by Zoey Marcel
Ironically, the nightmares ceased after he suggested a move and Jack knew Samael was only biding his time. Peace was only an illusion for him. The death angel was planning something even in the quiet lie of peace and prosperity. Death was inevitable.
Jack and Damon just finished mending fences when Damon went inside to get them more water. When Jack was alone, he turned to see Mark standing there. “I thought you were at work.”
“I had to see you.” He stepped forward gingerly. “I have feelings for you.”
Jack was stunned. He hoped as much, but if Mark really did, he was keeping a damned thorough check on them. “Feelings?”
“I want you to claim me.”
He put his hands up. “I’m flattered you like me and I would be more than happy to explore this with you first, but I don’t want to claim you unless you’re absolutely sure it’s what you really want.”
A slow, mischievous smile spread across Mark’s face. The look was far too wicked for him. It was an expression that would have been more natural on Jack’s own face. “I’m sure.”
“So suddenly? Have you thought about this at all? I know you always felt guilty for having premarital sex with women, even Morrigan sometimes. I don’t want you to feel that way with me, but you will. I know you.”
His grin became more devious. “Maybe not as well as you think. Kiss me and let’s see whether or not I feel guilty afterward.”
Jack didn’t want to ruin their friendship if Mark wasn’t serious, but his lust was raging out of control and he sure looked sincere. Their lips met innocently at first and their breathing seemed to echo in the vast stillness.
“No guilt so far. Don’t hold back with me, Jack. I want to know you and make you lose control.”
The kiss became more aggressive as their mouths moved on one another. Jack’s growing erection found the other man’s hard-on tenting his jeans and they grunted in between hard, sharp breaths. Mark lay on his back in the grass, pulling Jack down with him so he rested on top of him. Both made needy sounds of desire as they ground their crotches against one another.
“Claim me, Jack. I want this.” Mark wriggled out of his shirt and tossed it aside, revealing his ripped torso.
“Are you sure?”
He grabbed Jack’s package and squeezed, stealing the cry of elation from him. “I’m not sorry for this.”
“Neither am I.” Jack removed his own shirt and was about to remove his jeans when he felt himself coming.
“That’s it. Get your rocks off and then bite me.” Mark rubbed his groin faster.
Jack practically howled with pleasure as the electric need and raw sensuality stole possession of him. Mark cut himself on the flesh over his shoulder and the scent of blood drew out the beast in him. He came repeatedly in his pants as various parts of his body started to shift into his canine counterpart.
Mark jerked him into a kiss and Jack gasped when he felt the strangest sensation come over him. He was losing his soul. He felt it leaving his body as Mark’s body changed and suddenly became Samael, the death angel.
“You lying son of a bitch, you tricked me!” Jack yelled, trying to fight his transformation.
Samael laughed. “You can’t fight it, Jack. I can only control you while you’re in your lycan form, as you so rudely taunted me at our last meeting.”
“You can’t force me to turn.”
“I can only when you aren’t in complete control of yourself, such as when you have an orgasm, or when I harvest the soul I lent you.”
He tried to tamp down his fury so he didn’t shift. “I thought you could only look like yourself and people who have died.”
“True, but I can also personify a person’s sexual fantasy. You being bi gives me two options, Morrigan and Mark.”
Jack fled into the woods, trying to escape the Reaper, but he followed and the shift wouldn’t be stopped. Jack shouted in rage, but it turned into a howl once he was completely shifted into his wolf form. The anger left with his soul. Now there was only a dark, welcoming familiarity and camaraderie with his old friend.
“Welcome back, my diabolical friend. You haven’t shifted in months.”
“It’s been too long,” his mind communicated.
“I want you to do what you were sent for. You failed me several months ago.”
“I won’t this time.”
Samael smiled. “Without a soul, I’m sure that’s true, but you spent too long as a human among people this last time. You will dispatch Morrigan like you were sent to and feel free to kill the rest of the pack while you’re at it. And to give you a welcome-back boost into lawlessness, I will give you some of my power.”
Death became ethereal and merged into the wolf’s body for a full minute before departing from his being and presence.
Jack felt renewed and restless. He was bloodthirsty and ready for a fight. If holding back before had been difficult without a soul it seemed a hundred times more so now that he’d lost the soul Samael gave him a few months back. His conscience had compelled him to be good, but now it was gone and he felt as though a cage door had been opened, releasing him. He didn’t know what kind of power Samael had given him by momentarily possessing him, but it was even stronger and more lethal than his own. He wasn’t torn anymore about wanting to protect Morrigan or hurt her. He wanted to hurt her and the rest of the pack.
Damon returned with two water bottles and froze when he saw him. “Wow, I’ve never seen you as a wolf while I was human before. You’re freaking huge. I brought you some water.”
“Where is Morrigan?”
Damon took a drink from his bottle. “Are you going to shift back, or do you want me to pour it into your mouth?”
He was in his human form so he couldn’t communicate telepathically with him right now. He had to get him to shift. He snarled and leaped at him.
Damon panicked as Jack tackled him and pinned him to the ground in a mad assault of teeth and claws. “Jack, what the hell is wrong with you? Whatever I did to piss you off, I’m sorry!”
The way he hollered with suffering when Jack bit him was titillating. The feel of his soft flesh being punctured by his sharp canines and the warm, sweet taste of blood pooling into his mouth was to die for. He lost it and it no longer mattered whether or not Damon shifted. All that mattered was that he was afraid, helpless, and tasted utterly delicious. Jack tore through the man’s shirt violently and ripped and clawed at his skin, curtailing his struggles as he mauled him. Damon fought as best as he could, but he was no match for a powerful, brutal dire wolf. Jack had the advantage of size and strength.
The life and death frenzy spurred him on, but he left him alive. He would tell the others what happened and they would scurry to protect Morrigan and defend themselves from their own leader. The thought made him laugh inside. As if they were any match for him. Their defense would certainly make the battle more interesting, but they were destined to fall.
He felt a ruthless thrill when he heard Morrigan scream and run toward them. The crazy broad thought she could stop him with a stick? How charming and brainless. Jack snapped at her so she backed off. The look of horror on her face was priceless. He remembered that look well. He had inspired it on countless faces.
“Jack, stop! You’re killing him!”
“Can you hear me, Morrigan? You’re a banshee, so you should be able to.”
Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. “How can I hear your thoughts?”
“You’re undead. You belong to the same darkness I do.”
“I’m not like you and you’re not like this. Why did you attack him?”
“I’m glad I have your attention. Death is coming for you. I’m his messenger.”
She looked scared to death. “I’m already dead.”
“You don’t belong here for that very reason. You belong in the depths of Hades.”
She shivered. “No. I went to heaven.”
“That was before you were resurrected as a banshee. Do you know what banshe
es usually are, Morrigan? They’re evil witches who died violent or tragic deaths. Now that you’re on the same level as soulless wenches, you are no longer worthy of the pearly gates. You’re going to hell, doll face, and I’m going to be the one to take you there. Enjoy your stay. It will be short and sweet.” Jack ran off into the woods, glancing behind him once to see her bawling and trying to mop up Damon’s bloody wounds. Jack felt the hunter in him surfacing. This was only the beginning.
* * * *
Mark drove home in his truck at dusk, listening to country music. He slammed on the brakes when he saw an enormous black wolf standing in the road as if waiting for him. It was Jack. He shut the engine off and got a text. He was going to check it but instead got out of the car when he saw Jack head up a slope into the woods.
“Jack, wait up! If you shift, I’ll give you a ride home.”
The wolf kept going but finally stopped to face him.
“Are you hunting or something?”
The lycan approached Mark and he ran his hands over the soft, lustrous, dark fur. All at once, the animal knocked him to the ground. He thought Jack wanted to play until he felt his fangs sink into his flesh, drawing blood. They wrestled sometimes in human and wolf forms, but this seemed different. The pain was a bitch, but Mark became startled as it slowly became insurmountable pleasure. His cock hardened and he panicked. Jack was claiming him. He was a wolf that could turn into a human, so he must be in his lycan form to claim someone, and that was precisely what he was doing. He lured Mark away from his truck and tricked him.
Mark was outraged and terrified at once. He fought to push the beast off, so he could shift without getting his throat ripped out. It wouldn’t kill him, but healing from that would take a while, and he would be too weak to get away, giving Jack ample opportunity to have his way with him.
Mark wasn’t sure why Jack had tried to claim Morrigan in his human form back on Christmas when he knew that as an animal he must do so in his true form. No wonder the bite had disappeared immediately and the pain had been minimal for her. She hadn’t really been claimed.
Mark shuddered at the knowledge of his best friend’s true form lying on top of him now, claiming him. The intense agony and ecstasy told him this was really happening. The hot tongue lapping up the runoff of his warm blood and the feel of the wolf’s sharp teeth puncturing deep into his skin was excruciating. He didn’t know if those canines were nicking tendons and bones, or piercing muscle. He only knew he was glad Morrigan hadn’t gone through this. Jack was so much stronger in this form and his teeth that much sharper.
The surge of misery sent a drug-like haze through Mark’s blood and every cell in his body. It reached a level that suddenly became euphoria. His veins became so inflamed with lust the fire sweeping through him burned cold, leaving him achy, chilled, and feverish.
“Am I making your wang happy, Mark? Don’t you dare come in your pants for me. That would be a sin. Why, Mark, your penis is swelling for me. I thought you were a good boy.”
Mark was pissed and guilty. He punched the wolf, but he only bit harder, sending a whirlwind of agony and nirvana through him.
“What happy little homo sounds you’re making for me. What’s this? You’re coming, Mark, shame on you. Are you a bad boy, Mark? Is Mark a dirty, dirty boy?”
He gasped and writhed beneath the oversized wolf holding him down. The tingles and spasms made him hot, cold, and shaky. His cock exploded in his pants, splashing his warm cream all over his dick and boxers.
The wolf lapped up the blood from his fresh mating mark. “Now you won’t be any good to them. You’ll be loyal only to me. Be still, pet. I’m going to lick you clean like a good mate.”
Mark lay on his back panting, trying to process what just happened. He felt Jack’s two front paws become hands just long enough to loosen his button fly and tug his pants and underwear partway down his thighs.
“Mine.” He growled and ran his tongue over his glans and up and down the stalk.
Mark wanted to hit him, but at the same time he wanted to surrender completely. He felt the mating bond setting in, binding them together in perfect unity. He was consumed with mating heat and the inescapable urge to let Jack fuck him.
The wolf clamped his teeth into his shaft and Mark bellowed at the onslaught of misery on his sensitized organ.
“I own you now, bitch. You’ll do whatever I say now that we’re mates. Being claimed by creatures from hell is akin to possession, only far more powerful because it’s unbreakable.”
Mark felt a shiver of fear race up his spine. “What are you talking about?”
“Pleasing me will be the driving force in your life. It will override every other loyalty you have, including your own conscience. You will offer yourself to me body and soul and you will damn the consequences.”
He smirked. “That’s not how it works, Jack. I’m going to kill you for this.”
The wolf released his tortured cock and lapped up the blood trickling down it so it healed faster. “I don’t think so, slut. I’m going to kill the rest of the pack slowly and you’ll be so enamored with me you won’t lift a finger to save them. You’ll watch your loved ones die and cry out with pleasure when I take you up the ass. When I take your life, you’ll still want me because we’re branded on each other now. Think about that, my gun-toting church boy.”
Jack disappeared into the woods, leaving Mark alone with his pants down. He pulled them up and quickly closed them as he staggered to his feet. What the hell just happened? Had Jack gone insane all of a sudden?
He wandered out of the woods and got back into his truck. He recalled the text he received before spying the dark wolf and checked it. The text was from Morrigan and read, If you see Jack, stay away from him. There’s something terribly wrong with him.
He snorted. Well, no shit. He received another text from her. This one said, He attacked Damon and hurt him very badly. We’re at the hospital.
She was right. Something was terribly wrong with Jack.
Mark stopped by a public restroom. He locked the door and washed his face and groin off, hoping the others wouldn’t smell his seed or Jack on him. The shirt hid his mating mark, but hopefully they wouldn’t detect anything different about him. He was just as baffled as they were.
* * * *
Quinn had some papers to grade after school, but once he received the text from Morrigan, he dropped everything and sped to the hospital.
It was a damned misfortune that some stupid, young woman darted into the road like a bat out of hell, screaming like a banshee. He slammed on the brakes, stunned when a huge, black wolf came from out of nowhere and pounced on the woman, growling ferociously. The wolf was so enormous it had to be a shifter.
Quinn got out of the truck to scare it off and became startled when Jack’s scent filled his lungs. Why was Jack mauling some poor woman’s leg?
“Hey!”
The wolf snarled, teeth gleaming white as drool and blood trickled from his jaw. His eyes were dark and menacing. This was not the Jack Dillinger he knew.
The woman uttered an incantation and the beast was thrown from her by an invisible force before Quinn even got a chance to shift. Jack shook himself off and snapped at her as if to say, “you’re on my shit list,” before bounding off into the woods.
“Are you all right?”
The woman nodded. “Aye, I think so. Do you know where the physician is?”
“Not too far from here. I was actually on my way there. I’ll give you a ride.” He carefully helped her to her feet and guided her into the car. He used napkins to clean up her leg wound and tied an old shirt around it to stop the bleeding.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it. We’ll be there soon. I’m Quinn, by the way.”
She paused. “Hilary. Listen, if you would keep what you saw to yourself I would truly appreciate it.”
“What, you mean the part where you threw a big-ass wolf across the road without even touching him?”
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She looked apprehensive. “Aye, that.”
“Are you a witch? It’s okay if you are. There’s a few Wiccans here. This town is very accepting of people. They’ve even got a magic shop.”
“I would rather people did not know I was here.”
“My lips are sealed. I’ll get you checked in, but then I have to go see Damon. I have to make sure he’s okay and find out what happened.”
“Who is Damon?” Hilary studied the dashboard in fascination, “What are these strange protrusions?”
He smirked. “You mean buttons? Damon is my fiancé.”
She palpated the buttons like a caveman prodding at his first glimpse of a modern-day human. She screamed when the radio came on. She started to recite something in another language, blown away when he pushed the button to turn the radio off.
“Did you by any chance hit your head recently?” Quinn asked.
“No. So this Damon you speak of, he is your mistress?”
He snickered. “No, he’s my fiancé. We’re getting married.”
She gaped at him. “Do they allow this in your country, or will your vows be in secret?”
Quinn had been too worked up over Damon getting hurt and seeing Jack maul some innocent, albeit insane woman, to notice she had a Scottish accent. It was soft and feminine. She would never want for attention while here in the States. “Well, not in this state. That’s why we’re going to Massachusetts.”
Normally, he would have gotten the door for her as he would for Damon, but he was too worried to remember his manners as he got out of the car and locked it.
Hilary sat staring at the door in wonder and speaking to it as though it would open on its own. Seriously, what the hell was wrong with her? Quinn sighed and let her out.