A Few Hours Earlier
Aether's brow furrowed, confusion etched across his face, "Holding back? What are you talking about?" If anyone needed to hold back, it had to be Liora, not him.
Liora, towering in her formidable wolf form, sneered, her eyes blazing with a predatory glint. "Oh, come on, Aether... do you think I'm blind to the beast lurking inside you? You hide it well, but not from me."
"Beast?" Aether's shock was genuine. His thoughts raced, trying to grasp what she meant.
"Yes," Liora growled, her muscles coiling like tightly wound springs, "I can sense it..... you're hiding it very well.... But I don't want to fight that facade. I want the real you. Unleash it, Aether. Either take me or die trying!" With a snarl, she sprang at him, a blur of fur and fangs, her claws slicing through the air with deadly precision.