CHAPTER 35: CHAPTER 35: ON YOUR KNEES

The man’s retaliation was brutal. He grabbed Theo by the collar and slammed him against the side of his car. Metal groaned under the impact.

Theo wheezed, then grinned through the pain. "Ohh, kinky. Didn’t know we were skipping to the rough play already."

Azrael was on him in an instant, boot slamming into the stranger’s side, forcing him back and breaking his grip on Theo. Azrael’s expression was so murderous, so deadly that all he could think of was murdering the idiot.

"You don’t touch him like that."

Theo coughed, fixing his shirt with a dramatic tug. "Aww, Az, I didn’t know you cared. Getting protective of me now?"

Azrael ignored him, circling the stranger with that cold predator’s focus. "Just shut the fuck up," he groaned. "We end this quickly. No powers...please. Just break him down."

Theo spat blood to the side and smirked, wiping his mouth with his thumb. "Fine by me. I’ll take left, you take right. Try not to get jealous if he likes me more."

Then they moved together.

Theo’s strikes came wild but clever, hands and feet flying with reckless speed, while Azrael’s blows landed precise and punishing, calculated to hurt without killing. The stranger blocked, dodged, countered, he was strong, unnervingly strong but he was slowing under their combined rhythm.

Theo barked a laugh as his fist grazed the man’s jaw. "Look at us, Az. Tag-teaming like pros. If this was bed wrestling, we’d be legends."

"Shut the hell up and focus," Azrael growled, but even then, a ghost of a grin threatened his lips as he swung again.

This time the man staggered back a few paces under their last brutal strike... then his body convulsed. Bones cracked like gunshots in the silence, his frame twisting, stretching. Muscles bulged, skin tearing as coarse fur forced its way out. His face elongated, teeth sharpening into dripping fangs.

Within seconds, the stranger was gone.

A towering wolf-beast stood in his place. Its eyes burned yellow, its claws glinting like knives in the moonlight.

Azrael’s lips peeled back, his own snarl rattling the night.

"I thought as much."

Theo wiped the blood at the corner of his mouth with his thumb, his face settling into something colder than stone.

"Yeah... didn’t feel human from the start."

The beast lunged first, claws flashing. Theo ducked, but not fast enough, red lines opened across his shoulder, hot blood spilling. That asshole cut him. He hissed, but didn’t cry out. His wolf inside snarled violently, claws itching beneath his skin, begging to break free. He forced it down, jaw clenched so hard it hurt.

Azrael caught the second swipe, twisting his body so the claws only grazed his ribs instead of tearing them open. His eyes flickered red, then blue, then red again, unstable, dangerous. His veins bulged as he fought down his own wolf, forcing himself to stay in control.

The beast roared, swinging with inhuman speed. Each impact was thunderous as he knocked at Theo. He slammed into the hood of his car, metal caving under his weight, Azrael skidding across asphalt, his palms tearing open.

Theo spat blood and stood again, wiping it with the back of his hand, his expression grim, breathing heavily. No jokes. No smirk this time.

"Alright. Fuck it. Playtime’s over."

He lunged, fist colliding with the beast’s ribs hard enough to crack bone. The wolf snarled and swung at him, but Azrael was already there fist driving into its jaw like a hammer.

The beast reeled, but it wasn’t down. It caught Azrael’s side with its claws, tearing into flesh. Azrael’s growl ripped through the night, guttural and primal. His body shook as his muscles flexed, his skin crawling, his wolf threatening to take over.

Fuck it.

His eyes glowed brighter, shifting violently from red to blue, red to blue, the change threatening to snap. His voice was deep.

"Don’t...make me shift, fucker."

What he hated the most was about to happen and he barely has control over it. He doesn’t want to lose control, he liked his human form best, because that’s the only time he felt in control.

He doesn’t want to give his father the satisfaction of seeing his snap. Its been a while since he last shifted to his full wolf form, he could only imagine how restless and hungry the dude was. So unleashing it right now was the most deadliest thought, and not only was this beast going to pay dearly for it, he was to and that would give his Dad the satisfaction he had long deprived him of.

Well fuck his ass though.

But right now the beast didn’t care. It slashed again, ripping at Theo’s back, dragging blood down his spine.

Theo hit the ground hard, but rolled up to his feet with inhuman sleed, his chest heaving. His eyes burned gold now, from green to gold, glowing faint under the surface. His wolf was begging for blood.

Well, he wouldn’t mind giving it one, if not for Azrael here, who now looked like he stepped on the thin line between life and death.

Azrael’s claws were half-out already, his fists trembling as his beast clawed for release. His muscles bulged, veins crawling, bones creaking like they wanted to snap. He tilted his head back, a guttural sound tearing from his throat, half snarl, half suppressed howl.

The beast came again, wild and rabid. This time, they didn’t dodge. Theo slammed into it head-on, fist after fist pounding against its ribs, its snout, its chest. Azrael moved with deadly precision, each blow meant to kill but still holding, still barely restraining himself from unleashing the full monster inside.

Blood sprayed across the asphalt, Theo’s, Azrael’s, and the beast’s. Their breaths came ragged, heavy, each impact echoing like war drums.

And still, the fight wasn’t done.

Azrael’s knees bent low, his muscles snapping taut, his voice low, guttural, shaking with restraint.

"...One more strike... and I swear I’ll tear this thing apart."

His eyes blazed, flickering madly.

Theo’s chest rose and fell as his jaw tightened. His fists curled, his gold eyes shimmering dangerously.

"Az..." he muttered, teeth clenched. "If you lose it... I won’t stop you this time."

Azrael’s chest heaved, blood dripping down his side where the beast’s claws had torn him open. His breath came harsh, guttural, each inhale followed by a sound that was not entirely human.

His knees bent, his back arched, his body trembling as bones cracked, straining against his will. His groan broke into something deeper, animalistic, vibrating the ground beneath their feet. And then...

He threw his head back.

A howl ripped from his throat, long and raw, echoing through the night. It wasn’t a wolf’s full cry, nor a human’s voice, something caught in between, broken, ugly, primal. It sent shivers crawling up Theo’s spine.

When Azrael lowered his head again, his eyes burned. One glowed a piercing blue, the other bled red like fresh fire. His lips peeled back, fangs barely contained, his body radiating a lethal, unstable energy.

The beast roared, and lunged at him.

And then it froze.

Mid-air.

Its face twisted in agony, jaws locking open. Its muscles seized violently, its limbs jerking like broken puppets.

Azrael hadn’t moved a limb. His head tilted lazily to the side, his mismatched eyes locked on the beast with cold, merciless focus.

Blood leaked from the creature’s nose. Then its ears. Then its mouth. Dark streams dripping, bubbling, spilling down its fur as it convulsed.

Theo’s golden eyes widened. He knew this power. He’d seen Azrael use it before but never like this.

Water.

Not just in rivers. Not just in rain. Not just the air.

Azrael was pulling at the very water inside the beast’s veins.

The blood in its body bent to his will. He was crushing it from the inside out.

Azrael’s voice was low, ragged, vibrating with restrained fury.

"You thought claws made you dangerous..." His lips curled, exposing sharper teeth than before. "...but you bleed. And if you bleed..."

The beast writhed, choking on its own blood as invisible force twisted through its body. Its veins bulged, bursting under its skin. Its ribs strained against pressure they couldn’t fight.

"...you’re mine."

The aura pouring off Azrael was suffocating. Heavy. Thick. It pressed down on everything, the ground, the air, even Theo. It was the crushing weight of an ocean pressing on their chests, making it hard to breathe.

Theo stood there, his jaw tight, but his lips twitched into something like a smirk.

"Fucking hell, Az..." he muttered under his breath. "Remind me never to piss you off."

Like he wasn’t an asshole too when he’s pissed off.

Azrael didn’t answer. He stood to his full length. His mismatched eyes stayed fixed on the beast, his head still tilted, his body vibrating with suppressed transformation. His wolf was right there, ugly, howling, begging to break loose. But instead of letting it rip free... he bent all of that fury into his power.

The beast screamed, blood bursting from its pores, dripping into the dirt.

Azrael’s voice came again, darker this time.

"On your knees."