Chapter 31: Ch.30
When Giles came back he informed us that the Watcher's council would be arriving for a test for Buffy and Faith. He informed me that I'd have to make myself scarce as they didn't know much about me or Alice. They knew we were dangerous and that I'd threatened their people on one occasion but we needed the information on Glory that they'd dug up.
Sighing I checked us into a hotel room and left Faith at the house for the duration of their stay. Faith was a little pissed but she knew we were desperate for information on Glory. I looked into a few futures and didn't like what I'd saw if I intervened in this meeting.
For the next week we were basically out of contact with the scoobies and the rest of the group, only going to school classes and doing stock trades. When Faith called we came back to the shop where she and Buffy told us what went down.
Buffy asked why Glory was able to get into her house without the spells slowing her down and I sighed. "One, she wasn't there to do violence, if she were it'd get really bad for her quickly, hell goddess or not. And two, she probably knew as much from seeing the warding all over the place. Odds are she figured it out after finding herself at the city dump enough times and went there with no bad intentions."
Buffy sighed. "That's why she commented on the special protections I have on the house. Ok, so she would've been like electrocuted like Spike was?"
I shook my head. "She'd have been cursed six ways from Sunday as her vessel was tossed into the middle of a volcano. Literally buried under tons of magma and rock. Being a hell goddess, she'd probably survived but it'd still be a pain in the ass to get out from. The wards have limits as well and that would've drained them down to nothing."
Buffy nodded slowly before taking a deep breathe. "So we're still safe at the house then?"
I nodded. "Unless she overcomes the wards, yes, you're still safe there for now. But I gotta warn you Buffy, if she's seen them then she'll be better prepared next time. Odds are they'll only slow her down until she destroys them. I doubt they'll stand up to a goddess's level of power."
Giles spoke up. "As far as we can tell she's severely limited-"
I shook my head. "Not as much as you think. She's limited in her natural abilities as a goddess sure, but she was able to easily do the snake ritual and that takes serious levels of power. With the right spells and preparation she'd be able to shatter even the strongest wards. She's been to the magic shop so odds are it's not as safe as before but I'd like to see a hell goddess even unbound take out the amount of power my ward stones here have. They draw directly from the hellmouth's natural energies."
Giles nodded in understanding and turned to Buffy. "Perhaps it's better that Dawn come here most days and spend the nights back at your house-"
I spoke up. "Or one of mine. There's the house next door to yours and the frat house as well. With you and Riley out there's a spare room."
Alice spoke up. "That won't work. Glory will notice the extra attentions you give to hiding your sister and figure it out."
I sighed and nodded as we broke into discussing plans and strategies. Giles asked. "You're a god like Glory, shouldn't you be able to fight her?"
I grimaced and shook my head. "I'm not a god yet per say, I'm unfinished and even if I ascend to that level of power I'd be as bound as she is. I haven't even taken that step yet as I'm not particularly prepared for it."
Buffy snorted. "Then get prepared! We need a deterrent, we need something to fight this hell bitch off."
I growled. "You don't know what that entails, I can't just snap my fingers and poof I'm a fucking god Buffy! I have to literally kill and absorb the two old ones locked inside me. I'll be taking in their evil, there power and their memories. It could very well break my mind! Not just that but even if I do survive the process I won't necessarily be all me anymore. Unlike them I have a human soul! Do you know what I'll be doing to something like that to make it as eternal as them? Do you?"
I could see the fear in her eyes as she started backing down now as my claws were out and nailed into the table. Alice was behind me hugging me and trying to calm me down. Faith was doing much the same in her own way by getting in my face before kissing me to distract me from killing someone we cared about.
After a while I regained the control I lost and Faith sighed. "There better?"
I grunted and turned to Buffy. "I'm sorry, but I-I can't just yet. If I come out the other end wrong or worse, evil, you'll have two gods to slay and I'm not entirely sure this gift from the Devon coven will do much to put me down afterwards. Things could get a whole lot worse if I rush headlong into it Buffy."
Buffy nodded slowly. "I get it, really, I do. I just need something we can actually use to hurt this thing and I doubt she'd be fazed by us using our peppiness."
Faith sighed and shook her head. "Maybe not peppiness but a troll God's hammer should hurt the bitch good and plenty."
I smirked. "We happen to have one of those. I'd say use the rod as well but that'd just make her a hell of a lot stronger and even if you could hurt the mortal vessel in the presence of a god I doubt it'd actually kill her."
Buffy nodded. "Troll hammer it's is."
I chuckled and headed to the office and retrieved the weapon before setting it beside Buffy's chair. "My claws will hurt her as well so why don't one of you use the hammer. If I get a chance I'll drain the bitch dry and supercharge my body with god powers ahead of schedule. It won't make me much stronger in the magic or physical sense but it'll prepare me for what's to come."
With the plan set all we needed was an opportunity now. Buffy took the hammer home with her and a few days later she told us that Dawn had ran away. Alice told us that she was at the hospital and we found her just as Ben, Buffy's mother's nurse, was meeting her.
Buffy scolded her and we left with only minimal family drama. A couple days later Buffy informed us that Spike was in love with her. She asked me if that was even possible.
Sighing I told her. "Not really, I mean, the demon made from human emotions isn't made of something like love. It's made of lust, sure, but love is considered a good emotion and not something they can truly understand. Possession and lust are however as well as obsession. None of which are healthy or even remotely good if it's faced towards you or anyone with a soul."
She nodded. "Thanks for clearing that up for me. Not that I really needed a downside but curiosity and all that."
I nodded and headed tot he back of the shop to prepare for tonight's full moon. I heard later the next morning that Spike had it out with Buffy and Drusilla and Harmony happened to be there as well. It wasn't pretty but she'd gotten it through to him that it wasn't going to happen or some such.
A week later we ran into a snag with a robot running around town looking for someone named Warren. I stayed out of that whole mess until the end when Buffy went to dispose of the robot. I stopped her saying. "Don't, I have something she can be of use for."
Buffy frowned and asked. "You're not going to program her to be your sex bot are you?"
I frowned. "No, that's sick and twisted. I'm going to patch her up and load her with protection spells before programming her to kill demons. She'll be a perfect weapon if used properly. I have no need for a sex toy like this-"
Buffy bit out. "She's not a sex toy she's a- a-"
I raised an eyebrow and she shut up. "I didn't mean it like that Buffy, she's a robot, no matter how ingrained her programming she's nothing but a machine, no soul inside to make her really feel anything that wasn't programmed into her. Like any hard drive it can be wiped and reused for other purposes. I'm not some demented perverted little boy that needs to build robots to find a connection with someone. Once I've finished the programming I intend to send her on a one way mission to kill demons and free human slaves in Pylea."
Buffy seemed to get it but was still slightly miffed. Faith told her. "Chill B, he's just saving some people using something you were fixing to throw away. It saves us time and energy and it saves human lives."
Buffy relented and I took the robot back to the magic shop. I got to work spending the next few days tinkering with the robots insides before loading her up with spells and the last of the diamond ward stones I had in my possession. It would see to it that she'd kill any and all demons in Pylea and free all the humans as well.
The magic would protect it where the metal bits failed. I even tattooed it's synthetic skin with enochian sigils to hide it from scrying and most upper level beings eyes. I programmed one last fail safe that would destroy her and any demons in the nearby vicinity if they captured it.
I smiled and sent it through a portal I opened up there in the shop. With that I turned to the scoobies and told them all I did to it. They seemed much happier now that it was out there doing good. I'd programmed a lot of demon information into it's hard drive and upgraded it's targeting system while adding speakers and music to it's systems functions as weapons for the Pylean demons.
It had a list of specific demons it wasn't allowed to harm but the rest were fair game, namely Angel and Lorne if he ever goes home. I'd upgraded it's power source to take in magic as energy to fuel itself so it would be there eternally or until it succeeded in it's mission and came back through the natural portal where Lorne's club is connected to.
Then it would kill all demons in LA or as far as it got before something powerful and nasty got in its way. It knew almost as much about demons as I do so it had a fair chance. Buffy was happy I made sure to have Angel protected at least.
Giles didn't mind as it was a useful tool that saw to the betterment of humans and made the slayer's job easier. The next morning Buffy called us and told us of Joyce's passing. I went to the house and found my wards shattered.
Sighing I took her to the shop while Giles handled everything there. When we got to the shop she was still in tears. I told the girls to take care of her as I had something important to take care of. Alice knew what it was and didn't stop me only telling me to come back safely.
I took off and headed to where I knew the hell goddess was and slaughtered her minions into her apartment building. When I came face to face with Glory she commented. "That was rude, you could've knocked."
I didn't comment as I just shifted and attacked as she tried to say something about remembering me. I tore at her repeatedly as my claws passed through flesh and organs. It didn't hurt her much as she healed rapidly but I took out all of my unending rage on her.
We leveled the apartment building and destroyed several warehouses as we fought. She was much weaker than before but still stronger than me by a fair bit so I was in slightly worse shape than she was.
When she broke my arm for the second time I was forced to shift back. That's when I struck, I hit her with a teleportation spell I'd been working on. "Discede!"
I used up nearly all my magic and teleported her just inside a decaying orbit of earth. She'd impact the earth just over the beach several miles away. I left the last of the wrecked warehouses and headed to the magic shop. My ability to heal had pretty much worn out over the last few hours.
When I arrived they were fixing to head to the school to pick up Dawn. They saw my state of rather brutal pain and Buffy asked. "What the hell is going on?"
I grunted. "It was Glory."
Buffy frowned. "Why would Glory go after you?"
I shook my head. "I went after her, she's the one that killed Joyce. The wards were destroyed, so much so that it didn't even notify me they were down. She must've cloaked it all somehow. But it was her. She feeds off peoples minds to stay stable, that's how she killed Joyce. She was already weakened from the surgery but-"
Buffy shook her head. "That's impossible, they said it was a brain aneurysm-"
I snorted. "I'm well aware of Joyce's condition. I healed her after the surgery was a success. She wanted to be back on her feet faster. There was a blood clot then but I removed it and healed her!"
My face partially shifted but changed back in an instant from the pain overriding the rage. I sighed weakly and continued. "She was healed but her mind was weak from the process. The wards were shattered, probably Glory showing you a strength of force to let you know you weren't as protected as you thought. She must've found Joyce to appealing after the effort and fed, the process killed her instead of making her insane because of the weakness."
Buffy's tears were rolling down her face before she wiped them away. "Where is she? Where's Glory?"
I smiled weakly now. "You don't piss me off without payback. I slaughtered her demon followers and wreaked her place beating her down. Our fight ended in the warehouse district where we destroyed a few warehouses fighting. Buffy, I could feel her weakening even as we fought, I just happened to be weakening faster. When she shattered my arm for the last time I was forced back into human form so I did a teleportation spell and sent her into a decaying orbit around the planet. She should impact somewhere near the ocean."
Giles frowned and took off his glasses. "You dropped her from orbit?"
I grinned weakly before coughing up blood. Shit, my organs weren't healing either anymore. I growled and told Faith next to her.
"Break my other hand, hurry, the healing process is slowing to a halt."
She frowned. "Won't that just do more damage?"
I nodded. "But it'll jumpstart the healing process all over again. Alice, I need a few healing spells for my organs, they've stopped healing."
Alice frowned and started healing me. I smiled weakly as Faith broke a few my fingers. The healing process began anew and I roared from the agony of my bones realigned as they healed. The wards kicked in and I passed out.
When I woke up healed I grabbed a shower in the back and some fresh clothes before getting into my car to head to the hospital where the note they left said they'd be. Not a second after I closed my car door did it get ripped off it's hinges by the pissed of hell goddess. Her clothes were a wreck but she'd healed up just like I did.
She smiled. "Didn't think you could get rid of me that easily did you dog boy? Well let's see how good your memory is."
I didn't have time to react as she shoved her hands into the sides of my head. I roared in agony as I felt my mind scatter and my consciousness fade.
-POV the Beast inside-
We awaken after so long as one now broken and separated from other self. Hunger gnaws at us and we see enemy before us. We roar and prey disappears with a smile. Furious now we hunt for food to settle our hunger. We need sustenance or we get tired now.
The hunt is everything and we smell prey. We give chase down the hard forest path. In the shadows we found prey and took it down as it is natural for prey to fall to us. (Pahhh, prey taste bad like burnt prey but no meat.)
Our prey vanishes into dust before us but no matter, we find other prey. It only took us a small time to find more prey, this prey already dead but just as good. It was locked behind hard walls but we're stronger than hard walls so we pry them open and feast.
-Elsewhere with a certain Vampire psychic-
Alice stopped moving in the waiting room, she grabbed her head and screamed drawing others to her. When the vision finished she told Buffy and the rest of the group. "Send the doctors away, I'm fine, it's Ryan."
Faith stood stalk still. "What happened?"
Alice looked her in the eyes. "Glory, she got him, she's drained his mind. He's not there any more it's overwhelming. His animal side, the beast he likes to call it, is in control. It's hungry and feasting."
Faith paled. "What happened?"
This was serious as Alice shook her head. "He killed a vampire thinking it was food, ate it alive and when it turned to ash it daughter out the place that smelled the most like food, the butcher shop. Luckily it's closed right now because he's broken through the walls and is eating his fill. The real problem right now is that the shop doesn't have enough food to fill his inner wolf."
Xander frowned. "How's that possible? It's a butcher shop."
Alice shook her head. "Ryan's never truly full. He's always hungry because it's apart of what he is. An insatiable beast always on the hunt. He's usually there to curb the hunger and take control but with him gone-"
Buffy frowned. "It's only a matter of time before he's out hunting again."
Alice nodded. "And there's no forest full of animals to eat here, so he-he'll-."
Giles finished her thoughts. "He'll eat the only thing he can find that'll replace it, humans."
She nodded solemnly. "I can't feel him at all, whatever Glory did to him has either killed his human side or weakened it beyond anything I can feel through the link. The only good news is that his guests, the old ones, fear his animal side even more than he himself."
She gulped and continued. "It knows how to eat them and it won't hesitate to do so if they try to escape, from what I can tell they're hiding as far into their prisons as they can get. The downside is that his mind scape is crumbling so eventually there'll only be the beast left."
They were all grim before but now they all turned pale. Anya asked. "Isn't he a god? Can't he just fix himself?"
Alice shook her head. "He hasn't taken the necessary step because of me. Well me and Faith really. The slayer essence told him some things he's been reluctant to take that step because of. Once he ascends to godhood or whatever he won't just be the balance for the slayer line, it's more like he'll be their other half, like magnets, they'll be pulled together."
Giles frowned. "I don't see why that's a problem unless-"
Alice looked him in the eyes and nodded. "Exactly. He'll be the half of every slayer, not just Faith."
Faith grimaced. "So he'll have the hots for B and me, that's not to bad a deal."
Alice shook her head. "Not entirely. From what he's been able to find there'll be a sort of mystical connection between him and the slayers, all slayers, now and for eternity. They'll be attracted to him like moths to a flame. It's not something either of them can control. Once he steps into godhood anything that try's to get between them will be destroyed in the permanent sense."
Alice swallowed before saying. "I'm not a slayer and with my connection to him, you'll both be compelled to kill me to get me out of the way. Both you and Buffy won't have full reason, it's animalistic and-"
"Primal." Buffy sighed.
The others turned to her and she told them. "The slayer line, it's a primal power right? And his animal nature, it's attracted to each other like animals, the strongest of both sexes, the alphas, the apex predators. Gods in their natural forms and like the earth and sky from those Greek tales."
Alice nodded slowly and sighed. "You'll destroy everything between you and I'm no Atlas. Doing so would kill the last human parts in him or so he said. He knows we'd be destroyed in its wake. That's why he was so furious before, he doesn't fear what will happen to him, he knows he can withstand the old ones, he's done it before."
Faith sighed. "Whatever, it doesn't help with the situation we're in now though. How do we stop his beauty form?"
Alice smirked. "Same way we distract him on super moons."
Faith laughed before asking. "You're serious?"
Alice nodded. "There's only one thing that stops a man or beast from eating, sex. We're the bate girlfriend. All we need to do is get within a mile of him and he'll come running."
Faith grimaced. "Don't imagine you know those healing spells he uses?"
Alice nodded lightly. "I know all he knows about healing and protection magic's."
Faith turned to Buffy and the now disturbed group. "B, you got things here? We gotta stop a massacre."
Buffy nodded and sighed. "Go, we've got it. Where's Dawn?"
Buffy headed to where the mortician was waiting to tell them the news. When she heard it was some kind of massive hemorrhage from all over her brain she stopped listening and went to see the body. There she'd found Dawn and a vampire who was about to bite her.
After killing the Vampire with a bone saw she took Dawn away from their mother's revealed body.
-Back with the Beast-
We hunger and there's no more dead pray to eat, now we hunt for- mate- we smell mates near by. We must find mates. We ran across hard forest floor and found mates. They were together, we like them that way. When they noticed us they ran, now we give chase and enjoy our catch.
They got in metal animal and ran away, we chase as always enjoying the fun as they always like it when we catch mates. We caught their metal monster when we entered our territory. It smelled of our den. Our mates ran inside our den where they knew we would catch them.
We growled letting them know we are coming and rush through the silly see through door. It breaks under our mightiness and we chase them into a familiar room that's all soft. The ground beneath us is soft under our claws and gives way easily.
We are confused now as the soft ground heals itself after we set on it. No matter, our mates are waiting and we will catch them. We turned the corner of the den entrance and found them waiting for us looking around. (Mates, we are here!)
We pounce and take our prizes as we mate letting our roars of pleasure. They submit to our strength after a playful tumble and moan our pleasure as we take them. Roars of pleasure break the night as we stake our claim as alpha. Long into the morning we show our mates our stamina as we are never tired, not as we are, not with mates.
When our mates get tired and start to fall asleep we finish and stop to let them rest. They pleased us so we will let them have their sleep. We look around and start to look for food for mates, maybe they get not sleepy if they eats.
When we started to leave a herd of prey comes into our den. Strange, one smells like our mate but doesn't, female mate but not mate stares me down. We lock eyes and see she is interested in us. We circle each other as we do mating dance for a moment then she speaks. "Go, run, I'll distract him."
I turn to see prey backing away and turn back to potential mate. (Maybe she not hungry?)
Doesn't matter now as other mates are tired. If we want to mate again they need food. (Perhaps she feeds them?)
We cocked our head and growled gesturing to mates. She frowned at us before looking to the inner den. I gesture again and head inside the den. She follows slowly. (Maybe she knows what prey they like best?)
She saw them then yelled before blushing red. We smell the scent of interest on her but it's mixed with something a pray would smell like, fear. We circle her and growled trying to see if she was ready to mate or find food. She stilled before staring us down and saying. "We aren't going to do that!"
She pointed at the mates and we growled then gestured to my maw then back to our mates. She frowns and shakes her head. "You can't eat them!"
We snorted and growled and shook our head. We gesture to her then to maw then to mates. She looked at us like we were broken before saying. "Food?"
We nodded before gesturing to our tired sleeping mates. She frowns again and we start to worry she's broken in the head. Maybe she's caught rapidness or moon sickness. She said again. "They're not food!"
We shake our maw and she asks finally. "Food for them?"
We nod our head. (Maybe she's just not the brightest of the litter?)
She looked like she understood before moving. We growled when she tried to leave the den. She stilled before saying. "I have to go out to get food."
We shake our head as we cannot let mate go out alone. We use our old knowledge and stand on two paws like our other piece. We can pretend at least and make nice for mates. Walking on two paws is awkward and not for us so we take back our other skin and look fully like prey again.
We know the difference though as we are never prey, not anymore. Potential mate looked at us and asked. "Are you Ryan? Are you back?"
We growled and snorted. We managed to garble our prey speak. "We are not prey, we are not weak, R-Ryannn weak prey. He let prey attack us, we are all that is left inside that wwwe can finddd."
We choked out the last parts as we bit our tongue. Prey speak is hard for us as we are not prey. She doesn't look pleased by our answer but asked. "Is he dead, Ryan I mean?"
We snort and shake our head. We'd know if he were gone for good, we'd be gone as well. We tried to speak again. "Wwwweee connecteddd if weeee allliveee he alivvve. Justttt lossst orrrr takennn byyy preyyy."
She frowned. "Prey? You mean Glory?"
We snort and shrug. "Alllll preyyy isss sameee tooo usss. Weee areee apexxx weee areee toppp offf foood chainnn. Weee fearrrr nothinggg, weee areee nottt preyyy."
We panted are the effort as it seemed to get harder and harder to speak prey. She looked at us and said. "You're forgetting how to breathe."
We frown before trying to do as she suggested. Ah, mate makes sense some maybe she's not as dull as we thought. We pat her head as thanks and follow her to the door until she stops us. "You can't go out into public without clothes on!"
We frown, not understanding her. She pulls us to the back where she puts prey skins on us with forest plant pieces mixed in. We don't like it as it feels confining but she stops us from destroying them saying. "If you're going out with me then you were clothes."
We growled and she backed away a little. We followed and grabbed her. she stilled as we circled her and breathed in her scent. She sighed and we leaned in to smell her vulnerable throat she bates so willingly. After we growled in approval she leaned in to us for a moment and we licked her neck letting her know we appreciated he gesture.
She knows we're alpha as we know she's alpha. We dominate female alphas but only mates or potential mates, others aren't worth our notice. After a moment is passed we back away letting her have her prey like ways.
We followed her out and raised a hand. She stopped and watched us put protections on our den. Our other mates inside and asleep. We won't risk other weaker predators getting inside while they sleep. The forest calls to us as we pull it out of the hard ground. Vines and roots come out of the ground and encompass our den. There, they're safe now as the forest protects us.
A nearby prey touched the plant that encompasses our den and was sent flying back from a whip like vine that smacked them. If they persist our protection kills. Our stomach rumbles as we smell the preys blood from the small cut.
Potential mate looks at us and demands. "Take it down now, it could seriously harm someone!"
We shrug. "Itttt pppprotects oooour mmmmates inside. Ifff theeee preyyyy insistssss, theyyyy becommme foooood tooo fillll ourrrr belliessss."
She frowned and shook her head. "That's wrong, take it down!"
We shake our head and roar in dominance. She backs down as we stopped. We say slowly in prey speak. "It. Protects. Our. Mates. We. Don't. Leave. Mates.Unprotected.Ever!"
We would not back down on this issue and she sighed. "At least put it inside the shop where no one can see it, please, for me?"
We stilled and smelled her scents as she meant it but only as a ruse to get her way. (What a cunning potential mate. We like that.)
With a shrug we do as she asked and turned back to the den undoing our powers and redoing it inside the den. When we were done she smiled at us and we growled in approval. We followed her to her group of prey and asked. "Do.we.eat.them.now?"
Our prey speak is hard not to slur our words or meanings but we can go slow for potential mate. She shakes her head and tells us fiercely. "We never eat them, they're our friends!"
We shrug. "They.are.prey.we.need.food.for.mates.they. Are.tired.of.mating.so.we.feed.them.and.mate.some.more."
Our prey speak is slow and forceful but gets our point across. She shook her head. "Your logic astounds me, don't you ever sleep?"
We shake our head. "We. Eat. If. We. Get. Tired. No. Need. To. Sleep. We. Are. Never. That. Weak. As. Food. Gives. Us. Strength."
The one who was bleeding a little mocked us. "What are you now? Sesame Streets robot Dracula? We want to suck your blood! Muhahah!"
We growled not amused at being made fun of by prey. He backs away and potential mate puts a hand on our chest to stop us from killing and eating him. She sounds annoyed now. "Xander, now isn't the time to piss off the strongest being here right now."
Her prey speak soothes us as we accept them as an admission of our strength. Our growl changes to one of approval and we rub up against her letting her know what we have to offer if she accepts us.
She stills but doesn't stop us while the prey look at us funny. We ignore them and wait for her approval. She shakes a bit before saying. "Don't do that again."
We frown and tilt our head. "You. Don't. Wish. To. Be. Our. Mate?"
She stills further and we can tell from the smell that she's aware she'll be prey if she's not mate. She says evenly. "Not right this moment. I'm not ready for something like that."
We can accept that. She just lost a pack member and isn't ready to shift loyalties yet. We are patient and everlasting so we can wait for her to be our mate. We growl before getting out. "We. Can. Wait. But. If. You. Reject. Us. We. Will. Not. Ask. Again. You'll. Be. Prey."
She looks at us in the eyes before nodding sadly. We raise our front paw and wipe away her tears. "We. Are. Patient. But. We. Do. Not. Force. Mates. We. Are. Eternal. And. Will. Have. Our. Answer."
She nodded slowly so we shrugged and turned to the prey watching us. The elder prey spoke. "Fascinating, you're the animal? The primal part of Ryan's psyche? The wolf?"
We shrugged. "Not. All. Wolf. We. Feast. On. Blood. As. well. He. Calls. Us. Beast. Because. We. Are. Everything. But. Prey."
The potential mate spoke up. "He means he's everything but the human parts. He was able to shift back into this form but it isn't natural. He can't even walk properly."
We shrugged and let them talk it out. Prey were of no more interest to us than feeding our belly. They had no other uses for us. That continued to talk around us as our potential mate told them. "The magic shop is closed for the day. He won't let anyone inside as both Alice and Faith are in there sleeping. He's trying to find food for them so they'll continue mating with him. Apparently he doesn't need sleep as long as he eats so he expects them to be the same. They're dead tired Giles and covered in- well, you know."
We shrugged and looked proud growling in approval. They looked at us and we smiled back with our prey maw. They looked away quickly and we shrugged. (Must be a prey thing.)
The older prey took off his glass eye things and rubbed them with his animal skins saying. "Dear lord, does he expect them to perform?"
We growled and told them in prey speak. "They. Are. Our. Mates. They. mate. If. We. Bring. Prey. To. Feed. Them."
The older prey didn't say anything but the older female prey with them said. "If only that we're true. Xander eats all the time but only wants sex at night."
We shrugged. "You're. Prey. It's. Different. You're. Weak. Our. Mates. Strong. They. Are. Good. Mates."
We turned to Buffy and she sighed. "We can't get inside the magic shop without finding them food either way Giles. He won't let us because he won't let them be alone and unprotected."
The prey looks at us again and we shrugged not caring what prey thinks. The older prey asked. "If we get the food will you let us in?"
We turned to our potential mate and she looked at us expectantly. We shrugged and conceded. "Not. into. the. inner. den. You. can. do. what. you. want. with. the. outer. den."
Our potential prey breathed in relief. "He means yes to the magic shop but the gym is off limits. That's where they are."
We couldn't care less what the prey want but if it helps to sway the potential mate we can be reasonable. She looks relieved before asking. "Can we order in? Will they deliver the food to the shop?"
The older prey nodded. "They do on many occasions."
Our stomach rumbles and our potential mate asked. "Where's your credit card?"
We shrugged and pointed to the metal beast that was broken not far away. Our old animal skins and everything else on us before the change was there. We don't really care for prey tools either. The fire haired prey asked. "What happened there?"
We shrugged. "Prey. Attacked. Us. It. Fled. When. It. Saw. We. Weren't. The. Prey. It. Wanted. It. Was. Faster. Than. Our. Change. It. Left. Before. We. Could. Devour. It."
The youngest female prey spoke up drawing our gaze. "Cool, so Glory is afraid of you then?"
We shrugged and rubbed our hungry stomach. It growled in protest as we answered. "If. You're. Not. Mate. You're. Prey. We. Eat. Everything. We. Are. Apex. We. Are. Alpha. Of. Alphas. We. Would. Devour. Any. And. All. Prey. If. Mate. Didn't. Claim. Them."
I looked expectantly at my potential mate and she said. "Then I've claimed them?"
We shrugged. "If. Not. Then. We. Eat. Them?"
She shook her head saying more forcefully in prey speak. "I claim them."
We nodded conceding to her claim. We didn't care as there is plenty of prey out there. We can smell them all around us in the hard stone forest. She sighed in relief for some reason and told the old prey. "Call all the local fast food joints and order everything's they have on menu. Meat most of all. Lots of it. I've a feeling he's only waiting for the girls to eat before he devours the rest. He might go hunting if he gets too hungry."
They looked at us and we shrugged not really caring one way or the other. It was true we'd hunt if we got too hungry and we'd eat all prey in this stone forest. Our stomach rumbles once more as we looked at the prey walking down the stone path towards us.
We were about to attack and kill our prey when the potential mates prey stood in front of our view. The youngest prey said. "You can't eat them. They're claimed by Buffy too!"
We tilted our head and turned to our potential mate who nodded. "She's right, but Dawn, next time try not to get in front of the hungry predator."
We growled and our potential prey locked eyes with us. She seemed resolute so we let it pass. There were more prey and there was no need to get worked up over a few smaller ones. She spoke up. "Since the foods coming to the shop why don't we go inside? I've a lot to do today and I don't think I can take you to a funeral home."
We shrugged. "Do. What. You. Want. We. Will. Wait. Until. You. Agree. To. Be. Mate. We. Can. Follow. You. Around. Our. Mates. Will. Sleep. Until. Nightfall. If. We. Feed. Them. Soon. We. See. It. Now."
Our broken up prey speak got them on edge as the older prey asked. "You still have the sight? I mean you can still see your own future?"
We nodded and stood proudly as our potential mates younger prey asked. "Can you do other things? Like magic? Can you bring our mother back?"
I looked at her with a frown and turned to our potential mate asking. "Is. That. What. You. Want. To. Agree. To. Be. Our. Mate? We. Know. How. To. Do. It. If. You. Want. It. For. Your. Approval."
She stilled and the older prey spoke. "Absolutely not! It is against nature, there's no possible way we would know what we were bringing back!"
We growled and picked him up by his prey throat roaring in his face in dominance. He still refused to submit so we changed our paws into clawed paws. Our potential mate grabbed our are and looked us in the eyes. "Put him down. Now!"
We growled and spoke in prey. "He. Challenges. Us. He. Is. Not. Alpha. He. Must. Die!"
She looked spooked before telling her older prey. "Look away from him and stop resisting, don't challenge him."
Her older prey listened to her wisdom and she asked us. "Can you please let him go? For me?"
We growled but released him before staring at her. "Do. You. Want. Pack. Member. Alive. For. Your. Bond. As. Mate?"
She still looked torn so we growled and she finally shook her head. "We don't know what would come back in her place. I-I can't put her down even if she's possessed by something else."
We shrugged and told her. "We. Could. Eat. Her. If. It. Comes. Out. Wrong."
She looked sick now but shook her head so we shrugged it off. We don't care what prey think as they all put their two cents in. We let the prey into the den and lowered the barriers all the way to only blocking the inner den. There we waited with our potential prey as they brought food as promised.
When the food arrived our mates woke up enough to fill their bellies with blood and food. Some of it was even prey food which I'll never understand. Meat and blood were the only acceptable foods for us.
They are their fill and we finished off the rest of the meat and blood before leaving the prey food for the other prey in the outer den. After we ate several large cows worth of food we followed our potential mate to the wooden box place.
She was so sad and looked so lost so we stayed by her side in comfort and rubbed up against her to let her know we were warm and protecting of our mates. She smiled weakly at us a few times understanding our meaning while she and the two prey with us talked with a prey she didn't want us to eat.
When we saw the box she wanted to get we spoke up. "We. Can. Make. Nicer. Box. If. You. Want."
She frowned. "I'm not mating with you for a box."
We shook our head. "Not. A. Condition. Just. To. See. You. Happy."
We waved a hand and grew a box of the finest woods we knew of. They all mixed together and made a shiny good box using the other boxes as a design. Flowering plants were etched into the design all over and in the center on the lid was a an etching of the world tree. Our mothers tree. Her symbol of power in these lower realms.
Our potential mate smiled at it and even her prey liked it a lot. We carried it out for them and gave it to the people that she wanted to do the burial of her pack member. They took it confused as to how we had a box they didn't sell us.
We went to explain but our potential mate stopped us. When we left there she asked us. "What is it made from? What Wood was that?"
We smiled. "World. Tree. Wood. Our. Mother's. Symbol. Of. Power. On. The. Lower. Forests."
The older prey asked us. "You mean Yggdrasil? The world tree?"
We shrugged. "Prey. Have. Many. Words. For. It. It. Is. Our. Mother's. Symbol. Of. Power. In. Lower. Forests. Errr Realms. I. Believe. You. Call. Them."
The old prey asked. "Then you're the god part of Ryan, what he'll become I mean?"
I shook my head. "We. Mix. And. Consume. The. Prey. Hiding. Inside. To. Become. Like. Mother. Only. Far. Weaker. We. Can't. Touch. On. That. Level. Of. Power. Unless. Mother. Unbinds. Us. Or. Our. Mates. Find. Their. Center. Of. Power. We. Are. All. But. The. Prey. Parts. Of. Us."
The old prey frowned but nodded in understanding. "So you're all but the human and old ones essence inside yourself. The engineers of this bodies physical form?"
We nodded and shrugged. "Don't. Know. For. Sure. But. Don't. Care."
We really didn't care what they thought as they were prey but our potential mate looked worried before asking. "Is Ryan inside there somewhere?"
We frowned but nodded. "Weak. Prey. Injured. Him. Broke. Us. Apart. I. Take. Over. Now. Prey. Can't. Feed. On. Me. I. Feed. On. It. Instead. So. It. Fled."
Our potential mate asked. "Glory fed on Ryan and you fed on her?"
We shrugged. "It. Hurt. Us. We. Take. It's. Blood. Instead. Prey. Parts. Too. Weak. To. Be. In. Control. Now. Or. Hiding. Prey. Kills. It. Off. To. Take. Over. So. We. Take. Control."
The older prey asked. "You took control to preserve Ryan's mind from the old ones inside. If he'd stayed in control he'd be killed and be possessed by the old ones."
We shrugged not caring whether they understood. The youngest prey asked. "Why haven't you hunted down the bitch and killed her yet? She killed mom and she hurt you, What's stopping you if you're some big strong monster?"
We frowned and growled in warning as the youngest prey challenged us. We took a step forwards and our potential mate slammed a hand into our chest in her defense. We growled and she didn't give in an inch. She bit out. "Never, ever go after Dawn! She's my sister!"
We growled but backed away as our claws came out and we roared shaking the metal beasts in front of us. They all started bleating in fear at our power.
We turned back to the potential mate before biting out. "It fled before we could become strongest form. We hunted and found food before finding mates. We don't care if it is predator to others. We only care if it comes to our territory and threatens our mates. We are primal, we don't care about past or future, we are now! Challenge us again and prey or not we will eat you just like we will eat it if it shows up again."
With that we shifted into our apex form and grew taller and stronger. We smelled the fear off of the prey but only anger and weariness came off of our potential mate. We brushed up against her and growled softly to let her know we forgive and forget.
She didn't seem as worried after that and the sadness returned like an acrid smoke rolling off of her in waves. We nudged her as she told us. "It's daytime and you've destroyed your clothes. We need to get you back to the shop and get some more clothes if you're going to be going around with us for the rest of the day."
We growled softly and licked her face causing her to eek and say. "Eww gross."
We chuffed in amusement as for a brief moment the smoke went away and was replaced by something much lighter, annoyance and disgust mixed with amusement.
She seemed genuinely happy for a brief moment as she wiped it off and returned to her glowering self. She punched our ribs and caused us to hit a metal beast we were walking beside. It was a light hit but we managed to fool her as she asked. "Are you ok?"
We chuffed again in amusement causing her to lighten up just a little bit once more. We followed them in their metal beast to the den but we were forced to take the less prey central route as they seemed to think I couldn't stop myself from feasting. They weren't completely wrong but we were headed to our mates so we'd control ourselves unless we saw a snack we could eat on the way.
She wasn't to happy when we arrived at the shop and saw the remains of said snack in my maw. The stupid thing got caught between my teeth. She pulled it out and said. "You kill fluffy, someone's pet dog."
We shrugged and shifted back in front of her. She looked anywhere but at our maleness. We smiled. "Fluffy. was. a. Feline. It. Was. That. Or. The. Ferret. Named. Spike. Next. To. It."
She seemed amused by my words but didn't mention why. Shrugging I walked passed her and noticed prey staring at my maleness. She didn't even blink but I didn't care, she was prey. My potential mate spoke up. "Dawn stop staring at him!"
She caught herself answering. "You'd be staring to if you looked at him below eye level! Besides, I'm fourteen and I know what sex is."
I snorted. "Weak. Prey. Don't. Even. Try. You're. Food. And. Nothing. More."
My words had both females starring at me like I was an idiot. I shrugged it off and headed inside after the older prey. My potential mate dressed me in more prey skins and I followed her to the burial place. There she picked the spot and paid with a square thing after asking for my permission.
I didn't care one way or the other as it wasn't something I could eat so she went ahead with it and had me sign in a few places. I hadn't known what to do so I merely put a line with the stick they gave me.
That seemed to be enough so it was fine by them. More prey doing prey things. We went to her den after that and she wanted to be Aline for awhile so I waited by the door and found a place to lay down.
Soon enough the other prey came by her den and brought food. I ate my fill of the meat but was disappointed as there wasn't any blood. They did however say I could eat Spike as he was right outside.
Unfortunately my potential mate put a nix on the idea as she came out just as I was about to bite into my prey saying. "It'll just turn to dust in your mouth again."
I snorted and dropped the prey in disappointment. He had tried to fight my grip on him before but he was so weak it hardly mattered. Now though he was to busy putting out the fire on his head. I chuckled in amusement at his antics until my potential mate tossed a strip of prey skis on him, putting out the fire.
The disappointing prey left after handing my potential mate some flowers. They were a bit old so to make her smile a bit we freshened them up and made them bloom again. Then we turned the entire front lawn into a flower field causing her to smile for just a bit.
We stayed with her for as long as possible doing random things to distract her from her depression until we felt our mates wake up and leave the inner den. Then we threw up a barrier of plants around our potential mates home and ran to the den at full speed.
There we found our mates washing off our scent for some reason. Growling we joined them in the water and put more of our scent on and in them. We stayed in pray form as to not tire them out too fast and spent a good part of the evening showing them our affections.
Our second mate had far more stamina now so we tested her limits until she was too tired to move any more. Our first mate was much wiser and let us do the work while she enjoyed our efforts.
But in the end she to tired out not long after that. Sighing we pushed the food the potential mate and her prey offered us to them so that they could eat. When they stopped eating we tried for more mating but they fell asleep again.
Growling in disappointment we headed to our potential mates den to find her and see if she was interested.
We found her asleep on the soft rock. We moved to lay next to her and she moved into our chest murmuring happy sounds. We let a soft growl sound in our chest as we were content for now. As she wasn't going to mate any time soon and finding prey she hadn't already claimed was getting hard we let tiredness overcome us after wrapping us in a cocoon of forest growth for defense.
-End I'd Beast POV-
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
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stone