Dangerous Things

At one time, they had protected mankind from the evil that threatened to overtake the world. Now, with the exception of a few tribes located in across the United States and overseas, they were the evil. It was no wonder humans made movies depicting them like rabid dogs bent on causing death and destruction.

Anthony followed his guards down to the basement and smirked when the young werewolf whimpered quietly. The mansion basement had been converted into a large, underground torture chamber that covered several thousand square feet. Chains hung from the opposite wall with manacles attached to hold a person upright against the cold stone.

Off to the right was a table covered with whips and riding crops of various sizes. A cauldron where a fire was burning had a few irons sticking out of it used for branding purposes, which Anthony had rarely used. Finally, on the wall directly across from that was a row of cells that housed a few occupants.

A few werewolves moved among the shadows readying more devices for a special guest who Anthony had been fortunate enough to obtain a couple weeks ago. They stopped and watched with curiosity when their alpha entered the chamber with his guards and a new wolf to discipline.

Anthony stood back as his guards shackled the wolf to the wall and waved them out of the way when they were done.

“What would you have us do, Lord Anthony?” the oldest werewolf asked.

“I want you to make sure to teach this one a lesson, Boris,” Anthony answered. “He failed to bring back my bride and he must learn that failure is not tolerated.”

Boris looked over at the boy and inwardly sighed. “He is only a boy.”

“Then he will learn early,” Anthony’s voice lacked emotion.

Boris lifted a scarred hand and waved two of the other werewolves over. They approached and ripped the back of the young wolf’s shirt open. Boris lifted one of the whips, a cat o’ nine tails, and cracked it in the air. The shackled wolf flinched making Anthony smirk.

Boris positioned himself about five feet behind the young one and snapped the whip forward. The young wolf screamed at the bite of the whip across his back. The screaming continued as Boris continued to strike the once unmarred skin. Finally, he stopped and another werewolf stepped forward with a large bowl of salt. More agonizing cries followed when the salt was thrown on the bleeding wounds.

The young wolf slumped against the wall believing the torture was over, only to scream again when the beating began anew… only this time two more whips joined it.

Anthony lifted his right hand so he could get a better look at it and frowned when he saw he would have to trim his nails again. Shrugging, he turned away from the beating and approached the cell furthest away from everything at the far end of the basement. A smile appeared on his face when the heavy chains rattled.

The man inside was suddenly on his feet and straining against the bonds trying to reach Anthony.

Anthony’s bad mood suddenly evaporated seeing the proud male inside. His smile widened as he thought of a way to get Jewel back into his arms and away from the cougars she had sought shelter with.

“I’m glad I only shot you once Micah… I may have a use for you yet.”

*****

Tabatha looked around the apartment she shared with Kriss and shivered. Usually she didn’t mind being alone but for many reasons, tonight it was very hard to handle. She looked out the window whenever she heard a noise thinking Kriss had come back. She’d thought she was fine when Envy and Devon dropped her off at home on their way to Chad’s, but now she realized just how much she needed the company.

Envy had asked her if she’d wanted to go with them just in case Envy needed a tag team effort to handle her brother. But, Tabby had thought maybe Kriss would have come home soon and she wanted to ask him what happened, so she’d turned her down… now she wished she hadn’t.

Thinking about Kriss led her to thoughts of Dean and how he’d acted at the church. She could still see the look on his face when he’d seen Kane.

Tabatha shook her head when the picture of Kane popped into her mind in a vain attempt to not think about him. Seeing him laying there dying had pulled at something deep in her heart and soul. She didn’t understand why but, the thought of him dying made her want to curl up in a ball.

“Get a hold of yourself,” she whispered to break the silence. “What you need is a distraction.”

Picking up the phone she decided to call Jason at work to catch up and see if anything unusual had happened since Kriss flew her all the way to Florida.

The phone rang three times before it was picked up.

“Forest Preserve, Officer Fox speaking,” a sexy voice recited.

“Hey Jason, it’s Tabby.” she smiled for the first time since walking in the front door.

“Tabby?” Jason cried and she heard something topple over, probably the chair because he was usually leaning it back in it at a dangerous angle on two legs. “Where the hell have you been?”

“Kriss kinda kidnapped me and Envy and took us to Florida for a few days.” Tabby answered. “I just got home and thought I’d call and see what I missed.”

Jason sighed, “Other than the normal weird stuff, you didn’t miss a lot. The only exciting thing that happened is the other night we got a call from a real whack job.”

Tabby smirked and sat down on her sofa. “Do tell!”

“Jacob and me were just sitting around, it was a slow night, and the phone rang. I picked it up and this guy was talking about seeing a jaguar chasing a cougar through downtown with a cell phone strapped to one of its legs.”

Tabatha couldn’t help it and started laughing. If she’d been in Jason’s shoes a couple weeks ago, she would have thought the same thing. “Oh damn,” she exclaimed.

“Tell me about it,” Jason said with a chuckle. “Jacob and I are taking bets on whether or not there will be any text messages on it when they find the critter.”

“Are you sure you’re not drinking any of Kat’s specialties?” she asked around her laughter.

“I do not drink on the job!” Jason exclaimed and Tabatha heard Jacob’s laughter in the background. “So when are you coming back to work?”

Tabatha shrugged, “I don’t know yet. I need a few more days and I got the vacation days to burn.”

“That’s cool, we miss you though. It’s just not the same without having a pretty face to brighten up the place. All I have now is Jacob, and he isn’t much to look at.”

“I’ve missed you guys too,” Tabatha said, and she meant it. “We’ll get together in the next couple of days.”

Jason was quiet for a moment and Tabatha instinctively knew what was coming. “How’s Envy?”

“She’s doing good too. Like me, she just needed a few days away.” She bit her lower lip when there were several seconds of silence.

“Is it true?” Jason asked.

“Is what true?” Tabatha inquired trying to sound clueless.

“Is Envy really dating Devon Santos?” Jason’s knuckles turned white as he gripped the phone a little tighter.

Tabatha sighed, she knew this was going to hurt Jason in a big way, but to a certain extent it was partially his fault. Someone that cute should never be so hung up on the one girl who thought of him as a best friend and brother.

“Yeah, it’s true.” Tabatha said softly. “I know she didn’t mean to hurt you. She does love you… ya know.”

Jason exhaled softly and Tabatha felt sorry for him. He’d chased after Envy for so long that she was the only girl he’d ever looked at. Now she was beyond his reach but Tabatha wasn’t about to tell him. That was Envy’s job.

“I know she didn’t,” Jason said after a minute. “I guess I should have gotten a clue when she didn’t even notice that I was flirting with her.”

“She noticed, Jason,” Tabatha said. “She just thought it would put a strain on your friendship.”

Jason hummed, “Yeah, I guess it probably would have but you can’t blame a guy for dreaming, right?”

“I can blame you for a lot of things,” Tabatha heard Jacob say in the background.