Full Moon Feral (9 page)

“I was overwhelmed when you left. I’m sorry you though that. I do want you. I love you.” Ripley pulled back, staring into his eyes, searching.

The hurt began to bleed away, and Brendan knew that they were going to have to be patient with one another. “I love you, Ripley.”

Ripley leaned down and kissed him, hard and savagely. Tongues dueled and bodies wrapped around one another. A sound of a rip echoed in the air as his shirt gave way followed by the sound of the cell doors opening.

Malach stood with a cattle prod in each hand. “Time to go, Brendan.”

Ripley shoved Brendan into the corner, and Malach shook his head. “You two aren’t staying together.”

Brendan came back and stood next to Ripley who put his arm in front of him, trying to keep him back. “But Sloan and Colin shift well together.”

“I’ve already had this talk with Elder Lewis. We’re not sure what you two will do tonight, and we’re not risking it. If something went wrong, you could regret it for the rest of your lives.” Malach walked out of the cell and made an ushering motion for Brendan to get his ass in gear.

Brendan was about to protest when Ripley shook his head. “He’s right, Brendan. If I got too…feral tonight and things went bad, it could be your life. Let’s find out what happens before we risk our lives. I know I couldn’t live with it if I hurt you or…” Ripley trailed off, but Brendan knew what he meant. If he killed Brendan.

Brendan walked out slowly, and the doors closing behind him was killing him. He didn’t want to be away from his mate.

A hand caught his arm, and Brendan turned as Ripley pulled him to the bars and kissed him. “I love you.”

“I love you, too. I’ll be thinking of you tonight.” Brendan pulled away reluctantly and went into his cell, his own door closing behind him. Moving around his room, he put everything in the floor vault to lock so it wouldn’t get damaged. Every minute closer to the full moon, the more tense he became.

Others came back and were getting their rooms prepared just hours before the full moon. By now, Brendan was heaving; he couldn’t help but dig his nails into his skin, which felt like fire ants were crawling all over him. Glancing across the hall, Ripley was trying to break out of the bars by slamming his fists against them. Others walked by, giving the cell a wide berth, staring at his mate. Brendan snarled as they went by, pissed that they would look at his mate in such a fashion.

Focus.

Brendan stared at Ripley, who was tearing up his mattress while still in his human form. Brendan white-knuckle gripped the bars, feeling his rage grow.

Focus.

Malach and Rayce cattle prodded Ripley as he once again charged the bars. His mate went down, and that’s the last thing he saw before rage consumed him.

* * * *

“What do you want to do, Malach?” Rayce said, standing next to him.

Malach glanced at both cells. “Have a guard on each. Have them ready.”

“Should we put them with the other ferals?” Rayce gripped his cattle prod again.

The other ferals were four floors down and locked behind reinforced steel doors. Malach was beginning to think that would have been a good idea about an hour ago, now it was unsafe to move Ripley and Brendan. The two were currently tearing up their rooms in their human form. Raging at anyone who passed by them and beating the hell out of their bars.

“Keep them where they are.”

“They could hurt themselves,” Rayce protested.

“It’s too close to the full moon to chance it now.”

Malach walked down the hall, glancing in the cells. Pre-shifters sat in their beds, headphones on so they didn’t have to hear the horrible changes that were about to take place.

Oren was in his bed, almost recovered, but his eyes were haunted. Malach needed to keep a closer eye on him.

Peyton was standing at the bars, staring at Rayce.

Malach knew the two were mates, as did Rayce, but just that morning, they got Peyton’s brother Colin’s blood work in. His blood was different, had changed. The Elders were planning on observing Colin’s wolf in hopes that it got all the cunningness of an Omega and strength an Alpha but none were sure. Last month, Colin’s wolf was pretty small. What would this mean for Colin in protecting himself against the hellhounds? He was neither Alpha nor Omega but somewhere in the middle.

Rayce had taken it badly. He confided in Malach that he could wait a couple years if it meant that Peyton would be a strong adversary against the hellhounds and would be able to protect himself but fuck if the guard wasn’t miserable.

Staring in Colin’s cell, he saw that Sloan was holding him on the mattress, both naked and murmuring soft words to each other. Sloan had come so far in the last couple months since Colin had come into his life.

Coming to the end of the row, Malach stood in front of Dalton’s cell. It was his first shift that night, and the Omega knelt on the stone floor naked with his eyes closed. The Omega showed no fear. The moon crested behind Dalton. Other inmates began to moan, but the Omega sat still as a statue.

What the…
before Malach’s very eyes, the Omega shifted as if he had done it a thousand times. The white wolf stared at him with ice blue eyes before tilting his head back and singing to the other wolves in the hall.

Rayce ran over. “Was that….oh my gods! He’s shifted.”

Malach couldn’t even form words. He had been doing this for close to fifteen years and had never seen it before. Shifts were always painful, and it took a long time for your wolf and human side to become compatible. He wasn’t sure what this meant, but he was going to have to notify Elder Lewis.

A painful scream reverberated from down the hall, and Malach hauled ass to see that Ripley was on the ground in the beginning stages of his shift. “Bren!” Ripley screamed until his voice changed and deepened.

Brendan was across the hall, where the sound of a bone cracking within the cell could be heard. “Ripley!”

Malach rubbed his face, wanting to weep for these two. The fact the two were calling out to each other was a testament that they were not completely consumed to bloodlust. That something had kept them from going completely dark.

Malach and Rayce stood strong as the screams became deafening. They had been there too many times to count.

Staring at Ripley, Malach watched as the feral got on all fours, his body painstakingly shifting. His eyes were wild, and he no longer screamed but gritted his teeth to the point that Malach feared he might chip them.

Brendan wasn’t in much better shape, on his back as bones broke skin and blood pooled below. Malach glanced down at his cattle prods, preparing for the unknown from these two.

Finally, after a couple minutes, the screams quieted, and the growls began. Malach watched as Ripley charged the bars, going to the same place over and over until the bars began to misshape and give.

“Shit. He’s going to get through those bars.” Rayce glanced back at Peyton who was standing by the bars of his own cage. “Get back!” Rayce yelled at Peyton as he juiced Ripley, who growled menacingly. It had little effect but it didn’t make him worse which was a good sign that Ripley wasn’t completely mindless.

Peyton glared as if he was going to refuse before he slid into the darkness.

“Just be ready and radio in more guards for this hall. We need as many available as possible.” Malach called out to Rayce as he ran down to check on the other shifters. All seemed to be going as well as could be expected. None were charging the bars like they usually did.
Do they fear the ferals causing havoc?
Malach wasn’t sure. As he made his way back down the row, he passed by Brendan, who hadn't caused as much damage to the bars but was definitely trying to gain his freedom.

Four guards came to stand next to Rayce.

Lukas approached a couple moments later, running down the hall. “Heard you had a bit of a situation. Need help?”

The bars groaned as Ripley charged them over and over again. “We may.”

The guards watched and waited, forced to use the cattle prods over and over on the two.

Ripley would slow down for a while and pace the cell before attacking the bars again.

Brendan gave up after trying for several hours, lying exhausted in his cell.

Ripley never gave up. He tried again and again until the first rays of light began to make its way into the high windows of the hall. Ripley shifted back, falling to the ground bruised and bloodied.

It was the longest full moon Malach had ever worked.

Two days after the shift and Ripley still felt like hell. Malach had helped him to Brendan’s room, and they had spent the last two days being cared for. Now, even though still covered in bruises, Ripley couldn’t stand to be on his back anymore. He stumbled to the shower and carried Bren with him.

“Feels so good,” Bren moaned as he tilted his face into the hot spray.

They spent a good half hour in there, trying to loosen sore muscles before they got out and dressed in search of a hot breakfast.

Ripley stumbled out of the cell, leaning on the wall, Bren close behind.

Malach approached them. “You both still look like shit.”

“Thought these bruises I was sporting made me look pretty.” Ripley chuckled before he moaned. Damn, it hurt to laugh.

Malach raised a brow at him. “Was that a joke? I never took you for one to have a humorous side.”

“Give me time. When I’m not trying to catch up on what the hell’s going on, I’ve been known to laugh here and there.”

“Huh.” Malach simply stared at him as if he didn’t believe a word he said. “I was just coming to find you two. Elder Lewis needs to talk to you both. Can you come with me?”

Bren stepped up next to him. “Sure.”

Ripley grabbed Bren’s hand. “Do you think they know what’s going on with us?”

“I’m not sure,” Bren said, but he was chewing on his lower lip, a testament to how nervous he was as they approached the Elder’s office.

Malach knocked on the door.

“Come in,” Elder Lewis called from the other side of the door.

They entered, and Ripley was a little surprised to see that Rayce and Lukas were in there waiting.

Brows furrowed, Ripley took a seat next to Brendan in front of Elder Lewis’s desk.

“We brought you in here to discuss a couple of issues with you.” Elder Lewis paused as Ripley nodded.

He reached over and grabbed Bren’s hand, which was trembling.

“The first issue is that we’ve gone over your test results and been observing you two over the past month. From the time you came in here, Brendan, your blood has changed. Studies often take years, and we are still going to continue working on a solution but…” Elder Lewis grabbed a folder from his desk and flipped it open.

Ripley was already getting irritated. This sounded like a whole bunch of bullshit to him.

“There have been two things that have happened since the full moon. One is that Malach and I discussed you two.”

“What about us, sir?” Brendan asked.

“The full moon, it wasn’t only a lack of control of your shift; it was a lack of control of your wolf. And based on how you go into bloodlust when in battle and your blood changing, we don’t foresee you two getting control in the near future if ever. While you were able to cure most of the feral blood in you, there is still too much left for you to ever be free on the night of a full moon.”

Ripley felt like someone had kicked him in the stomach. The room was silent as Ripley’s mind churned, a muddle of questions that crossed over one another, leaving him trying to sort through them. Bren gripped his hand, palm sweaty and shaking so badly, Ripley wanted to knock the Elder on his ass for upsetting his mate.

Swiping a hand over his face, he said, “What does that mean for us? That we have to live in those cells for the rest of our damn lives?” Ripley seethed.

Elder Lewis just stared back with a look of sympathy.

Ripley didn’t want any damn sympathy; he wanted to fix this so his mate wouldn’t have to suffer.

“Yes, you’ll have to remain here. That was the sacrifice that Brendan made unknowingly to have a mate who is now healthy and whole all but one day of the month. We are working right now on new accommodations for you two. There is an empty hall that has several rooms that we are turning into apartments for mated pairs. Colin and Sloan need a home, but they still need to be here as well. Colin doesn’t want to leave his brother. We can set something up for you two as well.” Elder Lewis stood and began walking behind his chair.

“What about the full moon?” Brendan asked.

“We’ll keep you together the day before in lockdown and then separate you the night of. We have to change your door to steel encased. The bars aren’t strong enough for you.” Elder Lewis went over and grabbed another folder.

Everything was sinking in on Ripley. While he might not have had any say on how they began this journey, he felt completely responsible for Bren.

“It was worth it.” Bren whispered, breaking the silence.

“What?”
Shit.
Ripley’s voice was hoarse.

“I love you so damn much. I gave up one night every month, Ripley, but I get to spend my life with you. I can handle one night as long as I know I have my mate.” Bren stared at him, brown eyes desperate.

They were alive, and they had each other.
Can we get through this together?
Staring at his mate, yeah, he believed that they could.
Would it be a perfect life? No, but we have love and we have support.

Ripley leaned over his chair and kissed Bren. “I love you, too. We’re going to be just fine.”

Bren nodded and kissed Ripley again.

A throat cleared, and Ripley looked up to see Malach and Lachlan stand next to Elder Lewis. “We have a couple more things to discuss with you.”

Ripley was hoping it wouldn’t get any worse. Please.

“We found your pack, Ripley. We feared what we would discover after hearing how you were found as a child. They were attacked by hellhounds, and you must have been the only survivor. I’m sorry.”

Ripley nodded. He had thought about that since the hellhound attack and wondered if the same type of attack happened years ago with his parents.. It hurt that he would never know his parents.