The sound of his own choked, desperate gasp tore Kaelan from the depths of his sleep. He woke with a violent jolt, his heart hammering against his ribs, a cold sheet of sweat plastering the oversized t-shirt to his skin.
He was in his own bed, in his familiar, annoyingly small apartment, but the lingering terror of the nightmare was a physical weight on his chest. His mind, already a battlefield of furious exasperation and livid resentment, immediately erupted into a silent, screaming monologue of panic.
Get out. Get out. Get out.
He lay there for a frantic minute, hyperventilating, his eyes wide and unfocused, tracing the faint outline of the ceiling. The dream had been a brutal, psychological continuation of the day's physical assaults.
In the dream, he wasn't the powerful panther or the furious human; he was utterly powerless. He was pinned face down, immobilized by the crushing, inescapable weight of Ignis's stronger, terrifyingly solid body. Ignis's laughter had been a cruel, echoing sound of triumphant dominance as he forced Kaelan into an unwanted, deep, violating kiss. Kaelan remembered sobbing uncontrollably, the tears mixing with the slick heat of the forced intimacy, while Ignis moved harder and faster, his enormous size an agonizing, overwhelming force that ripped through Kaelan's control and his body.
The psychological violation was as real as the physical one.
Kaelan's hands flew to his body. First, he checked his wrists, rubbing the skin where the magical tentacles had bound him, searching for phantom bruises from Ignis's superior strength. Then, with a trembling, deeply ashamed movement, he reached a hand beneath his t-shirt, checking his buttocks hole. He felt a sharp, phantom pain, the vivid, tearing sensation from the nightmare leaving him convinced of a physical injury. He felt violated, utterly disgusted, and so profoundly flustered that he wanted to physically peel his skin off.
His fluffy black tail, curled defensively beneath him, twitched violently, sensing his intense distress. He grabbed it and yanked it out from under his body, wanting to scream at the sight of the annoying appendage.
"It wasn't real, it wasn't real," Kaelan muttered, pushing himself up, his voice hoarse. "It was a fucking nightmare created by that perverse, self-important lizard!"
His internal voice, however, was a torrent of sheer, concentrated fury and contempt: Curse him! Curse his gold eyes and his arrogant smirk and his rock-hard—! Kaelan cut the thought off, slapping his own cheek, unable to finish the humiliating observation.
He spent the next hour in a heightened state of paranoid vigilance, double-checking the locks, peering through the peephole, and pacing his small room. His short temper was frayed to the point of snapping, and he felt a bone-deep weariness from the sheer mental effort of suppressing his rising panic. Every shadow, every muffled sound from across the hall, sent a fresh jolt of irate fear through him.
Meanwhile, in apartment 303, Ignis was already awake, not sleeping, but emerging from his lucid, meditative drift. He was dressed not in student wear, but in the dark, crimson-trimmed robes—a deliberate, unmissable statement of dominance.
Ignis hadn't needed a physical connection to know Kaelan was awake and terrified. He could feel the chaotic, electric spike of Kaelan's emotions through the apartment structure—a visceral blend of furious panic, deep shame, and boiling resentment. The nightmare, which Ignis had been subtly, magically encouraging during Kaelan's sleep, had done its work.
Ignis sat at his simple dining table, ignoring the scattered blueprints for a new Draconic fortress (unimportant) and the endless digital reports on inter-realm trade (trivial). His sole focus was the image of Kaelan's mind a fortress of cynicism that was finally crumbling.
His plan was simple, multifaceted, and based entirely on Kaelan's psychological profile:
1. The Assertion of Authority (External): Kaelan must stop seeing him as a peer or a prankster and start seeing him as an unchallengeable superior. The royal robes, the tone, and the immediate enforcement of demands would solidify this.
2. The Betrayal of the Body (Internal): The permanent anchor of the shifter form meant that Kaelan's body would react physically to Ignis's dominance. Ignis needed to introduce deliberate, subtle pleasure not forced, but invited by Kaelan's own instinct. The panther needs to realize its King is safe, powerful, and possesses what it instinctively craves: unyielding dominance.
3. The Removal of Sanctuary (Psychological): Kaelan's only comfort is the illusion of control and separation. Ignis planned to systematically invade every safe space Kaelan clung to: his study time, his friends, his ability to simply exist unnoticed.
Ignis picked up his communications device not a phone, but a polished obsidian tablet and issued a curt, three-word command to his royal court: "Prepare the transfer."
His next target: Kaelan's academic life.
Ignis stood, his crimson robes rustling with a heavy, powerful sound. He glanced at the wall, feeling the tremor of Kaelan's anxious pacing and the relentless internal stream of cursing.
"Good, Kaelan," Ignis murmured, a smug smirk returning to his face. "Let the fury ferment. Fear is paralyzing, but outrage is a motivator. And I need you motivated for your new role."
Ignis checked the time. 7:45 AM. Just enough time to make the necessary arrangements before Kaelan's first lecture. He was going to ensure that today, Kaelan would learn that escape was not an option, and that his world had been irrevocably restructured to revolve entirely around his Dragon King.