A/N: Updates are going to be super slow over the next few weeks. I have to complete On the Training of Doctors by year end to hand over to be copy edited. I also have kids, and holidays. I'll update fics when I can, but please, understand that I have a lot going on right now, along with osteoarthritis in my right wrist and a diagnosis of fibromyalgia.

Chapter Two

The Actions of Animals

Waking up was difficult for Ichigo, and he was not sure that what happened the day before was real or in his head. But when his body was hit with an incredibly sharp pain as he tried to move, he came to the horrible conclusion that it was very real. He couldn't think. Between the horror of being controlled for such a long time, every corner of his mind rifled through, and the disgust at being used so horribly by those Arrancar… His first reaction was to get to his hands and knees and vomit painfully into the sand. He felt hands on his shoulders and he screamed, scrambling back away from whoever it was. He turned eyes up on the wavering figure of an Arrancar he semi-recognized.

"Who…who are you?" he gasped, feeling a very strange desire to be near him.

"You do not remember what happened when I took you away from that pack?" he said and knelt near him.

"You…you did…you…why would you? Why would you do that to me? You…you knew what they did!" he gasped, horror dawning on him that the reason he wanted to be near him. He reached up and touched the fresh bite on his neck below what felt like a collar. He gasped and started pulling at it, whatever it was.

Starrk moved quickly, pulling his hands away from the bone fragment. "No, no, do not pull that, you'll hurt yourself so badly, my love."

"What is this?" he asked and looked at him with wide eyes.

"You are an Arrancar, it is your fragment, like mine," he said and pointed to the jaw bone around his neck. "You cannot remove it without harming yourself."

"I'm…I'm an Arrancar?" he gasped. "Why? How? I'm not…I'm a human!" he gasped as he stared at him.

Starrk looked at him with a confused expression. "I…you are the Shinigami that came with the others to Las Noches when we were trying to get the Oaken," he said finally. "How are you an Arrancar?"

"I don't know!" Ichigo screamed, yanking his hands out of Starrk's.

"Hush, you will be safe here. You are my mate now," he said with a nod.

"What does that even mean? You…how…" he said as he stumbled to his feet and looked around them.

They were on a high place in the sands that had a sheer cliff behind them. It had a hollowed cave which is where they had been before Ichigo had crawled outside of it. There was nothing as far as he could see. The eternal night pressed into him harshly.

"Come back," Starrk said, and for some reason Ichigo couldn't disobey him. He turned and stared at him.

"What…what is that…" he said as he moved toward the taller Arrancar.

"You are my beta. You cannot disobey me," Starrk said as he stepped toward him.

"I…no. I'm not anyone's 'beta' or anything, whatever the fuck that means!" he shouted but found his body submitting to him as Starrk's hands ran down the outside of his arms.

"What is your name, mi amor?" he asked then, the same commanding tone to his voice. "I remember it vaguely, but it has been a long time."

Ichigo swallowed and tried to still his tongue. "Ichigo Kurosaki…" he said finally as he let a loud sob wrench from his chest.

Starrk frowned deeply. "Ichigo, what do you weep for? I will not harm you. You are mine to protect," Starrk said, reaching out and thumbing the tears off his cheeks. "It is the way of things. I have taken you from those that would hurt you, to make you my love. I am a wolf Arrancar; I mate once in my lifetime. I have chosen you."

"You chose me? So I don't get a chance to say what I want? I can't say no? You can just…just…just take from me whatever you want like that? You control…me…I can't…I can't…" he gasped as he felt the world slide away and darkness descended on him once again.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

"What?" Renji said as he looked at Urahara. "When did all this happen? And why didn't you tell us?" he asked, looking between Urahara and Isshin. Rukia wore a similar expression beside him.

"You told me to check for any foreign reiatsu around your house and the school where Ichigo was attending, you didn't tell me that there was something so wrong with him!" Rukia exclaimed and glared at Isshin.

Isshin sighed. "I didn't think of anything like this happening," he said and looked away from them.

"After…after what happened to Kaien? You didn't think a sudden change in his behavior was suspect?" she asked, truly horrified by the idea that it would have been ignored.

Urahara shook his head. "I thought…I thought I'd checked for every possible problem. I checked for every type of reiatsu I could think of. Whatever this thing was, it exuded no power of its own. It only used Ichigo's power, so we could not detect it."

"So he's in Hueco Mundo?" she asked.

"Yes, but I have no idea…" Isshin started.

"It doesn't matter, we're going after him," she said and turned on her heels and left with Renji close behind her. She paused. "We should see if Uryū, Chad, and Orihime are coming," she said as she looked at him.

"Yeah, let's do that." Renji nodded as they took off together.

A few hours later, all five stood in front of a portal that lead to Hueco Mundo again. Urahara had nothing to say as they slipped into the space in between, not sure what they were going to find on the other side.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Starrk held his mate to his chest and wondered what had just happened. He should have been happy to have found a mate. Why was he not pleased with this? He'd been in a bad position with a large pack, and now he was only with him. He was very confused as he clutched him and ran his hand over his head. He was not sure what to do if he was unhappy. It was his job to care for him, to make sure he was happy and loved…but what did he mean by the words he'd said?

His head popped up as he sensed several heavy reiatsu signatures coming toward him quickly. He thought that they felt like Shinigami and something that felt vaguely hollow. He supposed he could get up and try to meet whatever it was. However, he honestly was far too comfortable where he was. He'd sat against the wall that was behind him and pulled his mate into his lap, tucking him in close to him, cradling his head.

He looked up with a yawn as two Shinigami and three others appeared at the ledge. He blinked and smiled lazily at them.

"Why do you come to Hueco Mundo?" he asked them.

They stood and stared at the sight before them. The Arrancar was sitting, legs spread wide with Ichigo positioned with his knees bent over one side and cradling his arm around Ichigo's back on the other. He wore the tattered remains of the white uniforms that Aizen had used. Ichigo, though, was wearing a shihakuso again, but his body was marked with red lines down his cheeks, and black over his body, and there was a white collar around his neck. He was completely unconscious by the look.

"What…what did you do to him?" Renji asked, his grip tightening on his Zanpakutō.

Starrk looked between the red-haired Shinigami and the others. "What did I do? I rescued him from a pack of alphas that found him."

"What? A pack of what?" Rukia asked.

Orihime moved forward then and knelt to throw her shield over Ichigo. She frowned and looked back at the others. "He's…he's an Arrancar," she whispered.

"What?" Uryū said as he glanced at the others. "How's that even possible? He wasn't even a Shinigami anymore!"

Starrk looked at them. "How did he come to be in Hueco Mundo?"

The group looked between each other. "Something, some sort of parasitic hollow, it took control of him for a long time, and no one realized it until it opened a garganta and brought him here."

Starrk frowned deeply for a second. "What did it do while it had control of him?"

"He stopped. He didn't talk, he didn't do anything…" Chad said with a tilt of his head toward him.

"He stopped…" Starrk repeated. "Oh, my poor love," he said and kissed the top of his head. "I am so sorry for that, no wonder you were so very scared of me when you woke up…you did not even know why you were here…"

Rukia looked at him. "What…what happened?"

Starrk looked at him. "I heard and sensed a powerful beta's cries for aid. Generally I do not attempt to answer such calls, as most betas have been simply destroyed by my mere presence. I found him being abused by a ruthless pack of alphas. There were several that that died when I entered the area, but those that didn't, they ran from the area. I took him to clean him after their mistreatment, as they did not treat him as they should have," Starrk said, running his hands through his hair again. "I answered his need. I thought…he would have been happy…but he was upset when he awoke a while ago," he said, looking at him with very confounded eyes.

"What do you mean, answered his need?" Renji asked.

Starrk looked up. "As a powerful heating beta, he needed to be claimed by a worthy mate, those that had captured him were not near his power. It was only his weakened state from what had occurred in his world, and their numbers, that they were able to capture him. I wish I would have found him sooner, but his cries for help were what summoned me. I did not think it sounded right, like a human, not like a hollow, so I went to find out what had happened."

"You seem to know something about what happened to him with the parasite hollow," Uryū said, glancing at the others. Honestly, he didn't want to think about what exactly this Arrancar meant when he said these things about the group of hollows.

Starrk nodded. "Yes, there is an old hollow, well, they are not one hollow, but more like a group of them. They are avoided by all in Hueco Mundo. They feed on hollow reishi. They assume control of a hollow and return to their nest, so that the whole could feed on it. The most attractive hollows are vasto lorde or Arrancar, of course. It is well known to avoid their area."

Uryū looked at Rukia. "So one of those things got to him. And it fed on his power until it had enough to open a garganta. It took over six months for it to draw that much from him since it was drained by the final Mungetsu. When it got enough, it brought him here, but then what happened? Obviously it failed in returning to the hive…"

Rukia looked thoughtful. "Shiro."

Renji looked at her and nodded. "He was a Vizard, he's hollowified, so that's probably why it attached to him, his energy is more hollow than the rest of us. But him even more so, with the power that thing has."

Starrk nodded. "So he was a Shinigami with the power of a hollow like some of those in Karakura Town," he said as he fondly stroked a hand over his head. "The Hive found him in his world, an easy target since he was currently powerless, oh, pobrecito," he said. "I do not know what they do to their victims, they do not survive. But it would have wanted access to as much reishi and power as it could get to."

Chad spoke up finally. "If it infected him, took over his body, perhaps it tried to get his power to return so it could feed on it."

"Returning to Hueco Mundo might have jump started his power again," Uryū said. "Made it easier…and if it tried to do that, and the hollow inside him resisted…"

"Shiro might have used all his power to save him," Rukia concluded. "He turned him into an Arrancar, probably not purposefully, but he had to make him more hollow to save him…"

"What do we do now?" Renji asked.

Starrk looked between them. "I will care for him. You have no need to remain. He is mine to protect."

Renji reacted before the others and swung Zabimaru toward the seated Arrancar's head. "Like hell he's staying here!"

Starrk yawned and lazily caught the end of the expanding sword easily in his hand. "You cannot separate him from me, he will die," he said as he let go of the blade and blinked sleepily at him.

Renji glanced at Rukia because they'd both seen the one on the back of his hand when he caught Zabimaru's blade. "You…you were the Primera. You died in Karakura Town," Rukia said, recalling Ukitake's report on him and his fraccion. "You fought Kyrouku-taichou. He killed you."

Starrk stretched and shook his head. "Very nearly. Lilynette did perish, but I managed to escape. My sheer reiatsu kept the other hollows at bay while I healed. Her power returned to me when she was destroyed, though. I was so very lonely for a long time again," he said with a deep sigh as he clutched Ichigo's body to him tightly. "Until I found mi amor."

Rukia and Renji exchanged a glance. "You…you can't keep him here. He has a family in the World of the Living. His father, and his sisters. They're already worried over him. He needs to return."

Starrk looked up at her. "Oh, I suppose that may be why he might have been upset by awakening here…" He shifted, standing up easily from his seated position and nodded to them. "Yes, we should go to his world. There is nothing here for us save emptiness. If it will make mi amor happy, I will take him there."

Renji stared at him. "What will make him happy is to no longer be forced to be with you."

Starrk's face returned to confusion. "I do not understand. He should be pleased not to be forced under the rule of a pack, and to have a single alpha to counter his power. I believed that it would be for the best."

Renji looked at Uryū for help explaining. He shook his head. "Look, we can deal with this at Urahara's, and let Kurosaki-san talk to him. I…I think it would be better to get them out of Hueco Mundo, especially if this Hive hollow is here. It has gotten him once already, honestly, I'd like to get Ichigo away from it."

Rukia nodded. "Yes, come, um, what is your name?" she asked Starrk.

"Coyote Starrk," he said with a nod. "Here, we are going to Karakura Town, yes?" he asked.

Renji nodded. "Um, yeah, there's…"

"I still recall the location," he said as he flicked open the garganta with a yawn. "Come, we will see how to help mi amor."

The group went through behind Starrk, leery still of his attitude, as well as the fact he had so easily avoided any harm by Renji's sword. He also had refused to let go of Ichigo's body, which made this their only choice. None of them noticed that there was a small path following them in the distance just before the garganta closed.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

The inner world was already flooding. Zangetsu sighed, standing on the end of the flagpole as he watched Ichigo completely come apart. Shiro was doing his best, but it was harder than even the hollow had anticipated. Zangetsu knew he would end up having to intervene before Ichigo was able to settle himself.

"Stop!" Shiro yelled as he zipped after him again. "You can't just go running off cuz yer pissed off at me! I did what I had to do!"

"I don't want to hear it!" Ichigo yelled as he tried to dodge the pursuing white version of himself. "I don't want to know what your reason is! You…you turned me into an Arrancar! How could you do this to me?" he yelled, dodging away as Shiro tried to tackle him.

"I know yer mad, but dammit, you have to listen to me!" he growled as he nearly pinned Ichigo this time. "Fuck! Zangetsu, you old fucking bastard, help me!"

Zangetsu sighed, moving once and standing with his arms wrapped around Ichigo's back, pinning his arms down. Shiro appeared in front of them. "Thanks, took you long enough."

Zangetsu held Ichigo easily. "Speak if you wish me to hold him for you."

"Let me go, dammit, ojiisan!" Ichigo yelled. "Just let me go…I'm…I'm free in here at least…"

Shiro closed his eyes and then stepped forward and grabbed Ichigo's face. "Look, it was this or we were dead. Do you understand this?"

Ichigo looked at him, and it broke Shiro's heart that he was crying. "No, I don't…" he gasped finally.

Shiro leaned forward and touched his forehead to Ichigo's. "Listen, that thing, it was controlling us. It was taking us to Hueco Mundo to the rest of them. It wasn't one hollow, it was a drone that belonged to a hollow called the Hive. It's been there forever, and it will live on after all else is gone. It…it wanted me, the hollow part of you, so it…it reached me and tried to wrench me free. If it had done it, I would have become the one in control, and the form you hate would have emerged. But under this thing's control. So I had to…to bring the rest of your power with me. I had to grab your Shinigami core, and the rest, and pull it with me. The pain you felt, it was very real for both of us." Shiro panted, with his forehead still resting against Ichigo's. "But…the bridge between hollow and Shinigami is Arrancar. And I didn't know it would happen, I just thought…it would be like before, the Vizard powers. But it wasn't, because it had hold of me. So I became stronger than before, and it transformed you into this. I'm sorry. You…you have control, though…of the form, the vasto lorde form that I took, but it is your resurrecion. You need only call on me, and I'll give it to you."

"But…my…am I still a Shinigami?" Ichigo asked.

"No," Shiro said with a sigh. "I'm…I'm sorry. This is what you are now. I can't change you back. You are more Shinigami than any other Arrancar, though. You haven't got a hollow hole, just the mark in your chest where it should be. You can still use your Bankai if you call Tensa Zangetsu, but if you call to me and say 'Rise' before my name, you'll bring the resurrection."

"I won't. I'll never," he said, shaking his head. "I'll never do that. I'm not an Arrancar!"

Shiro put his hands on either side of Ichigo's face and lifted his face up. He leaned forward and placed a kiss on his lips. "I'm sorry. But you will call it. And sooner than you'd like, but it will be your power, our power, it is one now. I am forever your horse, King. That won't change now."

"And…and this Arrancar Starrk?" he said, eyes infinitely hurt.

"I'm sorry, I was so weak, I couldn't suppress it anymore. I've always feared that we were a beta, it was something I have pushed away, kept down for as long as I've been with you. I didn't want to know for sure, though I believe I always knew. I…when we transformed, it let loose a flood of hollow instincts and I couldn't stop it. It took everything I had to just keep us from succumbing to that thing's powers. I crushed it, but the Hive knows what I did, and it knows we exist. I guess, part of it is that I wanted us to be protected, and I couldn't do it…to call forth an alpha to us would protect us."

Ichigo looked at him. "He…he thinks I should be happy with him."

"You should, if you were a regular Arrancar," Shiro said sadly. He sat down on the building that was covered in about an inch of water already.

Zangetsu let go of Ichigo and stepped back. Ichigo sat down beside Shiro. "I don't understand."

Shiro shook his head. "Hollows have alphas and betas. Alphas are dominant, betas are submissive. Normally. Betas bear the young. Gender isn't a thing here, you know. And the young, they're not young in the sense of humans or Shinigami. It…the alpha answers the animal drives to procreate, in a futile attempt to fill the emptiness inside us. The alpha passes a soul, one of our many that comprise us, into the beta. The beta carries it, feeding it with its own reiatsu, until it becomes strong enough to exist independently, and it becomes a separate hollow, and the cycle continues. The alpha is supposed to protect the beta during the gestation time while the beta's energy is diverted to the young."

"I don't want that."

Shiro looked at him. "I'm so sorry, but I can't stop it. It has already begun. He's claimed you. You're his mate, and he'll take the next step soon, because if he doesn't, we'll go insane from the need to complete the cycle. Once…once the cycle is complete, I might…maybe…be able to do something, but right now, every bit of my energy has been pulled into the cycle of heating, claiming, knotting, and then birthing. Once it is done, if I can do something before the next one begins, I might be able to quell the urges."

"Knotting?" Ichigo said.

Shiro smirked. "Um, you'll find out soon enough," he muttered. "You should enjoy it…a lot…" he said as he grinned at Ichigo.

"Oh, I'm gonna kill you, you hollow bastard," he muttered and put his face in his hands.

"Yeah, you keep saying that," Shiro said. "Look, I can't stop this now, but I'm going to try to stop it when this cycle finishes, okay? To do so now…I don't know if it will kill us. I just know that the hollow instincts are screaming at me not to interfere with the cycle."

Ichigo looked at him. "I'm not going to just fucking lie down for him."

"You can't deny him," Shiro said with a sad smile. "I know you don't like being told what to do…"

"I will tear his face off if he…he…" Ichigo's face paled. "I'm not doing that."

"You will, no matter what you think," Shiro said. "All he has to do is command you, and that's it. You'll do what he says. The reason is to protect the beta. The alpha takes control of the beta from the claiming until the birthing is done. Otherwise, the young would be in danger if the beta decided to run off from their alpha in their weakened state."

Ichigo shook his head. "I'm not able to handle this, after…after what…" he closed his eyes. "That thing…what it did in my head…"

"I know. Tell him. Tell our alpha. Tell him the pain you're in, tell him why, he will do anything to protect you, and if he's a good alpha, he'll do anything to please you as well."

"Even leaving me alone?" Ichigo whispered.

"Well, as much as he can, the knotting has to happen. And it can't be much longer until it does happen."

Ichigo groaned, falling backward onto the building then feeling a strange sensation, almost like he was being pulled from his inner world. "What is that…?"

"He's commanding you to wake up. You need to go. I'll be here, I promise, Ichigo," Shiro said as the world faded out.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Starrk stepped out of the garganta near a building with a blond man standing in front of it. He recognized him as one of those that had been in Karakura Town when he had been there before. He did not recall his name. Rukia rushed forward and got between him and Urahara who had already drawn Benehime.

"Wait, Urahara…we need to go downstairs, now," she said with a nod back toward where Ichigo was clutched in Starrk's arms still.

Urahara nodded and led them downstairs into the basement area. Starrk simply used his sonido to skip even taking the ladder down and waited for the others. Urahara moved up and tilted Ichigo's head to the side.

"He…he's an Arrancar," he said quietly and looked back to the others. "What happened?"

"We're not sure what caused that, but we found him with…" Renji started.

"Primera Espada. Starrk, I believe," Urahara said.

"Yes, might I have a place to allow him to rest comfortably? While I do not mind holding him, it might be best for him to lay down completely for a bit," Starrk said seriously as he looked between them.

Urahara nodded, coming back with one of his inventions, a tent that set up with the press of a button. He let it come up and then handed a blanket over to Starrk. He nodded and took both the blanket and Ichigo into the tent. He returned a moment later to stand outside. "He is still sleeping, perhaps things have been more taxing than I have anticipated to him."

"What is happening?" Urahara asked as he glanced at the others. "I called Isshin already to come, but why are you with Ichigo?"

Starrk glanced at the others. "I told them; I rescued him from an alpha pack that found him after the Hive brought him to Hueco Mundo," he said as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Urahara looked up to Isshin come down into the basement. "Isshin," Urahara said. "I do not know if you recall Aizen's Primera, Coyote Starrk."

"I do," he said with a narrowed glance at the Arrancar. "Why are you here with my son?"

"Your son, I see," Starrk said with a nod. "Then I give you more consideration than I might allow others in regards to him."

Isshin glanced at the others standing to the side. "What does that mean?" he said as he looked back to Starrk.

"I have claimed him; he is mine to protect from whatever attempts to harm him. It is my duty and position as his alpha," Starrk said and yawned. "I tire, I should rest with him."

"Wait, what do you mean he is yours?" Isshin said. "And you claimed him?"

Starrk tilted his head to the side. "He is a beta Arrancar, of course I claimed him. The pack that had captured him was well below his power. Even together, their power could not overcome his reiatsu. That is why they could not claim him, but I am far more powerful than most Arrancar."

"I don't understand," Isshin said as he looked back to Urahara.

Urahara shook his head. "I'm not sure at all, but I think to get rid of the parasitic hollow, he underwent a transformation. He has a mask fragment, and his body is marked, but he has no hollow hole, just a mark in the center of his chest."

"I need to see to my son," Isshin said and stepped forward.

When Isshin stepped closer, the pulse of reiatsu nearly staggered everyone except Isshin and Urahara. "He is to rest; when it is time, I will waken him from it."

Isshin looked at Urahara. "If you do not let me see to my son, I will make sure you are cut down where you stand."

"If you do that, your son will die. He has not completed the cycle, and to interrupt it by destroying his mate would destroy him," Starrk said, heaving a yawn and stretching his arms over his head for a second. "I have only claimed him; the rest has not yet occurred. He was not strong enough to finish when I claimed him. The mark will fade if I do not complete the knotting, and if it does, he will draw hollows to him like a magnet."

Isshin looked back at Urahara. "Is this true?"

Urahara shook his head. "I don't know yet, I…I'll have to test these things. I can't…even understand how this happened. We need to talk to Ichigo, though. We have no idea what this parasitic hollow did to him."

"Hive," Uryū said as he looked at Urahara. "Starrk knows of it. It is a hive minded hollow grouping. It takes over strong hollows and returns to the hive so they can devour the reishi together."

Starrk nodded. "I will waken him if you wish. He was not in a very good mood when he woke up earlier, however."

"I wonder why," Renji muttered under his breath.

Starrk ignored it and went into the small tent and knelt beside him. "Ah, mi amor, come, wake up for me," he commanded, sending the instruction through their binding.

After a few minutes Ichigo's eyes fluttered and he looked up into Starrk's face. Starrk smiled at him. "Ah, mi amor, please, now that you are awake again…"

Starrk didn't expect his beta to be so very unruly, of course. Ichigo's face twisted and he punched up into Starrk's face hard and scrambled out of the tent, falling to his knees when he got a few feet away panting at the lancing pain in his head. He looked up to see his father was kneeling in front of him.

"Ah…Pop," he gasped. "Hi…" he said as he sat back on his heels for a second. His head snapped around when Starrk stepped out, wiping his bloodied mouth. "You!" he yelled and stood and turned toward him. "You! Get away from me!" he screamed and tried to take off again.

"Stop," Starrk said and Ichigo stopped and fell to his knees as Starrk walked to him and knelt down in front of him. "Why do you still believe I will harm you?" he asked simply.

Ichigo stared at him. "Why wouldn't I, you bastard! You did the same fucking thing! You didn't give me a choice either!"

"I have never encountered a beta that does not submit to their alpha before," Starrk said, truly confused.

"I am not going to submit to anyone," Ichigo growled. "Least of all you!"

Starrk looked over Ichigo's shoulder where the others were standing, seemingly unsurprised by his actions. He reached up and scratched the area under his mask. "But…you are bound to me now. You have no choice in whether you submit or not. I can command you; you have seen this. Why do you resist me still?" he asked, slightly hurt by this fact.

Ichigo stared at him for a moment open mouthed. "You…how can you…why? Why? You just…just took me off and do this and I didn't even know what the hell you were doing!"

"I saved you from those other alphas that would have killed you before they were able to claim you," Starrk said and was still very confused by the whole situation. He had never heard of anything like this. "You should not be so…strong willed or belligerent any longer..."

"You stupid Arrancar!" he screamed at him and punched him again, knocking Starrk back slightly. He blinked at him owlishly for a moment. "I have been an Arrancar for less than a day! I am not going to act like you want! So just leave me the hell alone! I'm not doing this! I'm not letting you do that thing, and I'm damned sure not going to carry your stupid young!"

"How do you know of this all, then?" Starrk asked.

"Shiro told me what was going on, that the Hive thing was trying to take me back to the nest. He said it tried to pull him up, the hollow part of me, and when it did, Shiro grabbed onto my other powers and pulled them free as well. When he did that, he turned me into an Arrancar out of necessity…and he was weak, and he…he said he was afraid we were a beta, and he kept pushing it away, down, ever since he awoke. But destroying the Hive creature, he couldn't stop it. The instincts came flooding, the heat…it began and he…he…then they found me there…"

Ichigo's eyes had gone wide with the memories. "It had taken everything, ripped through every memory, pulled and clawed and ripped through my soul…it got so mad when I tried to get their attention, when I cut myself," he said as he glanced at his forearm where the jagged scar had remained. "It was so mad…it just ripped everything open, unending, and I screamed but no one heard me, and…"

Starrk put a hand against his face. "I…I did not understand. I do not, still. I only know what I am and always have been. I will do whatever I must to make you happy. I told you; I have one mate in my existence, even if you do not wish me, it is so. The cycle must complete, but…if you wish it to be so, I will leave you when it is done, and perhaps your friends can aid you in removing the necessity to submit to the cycle or return you to being human again."

Ichigo stared at him, and he didn't think he was lying. "You'll just leave; just like that."

Starrk nodded. "I could command anything from you, mi amor. But I will not. I had always known before now, when I took a mate for the rest of my life that it would be someone that I felt needed me as much as I needed them. I planned no coercion, and I regret that it was perceived as such during the claiming. I would never have taken from you what you did not wish to give had I known that you were unable to choose in that moment. So for that reason, I will not bind you to our union, it would be unfair of me to do so." Starrk smiled at him and put his other hand to his face. "But until the cycle completes, I ask that you allow me…a chance to show you that I am worthy of you."

Ichigo swallowed and had no idea what to do.

It is the best we're fucking going to get. He could take your ass easily back to Hueco Mundo right now, fuck you into oblivion again and again, and you couldn't stop him. He could beat the living hell out of you and we can't resist, you gotta know, we can't push him. We can't push him, King. If we do…we're slaves to him for the rest of our existence just like any other beta.

Ichigo nodded. "Alright. But…if you fucking even touch me without my permission, I'm going to take off your damned hands while you sleep."

Starrk nodded. "Of course, mi amor, of course."