The Panther's Rival

by Emilia Hartley

  It made Kara wonder who this man really was…? A chance meeting at school… Or was it chance? She had never believed in God or Fate but something had brought them together in a way that she couldn’t resist. From the moment she first saw him, she’d wanted him – all of him – she wanted to know who he was and then when he spoke, opened his mouth, she knew that she wanted to be with him. Kara didn’t want to call it love at first sight, but it was definitely an insane attraction and irresistible allure.

  We can go back to your place was her response when he had asked “where to next”. She knew the signals she was giving and she didn’t mind it. First date. But who cared? It was the twenty-first century and all that courtship and stuff was over. People took what they wanted in the moment, men and women alike. Besides, she had never been one for conformity and this wasn’t going to be the first time that she slept with someone on the first date.

  However, she felt as this would be her last – she already wanted it to be – she wanted Merk to be the last man she was ever with. Was she crazy, thinking like this? she had wondered. She was already thinking forever with this guy. Maybe she needed to check herself, she could feel herself losing control, forfeiting some of herself. But wasn’t she also gaining something, someone in return? Wasn’t she rediscovering a part of herself too? She had decided: she wanted to be open as much as possible with Merk, no matter how early it was in whatever relationship they were forming.

  And so, as they had approached the door and she had reached out for him. She had pulled him toward her and looked at him. The night was dark. No stars. Still. Quiet. Ominous. Kara could feel the charge in the air, moving and alive. She had always liked the night; the nebulous covering and enveloping mantle; the night and its darkness could hide almost anything, especially the volitional actions of the living that were birthed from laden and dormant desires.

  Kara felt so strongly for this man - more so than she had for anyone else. Who was he? What was he? But again, it didn’t matter. All that mattered was that she felt the way she did and she knew that he felt the same for her. For a moment, she hesitated, curious, wondering for a second if he was like her. She had never met one before, but she had heard of Incubi, men that had the ability to draw and influence, the way that she did.

  It was something special – something that was other worldly and without her influence as a succubus. Even with Ratty, she had wanted him and there was a part of her that knew that she had latched on to him and moved him towards her. Had there been a natural attraction? Sure. But Ratty was someone that she wanted. It pained her to think about it, shamed her in many ways to think about how she used to be and the things that she used to believe that she wanted.

  Ratty had been a means to an end. But eventually that end wasn’t enough for her and that was one of the many reasons why they had broken up. She labored to think now that her past – Ratty calling – could have jeopardized whatever this magic was that was happening between her and Merk, more so that she had even potentially let it.

  But she saw it on Merk’s face and in his eyes the moment she saw him. She had let Ratty ruin their night. She had tried to salvage as much of it as possible but there was just no going back. For one, he was in her head now and the organic nature of things, the way the night had unfolded was gone. When she came back in Merk was sitting at the kitchen table drinking a beer and it was clear that something had changed. It was on his face, obvious in his demeanor. Kara moved uneasily towards him. She sat down at the table with him.

  “I’m sorry…”

  Merk nodded appreciatively but she knew that it wasn’t enough; she had messed up. Again, she thought about how all of this would have looked to her. She needed to do something, say something to fix the night.

  “Look, I don’t have a boyfriend or anything. Okay? It was just some past business that I had to handle – something that I had been expecting… It just came at the wrong time.”

  “Wrong time?” he snickered.

  She wanted to tell him the truth. It was on the tip of her tongue. She could just tell him who and what Ratty was… And maybe she should. After all, Ratty had a son, RJ, and he was on the football team this year and he probably was going to be the starting quarterback based on what he had done on junior varsity the previous year.

  There could be problems coming Merk’s way from that, like it had for Will, and all because of her. History seemed to be repeating itself. Kara didn’t want that. Maybe this was best. Merk was upset with her. Now was the opportune time to just abandon this thing with him, whatever it was. A clean break before anything actually got started and Ratty swooped in and destroyed it. That was on the tip of her tongue too, she even moved to the edge of her seat to get up to initiate the retreat…

  But then their eyes met. His eyes. That wanton expression. There was some desperation in it. It wasn’t just that Merk wanted her, he needed her and Kara knew that she needed him. She relaxed back in the seat. She leaned back. She found herself crossing arms and staring at him, abandoning her worries and concerns about what was going to happen because of her past involvement with Ratty. She decided to focus on the man in front of her. And only him.

  “Merk…” she started, not knowing where to really go.

  Merk’s face lightened some. That made her hopeful. Merk got up and went to the fridge to grab another beer. He popped the cap and set it on the table for her. She sipped it, unable to take her eyes off him. She felt herself getting aroused and she thought about using her power to pull him back into wanting her, the way he had before she stepped outside. Yet, something held her back.

  She realized that for once she hadn’t intentionally used her powers as a succubus, not even a little. As a succubus, there was some natural power and energy that exuded from her, involuntarily, but she had done nothing to him intentionally, she hadn’t forced any persuasion or influence on him, nothing to inspire him into action. Everything that he had felt towards her on their first date had been raw and pure and natural.

  And now, he had pumped the brakes on them and where they were heading. She could understand why, given what had just happened. He wanted to be safe, feel safe, and maybe they had been rushing things, enthralled by their desire for each other. She didn’t want to slow down but she understood. She could make him…. But Kara loved that this all had happened without her influence or persuasion as a succubus and didn’t want to sully it or their first night together. So instead, they sat at the table and drank beer together and that was okay. She enjoyed herself and the drunken conversation that was filled with laughs and dirty jokes. No sex. But it was a good night.

  ***

  And so, the school year began and with it, Kara’s and Merk’s relationship. Nothing was official but they both knew how they felt about each other and they acted accordingly. After their first night together, where they stayed up and drank beers and talked, she spent the night, well morning, they both got a few hours sleep and then woke up and watched movies all day in the bed.

  It was hard to leave that afternoon, being with him felt right. He was a very kind man and surprisingly funny – that caught her off guard. They didn’t have sex. As a matter of fact, she wasn’t sure how or when it happened, but they both had decided mutually along the way somewhere without conversation to not press or force sex between them.

  She desperately wanted him, and she could feel that he wanted her, but neither one of them tried to make anything happen. On the contrary, they were careful with each other. They dated, went to games, met in each other’s rooms before school and after school, she went to some of his practices to watch him coach and he would stop in briefly during her planning just to check in; when they met up after school they would have dinner or go see a movie.

  She would spend the night at his place and they would lie in the bed together and snuggle. There was something unspoken about them waiting and the sexual tension between them was thick. But it was okay. She was sure that at some point it would happen organically. Until then,
she was okay with how they were and what they had been building in the past few weeks of school.

  ***

  “So, I see you decided against my advice,” Mr. Lightwood said as he entered in her classroom.

  Kara peered up at the ol’ bald head man who seemed to get more and more apprehensive each time they saw each other. The expression on his face was stressed. It occurred to Kara that he was really worried and for a second, she had to really think about it, he had a right to be – look at what Ratty had done the first night that she and Merk had gone out. How did Principal Lightwood know about that anyway? Ratty had a pulse on everything that happened in town. Ratty of course.

  He had obviously spoken to the principal, like he was telling on her or something. Fuck. Ratty had some nerve. All because he was some goddamn Wolf Shifter and then add on the power that came with that, he truly believed that he was unstoppable. But she already knew that about him, it was just becoming clearer and more apparent in her life - the affectations of his shifter narcissism.

  “Mr. Lightwood…” she started.

  “You have no concept of the danger that you are putting us in… Or you just don’t care. Either way, it’s disconcerting, Miss Daniels. You of all people should understand who we are dealing with here.”

  The last words bothered her the most. She did know who they were dealing with. But was she supposed to stop living her life because of a man that didn’t want to let go – that didn’t love her but only wanted to possess her? Or was she supposed to leave town in order to have a life? Both options felt belittling, and lessened her as a person just because she was a woman. No one wanted to stand up to Ratty, man or woman, it seemed. Rather, they would prefer her to move aside and just let him run roughshod over them. She had as much right to be in this town and find love and live and work as anyone else and she would be damned if Ratty Fairweather decided her life for her.

  “With all due respect, Mr. Lightwood, this is my life and I will not let anyone choose it for me – not Ratty Fairweather and not you.”

  The principal’s eyes flashed with anger, dare she say hate. He was afraid. Ratty had definitely reached out to him, talked to him since her and Merk had been seeing each other and this was his way of forcing her hand, through the principal, his lackey. Kara stepped forward, indignation building.

  “Has he called you? Has he said something?” she demanded.

  Mr. Lightwood backed away. He tucked his tail in a retreat and waved her off as he turned and started out of the classroom. There was no way that she was going to let him off that easily. Kara got to her feet, sliding her seat back to hit against the back wall where another white board rested.

  “Has he?” she raised her voice.

  Mr. Lightwood whipped around. His face was contorted, he frowned, and there was a deep and desperate expression about him, a visage that gave it all away. Ratty had spoken with him, she knew it, had sensed it but now she knew for certain, and true to form he most likely had threatened him in some way. Kara moved past indignation to vexation, her temper boiling, ready to explode. She marched over to the principal, her finger waving.

  “No! He – He doesn’t get to do that. He doesn’t. This is my life and this is your life and career! Ratty is one person –”

  “No, he’s this town, Miss Daniels. The town! Everyone follows him and the Fairweathers. You know that. You knew that with Will and after what happened to Will, you should know that even more now. No one messes with Ratty Fairweather and his family. Once his is always his.

  Kara couldn’t believe her ears. Once his is always his. As if she was really something to be possessed… Less than a human being, simply because she was a woman and he was some fuckin’ man with a name that some small stupid town feared? That was actually what her principal thought? The leader of the school, the proprietor of education for the future generation of this town thought these things?

  For a moment, it all seemed like too much. Like fodder. This town, all of them, they all just fed into Ratty Fairweather and his family’s bullshit. No. Fuck that. Kara turned from him and went back to her desk. She pulled her seat up behind her and sat. She gave Mr. Lightwood one last look, a clear sneer that signaled for him to get the hell out of her room. And without her saying a word, he did just that.

  Kara sat at her desk, her mind spinning. She wished to God that she had never met Ratty Fairweather but more than that, she wished that there was a world that existed that didn’t harbor men like Ratty, a world that didn’t push them forward as some kind of god or gods. It was disgusting. And then, just as she felt the most repulsed she had felt in a long time, she felt a calm come over her. It filled her and soothed her. She tried to grasp where it had come from but didn’t understand it until she turned to see who stood in her doorway… Merk.

  Kara stood up as he came in. He was coming in to give her a hug. But as he opened his mouth and was about to ask her how her day was, her mouth met his. She kissed him with an unrelenting verve, passion, desire that folded into his mouth and melded with the twist of their tongues. She didn’t care that they were at school. She wanted him. Then and there. It was time, past time, and although their courtship had been cute and they had been patient, she was tired of waiting. She wanted the person that made her feel the most whole, the most liberated, to be hers and she wanted to be his. She was falling for Merk Castle, hard, and it was only him that made any sense to her. She kissed him more and began to undress him.

  Chapter Five

  She gripped him tightly. Her grip was almost as strong as his, surprising him. When she pushed him against her desk, the weight of her body fell against him, sending him backwards onto the desk and her on top. Kara’s breath was sweet, cool as if she’d been chewing mint gum, refreshing.

  “Is your door locked?”

  She moaned. Her face was embedded in the nape of his neck, her nose wriggling around, the faint discharge of breath from her nostrils tickling his skin. And then her tongue as it found its place. Merk clutched at the pleats on both sides of her skirt and hiked it up, the tear in the hem and fabric was loud. She moaned more.

  He loved this about her, the wildness, the suspension of her inhibitions, the way she let herself be primal. It went well with his own feral nature – he had gotten a preview of this side of her once before. Her hand fell on his belt buckle, her fingers were chaotic, trying to undo the hook. A slight giggle came from her, she was entertaining herself as she tried to one hand his belt. She got it. He lifted slightly as she tugged, the cool air of the room hit his bare skin, just above his groin, a slight sensation that went further as she dug down into his pants.

  Merk watched her, biting her bottom lip, her eyes small and slanted, almost hazy from the insane lust that they both were feeling, the thickness of it rolling off of them like waves of heat. She was such an attractive woman – pretty, sexy, her skin soft, her brown hair bounced in bangs in front of her face so that she constantly had to swoop it away; Merk could feel the throb and then she had him, her hand around it, pulling it up towards her, the jerk was tantalizing and all thoughts of anything else left him. She began to ease down, her face leaving from his vision. He could feel it coming, the sweet anticipation of her mouth on…

  He smelled something. It was different. Distinct. He had only smelled it a few times before in his life. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, prickly and risen. It was a musky odor, a scent of fur embedded in skin. Another shifter was near. Close. Closer. Coming their way. Merk grabbed Kara and then launched her off him, standing her erect, two feet planted on the ground. She was completely taken back.

  “What the –?” she gasped, staring at him wildly, confused.

  Merk hurriedly pulled up his jeans, fastened them, and redid his belt: “Someone’s coming.”

  Kara’s expression changed. Concern. A sudden realization of her unprofessionalism lauded her. She rushed to the back of the classroom to a wardrobe where she kept a mirror and other items for grooming – brushes, combs, a
flat iron, make up, essentials.

  “How long? How – How did you know?” she fumbled out, rushing now to fix her hair.

  Merk was fully clothed.

  A knock came on the door.

  Kara was marching forward from the back of the classroom. Merk saw the change in her. She had shifted: teacher, educator, professional, role model, it was all on her now, her visage and in her gait. Still very sexy, he thought. She opened the door and Principal Lightwood and another man entered. Merk made himself look busy.

  “Miss Daniels – how – how are you?” Principal Lightwood stuttered, his voice a bit too high. “Just – Just wanted to have a word with you about – uh – RJ – this is his father, Mister Fairweath –”

  “Really? I know Mr. Fairweather,” she interrupted.

  But Merk noticed it on her face. A distilled look pointed at Mr. Fairweather. She knew him. Merk wondered how.

  “Oh, yes, we know each other. But John, you know all this shit so…” the man confirmed, a smirk on his face, all of it more amusing to him than her.

  Merk immediately didn’t like him. His look was off. He looked at Kara under-eyed, maybe a jot from devious, like he was in the know of something and desperately wanted to lord it over her. But there was more. Merk could smell him. His scent was a strong stench. Fur. Close to the skin. Sweaty. There it was again, the musky odor. And then Merk caught it, a familiar look in his eyes when Mr. Fairweather finally looked over at him. Wolf. Mr. Fairweather was a Wolf Shifter. A very strong one. Maybe pack leader? Very disconcerting.

  “Ah… You must be the new coach,” Mr. Fairweather approached him. “I’m Ratcliff – friends and folk ‘round here call me Ratty though – you’ll soon learn that I’m sure.”