Teilo didn’t want to. With every strand of fur on his body, he wished he could be still and silent. His pain was too great.Stop it. Please. STOP IT.
~/~/~/~
Nico
A whimper.Oh, my gods. Teilo’s in pain.Even on the brink of death, Nico couldn’t ignore his brother cat—the man/cat he loved more than his life force that was slipping away. His ears strained as he dug deep inside of himself. Could he manage to put a paw up against the bars that separated them? Teilo was so close, and yet with the bars between them, they might as well be miles apart.
As he sent out his senses, Nico realized they weren’t alone. Cracking his eyes open a tiny slit, they widened when he realized it wasn’t men in white coats in the room that stunk of death. It was other cats—three of them. But unlike the cats in the cages that were either dead or like him and Teilo—Please don’t let Teilo be dying—the intruder cats were sleek with well-formed muscles. In other circumstances, Nico would see them as a threat.
His dull senses took time to notice one of them was screaming, his anger rolling off him in waves. He was a truly beautiful beast, one Nico felt a tug towards and the feeling shocked him. The only person or shifter he’d ever felt a connection with since birth had been Teilo. But now, for some reason, his poor cat was trying…what is he doing? Does he want to attract the attention of this other shifter?
They were shifters—the intruders carried the scent of clothes and the city with them. The one that caught Nico’s eye smelled of wealth and power, places far away. The sort of places Nico and Teilo used to dream about on the odd occasions they had privacy and could talk. So rare, those discussions. A few snatched minutes while scientists were busy with their calculations. Nico remembered how Teilo could say more with his eyes in a crowded room than he’d heard anyone speak before.
The attraction must mean something.Nico wasn’t going to question it. The big cat that was roaring his grief over one of their dead colleagues across the room must have potent feelings—feelings Nico didn’t understand exactly. He’d seen people grieving before. It often happened when he’d been ordered to stick around and make sure his mark was dead. Someone else would come in, find the remains Nico had left, and wailing would start. Some people even leaked water from their eyes. Nico did that, too sometimes, but he never told his captors.
But the cat making all the noise was visibly upset. Nico wasn’t sure how he knew, but it was true.And if the cat could get upset over a dead animal that he may or may not know…Nico’s eyes widened as he realized—he can help Teilo!
Nico wasn’t worried about his own safety. He knew he looked a mess—he didn’t smell good either. Living in his own filth, no water meant he didn’t have enough saliva to keep himself clean, although initially when the scientists disappeared, he and Teilo did try. Nico remembered trying to lick behind Teilo’s ears one night when all was quiet… The bars got in the way, but Teilo had still pressed as close as he could.
That cat has to save Teilo.How did he attract the cat’s attention? Nico had barely any strength left. He hadn’t even heard the cats come in, and usually he was alert to the minutest of changes in their underground den. It was only Teilo’s whimper that had broken through his final thoughts.
One of the other cats was pushinghiscat against his shoulder—it was like the cats were trying to communicate with each other. Perhaps they could. Nico had seen stranger things. They hadn’t noticed him or Teilo.His cat, and Nico reminded himself he was only calling the visitor cat that to differentiate from the other two who were with him, was sniffing at the lion’s cage. Then the other two cats did. The third one walked right past Nico and Teilo’s cages and was sniffing at the door.
They have to save Teilo.Nico did not know how he could do it, but he wasn’t going to let the stranger cats leave without at least trying on Teilo’s behalf.
Strength-wise, he had none. He already knew death was sharpening his sickle for him. He’d seen death in hundreds of forms, and it didn’t scare him. It was only the thought of being separate from Teilo that made him feel weird inside.Do it for Teilo. Get help for Teilo. Teilo has to be saved.
With the last of his draining strength, Nico raised his front paw and slammed it against the bars of his cage. The beautiful cat froze.
Chapter Five
Ben
So wrapped up in his grief at the death surrounding him, Ben’s soul didn’t register the tug that persisted. The mating pull he’d been experiencing was strong. Was it the same after death?
Ben needed to get out of the room, give himself a minute to figure out what the fuck was going on with him. He couldn’t even look toward the cages he was passing. It hurt too much. So much death…
There was a movement or was it his brothers? His head fired towards the cages closest to him and met a pair of slitted eyes. His nose wrinkled as his whiskers twitched as he surged forward, his face bumping off the melt bar. Alive…holy fuck.
His panther pushed his face into the bars, desperate to get inside. Their mate’s scent was barely there with stench of the bodies around them.Let me shift. I need my hands to unlock the cage.
One sweep of his paw at the lock cracked the casing, but didn’t shift it. Enraged at not being able to get closer, he growled murderously and clawed at the device that stopped them from getting to their mate.
“This one is breathing, too,” Kylo said from his left. “You need to shift, now.”
His panther wasn’t happy, but let Ben emerge. Nori helped Kylo bring out the other cat, who was no more than a bag of bones. For a moment, Ben stared at the rib cage that took several endless seconds to move.They’re alive! They’re both alive.
Yes, now help them!His panther’s sense of urgency got him moving to get his hands around the panther whose eyes had closed again. “Don’t die on me, come on little one.” Seeing he needed help to get the cat out, regardless they’d been starved, he was still big enough that Ben didn’t want to risk hurting him, Ben twisted around.
Seeing only Kylo kneeling next to the cat on the floor, he frowned. “Where’s Nori gone?”
Kylo didn’t look up as he ran his hands over the filthy, matted fur of the cat on the floor. Hitting what looked like a lure, he eased it out of the cat’s back. “He’s gone to retrieve the bags he left.” He then glanced at Ben. “They’ve left fuck all here that looks safe to use. The drugs all have long fancy names on them.”
Ben shook his dark head and looked back at one of his mates. “We need to get fluid in them… only I’m fucking sure they ain’t gonna want me sticking a needle in them.” Kylo was in law enforcement. In Paraguay, they trained the officers in survival techniques due to the remote areas they travelled to. He noticed a similar lure in the back of the still caged cat.Kylo could use those… No.Ben’s cat was adamant, and Ben agreed.
“Help me get this one out. Then get a couple of those large syringes and we’ll fill them with water and drip feed it into them. We aren’t using needles unless it’s the only option.” Ben sent a silent wish up to the gods that he wouldn’t find himself in that position.
The panther on the floor made a noise in the back of his throat and Ben became torn between leaving the cage as Kylo came to him. The lack of movement in the cage decided for him. He hoped that by putting them next to each other, it might help. Animal spirits directly connected to their fated mate. The lack of immediate recognition worried him. His panther had scented them but…
