Without giving her actions a second thought, Helen leapt forward and pressed her hands to the wound. Her posture straightened, her shoulders lifted an... she proudly raised her chin. Her sapphire eyes seemed to turn into the very gems they resembled, cold, hard and fiercely beautiful. She blinked slowly and turned to look down at her hands, which she had wrapped about the throat of the bucking and writhing body of the howling woman-beast. Her eyes narrowed. Flecks of umber and amber swirled. Suddenly the audio stopped. Dara's heart sank, she wanted to run forever, but she merely stood there, frozen in fear, damning herself again for her indecisiveness."DARA!" came an edgy shriek from Ket. "DARA, ARE YOU THERE?"If only I wasn't."DARA! WHAT THE HELL?" shouted Ket, now facing her at the bottom of the stairs. Ket's face contorted with rage and concern. "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS? WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?"Dara looked down at the floor, a sight she'd grown accustomed to, whimpering, another. Xavier ordered another coffee and calmed down before he resumed speaking. "You didn't answer my original question. Have you really considered my offer? Have you thought it through? Or have you just blocked it out of your mind and equated it to ceasing to exist?" I ... I ... I don't know. I just ... can't seem to see it." I'm curious, how well do you visualize yourself as becoming a member of the Swiss Guard? Have you truly planned it through? Did you constantly fantasize about it before you met. Valerie was deciding whether or not to take insult at this when the remaining shifter stepped out of the shack and spoke. “Sorry, Cole doesn’t do well around strange Alphas,” he apologized. Valerie, if she had them in her lioness form, would have raised her eyebrows. Now here was a pretty man. The other, Cole, was handsome in a brutish kind of way, with a strong jawline, straight nose, a messy beard and the kind of bulk a woman would want over her. Or over her omega lover. But this man was.