by Lisa Ladew
Kalista answered dryly. “Because we aren’t barbarians… and it seems to me that life is in charge here.” Not you, her eyes challenged.
The Citlali fixed her with his stare. “The child will be an abomination. It should not have been allowed to live.”
Journey cried out from the birthing pool, her face strained. “Oh no, it can’t get worse, the pain can’t get worse. I can’t take it.” She writhed in the tub. The females in the room looked at each other and moved in quickly. “Relax, Journey, it’s transition, relax as much as you can, it will go easier,” one said. “It’s almost over.”
“For better or worse,” the oldest woman in the room muttered under her breath.
Journey cried out and flailed in the pool, splashing. The females tried to get hands on her, tried to soothe her.
The Citlali pointed directly at her. “You’ve made a mistake,” he said. “Someday, you’ll understand just what you’re playing with here. This young never should have been allowed to live.”
The beast gave in to his baser instincts and pulled out of Leilani’s grasp, running for the only male in the room. No one saw him. The beast leapt at the male, his teeth aiming for the back of the male’s throat, but, instead of making contact, the beast only sailed right past the male, through and past him, like he wasn’t even there. The beast slammed up against a wall that was solid enough and turned, ready to try again.
The Citlali was staring at him, mouth open. “A beast,” he whispered, still staring. Jaggar bared the beast’s teeth and the beast let him.
“The young is only a beast, and it…” He stopped talking abruptly, his eyes still fixed in the beast’s general direction, but roaming about, as if he didn’t really see anything, only sensed it and was searching for a glimpse of a ghost or a demon. “It can never be allowed to shift,” the male said. “It will be dangerous, uncontrollable, and so strong. I will bind his shift.”
Journey cried out again. “He’s coming! Oh, Rhen, help me.”
The beast admitted the futility of attacking the Citlali and returned to Leilani. She grabbed onto his ear like a handle again. The beast liked it a lot, wanted her other hand on his other ear. Jaggar could feel the primal base emotion of wanting flow from the beast to him. They both growled their approval at Leilani, their eyes on the only male in the room.
“I don’t like that man,” she said, grabbing him around the neck, clinging to him like a life raft. “Why is he so hateful? What is his problem with you?”
Something loosened in Jaggar’s chest and a sliver of hope bloomed, dislodging just a bit of the fear and anger stuck there.
Journey let out a scream, flailing in the water.
“Push, Journey, push,” a woman told her.
Journey grunted, growled like a male, then screamed again. The noise in the room built to a crescendo, all the women talking at once. Leilani pressed hard against Jaggar. He couldn’t tear his eyes off the knot of women clustered around the birthing pool.
The cry of a baby came. His own voice. Jaggar held his breath as he tried to get a look at himself. Kalista had him. She wrapped him in a blanket, her face blank as she stared down at him.
There he was, fat, face all squished up, the line down the center of it there already. Left half, light. Right half, dark. That line extended all the way down his body and he hated it. He was glad Leilani couldn’t see it.
As soon as the thought went through his mind, guilt filled him. He did not wish his mate blind. Even if she wouldn’t want him if she saw him, he didn’t wish her blind.
Journey was crying. All the women were talking softly.
“Abomination,” the Citlali said. “Give him to me, so that I can bind his shift and sit for prophecy.”
“He goes to his mother,” Kalista said, her voice tight.
“No,” Journey cried weakly, as females helped her from the birthing pool and wiped her with towels. “I… don’t want him yet. I want to know if he has prophecy.”
Kalista handed over Jaggar to the Citlali and the beast growled. The Citlali held the child like he was being inspected, holding him out in front of him. He turned and left the room. “I need quiet,” he muttered.
Kalista stared after him, eyes narrowed. She moved to follow him, but Journey fainted, falling to the floor, and Kalista turned to her instead. “She’s still bleeding, give her a shot.”
Leilani cranked on the beast’s ears. “Where is the baby? I can’t hear him.” She put a hand out, touched the wall, then moved away from the beast, letting go of him.
The beast moved with her.
“Oh,” she said, in a strange voice. She reached out, arms flailing like she didn’t know what she was looking for. The beast got under her arms, nuzzling her hands until they found his ears again. “The catamount says you’ll be ok,” she whispered.
Before Jaggar could wonder who the catamount was, the Citlali came back in the room with a limp and blue baby. “The young didn’t make it,” he said. “I am not surprised. Look at it.” He thrust baby Jaggar toward the women who were gathered in a knot around Journey.
Kalista went for him, murder in her eyes. She took the baby from the male carefully, held him to her chest, and stared daggers at the Citlali. “He was crying when you left with him.”
The male was about to say something, when Kalista looked down. One pudgy arm flailed and the baby cried. The Citlali’s face hardened. Kalista held the baby up, looked in his little face, then kissed him on the cheek. She pulled him in close to her chest again, and stared at the Citlali. “Get the hell out of here.” A snarl started, low in her chest, a dangerous noise that caused everyone to look at her.
“I did not bind his shift,” the male said.
“And you won’t,” Kalista snarled. “We’ll have someone else do it.”
The room moved under the beast’s feet.
16 – Officer Grr
Canyon pushed hard to propel his chair across the aisle into his brother’s chair. Bam. Fucker wasn’t even ready for it. He almost fell over. Canyon laughed. When Timber snarled at him, Canyon lifted his chin toward their wall of monitors. Things were getting good at VF.
Eventine and the others had left the beast and the one true mate alone on the forest path, which seemed like a good idea if they were mates and all, but seemed like a bad idea if you took a really good look at the beast. He wasn’t natural.
On the screen, Leilani touched the beast, running her hands down him like she was blind and the only way she could see anything was through her fingers. Judging by the silver light obscuring her eyes, she was blind, and wasn’t that tragic as fuck? Canyon shook his head. Just what Jaggar needed, more tragedy in his life. The beast rolled on his back like a pup and Leilani knelt next to him, seeming to whisper something to him.
The picture flashed silver, obscuring their monitors for a second, fuzzing out even the ones that weren’t pointing at VF. When their pictures came back, Leilani and the beast were both standing, like they’d jumped to their feet in the silver light. Leilani had her arms around the beast’s neck and she was clinging to him with her eyes squeezed shut, like she was terrified.
Canyon stared, fascinated, but a stream of words down the left side of his screen drew his attention.
Wolf 477 is on the move, he told his brother, tabbing through his screens. Hey, 477 stands for grr.
“Nice,” Timber said, standing up to get a closer look at the dark screen that showed Trent stalking down a forest path past a salt lick, one pup in his mouth. “Shit, where in the fuck did Officer Grr get a pup from? What happened to his box of antibiotics?” A female wild wolf followed behind Trent, and she was carrying a pup also. Timber shook his head and hit his brother on the shoulder. “Tell me what in the fuck is going on here.”
Canyon snarled. What do I look like, Google?
Timber flopped back into his chair and hit his keyboard hard. “Shit,” he said. “Wildlife is heading that way now. Dangerous animal report.” His fingers flew. “You get Tro
y, tell him to warn his brother. I’ll fuck with our friends in Wildlife a bit.”
Canyon checked in with Troy. Troy, we have eyes on Trent. Tell him Wildlife is sniffing up his ass.
Got it, Troy told him in ruhi. But Trent’s not answering me, hasn’t been for a few hours.
Check, he told Troy. Hear that? he asked his brother.
“What the fuck, Smurfette? That doesn’t even make sense.”
Canyon snarled at his brother.
“I didn’t mean you, calm down. You’re Papa Smurf for sure, maybe Gargamel, but only when you first wake up.” He worked his keyboard. Canyon leaned back in his chair and watched, but he couldn’t figure out what Timber was doing.
Spill, he growled in ruhi.
“I’m fucking with their GPS. Gonna send them to Deep Cheese, Wisconsin. See if they can find Trent from there.”
Canyon grunted.
Timber changed screens and commanded his keyboard again. “Aw, look, they’re driving a brand-new department vehicle. Remote engine sensing. Let’s see how far they get before they turn around. Then BAM, I’ll shut off their engine. If they keep the shit-talk to a minimum, I won’t do it in the middle of the highway.”
Jaggar’s back, Canyon said, pointing out that a very naked Jaggar was up and walking Leilani onto the grassy part of Trevor’s lawn, nestled in between the divided forest.
Timber glanced at the screen. “Fuck yeah, I knew he wasn’t gonna be caught as the beast. Harlan was doing his best worrying.” He typed a stream of words into a program on his computer. “Jaggar’s gonna have to figure his shit out without our moral support for a bit. Trent needs us more.”
Canyon nodded and went back to his search for eyes on the wolf. It was going to be a long night.
17 – Back to the Present
They were back in the forest, exactly where they’d left from, but now they were standing, as they had been in the house he’d been born in. The beast was alert and on all fours, and Leilani was clinging to his neck.
Jaggar and the beast needed a moment to get their bearings and recover from the pain of time travel, but Leilani needed no moment. She moved until she was in front of him, facing him, but did not let him go once. She blinked and rubbed the beast’s ears, making the big animal shudder. Silver light spilled from her vacant eyes. The beast drank it in, thinking one word clearly. Beautiful. Jaggar had to agree.
His beautiful mate moved her face right up next to the beast’s, until their noses were almost touching. “You know I can’t see, right?” she said. “I’m blind.” Her tone was matter of fact and a little sad. Emotional pain filled Jaggar. She closed her eyes, cutting off the silver light.
The beast unfurled his tongue from his mouth and licked her up one side of her face, up over her cheek and her eye, then he licked the other. Ew, beast, gross, Jaggar told him, knowing she would hate it.
The beast spoke to Jaggar, that halting, crunching voice that turned his insides. Couldn’t help it.
Leilani giggled, cutting off Jaggar’s frantic ruhi. The beast licked her entire face again. She smiled when he was done, and Jaggar’s heart stopped in his chest. The beast chuffed.
“Can you talk to me?” Leilani said.
Just like that, the beast stepped aside, handing over control to Jaggar. Jaggar shifted before the beast could change his mind, a lurching, painful shift, but he managed it. He stood tall, his full height that towered over Leilani and she lost her hold on his ears, breaking the contact between them. “Oh,” she said, and she took a step backwards. The expression on her face changed, loosening, slackening and she looked away, toward the right. Her eyes opened and the silver light spilled out again, building in intensity.
Jaggar squinted in the fall of that light, bracing himself against the pain that fell in on top of him, never breaking him, only molding him, strengthening him. His mantra started in the back of his mind, while he gave his attention to Leilani. Take me to church, take me to church. He kept it light. When it was light, it didn’t take away all of his pain, but he stayed anchored in the present.
He stood before Leilani naked, reaching out for her. “I’m here,” he said. She raised her hand and he caught it. A pleasant rippling sensation filled him when she touched him, layering on top of his pain, lowering the intensity of it somewhat. He blinked in surprise and felt around for the pulling, ripping sensation that he’d borne as long as he could remember. That sensation that his body was trying to split him down the middle, it was still there, but it was soothed.
Jaggar had a little extra space to think, a little more mental power with which to appreciate his mate. He’d spent so much energy over his life trying to package that pain, keep it manageable, now that it was lessened, it left him more staggered than he wanted to admit.
Leilani stepped in close to him and put her free hand on his chest. She gasped to find bare skin there, but didn’t pull her hand away.
He felt eyes on them. The KSRT, maybe patrol. This was between him and Leilani and he wanted no one watching.
He growled into the night air and sent one thought to anyone in the vicinity. Stay back. Leave us be. Then he cut off his ability to receive and turned to his mate.
His mate. He was touching his mate. She was touching him. He kept himself under control and moved his free hand to her shoulder. “Will you come with me? I need clothes.”
She nodded. Her eyes were closed again and he wished they weren’t. He wanted to see them, silver or not.
He pulled her down the path, leading her right to the newest cabin at VF, as Rogue liked to call it and the others had started to call it, also. Village Fucktastic. His mind did not dare to think that he and Leilani could be a part of the “village,” but if that happened, they would not live at VF. Leilani would not be a part of a place that was labeled so crudely. She was too special for that, too innocent and fragile. She was a lady and he would see that she was treated like one.
He growled into the night as they made their way to the cabin, just in case anyone within earshot might be thinking that Leilani wasn’t special, wasn’t deserving of special treatment.
“Are we in danger?” Leilani asked, her voice soft, her hand gripping his. She crowded as close to him as possible. He put one arm around her and pulled her in close, tucking her into his side. She fit perfectly.
“No, and if we were, I would protect you.”
She nodded. “I know you would,” but her voice held a tightness that hadn’t been there a moment before.
He pulled her up the small porch at the front of the cabin and then they were inside. Jaggar left the lights off. Leilani wouldn’t care and Jaggar didn’t need them. His night vision was excellent. “We’re in a cabin,” he said, “One of the ones in the back.”
“The back?”
“The back of… of Trevor and Ella’s place.” He would not call it VF to her.
“Oh,” Leilani said, but she looked lost.
He steered her toward the couch. “I need to get clothes on. Can you sit here and wait for me?”
She trembled and squeezed his hand. “I want to come with you.”
He barely stopped himself from hitting himself on the forehead. Of course she would be scared and nervous and not want to be left alone. He was an idiot and he needed to take better care of her, be more thoughtful about what she was going through.
“Come,” he said, pulling her down the hallway. He found a dresser in the first room he came to, filled with many sizes of KSRT uniforms, all big. He found his size and pulled out a set, putting it on top of the dresser.
Leilani held his hand in both of hers, looking like she’d rather die than let go. Jaggar shook out a shirt with one hand and tried to pull it over his head. He got his neck hole situated, then one arm in. The cabin was completely silent.
Gently, Jaggar took one of Leilani’s hands in his free hand. “I need that arm for just a sec,” he said. “I’ll give it right back, I promise.”
She half-smiled and his throat tightened. H
e was falling in love with her, head over heels in love with her, and he didn’t know her at all, had barely spoken to her, and he loved her anyway. It was going to hurt so bad if she decided she didn’t want him, if she really wanted Harlan-. But no, Eventine was here. Harlan would never, ever take another if he could have Eventine. Harlan had fallen for Evie just as hard and fast as Jaggar was falling for Leilani, and Harlan hadn’t even recognized Eventine as his mate at first.
Jaggar recognized Leilani as his mate, and the thought scared him to his core. She was so perfect, so delicate, so innocent, so fresh and lovely, and he wanted to lock her up in a castle with everything she ever needed and cut her wildflowers every day. He wanted to draw her bubble baths and wash her hair and rub her shoulders. Take care of her.
Leilani let go of his one hand, keeping tight hold of his other one, and he pushed the first in his sleeve. Now to get his pants on one-handed, somehow. He managed it, even buttoning the fly with one hand. He needed socks and boots, but he needed something else first, he had to know.
“Eventine,” he said, not even sure how to ask the question.
Leilani nodded, her face soft and a little scared. “She was in the meadow. She’s ok now. I-we went back in time and we got her body and they were able to counteract the poison.”
Jaggar shook his head, trying to get a handle on that. “But how?” he said. “We couldn’t touch anyone where we just were.”
Leilani opened her eyes and silver light flooded the room, showing all the corners. “It was different before.” Her eyes fluttered, softly shining light spilling down her cheeks. She held both his hands and faced him.
He stood as still as possible and looked down at her. She was so lovely, her hair long and dark and curling past her shoulders, her eyes exotic and mysterious. She looked pale and too thin, too, but he knew why.
That place.
He’d known she was his mate at first sight, and the realization had floored him, almost devastating him, because he’d never been with a woman. He’d never trusted himself to be with a woman, and so how could he possibly trust himself to be with this woman? He loved her on sight, but she was so thin, almost frail-looking at times.
