“Nothing to be concerned about. It is painless and curious, and you will get to see what your insides look like,” Loren said and Bleu tossed a vicious glare at the machine.
“It shows you?”
Loren stifled a laugh at his friend’s horrified expression. “No. But I am sure Olivia will let us see the results.”
He looked to her and she nodded.
Bleu shuddered. “I don’t want to see my insides. I like not seeing them.”
A soldier born and bred. If anyone had ever doubted it, they would have changed their mind on hearing and seeing Bleu as he pressed a hand to his stomach, the most vulnerable point on any elf. Bleu liked his insides hidden because it meant he wasn’t gutted and bleeding out on a battlefield.
“Very well. You do not need to see them.” Loren touched his shoulder, squeezing it gently to reassure him that no one would force him to look at the results of the scan, but making it clear that Bleu would be going through the scanner whether he liked it or not.
“I can take your blood now, Bleu,” Olivia said, a slight quiver in her voice, a sign of her nerves.
Bleu took a deep breath and nodded. His armour receded, exposing his bare muscular chest, and he sat in the chair for Olivia.
Olivia took the seat beside him and picked up the rubber strip.
The moment she laid a hand on Bleu’s arm, Loren saw red.
He flicked his armour back into place and launched himself at Bleu, slamming into the chair and him, and bending the stand. Bleu growled and called his armour back, but not before Loren had slashed at his exposed chest with his sharp black claws, cleaving into his flesh. Olivia shrieked and stumbled backwards, toppling her chair and landing in a heap on the floor.
Loren snarled, exposing his fangs, and his ears extended, flattening against the sides of his head. Bleu’s eyes blazed purple and his lips peeled back, revealing his own large fangs. He grappled with Loren but it didn’t stop him from hacking at the chest of his armour, trying to gouge through the tough black scales. His armour was weak against the same material. It was the only metal able to penetrate it. He would shred it with his claws and tear the male’s heart out for daring to go near his female.
Bleu growled and bowed up against him, forcing Loren off him. Loren attacked again and Bleu evaded him, countering any strike he couldn’t dodge completely.
“My prince,” Bleu snapped, his anger flowing from him, inciting Loren’s rage. The male was furious with him because he had dared to stop him from laying hands on the female. The female belonged to Loren. The male would pay for attempting to steal her from him.
Loren threw himself at him again.
Bleu smashed his right fist hard into Loren’s face, the blow connecting solidly with his left cheek. Loren staggered right, his head reeling and the taste of blood filling his mouth. He stumbled into the wall opposite the table with the computers on it.
And his sword.
Loren stared at it and then at Bleu.
“You are not yourself. Do not do something you will regret.” Bleu flexed his claws.
Loren would not regret removing this male’s head from his body because it would mean this male could not attempt to steal his female again.
Loren reached for the weapon.
“Loren, no!” Olivia appeared between them, her brown eyes enormous, the racing beat of her heart echoing in his chest. Her fear crawled through him, subduing his lust for violence and bloodshed. She paled and he did too. She could feel his dark twisted hungers. They rushed through her blood just as her fear filled his.
Bleu stood a few feet behind her, his purple eyes locked on him and his armour still in place.
Loren lowered his hand to his side and stood down, horrified by how strongly he had reacted to the sight of Olivia touching Bleu, and how badly he had wanted to hurt his friend because of it.
Bleu cursed him in their tongue. “And you tell me that I have no reason to be concerned? Really? Because that little display of aggression had nothing to do with your ki’ara laying her hands on me, right?”
Just the words and the image they evoked were enough to have Loren flying into a rage again. He dodged past Olivia in a blur of speed and fury, and grabbed Bleu by the throat. He slammed Bleu down into the chair, pinning him against it, hissing at him as he tightened his grip to choke him.
“Loren!” Olivia grabbed his shoulder and hauled him off Bleu, her strength startling them both judging by the ripple of shock that ran through their bond. He clenched his teeth and growled at her, but her look of disgust mixed with horror was enough to ground him.
He took a few steps back, distancing himself from Bleu, disgusted at himself and disturbed by how driven he was to protect her and stop Bleu from being near her.