The Beast's Possession

**Bane

pov**

"And where do you think you are heading, Mister?" Zion's voice boomed through the crowd right as I was trying to slip away from the action.

"Damn it," I hissed under my breath and spun on my heel to face him. A smirk spread across my lips as I forced my hands into the pockets of my pants and tried to appear as unbothered as I could. "I was trying to sneak away to the kitchen to get some water. There's only booze and mixers here, I don't feel like drinking anything like that."

Zion raised a skeptical eyebrow. Shit, I really should start working on my ability to lie better. Surely, as my best friend, he could smell my bullshit from miles away.

"Right," he dragged the word, slightly slurring as he did. Zion and Kala had been doing some wild shots for the past three hours while in the meantime, I had tried to escape this party for like twenty times and every time I was caught. Like he had a tracker or my ass or something. "Come, let's do some shots before you dip and sneak back to Aife."

How was I supposed to tell my best friend that I wouldn't drink for his happiness on the biggest day of his life? That thought kind of haunted me..

But then again, now that he knew how it felt to love - obsessively so - he had to understand why I needed to get away from there.

Shaking my head, I chuckled. "Can't do, buddy. I don't want to get wasted and just like you have a beautiful woman here waiting for your attention, mine's waiting for me in the bedroom. I think I spent a good amount of time here already." Zion scoffed, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "As if," he spat the words as if they were venom. "A good amount of time my ass, Bane. You've been doing nothing but trying to sneak away from here."

Yeah, well, my bad. I had been caught. But, he couldn't just blame me. This was unfair.

"Guilty as charged. Not that you can blame me because I can bet my arm that you would do the same thing if our roles were reversed," I wiggled my eyebrows to add some ease to the tense situation.

Zion's face remained rock solid until a moment later, cracks started appearing and soon enough, he grinned at me like a true madman. "Bet your ass I would," he agreed and stalked closer. In no time, he stood in front of me and pulled me into a tight hug. "Thank you."

"For what?" I asked, caught completely off guard.

"For being the best friend ever. For acting like my dad, oldest brother and sometimes even mom. For always supporting me, for making this all happen. For freaking leading the ceremony - I mean, how cool is that? The Alpha himself led the mating ceremony for me. But also, most importantly, for accepting her and being so open to getting to know my mate. It means the word to me." Zion spoke from his heart.

I prided myself as a man with little to no emotions, but his words almost made me tear up.

"That's what friends are for," I offered a generic answer, unwilling to take a deep dive into this conversation.

As much as I enjoyed Zion's presence and this conversation, I still wanted to leave.

By the time he finally released me, my bones were aching. Not that I let him know how much pain I truly was in - this wasn't my moment, it was his, so I didn't want to pull gray clouds over his happiness.

"Go on, run to your woman," he chuckled and quickly left before I could come up with a good comeback.

I scanned the party for the last time, smiled at the pure joy on everyone's faces, spun around and headed inside the building.

As soon as I did, an odd feeling assaulted me. The unnatural silence might have been the reason for the uneasy feeling, but the voice at the back of my mind kept telling me it wasn't the silence that bothered me. It was a presence. Cold, slimy and dark.

Like a light switch, panic flared up in me, forcing my legs to move before I could register it. By the time I came back to my senses, I was running up the stairs, creating distance between myself and the feeling that remained behind. The closer I got to the bedroom, the more at ease I was. Maybe I was growing too paranoid? Losing my mind, perhaps?

*"Not losing anything, something was watching. Bet you will feel the same if you go back downstairs again. It's still there, not moving, just watching."*

A part of me wanted to listen, turn around and check the area. The other part, however, refused to return downstairs before I checked on Aife. If she was safe, I could take a look at whatever was there.

Again, maybe I was paranoid so bringing up this issue would do nothing but stir up trouble. Also, it would definitely ruin the mood of those who were partying outside. No way was I ruining Zion's and Kala's mating ceremony party. When I stood in front of the door, I started panicking. My dumbass forgot that I locked Aife in to ensure no one could enter the bedroom and bother her while she slept.

Unlocking the door was a nightmare as my stupid hand had a mind of its own and it refused to stop shaking. Shit, all this stress, it seriously couldn't be good for anyone. What kind of sorcery was this?

"Bane? Is that you?" I heard Aife's sleepy voice call out from the bedroom.

Just hearing her speak suddenly eased my mind. Not only that. The same moment, I also felt as if a massive weight finally fell off my shoulders and I could finally breathe.

"Yeah, it's me, love. Sleep, don't worry about the sound, I can't aim the key in the darn hole," I muttered, getting angrier at myself as I still kept struggling.

I heard her laugh and approach the door. Aife was quick to unlock the door and open it to me. A look of pure amusement on her face, coupled with that sly grin took my breath away. Just to make it better, she crossed her arms in front of her chest and leaned against the doorframe to mutter, "that's what he said."

Okay, I was seriously taken aback but that sassy remark made me feel things. Exciting things. Things that reminded me of how fucking uncomfortable and painful the pressure against the zipper can be at times.

"Goddess, babe, you're tempting me so bad," I groaned as I stepped inside the bedroom, forcing Aife to step away from the door.

The bravado had left her for good, eyes widening as the realization hit her. "I-" she tried to come up with something, but quickly gave up seeing how she had nothing to offer. Aife blew out a deep breath and closed her eyes, "how about we get some sleep?"

I chuckled and leaned in to press my lips to her nose. "Sure thing. We can deal with your attitude tomorrow morning. I doubt that giving into the impulses and desires tonight could be a good idea, but tomorrow morning, babe, I'll definitely be ready to rock your word."

She rolled her eyes at my remark and climbed into the bed while I closed the door and locked it, making a mental note that I had to check the main floor of the building at one point. To avoid creating tension, I decided to wait until she would fall asleep. After that, I could check the place, if only to get rid of the stupid thoughts.