Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Wednesday Briefs: Lost Inside *New Carthera Story*


Hi readers! I thought I'd get started on this with my Briefer since I had no comments or suggestions last week. I'm sure this will make some people happy though. :D My inspiration this week came from the prompt, "My momma always said some things were better left unsaid.”

Happy Reading!

Lost Inside


Benny dug his claws into the mud. He’d already created furrows deep enough to bury his fingers all the way. He needed them anchored to stay in his spot hidden at the base of a pine tree. He’d been there for hours. The fragrant needles helped hide his scent so he could get close to the eyrie.

It was close, but not close enough. It was never close enough.

Instinct drove Benny to race down the slope. The slender Carthera wouldn’t be able to stop him. He could be down there, amid the young rolling around on the ground, in seconds. He trembled with need.

The memory of Yuri's frantic screaming was the only thing holding Benny back.

His mate was so close, yet too far away. Each time Benny came to watch him another piece of his soul was ripped away. The hole where his mate should be was gone, and he was losing whatever bits of himself he had left.

Pretty soon there’d be nothing to him but an empty shell. Keeping his ears erect was more than Benny could stand. They folded flat, muting the happy peals of laughter as his mate romped with the young hawk Carthera. His stripes were covered by his long-sleeve shirt, his ears hidden under his hat. If Benny didn’t know for certain, if the bittersweet memories of making love to his mate didn’t torment him nightly, he’d never have known Yuri was mated.

Of course, Yuri didn’t know he was mated. He’d forgotten those precious nights just as thoroughly as he’d forgotten Benny.

***

“Where have you been?” Brad asked. “You’re late.” He peered over the tap. “You’re never late.”

Benny held in a snarl. “Mind your own business.” He went in the back and grabbed a fresh t-shirt out of the laundry room. The black fabric stretched across his chest, the word security emblazoned in tall, white letters.

Another night working in Davis’ club rousting stinking humans who pissed their life away. He flexed his claws then sheathed them. Maybe he’d get lucky and some guy would start a fight.

The music blared and colored strobes flashed over the dance floor. Benny hissed. The lights always messed with his eyes, but Davis liked them. Too bad his mate didn’t react to the lights anymore. If Ellis did maybe Davis could’ve been persuaded to change them.

Jerret straddled a stool set by the entrance. He dug his phone out of his pocket and glanced at it. “Hey bro.” He leaned in. Even with both of them mated and changed it was hard to talk over the music. “It’s been quiet. Ellis swung by and nabbed Davis ‘bout an hour ago. The band has a break in thirty.”

“Thanks.” Benny crossed his arms over his chest, scanning the bar.

Calix walked in the bar. Jerret grinned when the huge liger pulled him close and captured his mouth.

Benny looked away. He dropped his arms and ground his teeth.

“Whoa man, what’s eating you?” Calix was eyeing Benny’s hands.

Benny forced his claws to retract. “None of your fucking business.” He flashed his fangs.

As big as Calix was, Jerret pushed his mate back a step. The large liger owned a gym not too far from the bar, and it showed in the muscles rippling in the light when he moved. Jerret elbowed Calix in the stomach. “Shhh.”

Calix pulled Jerret back against him with one arm around his stomach. He was just as protective of Benny’s little brother as Jerret was of him. Of course Benny would never hurt his family, but still… it was good to see Jerret with a caring mate, even if it hurt too. Calix ducked his chin.

“Sorry, Benny. My momma always said some things were better left unsaid.”

“It’s fine.”

Jerret and Calix exchanged a glance Benny ignored. “Don’t you guys have a better place to be?”

“Yeah, we do.” Jerret reached out and squeezed Benny’s shoulder. “See ya later, bro.”

Benny manned the door. He carded folks when they came in and kept an eye on the little twink who seemed to be causing a bit of a ruckus on the dance floor. He took a seat in a booth with his friends when the band took a break and things calmed down.

It was too quiet. Someone needed to fuck up and give Benny a reason to kick their ass.

A few someones. Benny bared his teeth and snarled at a drunk getting irate with Brad at the bar. Looks like he had his first taker.

***

Benny sank onto his couch, exhausted. He yanked his shirt over his head and tossed it toward his bedroom. A drunk had puked and some of the bile on his face had wiped on Benny’s shoulder when he stuffed the sot into a taxi. He’d spent the day watching Yuri and his night working. His stomach complained, but it was too much work to get up and make something to eat. He leaned his head back and groaned. Sleeping was a crapshoot. He hadn’t climbed into bed in over a year. Good thing he had a comfortable leather couch.

It was getting harder to force himself to go through the motions of life. Everyone was happily mated but him. Benny rolled his eyes to look at the clock. Dawn wouldn’t come for a few hours. His eyes were gritty. He ground the palms of his hands over his eyes.

He’d eat something later. He’d just take a short nap.

Claws dug into Benny’s shoulders and legs. He was restrained on the bed by four large Tigers. He roared, fighting their grip. His mate had long since stopped shouting but his father had no mercy. Benny didn’t want to see, but he couldn’t shut his eyes.

“And you. You won’t be tempting my son in this abomination of a relationship again.”

Benny screamed as the alpha’s sharp claws slashed down.

“Fuck!” His claws were buried in the couch cushion.
 
TBC
There's a lot of Briefers to read more! Our groups is really growing! Don't forget to check out the Wednesday Briefers website too! Andy's been doing a lot of work to polish it, and you can find snippets and links to all the story updates as well as past updates if you get a little behind in your reading.
 
 
Nephylim 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

16 comments:

  1. Omg... I must have missed last weeks post where you said that you were doing this story.... Because I totally would've commented! I love the Cathera stories and I'm so thankful you chose to continue with Benny! I only have one problem..... It's too short!!!!!!!!! I love Wednesday briefs, but it so hard to read only a little snippet, then have to wait a whole week for the next. Maybe at some point you can transition it out to a longer post, wink wink ;-)

    Anyways, it's off to a great start. I like that we get to kinda see the other characters and get updates on them. And I can't wait to see where this goes. I always had a soft spot for Benny.

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    1. I felt we needed to see the characters from the other story to wrap it all up. I was thinking of doing extras of this story outside the Briefer update too, since this limits me to content so much writing only 1k. BUT this means you can rely on getting more story each week too, because it keeps me focused to not fail to participate in the Briefers.

      I have been really bad about writing but I have reasons, unfortunately. Between my kids, getting sick, 2 stories in editing phase at the same time for publishing from Halloween on, the holidays, and then my new health issues... it's been a lot on my plate. Not only do I have some heart issues, I've developed arthritis in my back which has been causing herniated disks which is incredibly painful and forces me to resort to some pretty strong medicine. Since I already have arthritis in one leg from a traumatic injury that acts up with weather changes, I have been miserable for weeks now, only able to focus for short time periods.

      Which is a lot of excuses, but unfortunately, all true. However, I plan to be better! :)

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  2. Oh wow, finally, Benny's story, YAY!!!!! I read the rest of this series when it was posted on Lit and I LOVED it!! Please, please, please figure out a way to get Benny his HEA. If anyone deserves it, it's him.
    Write fast, though, would ya? Double, or even triple, post every week would be lovely. :-))

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    Replies
    1. Oh, I have ideas! I've done a lot of research on the subject on traumatic brain injuries and treatments, and there's a direction I gave myself in Hypnotic that will help with my ideas too. Thanks for the comment Kathy!

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  3. I've been waiting for Benny' story but I am confused as to when it takes place as Brad is still the bartender but got fired at the end of Hypnotic. Otherwise, great.

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    1. Like I mentioned with Jerret's story, these take place outside the timeline of the trilogy. As these are 'extra' short stories that can stand alone, I am placing them in the world and you'll see characters that you know, but I didn't make them sequential in the timeline. I placed this story a bit back of the ending of Hypnotic, not long after Calix and Jerret got together.

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  4. I'm kind of glad now there wasn't any suggestions... This is a much better option than where we might have gone. Looking forward to next Wednesday!

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    1. Me too! I was tooling through the prompts and that line I used reminded me of Calix. :)

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  5. Yay! Finally Benny's story. I assume this story overlaps Hypnotic cause Brad is still there. Can't wait to see what else happens.Great job Cia.!!! :) Oh I finally read Protecting Bear yesterday. It was better than when I read it online. Awesome story. :)

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Chelle! I'm glad you liked Protecting Bear. The eBook is a more cohesive version of the story. Flash is fun, but can be hard on the plot progression. It does overlap. :)

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  6. Brad? I'm only guessing, but it's before what he did to Ellis, right?

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  7. New story - cool. Sorry wasn't around last week Wed is my busiest day of the week and get behind on reading flashes.

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  8. OOOOH! Been waiting soooooo long for this story! Thanks! :o)

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  9. Loved the new flash story but I have a question - you said a while back that the next Adverse Effects was coming out that day and its still not out *pouts* I miss Dade

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  10. Yesss, finally! I've been waiting for Benny's story. Hypnotic is my favorite but I'm thinking this one may be even better!!

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  11. I'm really so happy to see Benny's story. I always felt so sad for him.

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