by Kym Dillon
Kaella's healing had worked wonders, leaving her strong and rested, but there was an exhaustion at the edges of her mind, something that told her she would need to rest, truly rest, sooner rather than later.
Dawn was just pearling the sky when a deep howl pierced the air. A lurch of fear shuddered through Jessica's body, leaving her looking around, but Verrine looked utterly unconcerned. Marcus looked up with delight, and to Jessica's shock, he lifted his head and howled in kind, the sound identical to the one they had heard.
“Friends are coming,” he said, and suddenly the clearing was full of wolves.
They streamed from the forest, standing higher than her hip at their shoulder. She could see several thin red wolves of the Indian subcontinent as well as the thickly built and powerful timber wolves of North America and the slender golden wolves of Africa. They frisked like puppies around them, their eyes bright with human intelligence, and Jessica shook her head.
“I am never going to be afraid of wild animals again,” she mused, and Marcus glanced at her.
“Well, there are some wild animals behind us that scare the hell out of me, so you can be brave for both of us,” he joked, and then they were off again.
When the sun was half way past the horizon, they came to a village that greeted them with shouts of delight. It looked like many other villages that Jessica had visited in remote places in the world, but there was a heavy wooden wall that surrounded it. A tall woman, her skin as black as polished mahogony and a serene beauty on her face, came out to greet them.
“You are welcome to the sanctuary of shifters, she said in lightly accented in English. “Be welcome, all.”
A loud shrieking went up from the trees, and Jessica's head jerked up. Now that she was looking for them, she could see the chimpanzees high in the trees. The People of the Trees had been following them all night, and she had never noticed. The woman who had spoken looked up with surprise.
“You have called some powerful allies to you, Marcus,” she said, and he nodded grimly.
“I am very much afraid that we will need them,” he said. “We need to talk strategy.”
After that, everything seemed to speed up. Marcus touched her fingers with his, sending a spine tingling jolt through her, and then he was gone. Jessica might have felt a little at a loss, but a tall young girl, her hair knotted tight to her head and a fierce look of determination on her face, tugged her away.
“You are human,” she said bluntly. “You have no place in the fight to come.”
“I want to help, though,” Jessica protested, and the girl nodded.
“Come and help care for the children and the elderly, there is a safe place.”
Jessica knew with a pang that the girl was right. She would not be of any use in a fight between humans, let alone between one of shifters. She turned her head scanning for perhaps one last glance at Marcus, but after a single glimpse of him, he was gone, swallowed by the crowd.
“I want to help,” she said firmly, and the girl smiled at her.
The village and sanctuary were naturally fortified with the battlement wall of wood in front and a sheer rock face that stretched high behind. Both village and sanctuary had been in place for hundreds, perhaps, thousands of years, and there were rough steps hewn into the stone. Jessica joined the long line of humans heading up the steep steps, carrying a little girl on her back. Though there were shifters, young ones or weak ones, scattered in that crowd, they were mostly humans. Jessica realized from their calm demeanor that this was something that had happened often enough that it did not panic them. They spoke a language that she didn’t understand, and when they reached the cave, they all settled in to wait out the battle. Despite their calmness, however, Jessica could see that even the young children carried long knives. If any enemies made it up the stairs, they would be in for a grim surprise.
Jessica's body ached with exhaustion, but she sat the edge of the cave, her eyes scanning the jungle below for any sign of movement. The sanctuary protectors were as stealthy as those hunting them, and for almost an hour, it was quiet, like there was nothing amiss. The tension was just in her head, and everything would pass peacefully.
A sudden shout changed that, and from the heart of the forest stampeded a thick-tusked boar, as big as a pony, yet far more dangerous. It squealed a challenge before rushing straight for the wall, and Jessica had no doubt that if it struck, it would crash right through. Immediately after, however, a half-dozen gray wolves broke from cover, charging at the boar with tooth and fang. Though they were less than a quarter of the boar's size, they turned it, snapping at it viciously.
Then the battle was joined in earnest, and the ground in front of the village was turned into a mass of snarling fur and fang. She could see animals leaping at each other, screaming, dying, but in all the tumult, she could not find Marcus.
Oh please let him be all right. Please. Please...
She held her breath when a black panther leaped up out of the fray, coming down with claws out on what looked like a rampaging rhinoceros. It could have been Marcus, or perhaps it was Verrine, or even some shifter she had not met yet. The rhino bucked hard, and the panther was flung off of it. It hit a nearby tree with an impact that Jessica could feel from where she watched, but it was spared the beast's trampling feet. In a moment, the panther was up and ripping at the rhino's face, and the beast bellowed with pain.
The fighting swept over the scene, and Jessica was left without any view at all until she saw Marcus rise up in his human form at the edge of the fight. She could see the splotches of blood on his bare chest, saw how he moved like lightning. She reached out a hand as if she could protect him, and then he was launching himself across the clearing, a gleaming sword in his hand.
It was an enormous tiger that sprang forward to meet him, an animal that would have dwarfed him even in his panther form. In his human form, wearing nothing but a dyed swathe of fabric tied around his waist, Marcus looked ricidulously vulnerable, frail and human.
He had told her that the blade had powers though, and now she could see them. He swung the blade hard and fast, and it bit into the tiger's shoulder. Marcus slid backwards at the impact, but then the tiger was leaping away, howling with pain. That was enough for a trio of nearby wolves to fall on it, and after that, the battle was over.
The enemy was chased into the woods or killed, and the people around her raised a ragged cheer.
It was another restless hour before they were told it was safe to come down. Jessica descended the stairs on shaky legs, and when she found level ground again, she thought that she might faint for a moment. Then she found the strength to go on and to find Marcus, but he found her first. He had hurriedly bathed the blood from his body, but otherwise, he was as he had been in battle, bare-chested and powerful.
He swept her up in his arms, and this time, Jessica couldn't help but burst into tears.
“I was so scared. I thought you might die...”
“Not while you’re here waiting for me,” he said. “Not while you carry my heart in your chest. It would take more than that measly bunch to keep me from you.”
She laughed through her tears at his words, but there was some truth to it. She had given her heart to him, too, and she knew that he would keep it safe.
14
There was a celebration that night, and Jessica had stayed close to Marcus's side as he introduced her to his friends and comrades, the people who, like him, protected the world that existed side by side with hers. She nodded and laughed and enjoyed the music and the dancing, but she was grateful to go to the hut that Marcus said was hers.
When they made love that night, she felt as if she were falling into a sacred place made by their two bodies, a place that would never been lost. At the same time, she knew that this might be the last time they made love, and she strove to remember every touch, every kiss and every caress.
She had seen the way they looked at Marcus, how they regarded him and spoke about him. This was
his place, his people. They needed him. She knew that she could have stayed with them and been happy forever.
However, she was needed as well.
Jessica rose early the next morning. She bathed in the cold-water basin that was left for them, dressing as quickly as she could. When she looked around for her sample bag, she couldn't find it. She was on the verge of panicking until Marcus appeared, holding it in his hands.
“Looking for this?” he asked, as he handed it to her.
“I am so sorry,” she whispered. “I’d love nothing more than to stay here and be with you...”
Marcus pulled her into his arms and silenced her with a deep kiss. She clung to him, but she knew that it couldn't last.
“I know. I know,” he said at last. “I also know that you have a duty just as I do, and I am so proud and humbled by the woman you are. You are here to save lives, and that’s what you will do. I love you for it. I always will.”
“Marcus, I don't want to lose you,” Jessica whispered, and he smiled at her.
“You won’t. You’ll never lose me. We are bound to one another. You belong to me just as I belong to you. Right now, my place is here, and yours isn't. I swear to you though, I will come to you as soon as I can.”
“I believe you,” Jessica said, smiling through her tears.
An hour later, she was walking away from the sanctuary, a slim young man walking beside her as her guide. The village she needed to reach was only a day's march away, and by tomorrow, she would be doing the work the WHO had sent her to Tanzania to do. Marcus stood at the gates of the sanctuary, and she knew in her heart he would look after her fading form long after she was gone.
I love him. My heart belongs to a shifter, she thought, and nothing about this world will ever be the same.
THE END
Pounced
Were-Soldier Warriors Book 2
1
The bush pilot that the WHO representative had found for her was a lanky older man with enormous white eyebrows, a wandering eye and an accent that Marnie Arbinger could only describe as New York-French.
"Er, he doesn't have the best reputation in the world," her WHO contact had said with a wince, "but he'll get you where you are going. Just... you know. Maybe ignore most of what comes out of his mouth?"
Marnie had smiled dimly at the man, even as a part of her wanted to remind him that at the beginning and at the end of it, she was doing him a favor.
"This the big-time doc, eh?" said the bush pilot with a sneer. "Gawd, if they made most docs as pretty as you, I'd get my physicals more often, wouldn't I?"
"Not really that kind of doctor," Marnie muttered. "Not unless you are gravely ill..."
The truth was that despite her medical credentials, Marnie hadn't been in the field since the first hectic days of her residency. Her focus had always been on lab work and research, the blood that she studied provided in clean and sterile tubules and slides rather than in people. The work was rewarding and important, but sometime in the last few years, she had realized that it was not enough, far from it.
At the age of 27, Marnie was already well-respected in her field, doing important work in her CDC lab, and developing a reputation for the kind of insights that made all the difference when it came to hematology and the associated sciences. However, she was also growing increasingly frustrated with the bureaucracy that held her back and with the increasingly rote nature of her research. She needed something more, and it was as if her friend Jessica had zeroed in on that.
As much as Jessica had always said that she envied Marnie's bright blond hair and sky blue eyes, there was no denying the fact that Jessica herself was the one who always received the attention wherever they went. On Jessica's last night stateside, there were plenty of men at the bar, where they’d gone after the restaurant, eyeing her as if she was a piece of steak. Jessica, her bright eyes blazing, had ignored them as she gestured with her drink, her voice intent.
"I'm serious, Marnie," she said. "You are way too good to waste away in a lab. I know you are doing important work there, but there's a great deal to learn on the ground as well. There's so much out there that we don't understand. That’s why my next assignment’s deep in the African jungle. Honestly, you could be on the next flight out if you wanted. The WHO needs boots on the ground out there..."
"I'm really a lot more comfortable in my lab," Marnie began, but Jessica cut her off with a snort.
"Go ahead and use that city mouse demeanor on your colleagues that think that they know you, but for heaven's sake, don't try it with me!"
Marnie blushed as Jessica continued.
"You're tough. You’re also young, healthy, adaptable... I know that you hiked chunks of the Appalachian trail while you were actually in med school."
"I thought it was relaxing," Marnie said with a shrug, and Jessica shook her head.
"Normal people who want to relax watch Netflix and order take out. The fact that you took on walking through treacherous wilderness to relax your brain says something. Look... I know that you love your work, and that blood is kind of your life. I just think that there are better ways to serve the cause. Get out of the lab. Get on the ground and learn more about the people that you are so dedicated to helping."
The conversation had moved on to other things at that point, but Marnie could feel Jessica's words echoing through her mind. Jessica was always a convincing person, had been since they were children together, but this was more than that. It was more as if Jessica had given voice to something that had been echoing inside Marnie for a long time.
The next day, she had gone to her lab, realized that most of her work could be handled by people far less skilled than herself, and put in her notice. From there, it had been a real whirlwind, finding Jessica's contacts at the WHO and getting involved with their efforts in Tanzania, where Jessica had ended up.
There was a distressing time where it seemed as if Jessica had disappeared off the grid, but then she had reappeared, working in a remote Tanzania medical center under a Dr. Stephanie Carter. Communication had been sparse, but the message that Marnie had received several months ago had been blunt and to the point.
Please come. All medical help needed.
All of that had led to a round of intense inoculations, an expedited passport, several briefings from WHO officials and finally, a plane trip with an older man who seemed to think that he was far more charming than he actually was.
Marnie gritted her teeth when he made yet another comment about how such a pretty lady should have a good man. She smiled politely when he mentioned past girlfriends who looked just like her, and somehow she didn't lose her temper entirely when he put his hands on her shoulders, rubbing away a non-existent stiffness. She had always been shier than Jessica, the friend who hung back, but when she was as irritated as she was now, she had no qualms about defending herself. Still, he didn't do anything completely egregious until they stopped for refueling at a small village in the middle of nowhere.
"So, I hope you know that it's a real mission of mercy, me making these runs for the WHO," he said to her as she was trying to give a young boy some money for a soda. Behind them, the plane was getting fueled up, and Marnie could see the eye rolls from the local maintenance men as the bush pilot talked.
"If you think that you're not getting adequately compensated, I suggest you take it up with your contact. I'm technically on loan to the World Health Organization myself," Marnie said, her tone frostily polite.
"Oh, you know, it's not much in the grand scheme of things," the man said expansively. "It's just that a man likes to feel appreciated, you know? Especially if he's taking all this time, all this trouble, to get a cute little thing like you out to the middle of nowhere. A place like that can make a girl lonely, y'know? Might be a long time before she sees a hunk of man that can give her a proper looking after..."
Marnie was ready to give him another polite let down, but then he had the nerve to wrap his arms around her from behind, rocking again
st her in what he likely thought was a charming way. He was still murmuring some damn thing about comfort and the pleasures of civilization when Marnie calmly raised her foot and found his shin with her heel, as she had been taught. Her foot slammed down on his with the strength and precision of a kicking mule, and the bush pilot let out a satisfying shriek as he pulled away cursing.
"You bloody bitch, you broke my foot..."
"First, bloody is right. I'm carrying on my person no less than twenty-four vials of some of the downright nastiest blood-borne diseases known to man, for comparison at my destination. Want to know how very bad for you it would be if you had broken one and gotten a sample all over you as you were feeling me up? I mean, I'm inoculated to hell and back, but you..."
She waited until she had seen the understanding dawn in his eyes, and she nodded.
"And as to breaking your foot, no, I didn't. But I could have. So maybe when the plane gets refueled, you can take me where I want to go, collect the money that you agreed upon from the WHO, and from here on out, let’s do that with a total lack of sexual harassment?"
That won a tight humiliated nod from the pilot as he limped off, and Marnie was startled to hear a good natured laugh and whistle from one of the African women nearby. She realized with a slight blush that the woman had seen everything, and she waved back, shyly.
Well, if nothing else, her time in Tanzania was going to be interesting.
2
The bush pilot put her off the plane as if she were weapons-grade uranium, along with the supplies that he had brought for the camp. Dr. Carter, an imposing woman in her early thirties, raised an eyebrow at his departure.
"Whatever you did to make that man shut the hell up, I'm impressed," she drawled.
Marnie could feel her natural shyness awaken in the presence of the camp director, but before she could stick both feet squarely in her mouth, a woman wearing the khaki-green Tanzanian nurses attire approached Dr. Carter. The woman said a few words in what Marnie recognized as Chaga, one of the several local languages spoken outside of the main cities, but she did not have enough of the vocabulary to understand it. She did not need to understand it, however, to read the fear and urgency in the woman's voice. She watched as Dr. Carter looked first upset, then wearily resigned.