Ahead of him he noticed a clearing in the woods, a place that would allow for him to confront those that had been chasing him; a last stand. He quickly reached the clearing stopping abruptly, the sunlight bathing him the instant that he halted making him feel secure. Aston stood in the middle of the area facing the direction that his pursuers would be coming from, his power still flaming just underneath his skin like a boiling pot about to overflow. Worry flooded through him as he felt himself losing control of that boiling pot, he had been so sure that he had possibly gained some authority over it. He was wrong.

A series of growls snapped him out of his thoughts, his eyes wandered over to the tree line to see the four lionesses emerge from the comfort of the forest, their eyes solely on him. They stalked out of the brush surrounding him, the lionesses making sure to cover any escape routes that the tiger could use to get away. Aston looked around watching them intently, confusion sweeping through him as he thought he could see smirks upon the faces of the lionesses. He crouched into a defensive stance while trying to control the power within him knowing that he was in trouble of losing control. The power started to burn within him, his strength to contain it becoming weaker and weaker by the passing second. What was this power? Suddenly all of his pursuers shot forward charging him in an all out assault, their intentions to get him all at once instead of one by one.

 He lost control.

His power crashed out of him in a massive tidal wave as his hazel eyes glowed like hot coals, his tiger suddenly feeling very primal to him. The air became thick with searing heat and pressure, the weight of what flowed out of Aston surprising even himself. The lionesses froze in place, their bodies shaking from the heavy veil that started pressing down on them, the two behind the tiger staring with wide eyes. Power flooded the clearing becoming thick even for Aston, his body felt like it was constricting from the strength of what surrounded them, he could hardly breathe. His tiger took over, a hiss-like snarl escaping his throat as his body started to move on its own. He was not in control. 

The lionesses started to feel their bodies being pressed into the dirt, the pressure of the energy around them becoming overwhelming, their breaths becoming tight from the force. The girls had never felt anything like what Aston was emitting from his body, their brother had not even shown them his real power, but this made them feel something that they had never felt before.

Fear. 

The tiger in front of them growled angrily, the sound of it filling the clearing around them and vibrated within their very bodies, their fear was warranted. Aston watched in horror as he had no control over his body, his tiger letting loose its dominance over the felines surrounding them. He felt drunk. He felt powerful. Terror flooded through his body with the realization that he enjoyed the feeling, it was becoming addicting. 

“Aston! Stop!” Nicolai’s voice pierced his inner world. 

Nicolai had run into the clearing with Jordyn, both of them falling prey to the sea of choking warmth that stuck them, their eyes widening at the scene before them. Their sisters were pressed into the ground in submission, his mate exerting a force that he had not witnessed before. His mate looked different than he had the day before when had lost control, Aston was not in front of him at that moment. 

“Aston, you need to stop this now!” he choked out, his eyes looking beside him to see Jordyn choking on the ground from the energy exuded from his mate.

Aston had heard him from his inner world as he fought to resist the feeling of his tiger’s power, trying to remember the words that Nicolai had told him about grounding himself through his mate. He looked through his tiger’s eyes into the golden gaze of his mate, his power starting to falter slightly, his body trying to transform back into its human form. Nicolai felt his lion once again brushed itself against his skin, his power starting to flow out from within his body, the need to calm down his mate becoming his main priority. 

‘Girls, looks like you’re in for a surprise’ He linked to them, their bodies still writhing into the dirt. 

The flood gates opened from the confines of Nicolai’s body, his power rushing to meet that of his mates’, something that he had not done in a long time. His power radiated throughout the clearing mixing with Astons’, the pressure on his body disappearing immediately. He started to stand looking directly into the hazel eyes that he had become so infatuated with, his determination becoming very clear as he moved forward slowly. Nicolai knew that he needed to get through to Aston before he lost control even further. 

“Aston?” Nicolai stated, walking slowly towards him with his glowing gold orbs, “It’s me Nicolai, you need to gain control of your beast before you hurt my sisters. It seems that they took their little game too far, so please if you can hear me, you need to calm down. Remember what I told you.” 

‘Sisters? Oh god,’ Aston gasped in his inner world, ‘They're his sisters.’

Nicolai’s words caused his power to dwindle even more, his tiger starting to lose its hold on his body, allowing him to transform. His bones shifted and morphed back into his human form, but the power stayed, flowing out of his body like an angry ocean. Nicolai took a moment to take in the naked form of his mate that he had longed to see, the sunlight bathing over Aston causing his tan skin to glow in a heavenly way, striking awe even into the crumpled lionesses at his feet. His mate was magnificent, something that took his breath away and made him feel like the luckiest man alive. Aston’s eyes still burned brightly amongst the feeling of his power surrounding them, his power mingling with Nicolai’s like they were made to mix together. 

Aston watched his mate approach him cautiously, his eyes taking in his mate's equally nude body from reverting back to his human form. Nicolai’s power rippled through his body, caressing him like an old friend, his eyes boring into the muscles that bulged with each careful step. His mate was a spectacle before, Nicolai’s handsome beauty still knocking the air from him, his breath escaping him at the sight of it. Shame seeped into his bones as his mind wandered to his thoughts prior, remembering the memory that had played like a movie in his mind. He loathed that he had had those memories still at the forefront of his mind, the fact that He still haunted his thoughts even with Nicolai now in his life. 

“Hey kitten” Nicolai whispered, cupping Aston’s face as he stood in front of his mate looking into his glowing eyes.

Aston’s face flushed at the new nickname that had dripped from his mate’s lips, it made his heart jump slightly in his chest, the world evaporating from around him only leaving the two of them. Why could Nicolai do this to him? Was this the mate bond that they had yet to consumate? Or was it just the being that was the lion in front of him? 

“Focus on me” Nicolai’s warm breath brushed against his cheeks, “Just like you did yesterday, control it like an extension of yourself. Not something that is separate from yourself, Kitten.”

The nickname caused a fuzzy feeling to spread through Aston’s body, his eyes closing as he inhaled the scent that was his mate, vanilla and sandalwood tantalizing his senses once more. His body relaxed. The smell of his mate caused him to metaphysically reach out and become aware of his power, something that he had never done before. His power was like a thick full haze of heat that seemed to dance around the group mingling with the energy of his mate. He reached out and grabbed at his power, pulling and dragging it back into his body using the touch of his mate as his focal point. Slowly his power dissipated,the air surrounding the group growing lighter, the lionesses standing only to transform back into their female forms. With the loss of his power Aston slowly opened his eyes, his hazel eyes welcoming the sight of Nicolai’s golden orbs. A small smile pulled at his lips as he brought his hand up to lean into his mate’s touch, the response gaining a loving grin from the lion.

“Damn Aston, no one told you to go all savage on us!” Emersyn’s voice called out, breaking the two of their trance. 

“Yeah sir, and I thought yesterday was bad” Adria stated roughly, moving her body around. 

Aston looked around, taking in the sea of blond hair that surrounded him, as well as the apparent nudity that seemed to follow that realization, his face focusing solely on his mate instead of Nicolai’s naked sisters. 

“My bad guys, you all caught me off guard” Aston muttered, “I kind of acted on instinct.” 

“Instinct my ass, Emersyn, you could have warned us that our little brother found himself a monster!” Eliza chastised her twin.

“Honestly, I didn’t think he would do that Eliza!” Emersyn snapped back.

“Obviously a warning would have been great” Amelia chimed in.

“Yeah Nicolai, now I got what you meant earlier” Jordyn spoke up, “He is nothing like we’ve ever seen before.”

Eliza turned to Nicolai, “I like how you warned her little brother and you left us to become victims of your mate’s monster strength. Scratch that, we haven’t even seen how strong he is, I bet that will give us a run for our money as well” 

“True” The others stated in unison.

That reply sparked a bombardment of questions on the status of their brother’s mate and any other secrets, the questions causing Aston to lean into Nicolai’s body in order to escape the barrage. The action caused Nicolai to feel protective, it was out of character for Aston to not make a sassy remark, but the lion also realized that his mate did not want to make a bad impression. 

“GIRLS!” He deeply roared, putting some of his alpha power into his voice.

The women instantly quieted looking at their brother with questioning glances, surprised that Nicolai would use his alpha status on them. They were not used to it in the slightest, the sight of Aston’s concerned face causing their confusion to slightly disappear. 

“Guys, your little plan to fuck with him back fired and you need to accept that” Nicolai said, “You didn’t let me warn you either.”

The sisters all glared at their brother.

“We weren’t going to hurt him, just play with him,” Eliza growled. 

“Yeah big brother just harmless fun” Amelia smirked, gaining a glare from Nicolai. 

“Besides you were in good hands” Eliza added towards Aston, getting the tiger’s attention, “You came out fine.”

“Actually, I was using all of my strength so that my tiger did tear you all to pieces. Didn’t need you scattered throughout this clearing” Aston sassily bit back. 

“Oh he bites” Eliza’s eyebrow raised before extending her hand towards the tiger, “Eliza”

Aston stared at her hand in surprise before grabbing it, “Aston, the future king of the Falcon Haven Clan.”

“You already know Emersyn and Adria, the younger two are Amelia and Jordyn” Eliza explained,  “And we are the lionesses of the now Falcon Haven Pride.

“Yo” Amelia stated, throwing up a peace sign. 

“Nico didn’t tell me that you would be so handsome in a pretty way” Jordyn smirked, causing Nicolai to blush. 

“Yeah, but I’m probably too pretty even for him” Aston winked, grinning at the scoff that escaped from his mate. 

The lionesses laughed.

“And he’s feisty too!” Eliza cackled, instantly feeling herself, along with the others, being drawn to the tiger, “This is the start of a beautiful friendship.”

Nicolai and Aston looked at each other with relief before laughing along with the sisters, they had seemed to make the impression that they had wanted. 

‘Thank God….’ the two men sighed.