, the stadium ahead of him had a looming presence of power that seemed to want to wake something up inside him, a poking shadow which seemed to awe and irate him at the same time. He had never felt this way, walking towards the center of the sand-covered land surrounded by hundreds of spectators, he somehow felt free; rather his wolf appeared to feel so and started urging Elliot to shift, to let him take over.

It took everything in his being to keep himself from giving in, the existence around him growing even more powerful as he tried to resist and then suddenly nothing.

An Elder he had never noticed, silenced the stadium with a flick of his hand. He then began to state the rules and the criterion of the tests that Elliot would have to go through in mere minutes.

"All of you, after last night's oath, are more than aware of Elliot, the boy brought to us probably because of the hands that Fate has dealt us with; that Qaphsiel has offered us as a beacon of redemption." The crowd cheered showing their accord. The name Qaphsiel though made Elliot shiver involuntarily. The Elder cleared his throat, "Most of you are also cognizant of the fact that every new addition, an alleged beacon or not, have to prove their worth - to be capable enough of being a part of our sacred clan. We are making an exception in dear Elliot's case," He fixed Elliot with his gaze, making him swallow audibly, "we hope he would not disappoint us again in the manner he managed to do a few weeks ago." With his speech almost done, Elliot nodded meekly. The Elder's voice echoed through the stadium, "It is Elliot against one of our best warriors, Callahan. Let the duel begin." The crowd roared.

The world started spinning around him as Elliot heard the roar. Driven crazy, the crowd cheered for Callahan when Elliot wasn't even sure who the person was. And then, the gates in front of him opened. Dust swirled around the figure who stepped out of the opposite cave and he was not surprised to see one of his guards, the one whose name he had never bothered to know. The one who had stepped to his rescue when the entire clan had been going against him. Elliot was curious about the turn of events that were about to take place.

Tentatively, Elliot took a battle stance, going blank for a few moments. If it had been in the middle of the battle, these few seconds could have cost him the entire fight. Shaking his head, Elliot crouched, ready to lunge or dodge, whatever the situation demanded of him - Elliot was ready. Then, he saw the guard take a similar position with much more confidence than what Elliot could muster.

The whooping audience hushed. The guard lunged for him, a look of utter determination on his face. Elliot couldn't decipher what to do. It felt as though his brain had been disconnected from his body. He stood there, frozen and then all of a sudden, he was slammed, face first to the ground. He then felt a flicker in the air, the shield had been snapped in the place just like Elder Zachariah had assured.

Elliot somehow managed to evade the next kick by rolling towards the right and then jumped up to stand face to face with his opponent.

Elliot looked at the guard, getting ready to dodge his oncoming attack. And when Callahan came at him, he began to get agitated, not wanting to be caught unprepared, Elliot lunged and the combatant, caught off-guard, jumped to his right but could not entirely deflect the brunt of Elliot's punch.

The guard stumbled but gathered his bearings soon after, advancing on Elliot. The former's eyes shone with the excitement of the fight, the chance he could get to show his worth, however, even after days of watching Elliot practice, the guard had been unaware of Elliot's true extent of power and that was Elliot's biggest weapon.

Following a technique taught by one of the Elders, Elliot tried to distract the guard. He smiled cruelly, turning his neck from left to right and popping it with a series of clicks. The guard, who had been ready to deliver a killing blow, suddenly stopped. Standing in his place, he eyed Elliot in confusion. The murmuring of the crowd grew and Elliot assessed the entirety of the stadium, all the time keeping an eye on the contender.

Turning back his full attention to the guard, Elliot flicked his hand as if to say "come on" and taunted the guard, "now, where were we?" The fight was oh so on, but Elliot couldn't comprehend from where this confidence, this attitude was coming - although, he wasn't complaining about it.

The guard rushed towards Elliot, who stood there with a winning smile. His strategy had worked. As soon as the guard raised his fist, Elliot dipped and weaved right. Before the guard could comprehend what was happening, Elliot swiftly punched him in the celiac plexus, knocking the wind out of the competitor and stunning him, along with the stadium, for a brief moment.

The fight had taken Elliot and the guard dangerously close to where the Elders were seated and Elliot had his back almost to the wooden pillar behind him, despite his counter attacks. The guard was still open to more attacks though and Elliot; soaking in adrenaline, was not done yet.

He brought a simple side kick to the sentinel's stomach, making him double over. Following that up, Elliot proceeded with a quick uppercut. The crowd let out a collective wince for the other man who tried but could not get up from where he lay on the ground.

A few fellow healer-wolves came to gather the wincing guard and took him away on a stretcher. On reaching the edge of the arena, the guard flicked a thumb towards the direction of Elliot, congratulating him with a wavering almost-grin which was a full display of the pain the guard was in.

In a matter of seconds, the blaring horns began to blow and the Elder, who had earlier announced the commence, cleared his throat. The roaring stadium quieted.

"It is clear as day that we have a winner among us. Congratulations on the victory, Elliot but the journey has just begun. On the morrow, we will gather here again for the next round. Until then, may the goddess guide you." Raising a hand each, all the Elders blessed the crowd and vanished, one by one, down a door behind them.

Elliot was guided back a new and simpler path by the wolves who had been his escorts that morning. There was a sense of respect and fear in the air, emanating from the wolves, directed towards Elliot. Nevertheless, what he felt for himself was a different story altogether.

Elliot was having a hard time controlling the beast inside him. It wanted out. Wanted to unleash itself on a poor innocent. He wanted to go straight to his rooms but that he could not do unless he wished the fury of his wolf upon someone. So, he stopped in front of the forest opening.

"Please leave me alone for some time." He gritted out. Even trying to speak politely, he couldn't stop the growl that left his mouth. It hurt, trying to control the wolf inside. The two guards, judging his predicament, ushered away as soon as they could; leaving him to his own devices.

As long as he could, contrary to the belief of the clan, Elliot controlled the urge to shift. He knew that once he shifted to the beastly form, he would probably raze the entire tribe, save the Elders thus, he did what he could best. He sat down under a tree, where he had hallucinated the first time he had come here.

This place had an aura that calmed him, acted like a tranquilizer for his wolf - numbing his animalistic instincts.

"When will I be able to get free of this feeling?" He whispered to no one in particular.

"Will I ever be able to feel normal again?" He murmured again, squeezing his eyes shut. This time though, there was a reply. A whisper in the wind.

Yes, my child. It said.

Elliot's eyes opened wide. Had he imagined the voice? He thought, as he looked around the clearing and found nothing. Shaking his head, he gulped audibly. He couldn't afford to lose his mind at this moment when he was this close to proving he was not 'nothing'. That he was not the beast everyone else thought him to be.

He inhaled deeply and then let out a long breath.

He was done with the voices that had been talking to him since the day he had come to know about his basic nature. Elliot wanted to trust himself and his wolf, more than ever because he knew that it would be only then that others would see the good side of him too.

With a new vigor, he had been ready for the next two challenges which were a piece of cake for him. He couldn't comprehend that from where the power was pouring through him but it was a sweet feeling. The surroundings had seemed clearer and brighter to him, he felt as though a misty smoke had been cleared away from in front of his eyes. The colors around him were sharper, the scents - stronger and the voices, although louder, he had managed to drone out the most of them. Greatest of all though, he was happy; exalted more like.

He had overcome all the tasks and challenges with such an ease, without giving away that his wolf had been going insane, without managing to kill someone; he had gained what he had gone to the tribe for - knowledge, expertise and then some respect too.

Now, he was returning home, and it was another reason contributing to his happiness and relief. He had missed his mother, more than anything the words could describe. His father was another story altogether.

While the second round that consisted of sword sparring, had been an easy task, his had been the last cut that had left Lloyd's mate, Isla, unconscious for a couple minutes and those were the longest two minutes in Elliot's life. He did not want another death on his conscience. In that torturous situation of waiting for Isla to gain consciousness, Xavier had looked at Elliot as though he was angry at himself for having given birth to a monster.

It was not Elliot's fault though. He had considered the Elders' barrier strong enough to prevent his sword from penetrating through the shield. However, it still did and at such a force that it had rendered her immobile. The round had been over in but his torment had not.

The next round of wolfish battle was held half an hour after the previous one due to the easy win and the uncontrollable rage of the wolf inside Elliot; a ferocity so palpable that it could have been cut with a knife.

Elliot's wolf, Karamat - as he had named it, was ecstatic for being free although he couldn't get his much-desired kill. As the battle dragged on, Karamat had become more and more draconian. As a result, it had taken all the Elders and one too many healers to coax him back into shifting. At one point, Xavier had begun to cry even, thinking that his son was a lost cause when the fight in the lycan died and it shifted back. His father had been upset with him ever since but as far as Elliot was concerned, it didn't bother him with all these impediments and trials were his father's fault. The good thing though was that he had won yet another battle.

He just couldn't wait to get back to his mother who was even beatific than her son was. Her eagerness to greet her son could be seen in the robustness of the actions and preparations which had Celeste seething on the inside. Her life was in shambles and there was an air of celebration all around her that she just couldn't take.

Avoiding everyone, she decided to visit her father in the apothecary. She could hear the voices shouting over each other followed by the rumbling voice of Blayne. He was angrier than he had ever been, his voice having an undertone of anguish. What Colina said next had her running towards Blayne's room even faster.

"Blayne, the blow you suffered has led to this predicament of yours. I tried to save you as much as I could but this is the price of magic that nature demands. You won't be able to shift or walk ever again"

Celeste opened the door to the room, making everyone else turn towards her. Everyone except her father.

"Is it true, Celeste?" Blayne merely whispered.

She stood frozen, standing at the room's threshold, unable to progress the turn of events.

"Celeste, I have asked you something. Speak." His voice held the authority of a father.

"Y-yes."

There was a moment's silence after Celeste's silence, with the air growing heavy. And then, a howl filled the air, laden with desolation. Celeste took a step towards her father as she had never seen Blayne in such a broken and agonized state. However, Blayne stopped her with a glare so cold, her heart almost stopped. "Leave. Me. Alone." he said.

Celeste, full of tormenting emotions, fixed her mother with a glower of her own as tears brimmed her eyes and then she ran like the devil was on her heels. Unceremoniously sprinting, she had only one destination in mind.

On reaching the dungeons, she ignored the judgemental and funny looks of the guards. Reaching Dante's cell, she pulled out the keys she always kept in hand for situations like these. She had bribed the previous guard for the duplicate keys to be made, and at the present moment, she was utterly relieved to have thought so.

Everyone had always thought that she was in for some s****l business with her ex-captor, probably because she had loved the feel of him inside her; that's what they said. However, it was never the case.

Shaking off her thoughts, she opened the door to the cell and Dante squinted up to look at her. A bucket full of his feces caught her attention due to its utterly foul odour, making her scrunch her nose in disgust. At least he had kept her in a better condition than this. She thought, then chastised herself. Those favours had never been shared with her pack. He deserves to rot.

She shifted her focus back to the cowering son of the ex-alpha. Today, he looked ten times older than he did when he was raping her.

Perhaps, he had judged her demeanor because now his face had taken a sorry look. Too bad, there had been no sympathy for her when she had been pleading for a reprieve.

With vengeance in her mind, she was invading her personal space only in two steps. "Are you ready, my love?" She said in a sultry voice, akin to what Dante had used in his reigning days.

She threw a sucker punch at him, so fast, he didn't even see it coming to be prepared for it.

For a second, all one could hear was the sound of Celeste's heavy breathing, and then, a whimpering sound. That moan of pain gave her the power. She began throwing punches after punches, not stopping to give her hand or Dante, any time regain composure or strength.

She disregarded Dante's shouts of pain, his voice full of despair. His voice reminded her of her father's loss, fuelling her anger even more. She stood up to kick him in the gut when Celeste felt someone grab her from behind.

Celeste groaned, shouting to let her go, but the grip was strong enough to not let her move.

The screams of Dante had made the guards aware of what had been happening and now some more people had entered the cell.

"What the hell do you think you are doing, Celeste?" The sound of her mother's voice gave her a headache, strong enough to make her start the struggle against her grabber once again.

"Stop it, at once!" Another voice. This one full of authority. Celeste tilted her head to see Greta enter.

She felt her guard's grip slacken a bit, as his attention shifted to his Luna. Taking advantage of the moment, and the guard by surprise, Celeste freed herself of the grasp and went out of the door. The cell was getting dangerously congested for her. She didn't want her claustrophobia to set in.

"Stay right where you are, Celeste." The Luna ordered. Then she gave the guard some instructions to bring a healer for Dante's aid.

"We have been ignoring all the nuisance that you have created in the past few days. It never had any effect on me, because I knew you were angry with me for an unknown reason. I had thought that you'll come around like everyone else has. But I judged a person wrong for the first time ever. You have been nothing but aggressive and now I am done forgiving you because this time you have crossed all your limits." Greta's voice was like the calm before the storm and Celeste could feel something big and bad coming towards her.

"You will not be treated as a member of this pack until and unless you prove your worth. Your rooms will be taken from you and you'll be sleeping in the barracks with the half-vampires. I don't care whose daughter you are, all I care about is the welfare of my pack."

The last part made Celeste break into laughter.

"Oh, you care for the pack, do you? Where was all this care and affection towards this pathetic pack of yours when we needed you the most? When this," she pointed a finger towards Dante's cell, "leech was sucking the will of living out of me? Don't dare tell me what I should do and what I should not. You might be back to take your position as Luna, but to me, you, your husband and that latent son of yours will never be my leaders." As soon as the last words came out of Celeste's mouth, Greta raised her hand to slap her. However, with adrenaline rushing through her body, Celeste reflexes worked faster as she took hold of her hand, all the while her mother had been watching. Then, she shoved Greta hard enough, making her fall down.

Celeste had never shifted fast enough. And then, for the third time in a day, she ran again towards the back door.

Elliot and Xavier had just been back when all the commotion had begun. Xavier had scented Greta in the midst of it all. Both of them had gone towards the dungeons where the scene had unfolded in front of them.

As the girl pushed Greta, she had shifted. Although Xavier rushed to his wife's aid, Elliot stood frozen in his spot. He had only seen the girl's back but his heart had begun beating faster. Nevertheless, the shift had untethered something inside him; spreading warmth and electricity from his core towards his every nerve ending. Paying no heed to anyone around, he took off after the wolf, but for what? To punish her?

He could not decide what had made him act this way. He was unaware of the turns that followed and he found himself reaching a dead end. Then, he heard a howl which unraveled the pain of losing Lea that he had buried deep in the crevices of his being. It sobered him up enough to remember that what the girl had done to his mother.

Retracing his steps, he rushed back to his mother and was relieved to find that she was alright with only a few scratches.

"Where had you gone, son?" His father asked, to which Elliot merely shook his head.

He felt avengement and something akin to dread walk on his heart, making a home there. But there was another emotion that he could not decipher. He was apprehending the time he would see the girl again, but right now, no matter how perturbed he felt, he was home.