She wasn't fine, she didn't want to be here, but she trusted Louis enough to follow him through the black market and make it out safe.

She remembered the first time she had entered the black market alone, to find Louis, it'd thankfully been mostly empty that night. And most of the carnivores there were small-sized animals, but now…

Juno could feel that black wolf's gaze tracing her body, even as she moved deeper into the crowds. She breathed in, desperately trying to calm herself. But her attempts failed when she glanced over her shoulder. She saw a flash of black fur and blue eyes in the crowds, following her, and she snapped her head forwards.

The male wolf had thought she was a female prostituting her body away for a high price. Though, she knew that fact didn't matter, she'd seen the lust in that male wolf's eyes. He wouldn't care if she was a prostitute or not. He'd rape her. Fear speared down her spine, leaving an icy chill in its wake.

Tears burned her eyes but she quickly blinked them away—Louis would instantly turn around if he saw them. On instinct, her muscles tensed and her fur spiked, her body preparing to fight. She hated fighting, all female wolfs did, but she'd do it to save her life—and Louis's. Juno continued to glance over her shoulder, her mind instinctually trying to size up her opponent, the situation she was in.

By now, he must've known she wasn't a female prostitute selling her body. He was keeping his distance, pretending to focus his attention elsewhere, preying on her, waiting for the right moment to strike. It scared her in a way she never felt before. Being hunted.

Her limbs trembled as she felt, more than saw, the male wolf closing in. He was probably going to try to grab her with his superior strength and drag her into a small space to have her. And Louis would, no doubt, try to save her—

Louis said, shattering her panicking train of thought, "stay close to me." Suddenly, he reached out and yanked on a lion's tail with all his might. Juno immediately tensed at Louis's actions. Lions, being the king of the beast, were extremely prideful, and would fight any mammal who showed disrespect.

Louis quickly walked away before the lion turned around, dragging Juno with him.

Juno didn't even have to glance back to know of the events that would occur.

The lion turned around and glared at the large bear standing behind. He raised his fist and struct the bear in the back of the head. The bear swirled at the lion and attacked with a merciless roar. Suddenly, a fight broke out in the cramp spaces of the black market, the crowd of large carnivores pushing against each other, making it impossible for anyone to slip through.

Including that black wolf.

Regardless, she didn't let her shoulders slouch as Louis pulled her through the crowds in a half sprint, every carnivore in the area too distracted by the loud commotion to give them any attention.

As they rushed to get out of the large crowds, Juno accidentally kicked over a tall stack of crates, filled with herbivore meat. The crates crashed to the concrete, droplets of blood splattering on her red dress and her arm. She grimaced at the sight of her dress being stained, but then, her canine nose caught the scent of blood—deer… blood. It turned a part of her brain on, making her body feel stronger, swifter… hungrier.

Smells good, doesn't it? A seductive female voice whispered, the sound echoing through her mind. Just imagine the taste of it, the pleasure it'll bring you. That voice—it sounded like her own. How? Who was talking to her?

As if fate wanted to give her an answer, Juno saw a black, small figure in the corner of her eye, standing deep within the crowd, smiling at her, exposing every one of its fangs. Imagine how his blood will taste. Who was that? And…

His blood?

Louis's blood?

No. No, she would never—

Louis suddenly pulled her down another ally way, leading them away from the now raging crowds. She felt the ends of her dress snag on a shard of metal as she ran with him.

Deep down, you know you want to devour him—

Stop, she thought, but she felt her stomach growl. I'm… I'm not like that.

Juno glanced over her shoulder, making sure the black wolf wasn't chasing them. Instead, she saw the small, black figure there, standing at the entrance of the ally, that same wicked smile on its mouth. We'll see, it whispered into her mind.

She snapped her attention forward, dread squeezing her grumbling stomach.

By the time they passed through the ally way, Juno was panting heavily. Her dress wasn't made for running and she hadn't practiced her cardio in a while. Louis released her paw, panting as heavily as she was.

"Are you okay." He asked through his heavy breaths, his attention focused on the ally they'd just passed through.

Juno didn't dare give so much as a glance towards the ally way. She said, "I'm fine." She stood up straight, her feet beginning to ache in her heels. "Are we almost there?"

Catching his breath, Louis nodded. "Nearly there, come on." He walked forwards, tucking his hands into his pockets, dirt crunching beneath his every step.

Juno looked down at the ground, noticing they were no longer standing on firm concrete, but dirt filled with little pieces of it. They must be in some of the deepest part of the black market for there to no longer be concrete.

She walked after Louis, careful not to step on anything that her heels couldn't handle. It was dark, even for her, there wasn't a single street light lining any of the old, cracked brick walls. And she wondered how Louis was walking so calmly right now, in the pitch black. Now walking by his side, she took his hand in hers, using her night vision to scan her surroundings, to make sure no one was following them.

Thankfully, she didn't spot or smell anyone close by.

Juno's deep blue eyes drifted over to Louis, staring into his hazel with a hint of sadness in her own. What part of himself is he going to show to me? And… is he doing this because he truly loves me… or because of what I said to him?

She teared up, looking away from him. She was such an idiot—a selfish idiot. Those words she had spoken to him at the restaurant, she realized, were just to draw his attention to her. To force him to come after her. She definitely had a wolf's mentality, no surprise there.

"Juno," Louis said, his voice ringing through the darkness. She looked at him once more. "We're here."

Her attention snapped forward and her mouth went dry at the sight of a tall building, slightly leaning. A tower. But it looked more like a prison.

Let me show you where I was born.

A part of her feared what Louis was about to reveal about himself.

From the corner of her vision, she saw Louis slip his phone from his pocket, turning on a flashlight. He asked, "are you fine with going inside the building."

Wordless, she nodded.

In the silence of the black market's underbelly, Louis could hear Juno's raging heart as they entered into the old tower—the place where his life began. The large, rusted door screamed as he pushed it open, surprised he was strong enough to do so. The entrance of the stock market was made for larger carnivores primarily. Smaller sized carnivores didn't dare wonder this deep into the black market, unless they were rich and had a lot of power.

Even after all of these years, the building looked exactly as he remembered it. The walls were brown, with chips and cracks littering its surface, and the cells lining the circular hallway seemed to go on endlessly, but something about this place had changed, he could feel it in his bones. Perhaps, it was the emptiness of the place or the horrible stench that radiated from the cells. His stomach tightened when he recognized the smell: rotting corpses.

He caught Juno looking into one of the cells, the inside of it dipped in blackness, completely unseeable for him, but not for her. Whatever she saw inside the cell, it made her grip his hand harder and move her body closer to his.

Louis shined his own flashlight into the cell, preparing himself for what he was about to see. The light pierced the imprisoning darkness and in the far corner of the cell, a small skeleton lay there, curled up in a ball. The herbivore children abandoned here were left to starve to death, he realized. To rot.

"Louis," Juno whispered, as if she were afraid someone unwanted would hear her. "What is this place?"

Louis didn't answer her question, he stopped before one of the cells, shining his flashlight into it. He recognized the cell immediately, a strange feeling of nostalgia coming over him. It was empty, he was thankful for that. Kyuu and San no longer lived here, he'd made sure to get them both their own places to live with benefits that came directly from him.

"This cell was where I was raised, Juno," Louis said, finally responding, gazing into it, his mind drifting back to those memories of fangs and claws and terror. "To be sold and eaten alive by carnivores."

He waited for her to utter a word, to say something, but silence was the only reply he received. Slowly, he turned his gaze to her, the flashlight illuminating the space enough for him to see her slightly gaped mouth and the tears in her eyes. She blinked rapidly.

After a long moment, she said, her voice weak and quivering, "How long?"

"I was five when I finally left this place." He released Juno's hand from his, slipping his phone into his pocket. He pulled at the cell door, opening it, a loud squeak ringing through the vacant hallway.

Louis entered the cell and Juno followed after him, slowly, cautiously, scanning every inch of it, as if her instincts could sense danger nearby.

Louis put a hand against the rusted bars of the cell, gazing out of it, like he had all those years ago. "We were constantly surrounded by carnivores who salivated at the mere sight of us and promised they would devour us quickly. But we weren't afraid, my cellmates and I, we knew that as long as we remained in this cage, together, we would be safe."

He heard Juno gulp, as if she had nearly vomited. "And… and when you left."

He didn't know why, but a small smile spread on his lips. "Then we knew it was the end, that we'd either be eaten alive, asleep or awake. It was the world we were born into; one we were forced to accept, but we still managed to find a soothing song of peace in it, instead of a looming sense of dread." Louis paused, sighing, the smile dropping from his lips. "We communicated all that to each other and we didn't even know how to speak, or read."

He paused once more, waiting for her to say something, to utter a single word, but Juno remained silent, listening.

Louis breathed and told her the rest of his story from the beginning. He started with his 'adoption', when a male buck suddenly dragged him from his cell and threw him into a room full of carnivores already feasting on their purchases.

"Dear, Rex," she gasped lightly.

Louis breathe in once more to keep his limbs from trembling at the horrific memories of his childhood. It was painful, forcing the words out, telling her how those carnivores charged at him, thirsty for his blood, and the blood chilling scream that came out of him as he attempted suicide.

Juno remained speechless, her tail dead, but he was sure her expression was filled with horror.

A part of himself wanted to stop talking, because the more he talked, the stronger those memories became.

But he had to, for her.

He wanted her to know everything.

So, Louis told her everything: the confusion he felt when the buck suddenly saved him and began praising him for wanting to end his own life rather than be eaten alive by carnivores.

The agony that crushed his heart when the male buck hugged him and called him his son, adopting him into the family.

And the sense of dread that shadowed over him when his father told him his purpose in life: to change the world for the better and build the family name.

Despite not being able to see in the pitch black, he saw his vision become blurry and felt the burning sensation in his eyes. Still, he continued, for her. His fiancée, the envy he held for carnivores, his own self-loathing, his hatred for his own weak body and the belief that he was doomed to live the life of a business mammal, never truly happy—he told her everything, and she listened, fully.

When he finished, Louis had to pause and look at the ground. He blinked, over and over, to ease the burning sensation in his eyes. For thirteen years, those memories had constantly swirled inside his mind, but never before had he spoken them out loud, to anyone. A heavy weight had been lifted from his chest, and he felt free, relieved.

Still, Louis went on, saying, "I saw no hope for the life ahead of me, only fear, doubt… and suffering. I only saw the life of inheriting my father's company, and nothing more."

He heard Juno sniff and take a step forward, as if she wanted to hug him but stopped herself.

"A year ago, I used to find myself wishing that I could've died here, in this prison, eaten alive by a carnivore in my sleep. I used to dream of being eaten alive and having a sense of relief come over me, relief that my suffering was finally over—only to wake up in the morning realizing it was all a was the life I used to live, counting down each day hour by hour, hoping that death would be lurking around the corner to embrace me. That was how I felt for so long, until my life was completely changed for the better by carnivores… by you, Juno."

He turned around, facing her, and though he couldn't see her beautiful face, he knew she could see his. He wanted her to see it: the mistiness of his eyes and the genuine honestly in his expression. "You transformed my life, Juno."

Louis's ear perked up at the plopping of a tear against the stone floor. Then, there was the sound of heels grinding against the ground, as if she were turning away from him.

And then…

"I shouldn't have fallen in love with you, Louis."

I'm going to be honest, these 1,000 word chapter just aren't doing it for me no more. I like to have longer chapter with more detail, and keeping my chapters within a thousand words doesn't allow me to do that. So, the rest of my chapter will be longer than my previous ones. What do you guys think?