Dream continuation:
Kane’s first thought was to kill in self-preservation. He was weak from hunger and already dripping precious blood. The wisest and safest course of action would be to end the battle quickly. Respect for the rain forest’s strongest predator made him hold back. He and his brother had always lived in harmony with the creatures of the forest. He would not take this animal’s life if there was another choice. He growled a warning, clearly telling the male to back off.
Testing the air, he could find no female leaving scent that might give the cat added incentive to fight. The other janguar fighting with the white wolf was also male. Surprisenly, it was bleeding all over, whilst the white wolf stood tall and proud, uninjured one bit.
The jaguar fighting with him circled his powerful furred body, showing teeth and rumbling with challenge. Hoping to subdue the animal, he leapt. The jaguar rushed to meet him, slashing with stiletto-like claws even as he reached for the mind of the beast. The jungle erupted into an explosion of sound as the two cats came together. Birds screamed and took to the air, high in the canopy above. Monkeys shrieked warnings and threw twigs and leaves down on the two jaguars as they rolled in the vegetation. Boughs broke beneath the heavy bodies, scattering debris into a thick cloud around them.
Kane pushed past the red rage in the cat’s mind and tried to find the spirit of the animal as he kept its lethal fangs from sinking into him. Jaguars possessed extremely flexible spines that allowed them to turn and twist, move their legs in lateral sideswipes, even change direction in midair. And the ropes of muscles all over their bodies gave them tremendous strength. He took another vicious rake on his side as he tried to focus on calming the cat. He pushed harder, breaking through the wall of rage and found-man. This was no jaguar.
This was one of the rare and solitary jaguar-men who still made their homes in the rain forest. His and the jaguar people had always lived in harmony, avoiding one another, yet this one had deliberately attacked. He dissolved and took his human form, this time from the comparative safety of a distance away. Cats could cover amazing distances in a single leap, and the jaguar people had cunning and strength beyond normal.
He stood, breathing hard, watching for any signs of aggression as the cat faced him, sides heaving, a snarl on its face.
“I know you are a man. You will die here if you continue. You cannot use my respect for the jaguar to defeat me. Why have you broken our unspoken treaty?” He deliberately pitched his voice soft, calming, a mesmerizing tone of notes to aid in soothing the cat’s temper.
The jaguar bared teeth, but held his ground, the eyes never leaving Kane’s face, as if he was just waiting for one moment of weakness that would give him an advantage. And Kane was weak. He held the pain of his wounds at bay and ignored the raging hunger nearly consuming him. The scent of blood was heavy in the air. Both jaguars had been torn, and droplets showered bright spots of crimson over the leaves. Deliberately the jaguar licked at the blood drops, to remind Kane that he had scored.
Kane exploded into action, ice-cold fury washing over him at the insulting taunt. He leapt on the animal’s back, knees digging tightly into the banded muscle, legs nearly crushing the animal as he locked his ankles under the belly. One arm snaked around the thick neck in a half nelson to drag the head up. He sank his teeth deep into the jugular and drank. The animal tensed with resistance, but the man inside the cat form forced stillness, realizing Kane could-and would-rip out his throat. The hot blood pumped into his starving body, soaking into tissue and cells, and rejuvenating muscles.
For a moment he was flooded with euphoria, the adrenaline-laced blood too rich and addictive when he’d been so long without and so very closing to turning.
“So good. Do not stop. Feel the rush. Do not stop. There is nothing like it in the world. Join us, brother. Be with us. Take it all. Every drop.”
Kane heard several voices whispering the temptation. The buzzing in his head grew louder until it was almost painful. It is forbidden to take a life.
“A cat only. Nothing to one such as you. He attacked you. Why should you give him his life when he would have killed you?”
The enticement was strong. Hot, rich blood. And he was starving. The cat had attacked him first. It would still kill him, given the chance, even now, when he had spared its life. Although he felt the difference in his body, he felt sick again, as if his stomach was cramping, which didn’t make sense. Insects buzzed in his ears, loud and obnoxious, but when he wished them away, the noise didn’t abate. Around him the ground rolled, as if an earthquake had taken place deep beneath the soil. His gut rolled with it.
“You need strength. The cat wounded you. You need blood to heal, and it is so good. Drink, brother. Drink it all.” The persuasive whispers continued. Beneath him, the cat began to shake.
The man prowling within the animal shouted something unintelligible, something human. Human. He could not kill while feeding.
” Not human. A cat. Tear its throat out. Rejoice in the power. Feel it, brother, feel the absolute power of a life ebbing away beneath your hands. Be what you were always meant to be-what you are.”
What was he? A killer? Yes. There was no doubt he had killed so many times he could no longer remember all the faces. Where was he? He looked around, and for a moment the rain forest was gone and the white wolf was gone and he was surrounded by shadowy forms, the stretched and knotted fingers of the dead pointing accusingly. Branches clacked together like brittle white bones, sending a shiver down his spine. He killed-yes. But not like this. It was wrong. Self-defense was one thing. And there was justice and honor in dispatching a fallen brother when he had given his soul over to evil, but murder while feeding was against everything he believed. No. Whatever, whoever, was trying to get him to kill was no friend.
It took discipline to take only what he needed to survive, only what he needed to push past the beast’s barriers and lay open the mind of the man hidden inside. He swept his tongue across the punctures to seal them and dissolved into vapor, only to reappear a distance away, taking a careful look into the shadows around him. Were those faces in the shadows, peering through the leaves and coming up out of the ground? Were vampires lurking? He shifted onto the balls of his feet, ready for anything.
In front of him, he noticed that the white big wolf was staring at him, beckoning on him to follow her.