Were you going to eat that? (Goblin)

[Zero]

Gavin hadn't been trying very hard to catch Gilroy, and so when the young wolf stumbled and fell he wasn't immediately set up by the larger wolf. A soft laugh echoed through his mind and into the red wolf at the one-word question. He was torn between a desire to toy with the younger male, and the desire to dominate him.

The wolves collided as the dark male pounced upon his prey, using his weight to keep the smaller wolf down on the ground. "Yes, a reward." Gavin growled softly as he took the scruff of Gilroy's neck between his powerful jaws, demanding submission now that the pup was caught.

[GoblinFae]

Gilroy instantly pressed his nose into the dirt and whined his limp submission to his Alpha the moment he felt the firm pressure closing around the scruff of his neck. As much as he still resented having to belly down to another wolf, the alternative of being beaten to a bloody pulp did not sit well with him either.

"I submit! You win!" he barked quickly hoping that was reward enough for the large male even as he suspected differently.

[Zero]

"Good!" Gavin growled happily as Gilroy barked his submission. He truly enjoyed how quick the pup had gone limb in his grasp. Maybe the smaller male was learning who was boss around here. Perhaps that was too much to hope for, but if he had to reaffirm his dominance every so often, well, he could deal with that. Hell, it might even be a little fun.

"Now for my reward. Shift! You saw my human half. Time for me to meet yours." The large wolf rumbled the words in Gilroy's mind as he let go of the little wolf's scruff. He did not move off of him, though, not sure if the pup would bolt away from him if he did and not particularly in the mood to find out.

[GoblinFae]

"You mean submitting wasn't reward enough?!" the wolf cried out aghast. Futilely for a moment Gilroy attempted to resist and bolt but Gavin's weight was too much for him to overpower. "But I don't know how to!" he tried protesting as a new tactic. The poor boy was far too embarrassed of his appearance especially after seeing his alpha to allow his own small and gangly form be ridiculed. He could only imagine what he looked like now having not eaten well in months and been roughed up earlier.

[Zero]

"Submitting is not a reward, it is the appropriate response!" Gavin growled irritably. Lesser wolves were just expected to submit to their betters, but surely this small male knew that. Gilroy hadn't been alone all his life, and surely such a small, whiny male had been forced to submit to greater wolves all his life.

"Lies! It was not a request, little wolf. SHIFT!" Those teeth tugged at the scruff of Gilroy's neck to emphasize the last roared demand. He would not tolerate this stubborn, insolent refusal of his command. Gilroy would learn to obey when he made a demand.

[GoblinFae]

Gilroy whimpered loudly, his entire body shaking as his ears laid flat against the back of his skull and his eyes squeezed shut. His heart pounded so fast within his chest that he was sure it would burst right out onto the ground before him, flopping around like a fish out of water.

The little wolf tried, honestly he did but his embarrassed topped with his extreme fright now left him extremely unfocused. Gilroy spasmed slightly as fur tried and failed to recede and bones attempted to rearrange themselves unsuccessfully. He knew the command in his new alpha's voice and was not willfully trying to be disobedient now.

Fearfully, he cried out hoping to stay any further injury in the face of Gavin's growing anger. "I can't, I can't! It's not working! Please I'm trying!"

[Zero]

Gavin's impatience grew as Gilroy tried and failed to change forms, the haphazard shifting of bone and fur only for the process to halt and reverse itself was a disgrace to werewolf kind! His ears flickered at the small male's pitiful cries and with a growl and final pinch to the back of Gilroy's neck, the large black wolf relented and released his hold.

Fur bristled, Gavin stepped over his little red omega, no longer pinning him to the ground. "How utterly pathetic and disappointing."

[GoblinFae]

It was like his heart had broken. Gilroy continued to remain in his submissive position even after Gavin had left him for his spirits had once more plummeted. He deemed nothing worse in the world than being so easily dismissed by the alpha he called his own and the large wolf had done so without a care, naming the very words that constantly rang loud and clear within the russet wolf's head.

Whimpers and tears met Gavin's words as he curled in around himself, tail moving to rest atop of nose. "Just kill me and be done with it already. I know I'm useless, why else do you think I'm alone?"

[Zero]

Gavin snorted derisively at the words that flowed across his mind. Turning his head he let that intense yellow stare fixate on the cowering red wolf. "Dead you would be useless. Alive you can find some use to your alpha. If you try hard enough."

The huge black wolf found a place to lay down away from Gilroy, attention moving to observe their surroundings lazily.

[GoblinFae]

Gilroy continued to cower under the pointed gaze of his new alpha, hating the knowledge that he had shamed himself so much as to bring such a level of disappointment. It did not matter what he felt for or against the wolf, an alpha was an alpha and without the strength or power to be one, the smaller wolf had no choice but to submit and obey.

Eventually though, with a bit of calm Gilroy was finally able to shift forms. He sat with his knees tucked in tight against his chest and his long arms wrapped around them so his knuckles brushed his bare and gaunt sides. His face was buried in the tops of his knees, his shaggy hair obscuring his pained features and the tears that continued to slide down his dirty cheeks no matter his form.

[Zero]

Gavin knew when the smaller wolf began to shift into his human form, but he kept his amber eyes on the forest around them. At least at first, his ears flickered as found it hard to ignore the pup's pitiful crying, even if it was mostly silent. The little red wolf really was pathetic, wasn't he?

The big black wolf huffed softly as he rose from the ground and approached Gilroy, slowly circling around the huddled crying human form. He was quite obviously assessing him; taking note of how dirty and thin the little wolf really was without his fur. Fattening him up a little wouldn't do any harm, and since Gavin was very good at killing things it wasn't going to be hard to keep the pup fed.

"Stop your pitiful whining, pup." Gavin stopped circling and stepped closer, licking at Gilroy's shaggy red hair. "I knew you could shift."

[GoblinFae]

Not even the alpha's command could bring a ceasefire to the younger man's tears though. The soothing licks, the declaration of surety, the lack of pain, of nips and aggressive growls only made Gilroy cry harder. He didn't know what to feel anymore but the floodgates were open and the tears just would not stop coming. His belly was full but the fear of not knowing when his next meal would be left him hungry. He was tired, weary to the very bone and unable or perhaps unwilling to take another proverbial step onward.

When he begged to be left alone, when he had fought to defend himself, he had been easily ignored and overpowered. When he begged for death and a merciful freedom from his shackles of existence that too now was kept from him. The maws of death were not hungry for him yet but oh how he wished they were.

So he wept. He wept for the past that never seemed truly behind him, for the ones he had loved and lost, for his own pathetic and incapable existence. He cried for fear and relief and out of pure, deep-sated despair at the unknown.

With his knees still tucked in close against his breast, he finally collapsed onto his side in front of the massive wall of flesh and fur. His body shook stronger now with his cries and hiccups soon interrupted his every breath as he struggled to breathe easily. In that moment, Gilroy was giving up. It was not submission to a higher force, to a more worthy opponent, it was complete and utter surrender in the face of reality. He just wasn't fit to live or survive.