Wild Things

  “No¸” Mason said, resolute. His two brothers filled the doorway, and he knew their opinion was solidly with his. Only Broderick was absent, but Mason knew Broderick would agree that Aunt Cora came first.

  Jasmine had moved across the room to stand with Nancy and Joanne. She looked worried, uncertain, but she said softly, “I think it’s up to your aunt, Mason.”

  “No,” Mason repeated. Letting Aunt Cora go was not an option. The crazed beast in the basement was already a long way gone, and who knew if Zander could do anything for him after all? Zander was afraid he couldn’t. If Zander spent himself, as he claimed, in a futile attempt to save Aleck, they’d lose both Aleck and Aunt Cora.

  Derek and Corey growled behind Mason, a wall of accord.

  “Mason …” Aunt Cora began.

  “Your aunt is right,” Zander said. “It’s not up to you to choose who gets healed and who doesn’t. It’s the choice of the heal-ee.”

  “And I say, go save Aleck,” Aunt Cora said, her tone decided. “Let the cub have a father. Then if you have anything left, healer, come back and see me.”

  She pressed her lips together and closed her eyes, argument over.

  Nancy said nothing at all. She was crying silently, knowing that Mason and his family had never wanted anything to do with her and Aleck. Broderick had brought Aleck and Nancy here because they’d had nowhere else to go, and Broderick had wanted to please Joanne. Joanne knew it, and looked distressed and unhappy. The two women had come to love Aunt Cora in their own right.

  Zander started to leave the room only to find his way blocked by Mason, Derek, and Corey. He stopped, his expression holding sorrow but also determination.

  “It’s her choice, Mason,” Zander said.

  “Do you honestly think you can bring Aleck back?” Mason asked him. “And do it without it messing yourself up too much to heal her?”

  “No,” Zander said, truth in his voice. “This might kill me. But I have to do it. It’s what the Goddess chose me for.”

  Mason’s heart pounded. He faced down Zander, who continued to simply look at him. Could a giant polar bear best three furious wolves? Looked like they were about to find out.

  “Mason, let him,” Jasmine’s clear voice cut into his jumbled thoughts, and then her cool presence was next to him, her touch on his hand. “Let him try. I’ll be there—I can help.”

  Before Mason could snarl that he wasn’t about to let Jasmine anywhere near the crazy Shifter in the basement, Zander said, “You too, Mason. Both of you can ground me and keep me from going insane. You’re both Goddess-touched. It’s the best chance we have.”

  “Shit,” Mason said. His throat was tight and aching, his wolf wanting to knock Zander to the floor until Zander agreed to try first with Aunt Cora. Only Jasmine’s touch pulled him back from his frenzy.

  “All right, all right.” Mason glared at Zander. “But the minute you know you can’t save him, I’m hauling your ass out of there and bringing you back to Aunt Cora.”

  Zander nodded. “Sounds reasonable.” He started out the door, pushing Derek and Corey aside without any effort at all. Mason guessed he knew who would have lost that fight.

  * * *

  Jazz grew colder as Mason opened the door to the basement and led her and Zander down the stairs. Not only was the air cooler, but an aura of fear and rage blanketed everything. She shivered and drew closer to Mason.

  She clutched her bag of accoutrements and wondered how her innocent crystals and stones could make a dent in the crazed anger that flowed over the basement. She had sensed some of Aleck’s insanity upstairs, but here it was so thick and dense she felt as though she walked through fetid swamp water.

  The main room of the basement was mostly storage, overflow from the house above. In one corner, someone had set up a small television and a couple of comfortable chairs.

  The back part of the basement had been partitioned off with a wall and one door. Behind it was Aleck.

  Jasmine knew he was there before Broderick, who’d met them at the bottom of the stairs, a tranq rifle over his shoulder, unlocked and opened the door. Aleck’s red and black aura had hit her as soon as she’d stepped into the main basement, no wall able to keep it contained. The door itself was flimsy, a cheap one from a hardware store with a standard lock, but that wasn’t what held the feral in.

  Bars had been built across the long and narrow room they entered. Two inches thick, the bars had been embedded into the cement walls and floor and drilled through the ceiling above. The welding job was expert, Broderick and his brothers able to build more than music boxes.

  Jazz knew the bars were strong, because when Aleck slammed himself into them from across the room, they didn’t move.

  As soon as she looked at Aleck, she realized why Mason was now convinced that Zander could do nothing for him. Aleck had shifted so that he was half man, half Feline. From the markings, Jazz guessed leopard, though it was hard to tell. His face was mostly eyes and fangs, the need to kill high as he fixed on Mason and Broderick.

  Whatever had been sane in this Shifter was gone. Spittle ran down his face and into his fur, and the hands that held the bars had broken and ragged claws.

  Zander walked into the room and right up to the bars. Aleck switched his gaze to Zander, and his eyes filmed with red, his fury growing. Zander took him in and said, “Well, that’s not good.”

  “Too far gone?” Mason asked, sounding a little more hopeful. “All right, tranq him Brod, and we’ll go help Aunt Cora.”

  “I did tranq him,” Broderick replied with his usual gruffness. “You should have seen him before you came down here.”

  “Then I guess Zander can’t help him.” Mason jerked a thumb at the larger man. “That’s him, by the way, the healer.”

  “I figured.” Broderick pinned Zander with a stare. “I felt him come in, violating my territory. You’re bear, Mason told me on the phone. Figures. All bears are arrogant shitheads. Think you can do anything for Aleck?” he asked Zander, no apology in his tone.

  Zander hadn’t taken his eyes off Aleck. “Yes,” he said quietly. “But I’ll need to get in there with him.”

  Mason put out a quick hand. “If you go in there, he’ll kill you.”

  “No, he won’t.” Zander’s voice was quiet but held determination. “Jazz, sweetie, take out your strongest stones and spread them outside the base of the cage, close to the bars. Ask the Goddess to fill them with everything she’s got. Then sage the place up. A nice cloud of it will help.”

  Jazz turned from Mason to obey. Her hands were shaking as she opened her bag and laid out the stones, which winked in the dim light. Mason watched her a moment, his body stiff, unhappy, then he sank to his knees to help her. Jazz felt better with him near, his strong hands placing stones where she indicated.

  “You’ll have to leave,” Zander was saying to Broderick. “Aleck reacts strongly to you, probably because you keep tranquing him. He knows you don’t like him.”

  Broderick frowned and hefted the rifle. “I like him—at least when he’s lucid. I just don’t trust him.”

  “And that’s why you have to go,” Zander said. “Take the tranq gun too. It’s making him nervous.”

  Mason looked up and gave his brother a nod. “It’s all right, Brod. I got this. Zander’s actually not as crazy as he seems.”

  Broderick didn’t believe him, and Jazz knew Mason didn’t really believe it either. But Mason was willing to do what it took to finish this.

  Broderick considered for a time, then he slid the tranq rifle over his shoulder, dropped a key into Mason’s hand, and made for the door. “I’ll be right outside. Call me if you need another shot.”

  He gave Mason a long look then strode out and slammed the door behind him.

  “Lock it,” Zander said to Mason. “Just in case Aleck gets out. He’d make short work of that door, but at least it will slow him down so you and I can contain him. But if he makes it to the rest of the house …”

&n
bsp; Mason didn’t like any part of what Zander said, Jazz could tell, but he climbed to his feet and locked the door.

  Zander pointed at Jazz, his voice matter-of-fact despite the despair in his eyes. “You, sweetheart, pray to the Goddess as hard as you can. We’ll need all the help she can give us. Mason, my friend, let me into the cage and then lock it behind me. Once Aleck is better, get him out of here but lock me in. Got it? You’ll contain me in this good cage until I recover—if I can. If I can’t … ” Zander paused, then he regarded them with resignation. “Kill me quickly and send for your Guardian.”

  Mason’s face was drawn, but he nodded.

  “Zander, don’t,” Jazz got to her feet and went to him. “I didn’t realize he would be so bad. We can’t ask you to do this.” No wonder she and Mason had sensed fear in Zander—facing a crazed, strong beast who was too far insane to stop himself from killing, and maybe becoming just like him, was something no one should volunteer to do.

  Zander looked down at her, his black eyes filled with acceptance. “You’re sweet, Jazz. You and Mason make a great couple. But this is out of your hands now. I can’t walk away from someone who needs my help any more than you can refuse to use your gift to search for someone because you’re afraid of what you’ll find. The Goddess picked me to do shit like this, so I’m gonna do it.” He drew a long breath, took her hand, and squeezed it between his. “You and Mason concentrate on the stones and the Goddess, and put your strength together. I’ll do my part, and …” He shrugged. “We’ll see what happens.”

  Zander needed to do this, Jazz suddenly understood. No matter how terrified he was of the feral, or of what the healing would do to him, Zander would go through with it. He had a drive to heal—he couldn’t stop himself doing it any more than Jazz could stop psychic visions coming to her. He’d break into the cage regardless of whether Mason opened it for him.

  Zander, without waiting for Mason’s decision, began stripping off, ensuring he would be ready to shift.

  Mason watched him a moment, then squared his shoulders with as much determination as Zander. “Jasmine, go over there, and stay there until I get the cage locked again.”

  He pointed at the corner farthest from the cage door. Jazz, not really wanting to be in the path of a crazed feral Shifter, hurried to it.

  Aleck caught her movement, turned his gaze to her, and kept it there. Jazz definitely didn’t like that, but she lifted her chin and stared right back at him, keeping him distracted from Mason at the cage’s door.

  Broderick and his brothers had used a modified wrought-iron gate to secure the cage, its hinges welded into the bars. It had a deadbolt lock, which Mason opened with the key.

  The moment the lock clicked open, Zander grabbed the gate, opened it, quickly slid through, and shut it behind him. Mason locked it immediately, leaving Zander alone in the cage with Aleck.

  Aleck whipped his attention from Jazz to Zander. He stared at Zander in disbelief for a moment, then let out a roar and attacked him.

  * * *

  Mason clutched the bars, and Jasmine cried out as Aleck launched himself into Zander. The two Shifters met then became one ball of fighting madness.

  Mason reached for the lock, but Zander bellowed at him, “No!” and shifted.

  Aleck found himself caught in the strong arms of a man who was part human, part enormous polar bear. Zander snarled, going for Aleck with his teeth as Aleck clawed and fought. Neither Shifter wore a Collar—there was nothing to stop them from tearing each other apart.

  Jasmine hurried back to the cage. On her knees again, she continued to lay out her stones, chanting as she did so. Mason knelt beside her, following her directions to place the stones about two inches apart. She muttered over each one, though Mason could hear her words perfectly.

  “Goddess, Mother of the Moon, attend us. Tiger’s eye for protection; bloodstone for strength; amber, quartz, and amethyst for healing; obsidian for peace. We call you now to be with us.”

  Jasmine’s invocation was not much different from what Shifters used for ceremonies or meditation. Mason began chanting along with her, figuring two people pleading for the Goddess’s help would be better than one.

  As they worked, Zander and Aleck fought. Zander was big, but Aleck was maddened by the crazy shit going on in his brain. There was no trace of the pain-in-the-ass Feline Nancy loved. Aleck was totally feral. His eyes were red, his mouth dripped froth, and he went for the kill without hesitation.

  Jasmine lit her smudge stick, blowing on the embers to encourage the sage smoke to rise. A puff of it went past Mason, making him sneeze, and into the cage. Aleck coughed then tore himself from Zander, focused on Jasmine, and lunged straight at her.

  Mason hauled Jasmine out of the way just as Aleck’s clawed paws came through the bars, landing where Jasmine had knelt. The Goddess only knew what the claws of a feral would inject into human blood, if Jasmine had survived him ripping into her at all.

  Zander took the opportunity to get behind Aleck and grab him in a headlock. Zander’s white fur and burning black eyes made him look much like the yeti the hunters had feared him to be, a man-beast left over from primeval times. Zander had his huge hand-paws around Aleck’s throat, and for a moment, Mason thought he’d snap Aleck’s neck.

  The moment passed. Zander dragged Aleck back from the bars and threw him to the floor. Zander went down on top of him, using his body weight to keep Aleck pinned. Aleck went crazy, flailing and crashing himself against the floor, trying to dislodge Zander.

  Zander held him down with impossible strength, then to Mason’s surprise, Zander closed his eyes and began to chant.

  His voice rumbled through the basement room in a language Mason didn’t recognize. The words were long and low, droned in a mesmerizing bass voice, a chant so ancient it vibrated Mason’s bones. Mason didn’t know how he knew the words were old, but his very cells recognized it must be so.

  Aleck twisted and fought. Zander somehow held him in place, his chant continuing.

  Jasmine seemed to understand what was needed. She lifted a piece of amethyst and clutched it tightly, then handed Mason the amber that had lit him up like a Christmas tree.

  The amber wasn’t glowing now, but Mason felt its warmth, palpable where it pressed his palm. Jasmine didn’t wait for his reaction but grabbed his free hand.

  A shock jolted from her body to his. Mason was filled with sudden heat, and not one that came from his ever-present need for her. Though his mating frenzy was never far from the surface, this was a connection, like a smooth cord forming around their joined hands and gathering into a knot.

  The sage smoke filled Mason’s nostrils, calming him in spite of the deathly struggle only four feet away.

  At the same time, the amber in his hand began to glow. The yellow light leaked around Mason’s fingers, surrounding his body and Jasmine’s, and then flowing from them into the cage.

  Jasmine moved closer to him. Their hips and shoulders touched, and the amber’s shine encompassed both of them. Jasmine glanced at Mason, as startled by all this as he was.

  Mason looked down into Jasmine’s wide blue eyes, and knew.

  The amber glow touched Zander in the cage. He stiffened but chanted louder, his eerie words blending with the smoke and light.

  Mason lost track of the world as Zander’s voice transfixed him, as did the nearness of Jazz and her body pressed to his. A trembling warmth infused him, spreading out from his heart. It was pain but incredible joy at the same time, comparable to the exultation that had filled him when he’d thrust himself inside Jasmine for the first time and breathed his scent on her to make her his.

  The mate bond.

  Mason had no idea if Jasmine felt it too. Sometimes both halves of the couple didn’t manifest it. Heartbreaking and devastating when that didn’t happen.

  Figured that Mason would have to realize it here, where an insane polar bear and a feral Feline were battling it out while magic Mason didn’t believe in swirled around him.
That magic, the metaphysical world Jasmine had introduced him to, was now the only thing that might save their butts.

  He felt Jasmine looking at him with encouragement. She was, in the middle of all this, trying to make Mason feel better. That’s what true mates did—looked out for each other, protected each other, loved each other, healed each other. The touch of a mate.

  If they survived this, their lovemaking was going to blow off the roof.

  Mason glanced at Aleck again and blinked. Had he calmed? It wasn’t obvious if so, but Mason swore Aleck’s writhing had grown less frenzied, and he was now only trying to disembowel Zander a few times a minute.

  A sort of fog began to permeate the cage, but not from the smoke. Mason, blinking, realized the fog wasn’t really there, only something he was seeing with his mind’s eye.

  Auras, he understood with a shock. Mason was seeing what Jasmine saw—the manifestation of what made a person who he or she was.

  Zander’s was gray and black in various shades, while Aleck’s was black streaked with violent red. Jasmine, by his side, was silver and a beautiful, tranquil blue, shot here and there with rainbow colors. Exactly right for her.

  As Mason turned back to the cage, his hold on Jasmine’s hand tightening, he noted that the red in Aleck’s aura was gradually fading.

  Whatever the hell Zander was doing was working. Mason saw the amber glow from the stone that enveloped Mason and Jasmine was now sliding into Zander’s and Aleck’s auras.

  He and Jasmine were somehow causing that, he realized. However the Goddess-touched part of Mason was twining with the Goddess in Jasmine, it was coming together to lend Zander and Aleck strength.

  Under Zander, Aleck drew a shuddering breath. He slowly ceased struggling and then simply lay still, pinned by Zander and breathing hard.

  After a few more minutes, Aleck shifted haltingly back to his human form and tried to lift his head. He saw Mason and looked at him, his eyes normal brown and no longer tinged red. “Oh, Goddess,” Aleck said in a weak voice as Zander slid away from him. “What have I done now?”