Another week, another update on Benny! I hope you enjoy this update. I incorporated the words: blanket, claws, stomach from the prompts this week.
Lost Inside Chapter Five
Benny yawned. He had a rare day
off to spend watching Yuri. He’d brought a blanket to lay on since the ground
was still damp, but the sun was shining. Spring was in full swing. The sun
warmed the damp ground, and the smell of dirt and green, growing things
surrounded him.
He’d moved closer to the eyrie
than ever before, confident the myriad of smells would hide his scent. Yuri was
playing with the young, letting them climb like a tree before they jumped off
and ‘flew’ to the ground.
The Falcon youngsters shrieked
and laughed. Benny rolled onto his stomach and rested his head on his hands.
The pit in his stomach yawned huge and empty, but he ignored the ache. He
closed his eyes and listened to his mate talking animatedly with the Falcons.
“Hi, Velaku!”
Benny lifted his head. The bush
above him rustled. Velaku was standing down by his mate, along with… Ellis?
“Hi Ellis!”
And his mate knew Ellis by name
now?
It’d only been three days since
Benny told him about Yuri.
Yuri bounded over to the men and
hugged them. Benny dug his claws into the ground, but couldn’t stop the snarl.
It didn’t matter if both of the men were mated, he didn’t like to see them
touching his mate. Not when he couldn’t… Benny winced at the sharp pain.
He whined. Velaku’s head snapped
up, and he stared at Benny’s hiding place. His wings flared. “Head inside. I’ll
be right there.”
Ellis nodded. Yuri grabbed his
arm, towing him in the house, gesturing wildly. When they met, Benny had been
taken aback by the Tiger’s stern public façade, until the first time they’d met
in private. Yuri became a whole other man, one with laugh lines who talked fast
and gestured wildly. He was hot and passionate.
Benny choked, his throat tight.
Velaku launched himself into the
air, his white wings flared wide to push him up the hill. He flapped twice,
then set down beside the bush Benny hid under.
“Benny.”
The door shut behind the last
young Falcon. Benny backed out of the bush and stood up. He refused to be
embarrassed. “Hello Velaku.”
“Ellis said today was your day
off. You’re here, a lot, aren’t you?”
“Yes.” Every day, if he could
make it. “I-I have to make sure he’s okay.” Benny rubbed his stomach as he
glanced down at the house.
“The family was worried. Last
week one of their younglings found claw marks on a tree.”
Benny frowned. “They what?”
“They found your fresh markings
on a tree. This is Falcon land. You really shouldn’t be marking here, though I
understand your need to see your mate, that is going too far.”
“I didn’t mark any tree. I don’t
want to leave my scent anywhere Yuri might come across it.” The earth always
covered the claw marks on the days he had little control.
“Someone else marked the trees,
then?” Velaku’s eyes narrowed. “I will have my men look into this.”
“Screw having someone look into
this,” Benny snarled. “Tigers mark their property. Someone’s threatening my
mate.” Benny started to push through the bushes. “I’m getting him out of here.”
Velaku grabbed his bicep, pulling
him to a stop. The slim bird Carthera had a firm grip and wouldn’t let go. “Do
you want your mate back?”
Benny glared over his shoulder.
“What the hell does that mean?”
“Ellis has been meeting with
Yuri, trying to get a handle on his diagnosis. Any progress he might make will
be set back if you burst into that home and drag your mate out by force. You
know he won’t go with you willingly, not now. Are you going put him through
that?”
Fuck! Benny ground his teeth. He
yanked his arm away from Velaku. “What the hell am I supposed to do?”
“You gather information and wait.
For now, you come with me to check the markings and let my guards do their
job.”
“What guards?”
Velaku pointed up.
“Shit. I never even….” Two
Carthera perched in trees to the right and left of his spot. The brown clad
bird’s wings even blended with sparsely leafed branches. “Why are you doing
this? Protecting my mate, helping me?”
Velaku raised one eyebrow. “Do I
need a reason beyond the fact you live in my territory, and whoever made those
markings is trespassing?”
“Tiger clans aren’t very… social
outside our clan, especially when dealing with threats.” Most Tigers never
stepped outside the hierarchy they were born into. They never asked for help
outside the clan. Outsiders were tolerated publicly, but not associated with
beyond absolute necessity.
“You did.”
Benny shrugged.
“For Yuri, you mated above your
station. He dared to mate you when it went against his father’s plans.” Velaku
led him farther up the hill behind the eyrie.
Benny winced. He flexed his
claws, bitterness twisting inside him. “And for that he beat us both within an
inch of our lives. If it wasn’t for my family getting help and sneaking us out,
we would’ve died. Jerret agreed to take the blame for going against orders to
get us out and got banished for it. If you hadn’t let us live here, we’d have
been outcasts.”
“None of which was your fault.
The Tiger clans have been dwindling for a reason. Each generation the pool of
mates shrinks and clans are forced to merge to prevent dying out.”
Benny stopped, staring at Velaku’s
back in shock. “How do you know that?” Their falling birth rates and the horrific
defects that were rejected at birth meant most couples had one, maybe two children
accepted into the clan and survive. It was a closely guarded secret.
Velaku turned around. “My father
wished for peace between the clans and humans, and he got it. But there are so
many Carthera still suffering in the world due to archaic beliefs and practices.
He wanted to bring all the clans into the modern world. The Tiger clans aren’t
alone in their problems.”
TBC (more to come this week!!)
Now head over to either our central briefers site or use the links below to check out the other flash updates by my fellow briefers!
Another great installment!!! I love Benny more and more each time you write him. As a reader, I can feel the ache... and how his heart breaks, and soars, each time he sees his mate. Can't wait to see what happens next :) Next Wednesday won't come fast enough!!
ReplyDeleteToo short! Want to know more about the history between Yuri and Benny soon! Also like how you're delving more into the conflicts in beliefs and practices between Carthera now. Wednesdays are always so distant. Is posting more between Wednesday "Lost Inside" installments allowed?
ReplyDeleteRelena L.
Thank you so much for more of Lost Inside. I just love Benny, and every time he sees Yuri it just rips my heart out. Please, whoever this other tiger is, don't let him hurt Yuri or Benny.
ReplyDelete