A deep growl echoed in the albino alpha's chest. His blood red eyes burned into her like fire. Shirah stayed as she was, frozen in terror as she lay in the snow beneath the lycan.

"Cerberus, stop!" I leapt in front of the woman, facing down the lycan myself.

He huffed. "Move, my Lady."

"No, you'll kill her!" I could see it in the tension of his muscles.

He bared his teeth. "Move, Desire."

My gut twisted. He meant to override me, to use his authority. But I couldn't let him. Somehow I sensed Shirah wasn't what he assumed her to be. She had to say it, to offer the explanation I knew she had.

"Shirah, why did that woman know you?"

It took her a moment to find her voice. "I-I... she is Meridith Balazza, the new military commander for Lord Howens... She used to be a captain of the guard in Riken, I had several run ins with her. That's all! She just knows me because she ran me out of her city!"

"See?" I placed a tentative hand on Cerberus's chest. "It's nothing."

"She’s lying." His gaze switched from her to me. His irises enraptured my attention, swirling with mistrust and an emotion I couldn't yet name, one that was begging to be understood. His voice was gruff, yet softer as he spoke to me. "We can’t afford a spy, not while our full strength hasn’t crossed the mountains."

A chill seeped through me. I swallowed. "Cerberus, please, don't do this."

A low snarl and soft eyes. "I will do what you can't. We are the same. To survive we must never hesitate. Always go for the throat."

Tears pricked at my eyes. I tried to hold them back, to force them down, but it was no use. They rolled freely down my cheeks. "Not this time." I whispered it. "Please Cerberus, not this time."

Two paw like hands rested on my shoulders. "I am alpha," he said it gently, yet there was still the firm tone of a command in his voice, "you will submit."

I couldn't stop the tears now. This time he wasn't chained to a wall. Yet this time I wasn't afraid of myself or my followers. I was only afraid for my friend, and what my closest companion would do to her. Only a fool would believe Cerberus would even consider showing the woman mercy. I took a deep breath, gathering my courage. Even so, I couldn't bring myself to speak much louder than a whisper. "Not this time."

The alpha growled. He shoved me down, his superior weight forcing me to my knees. Bared canines clashed together inches from my face. "You will submit!"

My fists clenched together. I had to keep courage. I couldn't let this happen. "No, Blood Eye, I won't."

I was thrown to the side. The moment I landed I was somehow on my feet, crashing into the shoulder of the charging lycan. He fell away, more from surprise than my actual force.

"I said I won't submit!" I barked out.

He blinked, then backed up. For a split second I saw his ears flatten against his head as confusion and conflict flashed in those red irises. We both knew the weight of what I just said, what it meant. I challenged him as alpha. He had to respond.

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The lycan's gaze hardened. I braced myself, though I knew it wouldn't help. The impact of the charging lycan sent us both tumbling in somersaults through the forest's wet snow.

The albino snapped and snarled, but made no contact. He was trying to intimidate without doing damage. All he wanted was for me to submit, he didn't take me as a legitimate threat.

I punched him in the jaw, hard.

That set him off. I felt the moment his instincts took over. Long claws tore through my jacket. I gasped as they reached skin, biting into flesh and drawing blood.

Cerberus leapt back. He stared at me in bewilderment. I could hardly believe the situation myself, but I couldn't let him have his way, not this time. I took advantage of the pause to draw my dagger from its sheath, though I had no intention of seriously harming him.

He leapt upon me again. I swung my dagger across his muzzle. Claws dug into frozen earth around me. Teeth flashed in my face. Growling barks echoed in my ears. His horrid breath was all I could smell.

My dagger's blade dragged across his chest. It didn't actually cut through his fur, but he could feel it, and know I was serious.

His hands grabbed at my wrists, pinning them above my head and knocking the dagger from my grasp. The joints screamed at the weight pressing into them. Thick saliva joined my tears on my cheeks, creating freezing lines of wetness on heated skin.

"Submit."

I raised my chin. "I refuse."

He roared. My body trembled with the power, but I kept my gaze steady. His eyes, they were screaming in desperation now, and still I couldn't understand a word of it. "Submit, now!"

"I refuse."

A click. Despite my reluctance, my eyes were torn from our staring match. Cyrus had his gun pointed at the albino lycan.

"Back off, Hellhound."

Cerberus growled in response. He wasn't intimidated by the weapon, though he should be. Cyrus had his head at nearly point blank.

"Don't interfere!" I almost screamed it. "This is pack business, it's none of your concern!"

The man frowned. "Desire, this is insane."

I stared at him until his gaze caught on mine. I looked straight into his stormy eyes. "You asked me to trust you, and I do. Now I am asking for that trust in return. I can handle this."

Cyrus frowned deeper, then grimaced. Slowly, with much hesitation and doubt, he lowered the firearm. With that dealt with, I turned my attention back to the massive canine.

"And you asked me to trust your judgment on Cyrus. So I'm asking you now, trust my trust in Shirah. Until then, I will not submit."

There was genuine regret in his voice. "She’s lying."

I sighed. Always so stubborn. I allowed my head to roll back, exposing my neck to him. "Then go on then. I challenge you."

Smooth teeth brushed at my jugular. The seconds turned to eternity. The fear that had just been so distant was now thundering through my chest. Yet, it wasn't death I feared, it was the possibility of betrayal of the highest trust I had ever given.

High pitched whining sounded in my ears. A hot tongue lapped at my chin. Claws released my wrists, instead taking the weight of the lycan as he buried his forehead in the snow.

"I submit."

The world froze. Falling leaves hung suspended in still air. My heart stopped, then started again at the pace of a rabbit's. My eyes were flooded with tears, waves of them rose up and crashed over me, drowning me in their depths.

"No, Cerberus, you can't!" I cried, clutching to the fur of his shoulders. "Please don't! You can't submit to me!"

His face appeared above mine. I searched over those haunting eyes and deep pink nose, looking for the answers of a thousand questions in my mind. A gentle padded hand rested on the side of my cheek, wiping the tears from it. "I can't fight you, my Lady."

My arms wrapped around his neck, pulling me up to him. "But you can't submit! I need you to tell me what to do!"

The lycan glanced back at Shirah. "I have, but you refuse to listen." He pulled his paws underneath him and disentangled himself from me. I sat up as he turned toward the mountain forests.

My heart twisted in knots. "But... don't leave me..." He glanced my way, then trotted toward the boulders leading up a collapsed cliff face. "Don't leave me!"

I wanted Cerberus to come back, to wrap himself around me and be surrounded by his warmth and softness. I wanted him to promise to never leave my side. But my calls went unanswered as the albino bounded up the steep slope, leaving me alone in the wet snow.