The Beast's Possession
5: Not him.

**Bane

pov**

I tried to fight him. I did.

And yet, no matter how much I used to pride myself for my self-control, ability to remain cool and collected, and self awareness, now, I threw it all out the window.

I never intended to take Zion to the cells to actually do something. The main idea was to scare him a little, nothing more. He had to understand that I was dying to find out if my mate was safe.

Of all the fucking people I knew, Zion had to understand. He had to. Especially since he had Kala, but unlike me, he could fall asleep with his mate in his arms every single night while I drank myself fucking dumb just to.. To feel numb. But it was too late now. He took over, he used my weakness, the moment I didn't pay attention and took advantage of it. The same as me, he too wanted to know where Aife was but for whole different reasons.

Now, Goddess, only fucking now I realized how stupid I was. I had been so blinded by my pain that I didn't stop to think about the impact and risks I was taking when I decided I wanted to know where she was. Because of my stupidity, my best friend was about to suffer and Aife, my beautiful, unique, wonderful mate - she was in grave danger.

I tried to trash against the fucker, to win the control back, but he was unmovable. Even as I shouted over and over again, begging Zion to hear me and keep the information about her all to himself, I couldn't force a word past my lips. He paralyzed me and I fucking hated him for that.

Sadly, I was a nobody now, someone who was watching shit unfold right before my eyes while I had no chance to change anything.

"I'd prefer to talk to my best friend, not some old spirit fart, you know. Remember my best friend, Bane? Yeah, the same, the true Alpha of this pack." Zion started mumbling, clearly intent to piss the fucker off.

I wished I could tell him to keep quiet, to stop pushing his buttons and adding more awful things to his imaginary list of torture, but we all knew Zion was incapable of shutting the fuck up.

"Plus, his breath doesn't stink like a swamp monster's asshole. That's how I can tell you two apart, you know. For as long as it's Bane, everything's fine but once you take over, sheesh, dude, makes me wonder if you have heard of a

revolutionary invention called a toothbrush? For more information, you use it with toothpaste, mouthwash and if you're a really happy camper, you also floss your teeth regularly too." To add insult to the injury, Zion waved his hand in front of his nose as if he was chasing away the bad smell.

I chuckled at that. Although his behavior was stupid, he still managed to amuse me, if only for a second.

"Hey, I got a question," Zion added as we reached the cells and the fucker used my hand to push my best friend forward.

"Walk. Ask," he grunted, using my voice, yet somehow making it sound like something I hadn't heard before.

It wasn't the tone or anything - my actual voice changed, it sounded lower and more high pitched at the same time.

"When you were alive.. How many of your teeth did you lose? Did they rot out of your mouth because you didn't brush and that's why you stink? Or did your wife knock them out? Not that I'm judging anything because I'd do the same damn thing if I were married to someone like you. Ew, poor, poor soul, to go to bed every night and not know if she'll die in her sleep because of that gas coming from your mouth.. Yeah, she had to have gone through some suffering beyond imagination." Zion shook his head, pretending to be sad.

Now, he was really pushing the limits. Zion's behavior made me wonder if he had a plan in his mind, maybe there was more to his words than just an attempt to piss the moron off.

"If I were you, I'd watch your tongue," he spat, once again using my voice as his weapon. This fucker was pushing even me, and worst of all, he did it with great pleasure knowing I had no way to fight him.

"If I were you, I wouldn't speak. You should be reported as a toxic waste," Zion spat back.

I was torn between amusement and fear. Amusement for everything my best friend was saying and fear of what the fucker who held my body captive was capable of. Surely, Zion had to know the possible consequences.. From the corner of my eye, I could see us passing by the cell where the witch was still held. I had no idea why, although the woman gave me some serious creeps, I had a feeling that she had to live.

She, in turn, watched us walk with interest. Maybe I was looking into this mess too much, but I could swear she mouthed, "not him, a vessel."

A part of me wanted to question her, but of course, the fucker wouldn't allow me to even if I begged. He had plans of his own, ideas to fulfill and goals to chase.

He led Zion through the massive, heavy metal door and shoved my best friend inside a box-sized cell. Why he chose this one was beyond me. There were no tools we used on anyone to pull out the information, no restraints, nothing. Just a tiny, wet, dark room.

I watched Zion being shoved into the corner of the room and hit the wall. Slowly, he turned around, holding a hand over his bleeding side and grinned. "What, is this all you got? Are you planning to ground me? Oh, no, big daddy is mad now? How can I undo my sins, tell me, I'll do anything," he taunted, never dropping the grin from his lips.

Just looking at him, I winced. That wound looked pretty deep and damn painful. Someone had to help him with that, if only to clean it and stitch it up, so I had to come up with a way how to order someone to do that.

First thing on my new to-do list had to be how to rid myself of the control of this freak. I had to break free, put my foot down and show him who truly owned this goddamn body. He had to remain exactly what he was - a part of the past that haunted me.

Honestly, now that I thought of this, I couldn't understand how and why he was getting so damn strong all of a sudden.

I had tried to understand this thing with him for many years and from what I gathered all over the place, he was supposed to remain as nothing but the annoying voice in my mind. The reminder of the ugly stain on my bloodline, not an actual mind that controlled my body.

"Keep acting up, your days are counted anyway," my own voice pulled me out of my thoughts, forcing me back into reality.

I stole the last glance at my best friend, who didn't look amused at all and watched the imposter close the cell door and lock it.