The secret side of me, I never let you see. He had worked his life to try to keep everything that had been bred into him at bay. The thirst for blood and a lust for violence that had brought about his conception and birth had been a hard one to deny. For the years of his childhood his mother had made it no secret what had happened to her. A brutal rape resulting in a child. A child that had torn her from the ranks and family she had always known. A warrior of a proud pack stripped of everything. Left with a bastard child that would amount to nothing. She had refused to let that be her truth. I will only give birth to kings. was all she had known. The night he had been conceived it had been twined sickeningly together with: You will be my revenge.

I keep it caged. Daenerys’ call had reawakened the thirst that had not been a part of Tithe. It had been something he had tried to smother and kill all his life. His mother had taught him to be a warrior, trained him to be a killer. But she had taught him respect. Loyalty to those around you, to those who deserved it. She knew the dangers of having a beast with nothing to keep it in check.But I can’t control it. Now it was breaking within him. The trust he had tried to build. All he had tried to work for had shattered with the call of a friend. When he had turned away from Asteraia when he had first come to the land he had turned away from a life of backstabbing. He had made the choice to live honorably. More honorably even that what his mother could have dreamed of. An honor that would have made his father sick. The knife he had put away now had been turned into his back.

So stay away from me, the beast is ugly. Now he curled up, alone and bleeding on the den floor. A den he had shared seasons ago with Pandora. A den whose mouth held the last blooms of the spring flowers. ...flowers, I suppose, are quite well liked after all. His breath was choked and taken away from him at the contradiction of it all. I feel a rage and I just can’t hold it. His body trembled as he hid from everyone he knew, frightened that he might turn on them, too.

It’s scratching on the wall. In the closet, in the halls. Throughout the battle the cries of his parents had consumed him. Though their deeds were done their whispers still lingered just on the other side of the fragile shields he had replaced around his being. He could feel their pressure.It comes awake and I can’t control it.All it would take was one wrong move, one wrong step, one thought and the beasts would come howling back. In my body in my head. Why won’t somebody come and save me- make this end!

Taika hesitated just outside the mouth of the den. She had followed his silent trail of blood. More than anyone else she knew what her friend needed. Tithe… she whispered softly into the depths, rewarded only by a hushed movement of the wounded man drawing further back. Slipping in she carefully touched her nose to his body. Tithe… She said again, this time her voice thick with despair for her friend. With a loving tenderness she carefully licked his brow, giving him the companionship the boy never thought he deserved and never dreamed he would have.

I feel it deep within. It’s just beneath the skin. Tithe moved just barely, pain ringing through his body. Taika...I never…

Shut up, Tithe. She said softly. You did not do anything. You fought for what you believed was true. You did everything you could.

His body started quivering again, earning a soft whine from the gypsy girl.I hate what I’ve become. The nightmare’s just begun. They are still in me. I can’t get them out.

You are better than they are, Tithe.

I must confess that-- I feel like a monster

She looked hard at him. Her chocolate and gold eyes meeting his ironclad ones. He turned away from her and curled deeper into the bloody corner of the den. Tithe? He did not answer her. Panic flared in her heart. He had never completely turned from her. Never become so unresponsive that he did not even twitch when she said his name.Tithe! She said again, still no response. She looked down at the blood and cursed. He once had a pack. He had an Imprint. Wolves of Moladion knew his name. If they, any of them, could get him through, she was sure she could bring Tithe back.

Jumping out of the den she raised her voice. She called for Pandora, or any healer within range. She called for a gypsy, one of her kind, any from the packs he had visited, a friendly face, or anyone who would help her bring him back.