Wednesday Morning October 18th, 2025. South-Central Empire City, Illinois. GoldDome/LuckBricks Gang Territory.

  Andre felt his stomach turn and his legs go jelly-like at the smell of them. He could hear Ceecee’s heart hammering in her chest faintly, telling him she was just as afraid. Not a good sign.

  Even so, she walked up the sidewalk until she reached the alley they waited in. Andre followed.

  The alley was deep, made up by the bordering walls of an apartment and a liquor store of pale brick. Wires and power lines were crusted with snow overhead. The pavement was littered with trash and bottles.

  None of that mattered, though.

  Seated on a dumpster deeper into the alley was a man. Around their age. Late teens to early adult. He was dark skinned like most of the people in Afro-Town. Tattoos covered his left forearm where his coat sleeve was rolled up. He wore large blue jeans and work boots that he left loose and flared. His hair was short and lined up to picture perfection. He was handsome. He smiled like he knew it. Then again, he might’ve known it from the six women he had waiting around behind him and the dumpster.

  He looked Ceecee up and down, “Damn, Cee….. you look too good.”

  “Tysean… you ‘supposed to be in juvy.” Ceecee said.

  “Got out on good behavior. I was helping the lil’ folks learn how to read and shit.” Tysean grinned.

  “What else did you do?”

  Tysean sniffed in her direction and smiled, “Same thing you did I guess.”

  Ceecee paused for a moment. Andre was sick to see her so different. No more radiance and smiles. No friends and family sharing a song. She looked like she’d been taken back to a time when she was a lot smaller and a lot weaker.

  “Tysean…. A lot changed since you went in—“

  “Girl, you ain’t have to tell me. I see it. I hear it. I smell it too, now. You done cliqued up and switched up quick! Not a phone call or nothing. That’s cold work. We were together two years. You forget that easy?” Tysean asked.

  “I don’t forget. That’s why I hoped you stayed in there.” Ceecee snarled.

  “You think your new man back there can do something better than me?” Tysean pointed at Andre with his chin as he asked.

  “I think any man I end up with will be better than you.” Ceecee replied.

  “It don’t get better. Not with what I am now. Not with what I can do.” Tysean hopped off the dumpster he sat on, “I hear you move work for the GoldDomes. You doing what I taught you. You might as well run it back with me.”

  Andre felt his skin heat up.

  “You doing all this for money?” Ceecee asked.

  “I’m doing everything for power. That’s how it is for what we are. That’s why I need you to submit.”

  Ceecee crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow. It’s like the phrase took her out of her child-like fear and knocked her back into who she was now. “You need me to what?”

  “You heard me. You’ve done it before….. a few times if I remember correct.” Tysean smiled, allowing them to see his gums thicken as his canines elongated and the bordering teeth sharpened in tandem.

  He rolled his shoulders and slipped out of his coat. Bones popped and joints changed. His muscles in his back and shoulders grew significantly, stressing out the fibers of his tanktop. His skin thickened. The bones in his face did the same, giving him an almost prehistoric appearance as his nose, jaw and brow-ridge expanded.

  His hair turned gold and his ears sharpened. Golden fur covered his outer arms and chest lightly.

  “Don’t worry, Cee, we not gon’ jump you.” Tysean growled.

  Ceecee’s eyes shined in the shadowed alley, “It wouldn’t change much. Y’all new to this. I’m not.”

  Tysean laughed.

  Ceecee kept Andre back with a look and entered the alley

  Suddenly he remember their conversation from earlier. Ailourans got stronger with age. Ceecee was older than Tysean by at least two years.

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  She started at a walk first but quickly began sprinting. She was fast, closing the distance in seconds.

  Tysean kept walking.

  Ceecee closed in, dipping left to glide past him and cut open his outer arm.

  Three lines of red opened on his golden-furred shoulder. The group of women waiting behind him hissed at her.

  She slid to a stop behind him. Tysean moved to turn around but she was already dashing past him again, slicing open the other shoulder.

  Now back at his front, she jumped up and kicked him in the chest with both feet.

  The sound shook the alley.

  Tysean didn’t move.

  Ceecee twisted in the air and landed back on her two feet.

  Andre should’ve been calmed at her speed being so much greater than Tysean’s, but the difference in power was unnerving.

  Like him against the Rakshasa.

  Like she was out of her element and he was just entering his.

  Tysean pounced. His hulking legs propelled him like a slingshot. In a blur of gold, he tried to tackle Ceecee.

  She dodged the pounce. Tysean landed in a crouch on the pavement beside her. With a growl, she swung her foot to send a roundhouse kick into his face.

  Tysean took the boot to the face and once again didn’t move.

  He grabbed her leg with an arm and swung her across the alley.

  Ceecee flew into the wall of the liquor store, she flipped in the air and landed on the wall sideways, using her legs to jump back onto Tysean and slash at his face.

  Tysean dodged, making Ceecee just barely miss his eyes.

  He charged again, grabbing onto her shoulder from behind so she couldn’t move as he slammed his fist into her liver.

  Ceecee yelped from the blow. Her legs went limp but Tysean kept her on her feet.

  Andre moved—

  “No!” Ceecee yelled.

  Tysean was too focused on her to care about Andre or anyone else watching.

  “You always liked using your nails.” Tysean growled as he looked down at his bleeding shoulders. “I can do that too.”

  He gripped her shoulder tighter, extending his curled claws until they tore into her shoulder.

  She flailed.

  Tysean threw her into the wall so hard she bounced off it. He punched her in the face as she stumbled forward, sending her back into the wall where she sank and coughed up blood, back in her human form.

  The young women with him laughed and sneered.

  Tysean stood over her. “You should’ve known, Cee. I been like that. They should’ve bit me back when yo’ brother was active. But I hear he’s dead now. Don’t sweat it, I’ll keep you s—“

  Tysean was kicked out of the way so hard his whole body came off the ground and he crashed into the dumpster he once sat on.

  Andre stood beside Ceecee. The skin of his hands began to turn to a dark bluish-black, mottled with leopard spots and spinning with bubbling muscle.

  The female Leon-breeds growled and stepped in to defend Tysean.

  Andre unfurled his fists and felt his claws extend from his fingers.

  In the alley, the shadows of his hood magnified and hid his Royal transformation, only allowing them to see his eyes begin to glow green.

  Tysean groaned on the ground and shook as trash juice spilled on him from the dented dumpster.

  “Come on, y’all. Them other breeds ain’t got shit on us.” One of the more dominant women in the group spat.

  The others fell in line, transforming in a storm of growls, golden hair and fangs.

  The six of them attacked.

  The one leading the charge was a brown skinned woman with her hair in a slicked ponytail. She wore a bubble coat that exposed her toned midsection.

  She charged.

  Andre jumped over her and front kicked the next closest cat.

  He hit her so hard she came up off her feet and collided with the two running behind her.

  The two running on the outsides closed in around them. Andre caught them by their attacking arms with each hand and slammed them into eachother. The sound of their bones cracking made his spine tingle.

  The Ailouran he jumped over pounced onto his back and bit into his neck. He could feel one of her teeth crack as his muscle tightened around the tooth.

  Andre snarled and grabbed her, digging his claws into her back to grab hold and rip her off of him. From there, he slammed her onto her back.

  The previously kicked Ailouran came at him again, slashing and snapping at him.

  Andre dipped and dashed around the claws and fangs until he saw an opening and closed the distance, grabbing the girl up into a chokehold as he spun around to take her back.

  She tried to fight him off but he was too strong. His muscles were still growing in the midst of his transformation, causing her to pass out sooner from the pressure of his bulk.

  He let her hit the ground.

  From there, he stood up.

  The sounds of the city were overwhelming. The rush of adrenaline felt like fire in his veins. He felt—

  Something from behind him roared so loud that his eardrums burst.

  In his stunned state, a massive weight crashed into him and he crashed into the wall opposite of Ceecee.

  He refocused just in time to see him closing in.

  Tysean. Or at least it used to be. He’d grown almost double in size. Barely human appearing. He had a foul muzzle, fur all over and rippling muscle. There wasn’t an ounce of fat on him. Savage, starved and closing in for the kill.

  Andre rolled out of the way as the beast landed. He slashed into the beasts throat and followed up punching Tysean in the face so hard teeth flew across the pavement.

  From there, he grabbed him by the arm as he stumbled and pulled him back to flip him in a savage hip toss to the ground.

  In a blur, he mounted the beast and hammered down blows to the face. He could feel bones break with every punch. Blood splattered onto his face and into his mouth, making his world flash in and out of red. Making him feel like he was drowning. Like he was back in the water. Like his mother was being taken all over again and he was on the verge of d—

  A familiar smell blew into the alley. Sounds of shoes on cement. A small heartbeat pounded in terror.

  Andre looked up and found Nico standing at the entrance into the alley. His face was white as a ghost. Eyes so wide he could see the whites.

  Andre looked down at Tysean. He was a mashed mess.

  He was done.

  Andre could hear the sirens in the distance.

  He stood up from the beast with blood dripping from his fists and claws and held a finger to his lips.

  Nico faintly nodded.

  Andre quickly approached Ceecee, picking her up and heading deeper into the alley until the smoke from heaters and building exhaust systems hid them both entirely