Anna’s brain forgot how to work for two seconds.

All she could process was Kai. The heat of his mouth. The way his tongue parted her lips, slipping in and tasting her. The absolute possession in the way his grip tightened on her chin.

So many thoughts rushed through her mind at once, only one standing out: fuck Leon.

With a breathless gasp, she closed her eyes and melted into him, her hands clutching helplessly at his sleeves. Kai smirked against her lips, his eyes focused on Leon as he kissed her.

A deafening, unearthly roar shook the very foundation of the barracks.

Kai’s smirk widened. To add insult to injury, he snaked his hand around Anna’s waist, his fingers splayed possessively over her rib cage.

Leon lost every shred of his sanity. Seeing another man lay such blatant claim to Anna, while she was in front of him, was enough to snap the final thread of his restraint. He lunged forward with the force of a budding storm, aiming for Kai.

The shark dodged, his movements smoother than water. Holding onto Anna, he jumped out of Leon’s path. Unfortunately, he was forced to break the kiss.

Anna gasped, doubling over and breathless.

From the door, where he still stood, Ray’s eyes widened with shock and a mix of betrayal. But anna didn’t notice him, or maybe she forgot he was there.

Meanwhile, as Anna caught her breath and Ray watched the horrid events unfold, Leon charged at Kai. This time he was faster, grabbing Kai by his collar. With terrifying beastial strength, Leon threw him across the room. Kai’s body landed heavily into the wooden bookshelf, the force of it snapping the sturdy shelf in half, sending books, loose paper and splinters of wood flying in all directions. Kai’s unconscious body plopped to the ground with a dull thud.

"Leon!" Anna finally caught her breath, yelling out in horror. "Stop it! You’ll kill him!"

"Exactly." Leon growled. He snapped his gaze to her, his eyes turning feral. His chest heaved, his body beginning to expand, his silhouette glitching and flashing with multiple colors.

Why does he always have a flare at the worst fucking times? Such an attention whore!

But Anna’s thoughts did nothing to hide her external worry.

Her instinct took over.

Leon advanced, each step loaded with malice. Anna channeled her spores into her hands, turned them a light absorbing black, and blasted them in his face. It was a pure instinct fueled by panic, and the buzz of Kai’s kiss still tingling through her body.

Her plan was to subdue him before this became a blood bath.

But it was a mistake.

Instead of subduing him, her spores had the opposite effect. Like she’d thrown gasoline into an open flame. Leon exploded. His skin turned into thick fur, his uniform ripped at the seams as his beast took over. His bones cracked, the sound popping off into the air like mini explosions.

Anna stumbled back, her eyes wide, her breath caught in her throat as the full weight of what she’d just done settled on her.

Leon was gone.

In his place was his beast. Anna felt, she could even taste, the blood lust rolling off him in massive waves. His furious eyes locked on her, and Anna lost her footing.

Those eyes held nothing but pure malice and hatred.

Fuck...

Leon lunged at her. In this form he was nothing but force and heat and muscle. The office was barely enough to contain him. Anna screamed, her spores flaring, but instead of being black, they flickered. Red, purple, black. Her heart thrashed in her ribcage like it wanted to jump out. Leon’s form hovered over her, his body blocking the light, his massive paws on both sides of her head. His hot breath puffed over her face, his massive maws lined with teeth, dripping saliva like he wanted to take a bite out of her. Anna made the mistake of turning her head slightly.

His claws were out. One Anna was the length of her head.

She lost it.

"Get off me!" she screamed, shaking her head wildly. All she could imagine was that massive claw burrowing into her head and clawing her brains out. "Leon! No! get off me!"

Staring into his hellish golden eyes, anna believed she would really die this time. the sheer presence of him stole every bit of air from her lungs. He let out low, rumbling growls, his snout flaring, his massive body heaving.

Her screams barely reached Leon’s corrupted mind. In this form, all logic and reason was gone. He didn’t even see The Princess. He saw a threat. Someone that attacked him and needed to be put down. Still, even in the depths of madness, he hesitated.

That was all Ray needed. Even though his heart cracked and shattered from the jealousy of seeing Kai kiss Anna, it was nothing compared to the horror he felt seeing Leon’s mad beast about to tear anna’s throat out. He could handle kai later.

For now, Ray lunged. With zero regard for his own safety, he dove through the air, utilizing years of training. He slipped under Leon, pulled Anna out and pushed her to safety. Then he rammed into Leon’s side, letting his beast flare for a second, giving him the momentum he needed to knock Leon off balance for a few seconds.

But Ray wasn’t trained for combat.

He was trained for silent, untraceable assassinations.

Leon wasn’t the logical General he was. He saw Ray as a threat, and he acted accordingly. Leon lashed out blindly, his roar shaking the ground. His paw, with his claws all out, ripped through the air at terrifying speed.

Anna, huddled in a corner, saw what happened and let out a blood curling scream. "RAY!"

Slash.

A sick, wet sound echoed through the room as Leon’s claws sliced clean through Ray’s chest. From shoulder to hip. Three slashes that tore through flesh and cloth.

Ray took the brutal hit with nothing but a wince. The pain didn’t register immediately, rather all he could focus was on Anna’s scream. His body stumbled, and he held a hand to his chest. only then was he able to feel the blood pumping furiously out of him. that’s a lot...he thought as his body began falling.

Anna rushed forward, catching his body before he fell to the ground.

"Ray! No no no no no! fuck! FUCK!"

Anna could see his rib cage, the pale milky bone peeking out of shred flesh.

Hot tears flooded her eyes. She pressed her palms over his chest, forcing her yellow spores out. They wouldn’t stay yellow. Her spores, which were tied to her emotions, continued to flicker between red and purple and black.

"No no no, please...fuck please no!" Anna screamed. Leon stalked up to her, his stance predatory, his growls reverberating through the air. "System! Please help me!" Anna screamed into the air. "Somebody help! Help me! he’s dying! Help!"

[The host must figure out for herself how to handle this.] the System dinged.

Ray’s face grew pale, the color blanching out of his eyes. Yet his eyes remained locked on Anna. And in the depths of his inky gaze, anna saw a heart-breaking mix of betrayal, agony, and a stubborn desire to shield her. Guilt twisted in her stomach. She closed her eyes tight, willing herself, screaming at her spores to focus and just turn fucking yellow.

This can’t be happening! This can’t fucking be happening!

"Anna..." Ray spoke weakly, touching her hand. "Stop."

"The fuck you mean stop?!" Anna wailed, tears and snot dripping down her face. The blood that gushed of him soaked her clothes completely. Soaked his too and pooled around them in a thick, coppery puddle.

No one is supposed to lose this much blood! He’ll die!

Anna felt Leon’s growl right over her face, his breath puffing her hair up.

She refused to look up. Her spores flickered to a soft yellow and she intensified it.

Ray didn’t tear his eyes away from her even as the light started to dim from them.

Then, a chilling, low melodic laugh cut through the frantic air.

Goosebumps covered Anna’s flesh. Even Ray shuddered.

The sound was nothing, except belonging to a predator of pure darkness.

A morbid and heavy feeling washed over Anna. A blood lust so thick and potent she had to slam her elbow over her nose. Anna thought Leon’s blood lust was bad but this...this made Leon look like a child.

"Oh, my dear dear General,"

Anna turned to see Kai. He wiped a smear of blood off his lips as he rose from the broken bookshelf. Her heart plummeted when she saw the look on his face.

He was happy.

No, more than that. His grin was wide, his eyes glowing with excitement. There wasn’t a trace of anger in his eyes. He looked manic.

"Anna..." Ray groaned softly. When she turned to him, he whispered "Run. Now. Please."

"S-shut up!" Anna hissed. "I’m not leaving you! Save your energy, help is coming!"

But she understood why he asked her to run.

Kai wqs different.

His beast form was a shark. Completely useless on land. Anna knew that. Everyone did.

Yet, he began to shift. His eyes turned a soulless black, his pupils blown so wide not a shred of blue could be seen. His skin hardened, turning into a silvery blue finish of scales that resembled armor. His face shifted, his jaw becoming something from a horror film, rows and rows of jagged, frightening sharp teeth on display.

"You shouldn’t have done that." Kai said.

The voice that spoke wasn’t Kai. The man Anna was looking at wasn’t the same that just kissed her seconds ago. Something...something was horribly, catastrophically, wrong.