Aston had made up his mind. 

“I’m going to reign in my power now.”

His hazel eyes watched the vampire queen react to his words, out of the corner of his gaze seeing Rhea and River finally be brought to their knees from the presence of his power, Aston finally looking back at Bianca for confirmation. Mentally he had marveled at the fact that he had caused this type of reaction with just his newfound power, his tiger mewling softly rubbing itself along his skin from within. He had not transformed in any aspect during the altercation, yet he stood before his friends and his still standing mate in obvious awe of himself. 

Aston stood still in his human form in front of the occupants of the office, his mind swimming with the endless possibilities of what could happen after he returned the energy from their surroundings into his body. Using the method that Nicolai had taught him, the tiger focused from within his inner world, treating the presence of his power like an extension of himself. He pulled at the energy, metaphorically pulling at the thick blanket of power with his hands, treating it like an actual throw blanket to be bundled up for storage. His tiger lay lazily at a distance from him, its eyes watching him manipulate the power that they both shared, the feline’s tail twitching back and forth in boredom as he watched his vessel.

The room slowly became lighter, the power discreetly dissipating from the area around the group, the energy seeping into the alpha in the middle of the room. Aston felt another reassuring squeeze from his mate on his shoulder, his soul swelling with a silent pride as he used Nicolai’s teachings to reign in his power. The others in the office slowly started to return to their normal selves, their bodies releasing their tension and their legs finally coming back to life so that they could fully stand. Aston slowly stepped back to lean into his mate, his face still neutral, watching his friends carefully take in the couple before them. 

“How long have you been containing that power mi gatito?” Ransom finally spoke, stretching the muscles of his body, “It is quite nasty.”

“Nasty is a fucking understatement, wolfman” Bianca strategically answered, carefully trying out her speech to make sure that it was no longer weakened. 

“Like I said it manifested the day that I met Nicolai, so you could say I’ve been like this for about the last 6 months” Aston chuckled. 

The leaders stared at the tiger with inquisitive eyes, silent emotions running amok from behind their irises, all them quietly deciding to keep their distance. Aston watched as River and Rhea stared at him with irritated looks, their displeasure radiating from their placement behind Bianca’s lithe form. Rhea’s deep blue eyes boring into Aston’s hazel ones, her visible frustration pointing directly at her alpha and best friend from across the room. A small amount of movement caught their attention in an instant, Adam had pulled himself up from the floor with a slow and steady breath, his face still coated in sweat. 

“Adam, you good?” River broke the silence.

The beta looked at his comrade, his dull eyes looking lifeless as he made contact with River’s dark eyes, his body no longer shaking under the weight of Aston’s power. 

“Never better” He hesitantly answered, “Thanks for reminding me that you four are on a whole other level.”

Adam’s eyes now snapped to Astons’, his stare defiant yet it seemed to unphase the tiger, the tiger’s neutral face slowly cracking into one of sympathy. Aston had felt guilty that the beta had fallen victim to their power showdown, one of which had been one sided with him being the main assailant. 

“I really am sorry, Adam. It was either we duke it out with you involved or shutting the situation down before it even started, and I chose the latter. I hope there’s no hard feelings” Aston apologized, gazing upon Adam with sincere eyes.

“I understand why you did it,” Adam replied, “but a little warning would be great next time.” 

“Oh, of cour-”

“If you’re going to apologize to Adam, then where are me and Ransom's apologies?” Bianca interjected, her words cutting off Aston’s reply, “An apology for shoving that power of yours down our throats and almost making us submit to you!”

“If you hadn’t insulted Nicolai none of this would have happened, you were the one that was being out of line, Bianca” Aston fired back. 

“It's your fault, mi gatito, for bringing him before us now instead of sooner” Ransom pointed out, his now sky blue eyes making their appearance once more.

“My fault?! This wasn’t going to be easy regardless of the fact if I had done this sooner rather than now. Due to the fact that both of you harbor not so subtle feelings towards me is not my fault, it is also not my fault that I was unable to return those feelings. I can’t tell either of you how to feel, but both of you need to accept this” Aston explained, gesturing between him and Nicolai. 

His two friends gave him blank stares, the feelings becoming fairly obvious as they continued to leave his explanation unanswered. Nicolai growled silently from the lack of answers, his body slightly tensing in irritation that the two leaders would blatantly disregard his mates feelings on the matter. 

“Until he has marked you in more ways than one, mi gatito, you are still fair game” Ransom antagonized, his face splitting into a grin towards Nicolai. 

“Oh?” Bianca spoke up surprised, “Now you have my at most attention, Ransom” 

Aston felt his mate start to get worked up again from their words, Nicolai’s body slowly becoming very domineering from behind his back, the lion’s growl never stopping. The tiger alpha rolled his eyes, he knew that their words were to get underneath the lion's skin especially since they were talking about him, but what also worried him was the hidden undertones to their words. Their feelings towards him had not faltered, not in the slightest. 

“But what if all I want to be is marked by Nicolai? In many more ways than I could handle” Aston chided, a smirk forming on his face as he felt his mate start to peacock from his back. 

“Is that a challenge?” two pairs of eyes suddenly locked on the tiger.

Aston cockily grinned in spite of his two dear friends, mentally knowing that his words had struck a chord within the two leaders; he had them right where he wanted them. They were still his friends, in his mind’s eye, but that did not mean he did not know the politics that were used to keep the current stability of their friendship in place.

“I would never challenge the two of you to something that I know, personally, you both could rise to” Aston’s words working their magic on the two leaders watching him and his mate, “But he is my mate so….. the possibilities are endless.”

Nicolai chuckled at the words that his mate spoke. The tiger hoped that his mate had not realized that the words he had used were like a double edged sword, that in a way he had self-incriminated himself. Aston knew Bianca and Ransom better than the current occupants of the room, that the words that he had used would come back to haunt him later. 

“Sorry to interrupt what ever in the fuck this flirting is right now” Rhea coughed, their eyes snapping towards her and River, “but I have elders and council members about to make their appearances, so I suggest getting yourselves together before they chastise your goddamn ears off. Because as much as I enjoyed this little power trip, yeah Aston I’m looking at you, I would really like to deliver a fist to Catherine’s bitchy face. Am I understood?”

“Gods this woman and her way with words, I’ve missed her” Bianca grinned, flashing the tigress her fangs 

“Agreed” they all muttered.