Three weeks later

I grabbed a vial from the case the witch had given me and inhaled deeply, my Instinct struggled against the action, scraping against my bones and cramping my stomach but I ground my teeth together. It was a struggle to not drop the vial, to keep my fingers wrapped around it tightly.

Stop!

Dangerous!

Do not take!

Do not drink!

Stop!

My Instinct screamed it at me again and again but I ignored it as I forced my reluctant body to lift the vial to my lips.

Poison!

It's poison!

Will kill us!

Stop!

Do not drink!

I downed the vial, resisting the urge to throw up as soon as it touched my tongue. It was harshly bitter and I swallowed the potion down. It burned the entire way down and not like the burn of a good bourbon that you savoured in slow bits. It was a burn that felt like if I coughed after I finished swallowing I would taste blood coating my tongue. It was as if it had scoured and tore flesh on the way down.

I pressed the back of my hand to my mouth as I waited. Slowly but surely the screaming in my head and the cutting of my bones and the cramping of my insides stopped as the potion got to work. My head felt muffled and my entire body shook and I felt like my knees were wanting to buckle but I grabbed the table, holding myself upright. The potion made me weak, I wasn't going to deny that fact but I also wasn't going to stop. My Instinct was nearly screaming at me every time the potion stopped. It wanted me to leave Red and I wasn't going to walk away from her. I had chosen her and I would stand with her, no matter how much it hurt to stay there.

I dropped the vial onto the table and exhaled slowly, gripping the table tightly in my hands. My grip felt weak but I ignored it as I closed my eyes. I was making progress with Red, I was. She was still adamant that I leave but she wasn't actually kicking me out. I knew she could do it. She was a tough witch who I had seen put large males through fucking walls. If she truly wanted me gone, I would have been gone.

So I kept fixing and repairing what I could of the bar. It was getting more functional, the plumbing was completed and probably worked better than it when it was new. I just needed to keep my focus on her. She was my end goal and would always be so. She was my breeder and I didn't need to put babes into her to know that. She was the perfect female for me and I didn't need to have children with her, I didn't need babes. I needed her and I wanted to live my life with her.

"Mutt!" Red's voice was agitated as she yelled up the stairs and I opened my eyes. I reached out and closed the case, pulling it off of the table before I headed to the sink and set the case under the sink and towards the back where I had been keeping it. I had paid good gold for the potions, I wasn't about to have Red wreck it for me and I knew she could be contrary enough to do just that.

"I'll be there in a second." I called it out but she was already coming up. I slowly straightened and closed the cabinet door before turning to see her come up into the main space, a scowl on her face. "Just checking on the plumbing."

She threw me a dark look, "You and your damned plumbing." She muttered it out as she crossed her arms over her chest, glowering at me. "You know I should kick you out. The plumbing is done." A sour look crossed her face as she said it and I gave her a wicked grin, winking at her.

"By all means, little red." I swept my arms out from my sides and her eyes narrowed at me further.

"Just get down stairs." She moved out from the stairs and pointed harshly. I chuckled, ignoring the slight shaking in my limbs and the muffled feeling in my head. There was no reason to get Red anymore suspicious than she already was. Then again she could be very paranoid when she wanted to be, especially in regards to me. I wouldn't change that about her, I liked it. Perhaps a little too much because it was so easy to rile her up using it.

She shifted her spot as I drew closer to her and I tsked at her lightly. "It's like ye don't trust me, Red." I pressed my hands to my chest and she gave a small sound of disgust and waved her finger, keeping it pointed to the stairs as she moved away from me a bit further. I grinned at the retreat and I found myself mirroring her movements, moving towards her as she retreated, hunting her slightly. "Come now, love." I winked at her, reaching out to grab her as I wiggled my eyebrows. She nearly jumped backwards and hit the table, she grabbed the edge of it with her hands as she threw me a dark look.

She let go of the table to point at me and I could feel her magick crackling in the air in warning before she stopped, her eyebrows pulling low as she looked at her other hand. A vial had rolled to tap against the side of her hand and my heart sank slightly.

I forgot about the fucking vial.

I pressed a hand to my forehead before rubbing hard. That was all I fucking needed. "What the fuck is this?" I glanced at her and she had picked up the vial, looking it over with a heavy amount of mistrust before she carefully sniffed at the rim of it. Her head jerked back and her green eyes zeroed in on me. "You haven't been taking this, have you?" The words were low and nearly cracked like a whip and I just lowered my hand and stared at her.

She shifted her stance slightly, exhaling sharply before turning back to look at me. "Let me rephrase that. How long have you been fucking taking this?" She pointed at me with the vial and I didn't respond. She was not happy and when Red got in this kind of mood, people could get hurt. I wasn't entirely in the right frame physically to go toe to toe with her at the moment so it was safer to keep my mouth shut. "This has fucking woalf extract in it. It's fucking poisonous to werewolves." The hand holding the vial shook slightly. "This is why you have been shaky for the past week, you've been drinking poison." The accusation was clear but I didn't respond, there was no need. My little witchling was too smart for that.

Realization seemed to slam into her like a ton of bricks. "This is because of your stupid fucking Instinct isn't it?" She slammed the vial down onto the table before whirling around at me. "This is the fucking reason I wanted you gone, Lyxton! So you wouldn't resort to stupid shit like drinking poison!" She stalked towards me and I crossed my arms over my chest. She pointed her finger into my face. "It is easier on us both for you to fuck off and fuck other people! I don't want fucking kids and your Instinct demands you get them so you should have just lef-"

"I don't care what my Instinct wants." I growled the words out and meant every single one of them. I couldn't give a single rat's ass what my Instinct wanted. I wanted Red and I would do what I needed to ensure I kept her.

"So you fucking poison yourself?" Her voice pitched upwards with incredulity, her eyes wide. "Wow. I knew you were fucking stupid but this takes the fucking cake." She shook her head. "Get out. Dump the rest of that shit and get the fuck out of my life." The words were hard like flint and unlike the other times she had said them I could feel her intent behind them. She actually meant it.

"I don't care what my Instinct says, Red." I said it slowly and she shoved a hand in her hair as she whirled away from me and paced. "I want you, only you. You have to under-

"I don't have to understand shit! Get out of my life!" Her voice pitched upwards as she shouted it.

I shook my head, reaching out for her "I want you-"

She slapped my hand away, "And I won't have you killing yourself to have me! The fuck kind of person do you think I am, Lyxton? You think I'd be happy that you are downing that fucking shit so you can keep fucking me?" There was a pained edge to her voice that I didn't like hearing and I didn't like that I put there. She snapped her mouth shut and I could practically hear her grinding her teeth. She swallowed hard, her eyes darting back and forth as if she were thinking hard. "You need to get out of my life-"

A heavy tearing sound cut her off and a portal ripped into her kitchen. "Lacey's back. She wants to see everyone at her new palace." The voice wasn't familiar and Red's expression closed off before she stiffened.

"Clear out before I get back, Lyxton. You won't like the results of not listening to me right now." She said it coldly before she stiffly walked to the portal and stepped through. It closed behind her and I stared a the space she had been before inhaled deeply. I would take whatever punishment she deemed necessary because I wasn't fucking leaving.

Besides, that bar top needed to be fixed.