(^_^)
The glass pavilion hummed with the dormant power of six gods, a pressure so immense that the air tasted of scorched ozone and ancient salt. Kaelan sat amidst the Dragon Lords, a spark of shadow in a room of blinding gold. He was exhausted, his body still recovering from the forceful hours in the apartment, but his ego remained a jagged shard of obsidian that refused to be ground down.
The Lord of the West, a creature whose scales were the color of stagnant copper, leaned forward. His eyes, reptilian and cold, fixed on the dragon earring pulsating on Kaelan's panther ear.
"A King's mark on a lesser shifter is a curiosity," the Lord rumbled, his voice a landslide of gravel. "But a King's mark on a Pantherinae is a provocation. Your kind were the Great Refusers, Kaelan. You were the ghosts of the jungle who vanished because you would rather go extinct than bow. Tell me, has the King found the leash that finally works, or are you simply a well bred pet?"
Kaelan's pupils, usually wide with human irritation, began to sharpen. The sarcastic quips died in his throat, replaced by a cold, deadly clarity.
"I am not a curiosity," Kaelan said, his voice dropping to a low, lethal baritone. "And your King hasn't found a leash; he's found a debt he can never repay. If you think my existence is a 'provocation,' then by all means, step across this table and see how much of your 'divine' blood I can spill before you realize your mistake."
A ripple of shock went through the Lords. Ignis, sitting beside him, didn't move to defend Kaelan. Instead, he leaned back, his obedient side manifesting as a silent observer, his golden eyes shining with a manic pride.
"He has spirit," the Lord of the East sneered. "But spirit does not make a Consort. A Dragon's partner must withstand the heat of the hoard."
Suddenly, the temperature in the room spiked. It wasn't just heat; it was the crushing weight of five Draconic auras slamming into Kaelan at once. The "test" had begun. They were trying to force him to his knees, to make him shift into a submissive, broken feline through sheer psychic pressure.
Kaelan's teeth ground together. He felt his bones creaking, the swollen ache in his lower body flaring in protest. But he didn't bow. His panther ears stood straight, and his pupils turned vertically straight, thin black slits of feral rage that cut through the golden light. He didn't curse them with humor. He looked at the Lord of the West and spoke a vow of iron.
"I will see your halls crumble into dust. I will wait for the day your fire gutters out, and I will be the one who chokes the last breath from your throat…motherfucker!."
Ignis chose that moment of peak tension to stand, his hand coming down firmly on Kaelan's shoulder. The pressure from the other Lords snapped back instantly, silenced by their King's touch.
"Enough testing," Ignis declared, his voice ringing with a triumphant finality. "You have seen his worth. You have felt his tooth. It is time for the announcement."
Ignis looked around the table, a smug smirk appearing on his face. "This dinner was not for your approval. It was for your notification. Kaelan is no longer a guest. He is the Officially Engaged Consort of the Dragon Throne. The soul binding ceremony will commence at the turn of the moon."
The room exploded into a silent, vibrating tension. Kaelan felt the blood drain from his face, followed by a rush of deadly fury.
"No," Kaelan said, the word a cold blade. "I refuse. I do not engage with lizards. I do not bond with monsters. I am a student, and I am a free panther. You can announce whatever you want to your circle of sycophants, but I will never say 'yes'."
He stood up, the exhaustion momentarily forgotten in his livid rejection. He looked directly at Ignis, the man who had violated him, moved in across from him, and now tried to own his future, and he slowly raised his hand, extending his middle finger in a sharp, universal gesture of defiance.
The Dragon Lords gasped. No one had ever flipped the King of Dragons.
Ignis didn't grow angry. He simply tilted his head, a manic, beautiful smile stretching across his face. To him, the gesture was just another bite, another mark of Kaelan's exquisite, unyielding pride.
"The finger is a temporary 'no', Kaelan," Ignis purred. "But the earring says 'forever'."
However, the Lord of the South, a dragon with scales like obsidian ash, did not smile. He stood up, his aura dark and jagged.
"This is an abomination, Ignis," the South Lord hissed. "A Pantherinae does not engage outside their clan. They are the purity of the dark. To bind a Dragon to a Cat is to dilute the blood. He is an existence that was supposed to have disappeared, and for good reason. He will never be one of us."
Kaelan turned his gaze to the South Lord. His panther ears were quivering with the effort of holding back his shift. "I would rather be a 'dilution' than a stagnant, bloated relic like you," Kaelan spat.
Ignis, feeling the escalation, tried to reach for Kaelan again, his hand moving to soothe the tension in Kaelan's back. But the moment his fingers touched Kaelan's skin, the Panther snapped.
Kaelan spun around, his hand catching Ignis's wrist in a grip that shouldn't have been possible for a human. His face was inches from the King's. Kaelan's eyes were no longer emerald; they were the yellow green of a hunting cat in the dead of night, his slit pupils vibrating with killing intent.
"Don't touch me," Kaelan hissed, his voice a low, terrifying growl. "You think you're invincible because you have scales and a throne. You think I'm a toy you can fuck until I break."
Kaelan's grip tightened, his claws drawing a bead of golden blood from Ignis's wrist. "I swear to you, Ignis. I will find the crack in your armor. I will find the one weakness you have buried under all this narcissism, and the moment I find it, I will kill you. I won't hope for it. I won't wish for it. I will execute it."
The silence in the pavilion was absolute. The Dragon Lords looked on, half-expecting Ignis to incinerate the boy for such treason.
Instead, Ignis threw his head back and laughed. It was a rich, genuine sound of perverse joy. He looked at Kaelan with more obsession than ever before, his thumb reaching up to stroke the line of Kaelan's jaw even as Kaelan's claws stayed in his wrist.
"That is a magnificent vow, Kaelan," Ignis laughed, his eyes glowing with manic excitement. "But you see, that is the problem with your plan. Dragons don't have weaknesses. We are the sun and the stone. But please... keep looking. I can't wait to see how close you get before you realize the only thing you'll find at the end of that search is me."
Kaelan stared at him, his deadly intent meeting Ignis's manic obsession. The engagement had been announced, the Lords had been insulted, and the vow had been made.
Kaelan let go of Ignis's wrist, his lip curling in a silent, livid snarl. "Then I'll just have to make one," Kaelan whispered.