It was late at night when Alice woke up, Cole was by her side as usual, sleeping away. Alice rolled on her side and glanced at the clock, it was 2:32 A.M. She got up and sat at the edge of her bed. Her throat felt bone dry. Tiredly, she got out of bed and went downstairs to the kitchen for some water. As she got herself a cup of ice cold water, she suddenly felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand Turning around quickly, she saw Cole looking around, and suddenly locking eyes with her. His eyes had an unknown emotion.
"Oh there you are!" He suddenly said with a small chuckle. "I thought I had…" He took a breath. "I thought you were gone." He admitted. "Gosh, I was so afraid! Haha! HAHAHAA!" He said, his tone suddenly shifting into an almost psychotic tone as he laughed almost loudly to himself while he had his arms wrapped around himself, holding himself a little too tightly.
Alice swallowed hard as she took note of how small his pupils had gotten as he laughed to himself, what was with him these days…? Alice smiled nervously. Then a thought hit her on what he said.
"Y-You thought you had what..?" She asked. Cole's laughter turned into small chuckles and soon he relaxed, he looked at Alice as he came over and rubbed her head. "Nevermind that." He said as he hugged her tightly. Alice's heart was pounding as she felt him purr and chuckle to himself. He seemed really on edge…
"A-Are you okay, Cole? You're acting really weird…" She asked the panther male.
Cole held her tighter, making her squirm at the tightness of his grasp. "I'm fine." He said firmly. Alice wasn't convinced, but she wasn't going to press him. She was afraid of what would happen if she did.
Before Alice could pull away from their hug, Cole lifted her up and held her bridal style. Alice looked up at Cole.
"I-I could walk by myself." She softly said. "Humor me." Cole said in return.
Soon Cole took her back upstairs, up to her room and laid her on the bed. Cole took his place next to her and pulled her in to cuddle with her. Alice meanwhile had thoughts flooding her brain. Why was Cole acting like this? What triggered this sudden behavior? As these thoughts flooded her brain, her eyes grew heavy. Maybe she could ask Cole more about his behavior in the morning..
XXXXXXXX
It was early in the morning when Alice woke up. She yawned and as she stretched, she looked over and saw Cole peacefully sleeping, quietly purring in his sleep. Alice swallowed hard as she remembered what happened last night. Sure he was calm now, but what could she do later on if he acted up like that again? As she got up and got dressed, she looked back and saw that he was still sleeping. Not wanting to wake him up, she carefully tip-toed out of the room.
Alice made her way downstairs and began to make breakfast. As she made breakfast, she felt arms snake their way around her waist, she looked back and saw Seth, who looked like he wanted attention. Alice smiled softly at him.
"Morning." She greeted.
"Where's your tail?" Seth asked with a laugh.
Alice chuckled a bit at his nickname for Cole. "He's asleep. Don't bother him." She informed him.
"Me? Bother him? Nooo never!" He said sarcastically.
Alice quirked a brow at him. "C'mon, be nice."
Seth chuckled. "Fine, fine. I'll play nice."
Soon, Alice finished making breakfast for everyone and served everyone their individual plates. As everyone got together and ate their fill, Cole came downstairs. His eyes looking around frantically for something, or someone. Alice noticed him and instantly became nervous. Was he going to be like he was last night again? She didn't know and that kind of frightened her. As Alice watched him look around, they made eye contact. Alice became nervous as she noticed how large his pupils had gotten as soon as they made eye contact.
Cole then noticed how Seth was next to Alice and it immediately soured his mood. How dare this filthy hellhound try and butter up his Alice?! Seth glanced up from his food and noticed him and smirked as he wrapped an arm around Alice and pulled her close. Alice looked at Seth with a quirked brow.
"What did I say about egging him on?" Alice said sternly
Seth chuckled. "I'm not egging him, what's so wrong about hugging my favorite human?" He said, making sure to look at Cole as he finished his sentence.
Cole practically snarled as he began making his way over to Alice and Seth. Alice noticed the anger on Cole's face and got up and went over to him. Before she could say anything, he pulled her in for a tight embrace and glared at the demon before him.
Everyone who was present at the table noticed the way Cole was looking at Seth and immediately felt uncomfortable. After they all ate their fill, they immediately made their way out of the kitchen.
Alice got out of Cole's grasp and looked up at him worriedly. "Cole, are you okay? You haven't been yourself these days and it's worrying me." She said honestly.
Cole shook his head at her. "I'm fine, my love." He said as he traced a finger down her cheek, trying to divert her attention from his behavior to his actions. Alice shivered, but she stood firm and grabbed his hand and held it.
"Cole, I'm serious. What is wrong?" She asked softly, yet firmly.
Cole tried to move his hand to touch her some more, but she kept his hand in place. He let out a breathy chuckle. "There's nothing wrong." He said to her. However, she shook her head.
"Cole, you've been acting weird. Like last night when you found me in the kitchen, and then the day before that when you kept glaring and growling at Volks! There's something different about you these days Cole."
"You're just imagining things my love. I'm perfectly fine." He said to her as he kissed her forehead.
Alice sighed, clearly she wasn't going to get anything out of him, so she just decided to go with it for now. "Well..if you say so."
Alice then looked over to Seth, who seemed to be on his phone playing mobile games.
"Hey, I was thinking about going out for some ice cream, would you like to join me?" She asked Seth. Seth looked up from his phone with a grin. "Lead the way, human."
As the two of them began to leave, Cole grabbed Alice's hand, stopping her. Alice looked back at him.
"I'll be back! I just want to give some of my time to Seth today, I promise to give you some time later." She said as she kissed him on the cheek and left the house with Seth.
Cole clenched his fists, but let it go. As he was making his way to go upstairs, he found Poe at the staircase seemingly watching. Cole didn't say anything as he walked up and past him.
"Keeping secrets are you?" Poe chirped up.
Cole stopped in his tracks, but didn't look back. "This doesn't concern you, or her." He simply said as he walked back to his room.
"Suit yourself." Poe said as he went back to writing in his notebook.
XXXXXXXX
-2 hours later-
Cole was in his darkly lit room, he had music playing as he was pinning new photos of Alice onto his wall. As he pinned pictures on the wall, he could feel his heart race, as he stared at Alice's beautiful smile, he could feel himself becoming more and more euphoric.
As he picked up another picture to pin to the wall, he took notice of who was in the picture at the time; it was Seth and Alice. Cole growled as he stared at Seth's stupid smug smile. He could feel himself becoming enraged at the look on Seth's face. Cole grabbed scissors and carefully cut Seth out of the picture. As he held the piece Seth was on, Cole crushed it and threw it in the trash with a low throated growl. He looked back at the piece Alice was on and smiled almost deranged like. He pinned that piece to the wall and ran his sharp nails down his picture of her as he purred. As he pinned more pictures to the wall, he could hear a distant voice in his head..
'Why do you tolerate Alice being with other men like this?'
Cole growled. It was the voices again..it had been a long time since he heard these intrusive voices..
'She should be devoted to you alone…'
Cole clenched his jaw as he tried to fight them. He had to rationalize that even though Alice was with other men, she still devoted time to him, even as far as letting him sleep in her room which no one else does.
'Don't you hate those men? Seeing them lay their filthy hands on YOUR Alice?!'
Cole snarled as he wrapped his arms around himself, his breathing was becoming labored. These intrusive thoughts were really letting him have it today. He tried to get a grip on his thoughts and his compulsions, but to no avail. They were in full force today.
'What happened to making her only have eyes for you?'
'Do you want her to find comfort in some of those filthy men?'
Cole's eyes darted everywhere as he ran a hand through his messy brown hair, where was she? He needed her.
Where is she?
He got up and darted out of his room
Where is she?
Where is she?
Where is she?
He began to make his way down the hallway, down the stairs. He had to find her. He needed her comfort, he needed her warmth, he needed her voice.
Where is she?
Where is she?
Where is she?
Where is she?
Where is she!?
As he walked downstairs, he found her in the kitchen by herself, on her phone. His pupils enlarged as they took in her form. There she was. She was here. She was alone. She was his. He practically ran over to her and hugged her tightly, catching her by surprise.
"You scared me! Are you okay?" Alice said.
Cole didn't say anything as he kept her in a tight embrace. He purred as he took in her flowery scent. After a while, Cole pulled her in for a deep passionate kiss. Alice blushed and kissed him back.
As the two kissed, Cole bit her lower lip sensually, making Alice shiver. He trailed kisses down her neck and bit it roughly, growling lowly. Alice moaned out loud as she felt Cole's affections. As much as she wanted to continue, she had to stop him. There was clearly something wrong and she wanted to find out what it was. She gently made Cole look at her.
"Hey.." She called out softly. "Is everything okay? You seem really on edge." She pointed out.
Cole shook his head with a breathy chuckle. "I'm fine, my love. I just missed you." He said, trying to dodge her prodding. Alice wanted to say more, but Cole put a finger to her lips, signaling her to be silent. He ran his tongue up her neck, up to her lips and pried her lips apart with his tongue and shot his tongue into her mouth and began to explore every inch of her mouth. Alice let out a shaky moan as she felt Cole's affections, but she still wanted to get an answer out of him. She gently pulled Cole away.
"Cole, please. Don't avoid me. What is the matter?" She asked gently.
Cole kissed her gently. "I'm fine, darling. I just get anxious without you. I don't like being away from you."
Alice blushed at the sudden 'Darling' moniker and looked away shyly. "A-Are you sure?" She asked.
Cole was amused by her easily shy nature and rubbed her head. "Yes, I'm sure." He replied as he kissed her deeply.
Alice blushed and returned the kiss. Maybe he just wasn't ready to open up yet, Alice figured. Maybe next time they could try talking again. Right now it seemed that he just wanted her attention..