That's right... here's another update! This week I chose the prompt to use stitches somehow. And *cough*come back in a few hours *cough* You'll be glad you did.
Lost Inside Chapter Six
“It would never work. Your
father’s plan to modernize the Tigers, I mean.”
Velaku cocked his head to one
side. “Why not?”
“Birth defects and rising infant
mortality rates aren’t enough to convince them, even when they had concrete
research results from Tiger scientists and doctors. They cannot see past the
way things were done to anything else, much less anything better.
“Sully the bloodlines or deign to
ask for help without precedent? Tigers do not accept anything new or different.
Hell”—Benny pointed at the Falcon’s house—“you have a perfect example of their
reaction right there. What about Calix’s mother? She dared to mate outside the
clans and was shunned for it; her family lived in fear of the clans just
because she loved to dare someone not
acceptable.” Benny’s mouth twisted on the bitter words.
“You’re not like that. Neither is
your brother,” Velaku said. “If we start with the younger generations who’ve
had a more modern upbringing—”
“Wouldn’t matter. The elders
maintain rigid control of the power structure.”
Velaku smiled. “The young will
age. My father had the patience to understand not everything happens right
away. I’d like to think I’m enough like him to realize that too. We may only
sow the seeds now, but a mind we change now could be instrumental to change the
Tiger clan in the future. Or other clans still clinging to the old ways.”
Benny blinked. He hadn’t thought
of it that way. It was a bitter pill to swallow, knowing they couldn’t go
back. Their clan would shun them on
sight even if Yuri wasn’t deathly afraid of Tigers. Though, since Dav invited him
to stay as a bouncer at the club, Benny felt more of a clan bond with him than
he had with anyone outside his close family.
“It might work,” Benny admitted
reluctantly. “Or it might not.”
“We’ll never know if we don’t try.”
Velaku shrugged. “Come on. Let’s check those markings and see what you can
figure out.”
The tree Velaku led him to wasn’t
much farther. Velaku stood back and let him do his thing. Wide slashes scored the thin white bark of
the tree. Benny fit a hand over the marks without touching them, flexing his
claws out.
“Definitely a male.”
“Which is why we thought it was
you.”
No way he’d risk leaving any marks behind. Benny bent close
to the bark and inhaled. The scent was faint, and he didn’t recognize it though
it was from a cat.
A tension he’d refused to acknowledge eased. It wasn’t the
Alpha, rabid to finish the job of destroying his son—and Benny along with him.
But then who was it? Why was he watching Yuri? Benny moved
around the tree until he had the right angle. Sure enough, a narrow sight lane
went all the way to the house. Worse, a new scent farther down the tree
lingered. Benny squatted down and then his ears went flat to his head. He
snarled.
“What is it?”
“The fucker jacked off. I can still smell his spunk.”
Benny’s voice was distorted with rage. His claws dug into his palms. The urge
to obliterate the intruder’s markings with his own scent was overwhelming.
Yuri was his!
“Shit.” Velaku rubbed his forehead. “I’m not getting you
away from here today, am I?”
Leave? Benny bared his fangs. No. Not even close. “I’m not
going anywhere.” His unspoken ‘until I find this threat and remove it’ hung
between them. He wouldn’t apologize for that. No mate would.
Clearly the intruder was wary, staying much farther back
than Benny did when he watched Yuri.
The distance from Yuri was too much for him. The cat could
be anywhere, maybe watching from another angle. Benny stood, careful not to
touch the tree. If the cat came back a lingering scent would warn him off. They
would have better luck trapping the bastard if he thought his little hidey-hole
was undiscovered.
***
“What have you learned?” Benny insisted Ellis come up to his
spot on the hill after he finished talking with Yuri. He wanted to ask if Yuri
had mentioned his name or spoke of a mate at all, but the possibility of his
mate’s damaged brain wiping all memory of him away as if they’d never met,
never fell in love and mated… Well, Benny might lose whatever tenuous hold on
sanity he could claim to still have.
“You sure you want to talk about this here?” Ellis glanced
up. He must have known about the guards.
“C’mon. I’ll drive you home. Benny stalked toward his truck
parked on the far side of the hill.
“Talk,” Benny demanded.
“I was surprised when I first talked to Yuri.” Ellis put on
his seat belt. “You said he was like a child, but he’s not really.”
Benny paused with the key in the ignition. “What do you
mean?”
“Yuri isn’t childlike, exactly. The head injury affected his…
well, think of it as his sense of self. He can complete complex puzzles and
tests, but his ability to retain memories or process information is damaged. He
has impulse control issues because he doesn’t grasp the complex social cues
most adults learn over the course of their lives. It’s like… autism, I guess.
He’s smart, but the way he looks at the world is very different than other
adults because he doesn’t remember learning them.”
That sounded a lot like a child to Benny. “You said his
memory was affected?”
“I believe so, yes, but remember, I’m just a nurse.”
He shouldn’t ask, but he had to know. “Does he… does Yuri
remember me?”
“No.”
Pain lanced Benny’s soul. He roared and lashed out.
“Fuck!” Ellis grabbed Benny’s arm before he could punch the
dashboard again. “Damn it, Benny, you’re going to need stitches!”
A hard plastic shard from the ruined dash was jammed between
two of his knuckles. Benny ignored the blood running down his fingers. It was
nothing compared to the knowledge his mate had forgotten him.
TBC
Now you can either visit the central Briefers site, where you get to see the first 100 words of all the updates this week, or hop to the sites via this list. There are a ton of us really active now! If you're interested, you can let me know and I'll point you in the right direction!
This is so, so sad and getting sadder. Poor Yuri and poor Benny
ReplyDeleteBut there's changes coming!! :) Thanks for reading, Nephy!
Deletedamn, the plot thickens....dun dun dun.....Can't wait for more Cia! :)
ReplyDelete*waggles eyebrows* It does! (that might work better if mine weren't white blonde and darn near invisible, but we can pretend those awesome dramatic eyebrow types). LOL
Deletewatching someone you love and knowing they have forgotten you.... nothing hurts more i hope you can find an hea for these two gonna cry now
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine personally... but for Benny, I have. It's definitely a heart-wrenching moment. Thanks for reading, Wayne. *hands over tissue*
DeleteLove this story. So glad this is your briefers story. :D
ReplyDeleteNow... I'm back after a few hours... what's happening now?
Sorry, my few hours became A LOT of hours, but I hope you got to see the Twofer update I finally managed to post. :) Thanks for visiting and commenting, Mr. Mann!
Delete