Kings of War

He could feel the anger. First just a tight feeling in his chest, but it grew and threatened to bubble over, or explode from his chest. He wasn't really angry at Eli, just angry in general; furious. His heart was hammering and his breathing heavy, and he wanted nothing more than to hit something. Hard enough to break, bruise and bloody his knuckles. But not Eli. He could never hit her or Jason. He'd promised not to hurt her ever, and he honored that promise, although he knew he frightened her sometimes when he got very angry. She sure as fuck didn't seem very scared right now, and for some reason that seemed to fuel his fury. He wanted her to obey him, goddamnit, now was not the time for arguments. Not when war was so close to their doorstep and he didn't have time to deal with her attitude.

He caught his lip between his teeth in an attempt to control. Her sarcasm wasn't doing much for his mounting annoyance. His hands curled into tight fists as he watched her, using all of his strength ro remain silent when all he wanted was to yell. 'Control' was something he had but he rarely exhibited; he was a king after all, he did what he wanted and nobody but Xander could say shit about it. He didn't bother to control himself. People who crossed him got hurt, and that was the end of it. She was different. Eli wasn't expendable like the rest of them, although he wasn't sure if he'd ever tell her that.

'Feelings' weren't something that Shaun Damon was well aquainted with. Even if he felt, he rarely admitted it. In his mind, anyone that he allowed himself to love would leave. His mother had left him in death, and his father had kicked him out. That was the end, his feelings had ceased to exist to the outside world. They still battled within him, striving to be considered and felt, but he repressed them, shoving them down inside him until they were barely a whisper. That was the way that he liked it.

He stepped closer to her, a low growl emitting from his throat. Of course he had tried to find her. He had had men tracking her all the time, but they always seemed to be just a step behind. Never quite there. Perhaps that was the hardest thing, to know that she was there and they were late. That she was in reach but he couldn't quite grasp her. It drove him crazy. He moved until his chest was very nearly flush with hers, jaw clenched in suppressed rage. But god, it was getting so hard to hold it in. Especially when she was provoking him on purpose, jabbing her finger into his chest. He caught her hand in his, holding it still.

Holding her hand in his, he advanced on her. She was small, and at his six feet three inches, he loomed over her as menacingly as he could manage. He promised he wouldn't whack her one; that didn't mean he wouldn't use his size to intimidate if it would shut her up. "Holding you captive?" He fought to keep his voice even. "I'm the fucking king, and if I say you're to stay here, you will fucking stay here. You have no idea what's going on Eli. It's for your own safety, why can't you see that? If you wanted to fucking leave me that badly, I'd just let you, but there's more to it than that. You belong to me. You're not just my 'whore'. If I thought that lowly of you, I'd have fucked other chicks while we were together. I was fucking faithful to you, Eli. You left of your own goddamn accord, I didn't do a fucking thing to you. I didn't hit you or even raise my fucking voice to you, and you left. I didn't 'give you away' so you can get that thought out of your head right now," His voice rose with every syllable as he advanced on her, all the built up anger and feelings flowing out. His filter was gone; it was just Shaun, raw and simple. He was done with holding back