The Royal Jagger

For now, this was perfect, joining him in this way.

He nodded, and she disappeared into the other room. When she glanced in the mirror, she decided that the only real bite mark she could see would probably be hidden under her shirt. So they got dressed and headed out again. This time they didn’t take the corridor, but walked together through the main hall, getting lost in the small sea of other bodies.

“Where have you two been?” Darius grumbled. “I didn’t expect you to be gone all day.”

“It’s a really big cave,” Marissa excused herself, willing the blush that was creeping up not to show on her face. “My legs are killing me.”

That, at least, was the truth. Peter was quite large, and she was starting to feel as though her lower body had been split in half. But she already knew she wanted him to split it again.

“Well, while you two were exploring the big cave, the rest of us were dealing with the mayhem caused by the public announcement,” said Eric, casting her a knowing grin that was somewhat short-lived.

“What announcement?” asked Peter.

“Someone tried to blow up the World Trade Center,” he explained. “It sounds like they’re bringing the war to American soil.”

“That’s terrible,” Peter gasped. “But at least they’re nowhere near us here, we won’t have to worry about the women and children being harmed.”

“Any more than they have been already,” Darius scoffed. “That wasn’t the only announcement we received. They’ve told us the flu shot went bad—that it had an unexpected side effect. They’ve admitted what it’s done to the women, but they’re pretending they didn’t know about it. People have been talking about it for hours. They’re planning on reverting to the old ways.”

“The old ways?”

“It’s a bit strange, but the females produce better when they have more than one mate,” he explained. “But even if they don’t want to face it, the only way we’re going to replenish the females is by taking human women. Eventually it will be bound to happen.”

“And what of your own women?” Peter wanted to know.

“They’ll be used to birth males, I suppose,” said Darius with a sigh. “And there will be many Jaggers, who refuse to breed outside the race. Jagger females will become all the more precious to them over the years, I imagine. You must understand what this will mean for Marissa, I trust?”

Peter frowned and shook his head. “There are plenty of females left right now. I’ll not concern myself with such eventualities.”

“And you, Marissa?” he asked. “Are we not here right now because you care so much for your race?”

“Raife is in a much better position than I to contend with that, uncle,” said Marissa as she looked up into Peter’s eyes. Darius saw the two exchange a nod.

“You’ve told the shifter about Raife?” he gasped.

“No, uncle, he told me about Raife,” she corrected. “Come, let us eat together, and see what we might learn from the exchange.”

The four of them selected a table somewhat removed from the general crowd, and each brought a rare steak with them. A flagon of wine was already waiting, and Marissa dutifully poured out the glasses as was expected of her. This action made Peter smirk and raise one of his eyebrows, but she just smirked back and continued her task.

“I can see that the two of you are wholly preoccupied with each other, but would somebody mind enlightening me as to how you know my sister?” Darius complained.

“I don’t know her, precisely,” Peter told him. “It’s more that I know of her. Cor sent me to ensure her safety. I would give my life to protect her.”

“Why are you so concerned about werewolf business, anyway?” Eric wanted to know. “Most shifters could care less what happens to us.”

“Many people in my tribe are Mooneyes,” he explained. “When they were taken, I had pretended to be one of them, but when they used that strange scanning device on me, it became clear to them that I was much more. It was foolish of me, for because of that one act they went back and found twenty more shifters, and kept us all locked up at the Vail Facility.”

“And does the Vail Facility know where you are now?”

“Of course not,” Peter said. “If they did, they might well trace me right back to the girl. I gave them a false name the first time, so they’ll not recognize the one I am using now.”

“Is Peter Shane your name?” Marissa asked.

“It is the only name that matters to you,” he told her. “If I were to give you all of them, it could well take a year to list them.”

Marissa nodded at this.

“Do you think they’ve told my father about the women yet?” asked Marissa worriedly. “He might look for me here if they did, might try to take me back, now that he actually has something more important to study than simple biological processes. I won’t become his little lab experiment again.”

“We won’t let him, Marissa, you already know that,” Darius said with a frown.

“How would you stop him, then?” she wanted to know.

Unexpectedly, Darius pulled something from his pocket and flicked a switch. A long, thin blade slid out for a few moments, and then with another flick it slid back in again and he put it away.

“You would behead your own brother?” Marissa scoffed. “Your own litter mate?”

“If he tries to harm you, yes. I’ll not let anyone hurt you again.” For a moment he glared at Peter, but then his eyes warmed as he added, “And besides, from what I hear, neither will Peter.”

Marissa’s eyes widened as she looked at her uncle. He gave her a knowing wink, and then ignored her completely while he ate his meal. Seeing that this seemed to be the end of the conversation, Marissa sighed and ate hers as well.