"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Slap.

His head turned to the right from the force of the slap as I was seething and fuming in front of him. I was angrily looking up at him, studying him, and secretly trying to listen to his thoughts.

I figured that his body was still weak so I don't think he picked up on my mind-reading. I could hear some words but his mind was messy, everything was incoherent.

His piercing red eyes found mine as he slowly turned his head back to me. He cracked his neck twice without ever breaking eye contact. His midnight-black wings were softly moving beside him with every movement he made, his naked sweat-clad chest was glistening underneath the moonlight, and his hair was messy and roughly pushed back.

However attractive he looked right at this moment, his lack of an answer was infuriating. And currently, I wasn't at the most mentally stable phase of my life.

"Are you fucking deaf? What the hell was that?" I shouted again while pointing with my finger at the sky, where the fight took place moments ago.

No answer. He just frowned down at me without giving any indication of what he was feeling or thinking.

"Answer me, dammit! You wake up after you've been in a fucking coma for weeks, and the first thing you do is attack my friend? We have already established that Dante is a good person and he means no harm!" I said and crossed my arms on my chest, never looking away from him. His jaw clenched and his eye twitched.

He turned away from me and with a slick movement of his back, pulled his wings back inside his body. I was impatiently waiting for an answer, a word, a grunt... anything really. The silence was frustrating in every possible way.

"How long have I been sleeping?" He questioned simply. His eyebrows were still furrowed while mine shot up in my forehead in seer surprise.

Is he for real? Isn't he going to answer me?

"Are you serious? Is that all you have to say?" Why the hell isn't he saying anything?

His eye twitched again and with my peripheral vision, I noticed his fists clenching, his knuckles turning white. What's wrong with him?

I almost felt bad for him and started worrying about him. But I couldn't push past what he did, not again. He has to start taking responsibility for his actions and he has to start giving some explanations.

"Lucifer! I-"

"He was attacking you, Eliana!" He burst angrily as he sharply turned to look at me, coming a little closer. "What was I supposed to do? Just let him hit you like that?" He was breathing heavily in front of me as he stepped even closer. His aroma hit me like a storm and my mind buzzed hazily.

"He wasn't attacking me, Lucifer! It's called training!" I shouted at him, taking one step closer to him, letting his intoxicating aura take over me completely. Gosh, I missed him so much...

"Well, how am I supposed to know?" He bit back, sneering down at me, his upper lip curling upwards.

He's right. How could he know? He was asleep for almost two weeks. After that night that I had returned to bed with him, he slept and slept and slept. His breathing and heartbeats were stable throughout the whole time, but I was constantly worrying about him, checking up on him multiple times a day.

Dante had said that he was too tired to wake up and that his body needed to heal from all the torture that he endured in that cage. But that never ceased my worries. I kept staying up at night, restlessly trying to get some sleep after endless hours of training, listening to his heartbeat. I came to crave it. At some point, I thought that I could never be able to sleep again without listening to his heartbeat and his soft breaths as he slept beside me.

As I looked up at him, craning my neck to the point that it hurt, I was beyond angry at him to show him how much I was worried and how much I had missed him. I seethed and exhaled, puffing and huffing furiously, while my mind raced to find a suitable answer to his question. Because there was no way I was losing this argument.

"You're right. You couldn't have possibly known that I and Dante have been training for the past couple of weeks, because you were in a coma." I explained, buying me some time to think of what to say next. His piercing blood irises were staring passionately down at me, and his annoyance was basically oozing out of him.

"But you didn't answer my previous question, my dear Lucifer" I sneered at him and punched a finger on his naked, strong chest. He took another step closer to me, challenging me, without ever taking his eye off of mine.

"Are you fucking deaf?"I whispered harshly at him, my lips tight and my jaw set.

His breathing sped up but the lack of an answer was enough to keep me going.

"When I screamed at you to stop, over and over again. When I shouted your name, trying to get your attention. Were you deaf? Or were you ignoring me?" I could feel my blood boiling as I recalled the moment that my mate's wing slashed through my friend's body. I could sense my veins sifting, burning. "When I tried to get you to stop hitting my friend, why did you fucking ignore me? Why did you keep hitting and punching and cutting, when you could clearly hear me scream at you?"

I saw Lucifer's body being illuminated by the soft orange glow that my veins were producing as the sadness and the worry for Dante resurfaced and the devastating scene was permanently engraved into my mind.

"Why, Lucifer?" I gritted out angrily and my fists clenched tightly on my sides, flames bursting and hugging my skin.

Lucifer's eyes darted down as he noticed my hands, taking a step back to get a closer look. His brows furrowed and his hand went to grab mine, but I quickly raised it, the flames dancing around.

"Answer me, Damn it!" I shouted, not being able to control myself anymore. His eyes hardened dangerously as he looked at me again and straightened his posture.

"I didn't hear-"

"Yes, you fucking did!"I interrupted him before he could finish his lie, and my hands unconsciously rose and slammed against his chest. Flames spread around his chest like fireworks and he was compelled to stumble back from the force of my hands.

My eyes went wide and worry quickly wrapped around me, choking me, as I heard his skin sizzling like burning oil. I inhaled sharply as a pang of pain burst inside my rib cage.

Lucifer was forced a few feet away from me and once he regained his balance, he looked down on his chest, softly touching it. There was no mark or burn, no sign of fire ever touching his skin.

"Luc-" I started but I bit down on my tongue when his eyes snapped to mine.

His once passionate eyes, went dead, darkness consuming them. The bright red color was violently washed away, drowned by the ebony substance that hooded his eyes. He looked numb, all of his emotions disappearing in an instant as he rose to his full height.

Even though I knew that he would never hurt me physically again, I could still feel my heartbeats rising at the sight of his intimidating and predatory stance.

"Because I fucking wanted to." Lucifer spoke up, his voice started altering, becoming harsher with each word that left his mouth. He walked slowly towards me with his hands on his sides, like he wasn't afraid of anything, like he was ready to pounce on something. Or someone. Or me...

"I wanted to hurt that bastard since he took my brother away. Since he made him leave the Garden and abandon me in that hellhole. And thanks to you, I finally had my chance to unleash my wrath on him" He continued, stalking towards my direction with his eyes fixed on me.

My flames had died down and fear replaced every other emotion that I was feeling. I slowly started taking small steps backwards, as I saw the abyss in his eyes.

"When I understood that he was Gabriel's mate, I could barely control myself from tearing him apart. And I would have done it, if it weren't for y-" He stopped himself from saying what I knew to be true. "But now? You just gave me another reason to beat the life out of him."

He stopped walking and raised his head intimidatingly, looking down at me. I wanted to run away from him, because I could see that he was barely controlling himself. Chills continuously flowed down my spine, making my hair stand and my mind stay alert.

"I woke up, all confused as to where I was and why you weren't beside me... And then I heard it. Your gasps of air leaving your mouth like you were being chased, your grunts of pain as you tried to protect yourself, your erratic heartbeat that betrayed your fear and anxiety, which made me go fucking feral." His face was unreadable. Frozen, numb features masked everything.

"I followed your sounds, just in time to see you flying backwards with a spear penetrating you. I think you understand how that made me... feel. I couldn't just let it go, let it pass like nothing happened. He hurt you, so I hurt him." He explained and from his point of view, it sounded devastating.

"Why didn't you stop afterwards?" I found enough courage to speak up, but his bottomless eyes were unnerving to me, making my skin crawl. "Why did you continue? You almost killed him..." My voice faltered at the end, as I tried to restrain a sob that itched to come out.

"That was my goal, Eli," He said so simply as if his words meant nothing. The numbness that had taken over him, slowly crawled to me. My limbs felt cold and my heart squeezed at the thought of my mate killing my friend. "But I clearly... failed." His left eye twitched.

What?

I frowned deeply, detecting the lie immediately. My heart relaxed, now knowing that he wouldn't actually kill Dante, but simply hurt him for revenge.

"You're lying." I spat out, my chest raising. "Your purpose wasn't to kill him but to hurt him. If you wanted to kill him, you would have easily achieved it. You wouldn't... fail." I confidently said, looking him straight in the eyes.

His smirk, which replaced the numbness on his face, was my confirmation that I was indeed correct. He chuckled slightly and took a step back, his posture relaxing.

"You're getting better... I lied, yes. Don't get me wrong, I would like to end his pathetic life very much, but I can't." He spoke with a faint but confident voice. A smirk found its way to my mouth, slightly rigging at my lips as my fear diminished.

"Why?"I asked him, my eyes never leaving his face, observing every single detail. His bottomless ebony-colored eyes shined and sparkled like the dark sky.

"Because... You care about him. And killing him would result in hurting you..."He trailed off, looking away from me.

"And?" I pushed him, knowing that there is more to it. His eyes snapped to mine quickly, defensively. I could detect the annoyance coming out of him in waves, as I pressured him to tell me the rest of it.

I could almost see him building the wall all over again, shielding his emotions. Shutting me out.

"And..." He contemplated whether it was wise to admit it or not. "And, I don't want to hurt... Gabriel" He admitted with a strained voice and my smirk widened. I'm pretty sure my eyes were glinting satisfactorily as I gazed at him.

"Good boy" I whispered almost involuntarily, and my eyes widened at my words. Lucifer's eyes went wide as well, the darkness focusing dangerously on me.

I took a step back and at the speed of light, he came in front of me, bending his head down, his face inches away from mine.

Shit.

Without our skin touching, Lucifer caused havoc inside my body with our close proximity. After so much training, such hard work, blood, and sweat, I felt like my body would burst like a bomb. Even though when I and Dante were physically touching when training, I felt so touch-deprived. Deprived of Lucifer's touch, to be exact.

My body unconsciously leaned forward, needing to feel the friction between us once more. But my mind was afraid. When I saw Lucifer's horns slashing through his forehead as his eyes darkened more, my fear peaked, knowing that the monster was going to come out if I provoked him.

"So, training huh?" Lucifer's dark voice sounded from in front of me as he watched me closely, without ever touching me. "If you want to train, then let's train." The raspiness in his voice was sending tingles directly down there, in between my legs.

"Lucifer, I'm ti-" My trembling voice was quickly drowned out by my mate's guttural growl.

He doesn't want to train...He is using it as an excuse to hurt me. I guess old habits are hard to get rid of...

"Start running" He rasped out, his voice strained. His eyes had a dangerous, almost cynical glint in them. I felt like the person in front of me was no longer my mate.

Not knowing what else to do, I scoffed and took a cautious step back, as fear sparked inside me. What the hell is he up to? Is he really that desperate to hurt me?

"Are you joking?" I chuckled, trying to break the thick ice that had formed around us. I shivered as he leaned his head on the side. I could sense his intense desire to destroy something. His annoyance and his anger reached incredible levels as he looked down at me in the most predatory way.

"Do I look like I'm joking?" He smirked at me and straightened his posture again. His black horns had resurfaced completely, matching his eyes. His breathing was unstable, rugged, harsh.

I have to calm him down before he lets out the beast within him and destroys this whole place with a single snap of his fingers. My mind was running, furiously trying to think of the ways I used to calm him down with.

"Lucifer, please. Now is not the time" I softly said, trying to conceal my fear and my trembling voice. I reached out to his right hand, wanting to touch his mark so I can bring him back to reality. Once our skin came into contact, he growled like a hungry monster and moved his hand aside, his extended claws cutting my flesh in the process.

I winced and looked down at my hand, noticing the two identical scratches on the inside of my palm, blood gushing out. I took a few steps back and cast a quick glance behind me, where the large trees hid every terror that lived inside the dark forest.

I heard another guttural growl coming directly from my mate's mouth as he spoke up. His words left me stunned and absolutely horrified.

"Eli...I can't...control...it." I heard Lucifer's voice, the sweet angelic tone sounding like a melody in contrast to the beast's one. "RUN!" He shouted and the cracking sound that his bones made, was my signal to start running for my life.

I quickly turned around and started running as fast as I could. In seconds, I stepped inside the forest, darkness consuming me.

I kept running, stepping on twigs and rocks, not caring that they were digging inside my feet. As I passed through tall trees, the forest seemed to get darker and darker, as the night had swallowed it whole.

I kept running as my controlled breaths quickly turned into unstable, small exhales. My mouth went dry and I desperately tried to inhale as much air as I could possibly breathe in.

I kept running as the horrible feeling of panic crept into my mind, numbing my body and wanting me to shut down from the adrenaline that was surging through my veins. I noticed a soft glow coming from my veins, lighting up my path inside the darkness. The glow got stronger and more powerful, soft yellow turning into a beaming orange.

I kept running as I cast a glance on my hands, moving rapidly on my sides. That was not so smart though... The next thing I know is I step on a huge rock, straining my ankle as my whole left foot bent on the inside. With a pained cry, I fell to the ground, rolling in the dirt. My fear went over the roof, as I quickly got up, trying not to put pressure on my injured foot.

I kept running as I heard the animalistic growl coming from behind me. I didn't want to look back because I knew he was close and I knew that eventually, we would catch up to me. He was too fast, way faster than me, and now I was injured.

I tried calling his name through our mind link but there was no response, not a sign that he could actually hear me.

My body ached in every possible way, the exhaustion from today's adventures quickly catching up to me. I could no longer breathe, and when the small, sharp inhales felt like sandpapers in my throat, I decided that it was time I thought of another solution than just running.

What if I just stopped? Would he hurt me? Would he really hurt me? Would he kill me? Or would he be able to control himself?

But his voice, his desperate voice, when he told me that he couldn't control IT. That was my mate warning me that the Devil had taken over him and that I had to get as far away from him as I could. And I tried. I'm still trying, still running.

I passed through hundreds of trees, the darkness had consumed us, concealing us from each other. The only light that existed inside the forest was the moonlight, barely coming through in between the leaves. And of course, me.

My body was shining brightly, a magnificent orange hue surrounding me as I continued running for my life. My fear alone was enough to produce twice as much fire within my veins as usual.

Inevitably, I started slowing down, my lungs crushing inside my chest as I felt like I was breathing in needles. I could hear his stable, controlled exhales, and the sound that his feet made as he run behind me. He was so quiet though, like his actions are completely controlled, memorized, predetermined. Trained. Experienced.

One more wrong step, and my body came crashing down on the soft ground. I rolled in the dirt and groaned out in pain and agony. The adrenaline that was pumping through my veins kept me alert, but my fear wanted my system to shut down, not relive such a traumatic experience.

I tried getting up but I didn't have any strength in me. My arms weakly bent and my chest hit the ground again. I turned around, watching the darkness closely, trying to locate the predator.

My face was scrunched up in pain as I crawled backwards with my hands, until I saw his figure. I felt numb. All my fear was gone, evaporated into thin air as I let the numbness creep into my mind. I saw him stalking towards me as he was hidden underneath the shadows of the large trees.

Suddenly, his body flew forward, as he lunged at me.

But I didn't move or make a sound, as his terrifying face came inches away from mine. He jumped on top of me, in all fours as his hands landed on my sides, barely missing my arms.

His face inched closer to mine, his hot, rugged breaths hitting harshly my face. I allowed my eyes to glance up at him as I tried to stay calm. When my eyes found his, I wanted to scream.

His eyes were nonexistent; there were only two gaping black holes on his face, and I felt like I was drowning in them. His horns were shining in the moonlight, casting a horrifying shadow on his face. His hair was disheveled, stray locks flying everywhere and framing his horns.

Suddenly I felt something cold on my neck, and I jumped at the impact. He had brought his right hand on my neck, softly stroking the soft skin with his hard, pointy claws.