by Fel Fern
Ryder slammed the door shut and let his animal take over.
Pain swept through his entire body. Fur covered his chest and shoulders. Bones broke. Organs moved. Ryder fell on all four paws and let out a growl. He bolted for the trees, his ears upright, alert and wary.
Cats could climb and this area was their playground. Ryder was at a major disadvantage here. A wiser man would’ve waited for his fellow pack mates instead of diving right into enemy territory, but Ryder didn’t have the luxury of time. He’d never been that smart either.
Things would work out. They always did. That was the only words of wisdom passed onto him by the fucker who’d given this monstrous beast to him. Ryder ran faster, but he was also careful. He didn’t announce his presence, was careful to cling to the bushes.
A wolf didn’t slink like a coward, like prey, but Ryder couldn’t take on an entire pride. He didn’t even know how many surviving Black Claws panthers were left. Ryder didn’t know what they were planning to do with Aiden, but he could only hope he wasn’t too late.
Chapter 4
“No,” Aiden whispered, backing away.
His ass hit the ground. A foot found its way to his ribs. He curled on the ground, groaning. He looked to the red-haired human staring at him, mouth slack, the whites of his eyes showing. Aiden would get no help from him or the other three humans avoiding his gaze.
The panther shifter in human form grabbed his arm and forced him to his feet. The distinct rake mark over his face told Aiden this man was one of his kidnappers in the van. The bastard twisted his arm behind his back, making him groan.
“I hope you survive the Bite. You’ll make for a good submissive kitty playmate,” whispered the panther shifter in his ear.
He flinched. The guy marched him forward, to where Price was standing. The creepy Alpha was stroking his dick while staring down at Joe’s glassy-eyed corpse. Aiden couldn’t look away from the red mess of skin Price tore out from Joe’s neck.
“This one’s a kicker,” the panther shifter said, shoving him right into Price’s white, muscled arms.
Aiden squirmed, but Price’s grip felt like steel. Price placed one thickly muscled arm over his chest and drew him close, into what almost seemed like a lover’s embrace.
“I like those with fight,” Price whispered in his ear. The shifter licked at the side of his neck, and Aiden froze up. When that cowboy did it to him earlier it felt sexy, hot, but only terror took hold of him now. Fear gripped him in place, paralyzed every bone in his body.
“You killed Joe,” he whispered. “Murdered him in front of my eyes.”
“Oh? Did you know that dead weakling at your feet? He has plenty of meat on him. He’ll make a good meal for my cats. Do you want to end up like him?” Price yanked his hair back forcefully until he teared up.
“No,” he whispered. He remembered one of the defensive moves Tom had taught him. Aiden bent his left elbow back and shoved it as hard as he could against Price’s privates. He hit something soft and squishy. Price shoved him away with a hiss.
Aiden took that opportunity to run. His kidnapper glared at him, about to give chase.
“Don’t. He’s my prey, Jason,” Price gritted out. “Leave him to me or I’ll rip out your throat.”
Aiden dove for the trees, heart racing. Shifters possessed superior speed and strength. Aiden had zero chances of survival, but screw statistics. His will to live might surprise everyone. Aiden ran as fast as his legs could carry him, but his smoker’s lungs soon had him heaving, panting. It felt like his lungs were on fire.
He stopped. Seconds, no, minutes must’ve passed. Price should’ve caught up to him by now. He lifted his head, sucked in a breath as he caught more eyes glowing in the dark. They were only watching him, hunger apparent in their gazes. Something wet dripped down his forehead, his cheek.
Aiden touched his cheek, swallowed as the sticky substance clung to his fingers. Saliva. A white blur sped through the trees. Branches broke as Price leapt at him. Aiden broke into a run again, but he moved too slow. Price knocked the air from him as their bodies collided.
Price drove him right into the ground, digging his claws into Aiden’s chest. Pain seared to his skull. He screamed. Price unsheathed his fangs, then without ceremony, locked them on the side of Aiden’s neck, ripping at skin and muscle, teeth hitting bone. God. Was this what it was like, being skinned alive?
He screamed himself hoarse. The pain was unbelievable. Aiden wanted it all to end. He’d end up like Joe and the other dead humans. Fine. It wasn’t like he’d feel the other panther shifters eating him. He’d be dead by then, gone to heaven or down below. Whatever.
Blood coated his neck. So wet.
A howl shook the entire forest. Price raised his great furry head from his neck, narrowed his red eyes. Four of the big cats dropped from the trees, formed a protective circle around their Alpha.
Trapped in a haze of pain, Aiden could only watch, helpless, as something big and dark furred padded out of the bushes. Not a panther but a wolf with brown fur so dark it was almost black.
His heart nearly came to halt.
“You?” Aiden didn’t think he could still talk. Maybe he mouthed that word. It was the cowboy from the bar. Aiden didn’t know why he thought that, but the werewolf had the same hair color as that sexy shifter who kissed him and had the gull to reject him.
The panther shifters went for him. The violence that unfolded, shocked him to the core. Aiden had seen big predators fighting on the animal channel, but this was different. The panthers went for the werewolf. He thought it would be over, just like that, but the werewolf held his ground.
The werewolf charged at the nearest panther shifter. The cat didn’t move fast enough. The werewolf had its neck by his teeth. One panther leaped at him from behind, but the werewolf shook it off like it was a nuisance. Two more cats fell on him.
Despair filled Aiden as Price returned his attention to him. He hated the smugness in the Alpha’s eyes. Doomed, Price seemed to say. The bastard sunk his teeth into Aiden’s neck again. Aiden was destined to bleed out here like a pig to the slaughter while his only savior would be clawed to death in the process.
A choking, horrible noise came from his throat. Aiden was laughing, knew it was inappropriate. It hurt, but he didn’t care. For a moment, he locked gazes with the werewolf, before the werewolf disappeared under a mountain of snarling, sandy-colored vicious whirlwind of angry panther shifters.
Aiden shut his eyes. He felt lightheaded. Price continued biting him. Why didn’t Price go for his jugular? Right. The monster probably wanted him to suffer. Aiden began to lose consciousness, but he thought he heard an earth-shattering roar in the distance. Calvary or more panthers? He closed his eyes and resigned himself to his fate.
* * * *
Ryder glimpsed the moment Aiden gave up, simply stopped fighting. He watched as his human closed his eyes and lay there, limp as a corpse as Price continued to ravage his neck. Ryder knew what the fucker was trying to do. Price was trying to Change Aiden to one of them, and it wasn’t clean.
Old memories Ryder thought he’d buried deep inside his head resurfaced. Rage empowered him. New energy surged through his bitten and clawed up body. He waded through the angry mess of panthers, desperate for air.
Then Ryder heard it. The long and pissed-off howl that echoed through the woods. An Alpha’s call. Talon. Someone tore off the body on top of him. He’d recognize Alec’s white mane anywhere. Ryder shoved past the panthers, saw his pack mates fending off the other panther shifters.
Dom and Kris fought off half a dozen panther shifters in one corner. Talon and Max in another. At the very least none of them had brought their mates. Sam was human. Teddy and Chip were both submissive shifters. Those three weren’t assets in a fight. Still, the odds were stacked against them.
His stomach dropped. There were more panther shifters than he imagined. Not all of them knew how to fight. The other werewolves easily took on the novices easily,
tossed them away like nuisances. The cats didn’t get up again. They stayed down instead for going for the kill. Some of them looked defeated, sick, like they didn’t want to be there.
An awful revelation struck him. They’re making new ones. New fodder for their army.
Ryder went for the white panther shifter, the one bigger than the rest, the Alpha, like a charging bull. He shoved the bastard off his human and bared his fangs. Bloodshot yellow eyes met his own. The panther Alpha opened his jaws, flashing him stained fangs.
The fucker was laughing at him. If Ryder killed him, then everything would be over. Without an Alpha to lead them, the panthers would have no choice but to disband. This guy looked like the brains of the operation. Ryder and the others wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. They’d exterminate the rest of the pests. All of them. The Black Claws were cancer.
Ryder took a swipe at him with his claws, but the Alpha easily dodged and leapt towards the nearest tree branch. He stuck out his long tongue at Ryder. He should’ve known it wouldn’t be that easy. This stupid Alpha was pissing him off. The white cat leapt into a higher branch, then jumped to another tree, far from his grasp.
Coward.
A moan from the ground reverted his attention back to his human—or human no longer. It was too early to tell. Aiden looked ghastly under the moonlight, his skin the color of bone. Blood covered his neck, the front of his shirt. For a second, Ryder thought Aiden was dead, but then he saw the rise and fall of Aiden’s chest.
A wave of relief filled him. He was glad Aiden was alive, but would Aiden feel the same way? If Aiden did make it, survived the Change, would he loathe himself? Hate that he’d become the very monster who’d hurt him?
They’d cross that bridge when they needed to. For now, Aiden needed him. Ryder had to keep him alive. He’d seen the other dead bodies. The failed Changes. Aiden had survived this long. He’d make it. Aiden might look like a scrawny human on the outside, but he possessed a fire in him, a strong urgency to live. Ryder counted on that.
Ryder clamped his teeth on back of Aiden’s shirt, careful not to hurt him, and began to slowly drag him away from the fighting.
A couple of panther shifters came at him, but time and time again, Alec dragged them away. Ryder made it far away from the fighting. He looked for Alec, who caught his gaze a couple of feet away. Werewolves weren’t telepathic, but they were all connected by the same pack bonds. During dire times, they could sense each other’s emotions. Right now, he needed Alec to understand him.
They’re too many. Tell everyone to retreat.
Alec must’ve sensed his emotions of distress and panic, must’ve understood Ryder had gotten what he needed, because Alec let out a loud howl. Ryder trusted the rest of his pack mates understood his message. Ryder would meet them back on their land, and he’d have some explaining to do. For now, Ryder needed to focus on getting Aiden and him out of there.
It was risky, but Ryder changed back to human form. He lifted Aiden’s broken body in his arms. Aiden weighed light as a feather.
“You don’t deserve this,” Ryder whispered. “You don’t belong in our world.”
No answer. Aiden was out cold. His pack mates still had the cats’ attention but not for long. Ryder broke into a run. Being in human form exposed him to other predators, but he didn’t care. Luck finally seemed to be on his side, because he didn’t encounter a single cat shifter along the way.
Ryder reached his truck, entire body covered in blood and sweat. He yanked opened the door and slid Aiden carefully in the back seat. Aiden shivered violently. Ryder got inside his truck. He could smell them getting closer. The panthers.
Ryder revved up his engine and drove out of there. He drove past the speed limit, pushed his baby to the max. Ryder couldn’t take Aiden to the hospital in town. Aiden needed medical attention, but from Ryder’s personal experience, he knew humans harbored prejudice against newly Changed shifters. The doctors and nurses at the local hospital would only put Aiden in handcuffs. They would be reluctant to treat him. Ryder would need to reach out to an old buddy of his, a shifter healer.
He hadn’t prayed in ages, but at that moment, he sent a prayer above to keep this human safe.
“Save him. He’s important. He deserves to live,” he whispered.
Chapter 5
A fever took hold of Aiden. He wove in and out of consciousness. Every inch of his body hurt. He kept relieving the same nightmare over and over again, that of Price grinning menacingly above him, his teeth coated with Aiden’s blood. Aiden woke with a jolt.
A faint buzzing started in his ear, and it grew louder, almost to an unbearable pitch. He could make out the constant drip of a leaking pipe somewhere inside the house. The creaking of nearby branches as strong winds battered at them. He shut his eyes for a moment and put his fingers into his ears. That helped but only a little.
Aiden took deep, slow breaths. He finally took a peek at himself, at his surroundings.
Aiden looked wildly around. He was lying in some kind of bed, naked save for a pair of loose jogging shorts. Thick bandages covered his chest and neck. He tentatively touched his throat, fingers shaking as Price’s pale face and red eyes loomed in his head. Aiden didn’t recognize the wooden walls or the minimalist furniture in the bedroom. Every single detail of the room seemed so crystal clear, like the fine lines of the log walls, even the bright red threads of the comforter thrown over him.
Aiden’s eyesight had started to get a little blurry, but he kept delaying the trip to the optometrist. Didn’t seem like he needed glasses anymore.
For a second, panic seized him. Aiden remembered Joe’s lifeless eyes on the ground. The pile of corpses a few feet from him. Last night happened, but he wasn’t dead. He should be. Aiden was a nobody. He was weak, got bullied all the time back in high school. As an adult, he was a pushover. Coworkers at Tom’s bar always asked to switch shifts with him or take an extra one. Aiden never refused. When someone cut the queue in front of him at the supermarket, he never had the guts to voice out his complaints, but now?
Apart from the fear that settled in his chest, there was a new emotion. Anger. It twisted in his insides, begged to be let out. In his mind’s eye, he remembered the pairs of yellow eyes in the trees. The great and graceful shapes that leapt from one branch to the next. If he looked deep in himself—no. Aiden wasn’t ready for that.
Aiden soon picked out voices outside the bedroom and focused on them.
“How is he?” said a familiar voice.
It took Aiden a few seconds to realize it was the cowboy from last night. He’d been out of it after Price attacked him, but he remembered fragments, someone gently lifting him in his arms. Under the blood and wet fur, his mysterious savior smelled so good. Aiden also remembered one other thing he said.
You don’t belong in this world.
“Not good, Ryder,” replied a second voice. Another male. Was he the doctor who had tended to Aiden’s injuries? Why hadn’t Ryder taken him to a hospital?
“Define ‘not good.’”
“Depends on how you look at it. He’s healing, so that’s definitely a good sign. No serious injuries, but the scars on his chest and neck will remain.” The second guy paused, “He survived the Change, but he was Bitten without his consent.”
That’s why, Aiden thought. Goosebumps appeared across his arms. Doctors were reluctant to treat shifter patients, but nonetheless, they received the same services. Newly Changed shifters were a different matter because they didn’t have full control of their inner beasts yet. They were treated like violent individuals.
Aiden couldn’t imagine seeing the horrified look of his coworkers or Tom when they came to visit him. He wouldn’t be able to stand the pity in their faces.
Ryder growled. “I know what you’re getting at.”
“He just went through a traumatic experience. It won’t be easy for him to accept the animal that now lives in his skin.”
Animal? Aiden was afraid to look. He tri
ed to blank out his mind. Think of pleasant things but his heart rate went up. His breathing turned harsh.
Ryder let out a growl. Aiden could hear the frustration there. Strange. He couldn’t do that before, back when he was human. God. He didn’t think he’d ever get used to this, to the monster he’d become.
“I know. Anything else?” Ryder asked. The voices faded away. A door slammed shut.
Aiden clutched the comforter. He had to face the truth of what he’d become sooner or later. He could sense it now, the panther. It felt like an intruder, a parasite living under his skin. The big cat prowled inside him, its bright yellow watching him. Waiting to get free.
Aiden looked down, appalled to see he’d shredded the sheets. Cotton flew everywhere. Some landed on his tongue. He spat it out, about to pick it off, but he froze. He no longer had human hands. Claws protruded from his nails. Awful looking things that reminded him of Halloween props but they weren’t. They were real.
He cried out, sitting up in bed, staring at them. Beige fur appeared on his arms, the rest of his upper body. Aiden meant to stand up, but he ended up tumbling to the floor. He got on all fours, screamed as unbearable pain zipped through his entire body.
“No,” he gritted out. “Don’t come out. You can’t. I don’t want you.”
The beast didn’t listen. Nothing could halt his transformation. The front door banged opened. Footsteps thudded on the wooden floors. Ryder’s handsome face peered at him from the bedroom door.
“Don’t look at me,” he whispered. Aiden’s voice came out scratchy, barely human.
His shorts ripped as a tail emerged.
“Aiden, relax. Let the beast take over. You need to change,” Ryder said.
Change? Never. Aiden was petrified of the other presence that shared his body. He didn’t want to become one of them. It would have been so much better if he became a wolf, not this thing that killed Joe and the other humans. He screamed as the animal began to tear out of him. It felt like a violation of the worst kind. How could shifters live with this sort of pain every time they transformed?
