Chapter 87 - Pushed to the Limit

Rae laid panting in a heap on the green. Kai had floored her with another kick, knocking the wind out of her. She balled her hands up in to fists. As painful as it was, she knew that Kai was still holding back.

"This isn't going to work!" Rae called out as she started getting back up to her feet.

Kai eyes widened at her sudden outburst. "It will. It IS working. I can feel the difference when you attack. They're getting more powerful'

"No! You're holding back! I can tell you are. How am I supposed to get anywhere near as powerful as you if you're not taking me seriously?!"

"Not taking you seriously?" Kai responded confused.

"Yes! You're supposed to be the infamous *Demon Dog of Galas* right? But you're taking it easy on me. We don't have time for this! I'm not going to learn this stupid technique unless you start fighting with me with true intent. Otherwise this is all a waste of time!"

Kai looked at her dumbfounded. He had to admit that she was right. He hadn't been fighting her with the full power of his wolf. Pax would barely allow it. With that being said, his mate was still taking a pretty good beating from him. Even without the full strength of his wolf, his natural agility and fighting instincts still outweighed her own and yet she wanted him to 'up the ante'.

Kai took a deep breath and looked up the sky. He sighed gently as a wry smile started to form on his lips. He exhaled slowly as he closed his eyes, then suddenly started laughing quietly to himself, startling Rae. His quiet laugh gradually started to increase in volume, until he sounded almost villainous.

Rae could feel Tara's blood starting to boil. "Seriously Kai, do you think this is funny?!'

Kai's laughing stopped abruptly and he turned his head quickly to look back at her. As his eyes reopened, they were now the ruby red that Rae had seen on just a few occasions before.

"Funny?? Kai said with all seriousness back in his voice. He cocked his head as he asked the question, then slowly started walking towards her.

"Do you want to really feel what I'm capable of baby?"

As Kai walked slowly towards her, he allowed a wave of his dominant energy to flow out in a sharp thrust. The force of it alone sent Rae staggering backwards. She'd never felt an energy like it. His dominant energy flicked off him like the wind, causing the grass and nearby trees to sway gently.

"Do you want to know why they call me the Demon Dog on the battlefield?" Kai's hair broke free from the small hair band that was holding it back, causing his long black locks to start whipping around his face majestically.

Rae could feel her jaw starting to slacken as Kai started to focus all of his energy towards her. In this form he almost looked like a god. A vision of unrestrained power in a chiseled body.

Rae shook her head. *'This is no time to be swooning'* she told herself. She reaffirmed her footing to hold herself steady then assumed the fighting stance that Kai had drilled in to her. This is what she wanted, she had repeatedly told herself. To fight Kai as his equal, although she hadn't quite imagined that his power would be this intense. Was this who he truly was? The contrast from the man who had willingly submitted to her every desire in the bedroom last night was now nowhere to be seen. He was now all confidence and all dominance. It was sight be seen.

Her wolf yipped in excitement inside her. 'Our powerful mate', she could almost hear Tara say.

Kai couldn't stop the sly smirk from creeping up his face after witnessing Rae's reaction to him. Anyone else from his pack or from his kingdom for that matter, would start feeling apprehensive but not her. He couldn't help but feel a swell of pride and new admiration for her starting to build in his chest. The thought of him fighting her like this couldn't help but make him slightly uneasy, but with the fierce determined look in her eyes, he couldn't refuse her either. If it meant that she could get the power that she needed to fully subdue Tara and learn the invocation then it was a risk worth taking. Pax on the other hand was not convinced. The thought of Kai harming their mate had him circling in frustration inside Kai's mind.

*'I know...I know. I know this isn't what you want, but this is what she wants'* Kai spoke to Pax in his mind. Kai assumed a fighting stance to mirror Rae *'We both know she's more than capable Pax, so work with me here.'*

Pax huffed angrily. His defiance to Kai's logic caused a momentary lapse in the energy that he and Pax were sharing with each other and the output of dominant energy that he was aiming at Rae.

Rae picked up on the fluctuation in energy immediately and saw her chance to take advantage and catch him off guard. She launched at him at full speed and threw a punch straight at his head. Kai just about managed to regain control of his energy and then dodged, but she nicked the side of his causing a hairline scratch to open up and start bleeding on his face. As her fist continued to move past him in to the open air, Kai locked on to her arm to throw her further off balance and threw her behind him.

Rae landed hard on all fours like a cat, no more than fourteen or fifteen feet away from him. She could feel her arms and legs jolt from the pain of impact. This was nothing like any of the other throws he had done before now.

Kai turned around casually and swiped his thumb over the small cut on his face. His skin hissed as the small cut knitted itself back together almost instantly. "Good girl" he muttered to himself in quiet appreciation. Her astuteness to take advantage of his situation more than impressed him. She was being analytical in her attack rather than reactive and was instinctively looking for weaknesses that she could exploit. A very smart move when faced with someone stronger than yourself. Kai licked the blood off his thumb playfully and reassumed his fighting stance.

"That all you got princess?" he taunted her as he shouted across the green. "That was a well-timed strike." He looked at her curiously as Rae reassumed her fighting stance. The time it took for her to get back in position showed him that she had definitely felt the brunt of the impact. "Tapping out already?"

Rae tightened her fists again. "Yeah, right!" Rae launched herself at him again, her anger this time around got the better or her, making it easier for Kai to read her moves. Her eyes were now solid black as more and more of Tara's energy came to the surface. Her fists were flying all over the place at impressive speed, but Kai parried them all. He saw an opening and instinctively took it. His fist connected with the side of her face sending her flying backwards.

"Shit!" Kai called out. His fist had hit her harder than he had planned. She didn't cry out but he knew it must have hurt.

Rae landed awkwardly and held her hand to her face. Her face tensed as her hand touched the sore part Kai had connected with. As metallic taste filled her mouth, she spat out some of the blood that was forming there.

Kai wanted to run over to her. The look of remorse was already evident in his eyes. As he went to approach her. Rae whipped her head up to look at him. The way her onyx eyes locked on him stopped him in his tracks. Her stare was intense as was the dominant energy radiating off her. That last strike her incensed.

Kai didn't know whether to smile or not. He could feel something that he hadn't felt or experienced in a long time. Something in him almost felt slightly intimidated causing a rush of excitement to flood through his veins.

"That's it baby, get up" Kai quietly encouraged her as she slowly got back to her feet, staggering like a new born gazelle.

Rae could feel her mind going hazy. Tara was clawing inside her mind, desperate to get out and take control. Desperate to show Kai and Pax what she was really capable of. She could feel her power swelling from within in. As she launched forward to strike again her mind went black. She couldn't see or hear anything.

*'What happened?'* she asked herself.

"Rae!"

She heard a voice call her. She recognised it.

*'Kai?'* she said to herself. She tried to speak the words out loud but nothing came out.

"Rae! Can you hear me?"

The voice called out again more urgently.

"Rae! You have to fight it or Tara will turn you feral!

Light slowly returned to Rae's eyes and she see could see Kai crouched over her, forcefully holding her down. She couldn't work out what had happened or how much time had passed. His torso and arms were covered in blood and his eyes had turned back to their original blue colour, showing that his own invocation of Pax had been released.

Rae wanted to cry out and ask him what happened, but she couldn't speak. Her arms and legs were flailing wildly against her will as Kai tried to keep her down. That's when she felt Tara. Whilst she could see what Tara was seeing, Tara had full control over her human body and was furiously trying to attack Kai. She could feel this overwhelming pressure in her body to shift and was struggling to fight it.

"Rae! Can you hear me? Don't shift! You have to suppress her!"

Kai wasn't sure if he wasn't getting through to her or not. Pax had temporarily shut off his power to Kai, furious that Kai had proceeded fighting with Rae at full strength.

Kai was struggling to keep her down without Pax's help. With him being unsure if Rae could hear him or even do anything at that point, he knew he was going to need Pax's help to subdue Tara and stop Rae from turning feral.

"Dammit Pax! Don't do this now!"

Kai searched his mind for Pax but was left with a wall of silence. His wolf had his back turned to him like a petulant teenager.

Kai ground his teeth as his hold on Rae began to slip.

"Do you hear me?! I get that you're pissed but now is not the time to be fucking around! If you don't help me, we're going to lose her!"

With that last request, Kai's eyes turned back red again as Pax allowed his energy to flow back through in to Kai, reinstating his invocation. The scratches on his arm and body started knitting back together again.

Feeling Pax's energy starting to flow back in to him Kai returned all of his attention back to Rae. He readjusted his hold on her arms, using one arm to pin her down and then collared her throat.

"Stop this Tara, that's enough! Rae's proven her strength"

Tara growled in Rae's body. As she continued to try and fight him, Kai started to hear the familiar clicking sounds of an impending shift. In this form, if Rae shifted, Tara would permanently have full control and turn feral.

"No no no no! Submit damn you! Rae if you can hear me, you have to do it now! Fight her now!"

After a few more painstaking moments, Kai saw what he thought was a flash of red in Rae's eyes.

"That's it! That's it Rae" Kai called out realizing that he must have been getting through to her. His grip started to slacken on her throat as he saw the battle between the two of them play out in her eyes. Her eyes flashed from black to red to repeatedly.

Caught up in the moment, and with his hold on her slackening Rae suddenly broke free from his arms and jumped backwards.

"Fuck!"

Kai went to chase after her but stopped as he saw Rae staggering around. Her eyes were now solid red, hinting that she had managed to subdue Tara.

Kai's relief was short lived as Rae suddenly collapsed to her knees and scrunched her eyes shut. She covered her ear with hands.

"It hurts! It hurts!" she cried out. "Everything is too bright, too loud!"

Kai watched her desperately. This was the same reaction he had when he first did an invocation. The sudden heightened senses made everything painful and super sensitive. He wanted to reach out and hold her but knew even his touch on her skin would be painful.

"Breathe Rae…" Kai said softly,

"It hurts Kai, it hurts"

"I know, I know. Open your eyes and look at me. Just focus on my voice and drown everything else out"

Tears peeled down Rae's cheek as she slowly opened her red eyes to look at him.

"That's it, just breathe slowly and focus on me."

The lights and sounds that were originally pouring in to her mind from every direction slowly started to narrow, till all she could see and hear was Kai. She continued breathing deeply in and out until the panicked feeling in her chest started to settle.

"Good..." Kai said encouragingly.

As her eyes started to focus on Kai, his mouth started to turn up at the corners in both happiness and relief.

"Hey" he said softly as he admired her. Her energy was smooth and settled. His mouth curved up more in to his devastatingly handsome smile. "Gave me a bit of a scare back there. Welcome back beautiful."