Author's Note:

Before you guys ask me, the answer is yes.

Yes, I will be updating on Friday. I have the chapter up and raring to go. It's a bit fluffy and - I don't know - rushed, perhaps? Only you guys can tell. As the author, I am very much confused with the damn pacing. But at least we can get started on them humping like bunnies.

Am I right? *pervy smirk*

Anywho. I was reading a werewolf story the other day and thought if I could pull off a were-animal story of my own using the third person POV. Well, this is what I came up with.

You're free to criticize my writing, plot holes, etc. I'm looking to improve myself and I want you guys to give me something I can work on.

yaoiChibi out! Peace~

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Fighting for love is like fighting a losing battle.

Gabriel had always believed that. Always whispered the words. It was a mantra he repeated to himself, as if saying the words was enough to erase his regret and disappointment.

How could he believe in fighting for love when he had given up on it so easily?

Had turned his back on the one person that thought of him as his entire world?

Had chosen to believe the words dictated by age-old beliefs instead of his own beating heart?

No. Gabriel was a bitter fool. A fool that had sacrificed his happiness.

There was a bitter smile on the dark-skinned man's face, hurt and despair toiling away in his eyes. No matter how many years had passed, he still couldn't forget the way his lover had looked at him so heartbroken, so devastated from being the lesser of two choices.

How stupid.

It had been 10 odd years since he last looked at the face of the being that had stolen his heart.

He was 26 back then, a cocky son of a bitch who thought the world revolved around him. Gabriel was the son of Mikael Dresza, Alpha of the Thunder Wolves pack - the second most powerful were-animal tribe on the planet of ice and fire.

Their pack was known for being able to morph into wolf beings, six feet tall with fangs and nails sharp enough to tear other beings limb from limb easily. They were carnivorous and vicious, never being the prey and always the predator. They worshiped the moon goddess, Bu-Wan, along with her child, Bituin, dotting the dark sky. No clan had dared to go against them without thought and it wasn't a surprise.

His father was on a whole different level, one he had fortunately inherited. Both of them had the ability to shift into half-men and half-wolf forms, had the power to look 100 feet  beyond and behind them, had the tenacity to control the unruly winds of the north. They were stronger physically and mentally.

They were a hundredfolds more powerful than any of their clansmen and so, their positions were never challenged.

People flocked to him, seeking his attention, his recognition. It didn't matter that he was just a decorative for his father's success, or that people used him to get closer to the seat of power. Gabriel loved every single second of being worshipped, being fooled into thinking what a God he was.

It was embarrassing. Humiliating.

He used and abused his power. There was a thrill to breaking the rules and not having to answer for them, leaving his followers behind to be burnt by the flames of angry clansmen. Gabriel had loved the power, the girls and boys fighting for the chance to spread their legs for him. He had loved everything.

Until his father had finally snapped and banished him for a year in the Outlands for taking advantage of a young male Beta by having him in his bed for his birthday then passing his leftovers to his starved followers.

He had disgraced himself, his father said to him. Defiled the sanctity of life with so much as no regret. With the way he was now, Gabriel would never be ready for the Alpha seat.

He was left to starve and survive in the untouched wilderness.

For four months, he had wandered aimlessly, lost, hungry, and filthy. The little critters he had never seen as food had graced his stomach more than several times a week. The dirty rainwater trapped in various tree trunks had been his source of water.

There was no river, no lake, no body of water since he started his way back home. But despite his hardships, he had never looked back to his faults. And slowly but surely, his weakened body had started to break down until he collapsed by the trunk of the thickest tree he's seen so far.

Gabriel had originally thought that he was no longer going to wake up but he did, surprising himself.

The familiar rush of river water made his ears perk and he quickly stood up, not wondering why he was on all fours. He followed the sound, detecting a hint of a song but he was too focused on the river to care.

"The birds sing high, the toads so low. As the sun bids goodbye, the moon says hello."

The melodic tune slowed him down a bit as he stepped out from the last of the forest's greenery, greeted by the riverbank and a smiling fair-skinned man.

"Love was made under the stars of the night, to the only lover that made the world right," He finished, standing up from the rock where he sat while dipping his toes in the water.

The smile on his face was angelic, his golden hair like a halo that made him shine like a mystical being. He was more slender than Gabriel was, almost frail and sickly. He owned a pair of rubies for eyes, so mysterious and beautiful. The clothes he wore were as simple as anyone would expect on a wanderer, light and breezy.

"Hello," the angelic being greeted, squatting down to meet Gabriel's eye level.

He didn't look that tall yet he had to lower himself to meet the wolf steadily. Gabriel let his eyes wander to the ground and he found his paws instead of his hands. But that didn't explain why he was still smaller. His wolf, despite not yet in its maturity, could stand at six feet.

"Are you hungry?" The man asked, breaking Gabriel's confusion.

The wolf nodded hesitantly, watching the other man with guarded eyes. Even in his wolf form, Gabriel could not identify the other man's heritage. However, he was sure his savior was definitely not from his clan.

His eyes were something that could never be forgotten.

"Good. I was just about to roast the fish and rabbits I caught. Do you want to eat them raw?" Gabriel nodded, the mysterious man smiling. It was then Gabriel decided to call him Angel.

Angel stood up with a graceful sway of his hips and walked over to his catch of the day, taking everything and laying it out for the wolf. He watched with kind and curious eyes as the boney wolf started to eat everything,

"You have not been eating well, have you?" There was a sad pout to his thin lips, making them fuller. "It explains why your wolf looks too small for its own fur and why you reverted to it in the first place. Once you have eaten, you can clean yourself in the river water."

Gabriel ignored the man in favor of his growling stomach. The words went in one ear and left the other, only when he had swallowed everything did he look up to Angel.

He tried to shift back to human form, to rework the holdings of his own body but to no avail. He was stuck. And he didn't know how to return to normal.

"Do not fret, black wolf." Angel had dropped to his knees and cupped the wolf's snout, unafraid, soothing the sudden whimpering Gabriel had not known were coming from him. "This will take time. Okay? Your body is still healing itself and it will take time before you are able to turn back to your human form. For now, I will help you and in turn, you will help me. Does that work for you?"

The melodic sound of the other man's voice was heavenly and Gabriel found himself nodding, wanting to hear the other man talk some more.

And so, it began.

Gabriel would accompany Angel on his hunting trips and help with catching food. He wasn't the best kind of help and surely, Angel was more skilled. But the other man only smiled and petted him, gently telling him where his faults lie.

They spent so much time together, neither man nor wolf could separate from each other for long. It was a craving for companionship, easily given by the other. He learned his faults, understood the wrong he had done and was grateful for being given a second chance to prove himself.

And with each passing day, Gabriel could feel the gnawing hunger to claim this man not because he had to but because he needed to.

This man had made him feel things he was unfamiliar with. Angel might have been younger than him but he knew this man just as close to his maturity as Gabriel was.

There was a bond forming, something Gabriel had never thought would happen. And he had to have his Angel.

A full month had passed when Gabriel finally shifted into his human form, towering the other man by several inches. Angel had only stared back with wide eyes, those delicious lips parting, tempting his resolve.

He slipped a dark hand behind the head of golden hair and lowered down, his face a mere centimeters away.

"Hi," Gabriel greeted, taking the cute way his Angel blushed.

"Hi," The other man squeaked.

And as if their lips were magnets, they met with obvious attraction. It was shy and hesitant at first, right until the smaller man playfully nipped his lower lip. Then, it was frenzied and passionate.

They couldn't get enough. They just had to have each other. And they did.

Over and over and over again.

He learned that Angel was, in fact, Travis but that was all. He had been too busy claiming the man, too busy marking him inside with his seed. The uncontrollable urge to breed this man was shockingly wild and Travis didn't mind.

In fact, he loved it.

"You are insatiable. If I had known I saved a lecher, I would have conserved my strength," Travis teased after a particularly rough round of sex, his head resting safely above his rapidly beating heart.

Travis raised his sated gaze to his lover's and they shared a quietness neither had ever known. With a softened look, they both met for a loving kiss, tongues no longer fighting for dominance. They both gave and took their desires out on each other, giving way to a gentler round of sex.

"I love you, my black wolf."

No. It was no longer sex, Gabriel thought. This was love-making in its purest form.

Time had passed for both of them blissfully until the day Gabriel had stumbled back unto familiar hunting grounds. And there, right in the middle, was his father surrounded by his council.

"Gabriel, welcome back." The older man walked towards him in an unhurried pace and embraced him like he was some sort of prodigal son. "A year has passed and all is forgiven."

"Father?"

"Gabriel? Where are you?" Travis called out, appearing just outside the hunting grounds. He had a raised brow, eyebrows questioning. When he tried to step inside, he was suddenly electrocuted by the safety charms guarding the territory.

"Travis!" He had stepped out just in time to catch his surprised lover, watching as the ruby gaze was slowly surrounded by purple scales. "What in the world?"

"Lizard!" One of his father's council hissed. "Step away from that vile being, Gabriel."

"Travis?" Gabriel let go and stepped back as his lover's porcelain skin turned a purple scale.

"Demon! Son of the Snake! Get away from him, Gabriel!" This time, it was father that yelled. "How dare you touch my son so intimately! I can smell him on you even from here, you retched animal!"

"Father!" Gabriel yelled, shocked at his father's words. This was definitely not how he imagined the first meeting of his lover and his father.

"Gabriel?" Travis looked at his lover with confused eyes and watched as Gabriel took a step back inside the hunting grounds. "Gabriel?!"

"What - what are you?" The wolf asked.

"Leave now, Lizard! Or so help me, I will call upon the powers Bu-Wan has blessed me with and tear you limb from limb." The familiar touch of his father's hand on his arm made Travis' eyes water immediately.

"Gabriel -"

"Leave, demon!" The elders had started throwing rocks at Travis and Gabriel stood back and watched as his lover stared at him with ruby red eyes filled with betrayal.

A second later, he was gone.

That was a decade ago.

Now, he was the new head of the clan, superseding his father. He had been broken since that time. Ruled by fear of the unknown, he chose to be a coward and he had no one to blame but himself.

Love never came for him and he never waited.

"Alpha, it is time." Maximillian, his Gamma, entered his room after knocking quietly.

They were at the annual were-animal summit in the snowy caps of the mountains and this was the first time he would be formally introduced as the Thunder Wolves' Alpha. It was a momentous occasion, only he didn't feel like it.

"All right," He replied, following Maximillian.

The air sparked with heavy tension as soon as he stepped out of the cabin they were assigned to stay in by the gatekeepers. Numerous escorts of different tribes loitered the vicinity and he knew he was being stared at, being the only Alpha still not in the meeting.

They walked until they were met by huge oak doors. Maximillian pulled one open and he slipped inside, the door shutting behind him. Gabriel walked until he found the stone table where all the heads of the clan sat. He made his way to one of the two open seats left and sat down, aware of the eyes that had fallen on his shoulders.

"Mikael has fallen, I see." The head of the Black Hawks pack spoke in a judging tone, humming following after. "He was a good leader."

"I hope to become better," Gabriel answered confidently, staring at black pools of the man. The older man nodded with a knowing smirk on his lips before turning away.

"The head of the Dragon tribe is late. How is it that the most powerful clan is the one that is easily forsaking his seat?" The Fox leader hissed, her red hair cascading like a bloody waterfall over her shoulders.

A creak of the door pulled Gabriel from his thoughts and he raised his eyes, meeting red rubies in an instant.

"I apologize, Gerd. My son has just started controlling his metamorphosis. It is not easy when he is a wolf learning from a dragon."

Gabriel's heart had stopped in an instant.

The next thing he knew was staring at the betrayed look on his lover's face, the same scene where he had lost everything. The forest's greenery, the tears on his Dragon's face, the confusion in his chest.

Time had stopped; then, time had played once again.

He turned to look at his father's angry face, the council's looks of contempt. What had happened? What was going on?

"Leave, Lizard!" His father screamed, snarling in his half-wolf and half-man form.

Then, it clicked in his confused mind.

That was a vision of a life 10 years in the future without his mate.

"Gabriel -"

Gabriel took a tentative step forward as if to check if his hypothesis was correct and he wasn't disappointed. There was a growing smile on his lips, excitement building in his bones. Within seconds, he was embracing his sobbing Dragon.

"Gabriel!"

"I renounce my family, my blood ties to the Thunder Wolves. I embrace the title of Rogue."

There was a mystic swirl of lights, encircling both the Wolf and Dragon. But Gabriel did not stop nor was he afraid.

"Heir of the Dragon tribe, I ask you to take me in as your faithful servant," Gabriel screamed to the heavens, falling to his knees in front of his lover. "Let me serve you for my entire life."

His nose skittered across the expanse of Travis' womb, sniffing the growing life that was surely his first born. Gabriel knew what he had sacrificed, knew that Travis was overwhelmed at his words, knew that his father was no longer his father after his declaration.

But he no longer cared.

A moment of hurt and disappointment was worth decades of happiness and love.

This time, Gabriel would make things right. His gift of future sight was a blessing from Bu-Wan, one he was never going to take for granted.

Because love was always worth the fight.