Raphael's POV

I was taken aback by the breed she has chosen, the air tense as she pawed on all fours towards me.

I didn't like how awkward it was between us the last time. She shouldn't have been allowed to see that side of me.

So, I've decided I must see this side of her.

"A German Shepherd! So fascinating!"

In the flesh, Emma was a sight to behold, but in her dog form, she was a rush to all of my senses.

She snarls when I go to touch her silky, soft fur, her instincts telling her to attack me, but she holds back. She's contemplating the revelation.

I confessed to her that I killed her real parents and there was a growling glint enshrouding her eyes. Anger, sorrow, and betrayal. Her mind races at a powerful pace as she considers her options.

Seeking her revenge, or going against me, could very easily be what gets her killed. If that's what she's thinking about, all I have to do is bite and end her life. She'll be labeled a traitor to our kind, and it won't bring her parents back.

Instead, she takes shape painfully, shifting back to her human form. Has no one ever told her that the transition is the best part? It can be done with no effort, just willfully.

  She doesn't care that she will be naked before me, intimidating me a little. Just a little.

"Now I know what you must think of me." I hold my hands out in a peaceful gesture.

As she whimpered, I sighed. "I didn't want you to be human when I told you how it happened. How it all went down. You were still young, only a baby at the time—"

Her beautiful, big brown eyes penetrate me with a glare of pure savagery and ruthlessness. Her perfect breasts and the dusty nipples that coat them stand at attention on an attractive, not-my-type body. And her voice trembles with a mix of fury, pain, and determination as she gets all in my face, waving a dangerous finger around. "Why did you do it, Raphael, and how could you not tell me?! Lie to me?! How could you leave me with such filthy, loathsome people?! Sheila and Frank were nothing if not the worst of the worst! They beat into me that I was just damaged goods! Replaceable! Why did you kill my real parents? What did they ever do to you?! What did I ever do to you?!"

My expression softens slightly towards her, but only the slightest to not give my hand. "Sully and Sabine refused to comply with a list of my father's structural demands. They refused orders, recruitment jobs, and skipped out on meetings. I was young, but old enough to learn, and all my life was about taking over my father's role. I was trying to manage my grip on power like he did. I took control to send a message to those against our leadership. Your parents carried out a rebellion against us, seeking to gain access to the Skin Council. Because of their courageous stand against us, it ultimately surrendered their lives. Sully and Sabine were eliminated, leaving you as their only collateral."

"To be a leader in my eyes, you must put others first before you in your mind." Foreign and unpredictable tears swelled in Emma's doe-like eyes. "You forfeited my life so yours could benefit. You killed my parents so you could look good in the eyes of your father."

"Hold your tongue," I demanded, a growl rippling deep in my throat. "I will show you what a leader is if you defy me. I just thought you should know what happened to your real parents so you don't make the same mistakes."

"So you think you're responsible for me, huh? You think you owe me somehow for what you did? You know that's the guilt gnawing and clawing at you."

"For just speaking to me this way, you have violated conduct. You have defied me in more ways than one. Touch me and you will get a knife to the heart."

"You wish to justify your actions to me, Raphael, but I am not satisfied with your answer," she retorted.

"If you leave here," I began, boiling the rage that's burning within her, "and do not attend the next meeting, you will not be put on trial. Because of your refusal to give me more information that I can use on the Davenport's, thus not doing your job as a recruiter, I will have you all killed one by one."

Her jaw clenched at that moment and now I know why. She must care about them. And way back when I knew she could be the one who could possibly betray me.

Just like her parents.

And now I'm not so sure if allowing her to live was such a good idea after all.

"You wouldn't dare hurt that innocent family!" Emma stunned me with her brave, disobedient behavior, not grasping the full severity of her rebelliousness. "Just like my real parents, they did nothing wrong!"

But, they did do something wrong...

I didn't know how long this charade of hers would last–hopefully not long, but she was causing my blood to simmer and spill over with every defying word that spews from her mouth.

"If you're going to lie to me, then I must leave."

"As your leader," I snapped, "you leave when I say you can leave!"

"Save it for the theatrics!" She snapped back, harshly. "You may have everyone else fooled by you, but you don't fool me!"

"You're mistaken," I emphasized. "Fools are not the kind of people who I want to serve me."

"And I will not stand here in front of one of the biggest fools of them all if you think telling me this brings us any sort of trust or connection."

"It doesn't matter what you think of me, Emma. As your leader, if you continue to defy me like this, you will have to surrender your life to me."

"You're no friend of mine."

"And I didn't ask to be."

"Just like Sheila and Frank, you are cold-hearted, egocentric, and maniacal. Only out for yourself," she fumed. "The three of you are monsters set in your own ways, and your days have just not come yet where you must take a walk in my skin. Soon, you will, but until then, that's why I have no business here with you," she finishes, clasping the black dress as it trails along the floor towards her to cover her skin.

All of her flawless features vanished under flimsy fabric, and in place of a glimmering smile on her face, it almost looked exactly like the eerie masks of Sully and Sabine had manifested.

I audibly gasped, because it was their rebellious nature that my father was so afraid of. That I got rid of for him so they wouldn't overpower us.

And it's come back to haunt me.

Their dishonor to the Skin Code was the scathing of over two decades, and Emma's dark eyes carry the weight of their downfall.

Her age and existence was a constant reminder.

The door opened suddenly and Phase entered the room abruptly. He noticed me glaring at him with a daring glance that stilled him, and Emma attempted to pass him.

"Should I stop her?" Phase asked.

"No, just let her go," I allowed. "She has a lot to go back to the Davenport's and think about. Either she follows me, or meets her fate."

Emma goes to scamper away with her tears, but before she does, she throws the black wedges at my feet and imparts with, "I don't care much for my fate, but I care about my feet; and by the way, these were so uncomfortable. But I guess you like uncomfortable things. Maybe you'd like it like you do a man's cock and take the heel of it and shove it into your ass."

"Raph, what's going on?" Phase immediately had to ask after she departed. "What happened with Emma? What did you say to her?" Then his pupils enlarged. "Oh my god, you told her!"

"Let's just say I did my duty as leader to be upfront with my clan, and I was outspoken with her. I was not afraid to call a spade a spade when I spotted my findings, and I was forthcoming with my right to see the breed she has chosen."

"And what did you find out?" Phase was eager to know everything, as is what I most cherished about him. "Was Emma everything you expected her to be and more?"

"Yes, and that surprises me." I was hesitant to tell him more, but complied. "I should have known she would choose the breed of winners."

"What did she end up picking?"

"The German Shepherd."

"Those dogs are loyal, caring, and calm."

"Which is exactly why that surprises me..."

Her loyalty, care, and calmness doesn't adhere to me. She doesn't submit to me, so she must be bonded with another. She must have ties to someone else that she is loyal to.

As a result of that, she is dangerous.