I watched as several human males entered the lab. All of them had tasers in their hands and I knew they were getting ready to zap me so that I would be compliant enough for Grier to drug me again. I knew this was going to be my chance. I couldn't allow them to take me down. I shifted as the door to my cage was opened. I felt several tasers slam into my sides and send an electric jolt through me. If I had still been in my human form I would have been knocked out. But in my tiger form at six hundred plus pounds of pure flesh and muscle I was unaffected by their puny little tasers. I tore into the human’s bodies and left nothing but bloody chunks of flesh strewn about the lab.
This was my chance to end this once and for all. I moved over to the back of the lab and shifted back into my human form and prepared myself for death. I closed my eyes and tried not to see or smell the carnage that my tiger made. I opened my mouth and swallowed the burning acidic liquid down. I felt the pure fire scorching my throat and knew that I had only a few moments left. The pain was far worse than I thought it would be. I screamed out silently in pain as I prayed for death to take me. Not even caring any longer where it might take me to.
I’d never been as grateful as I was the moment I heard my mother's scream. I’d been astral projecting and was trying to figure out how I could possibly get my head back on my shoulders all by myself. Worse, I knew that they managed to ambush me because I was totally preoccupied. Of all the days and in all the places my beloved's soul had finally called to me. My soul mate felt older than I thought he would be. Generally speaking a soul mate calls when they are seventeen or eighteen years old. My soul mate however felt a lot older than me and for some reason I was sure he only called out to me because his life was in mortal danger and he wanted to say goodbye.
In recent years I’d begun to believe that I would never find my beloved. It was just my luck that I waited five lifetimes for my beloved and that he finally decides to call me in the middle of major fight. Here I am defending myself against fifty or more well-armed human fighters when I suddenly feel my beloved soul calling me. The moment I felt his presence I was happy, shocked then assaulted by the humans all at the same time. I didn’t want to lose my beloved before I even got to meet him. My body was twisted around and I was trying desperately to keep the attackers at bay. I heard and felt my soul mate but from the position I was in I couldn't see him. I wanted so badly to set eyes on him just once that I turned my head ever so slightly. That’s when the human bastards hit me with the sleeping dart. Then real live voodoo witch cast a spell that completely immobilized me. Then just to top it all off, the humans chopped off my head. I think I must have passed out momentarily because when I came to my beloved was gone and so were the attackers. I can only pray that my beloved is still alive and waiting for me.
My Uncle Nik carried me to the car and sat me gently in the back seat. I could see my body mending quickly so I hopped back in and opened my eyes. I watched my moms face light up with shock then joy. I stretched out my neck and momentarily considered telling mom and Uncle Nik about my beloved. Then fear settled in that if I said anything it would be bad luck, so when I opened my mouth I said nothing about my beloved instead I joked and said the only thing I thought was safe to say.
“Mother fuckers ambushed me. Had to be fifty or more humans and they used some kind of dart gun that knocked me out There was also a voodoo priestess that threw some kind of spell at me. I guess I was damn lucky you guys found me when you did.”
I sat up in the seat and started to move my neck around at bit more and then I looked at Uncle Nik and my mom and thanked them for helping me out of a bad situation. Uncle Nik laughed and mom just seemed to be more distraught. Uncle Nik reminded me to hug her and comfort her so that we could get looking for the cubs. I wanted to help them but... I wanted to find my beloved even more. I just wanted to keep that fact to myself until I knew that he was okay so thinking quickly I said
“I'm sure by now they have already made it to the compound. We might need to ask the local wolf pack to help us out. There are far too many of them for us to go in there alone. Mom and Uncle Nik why don’t you head back to the pack and get help. I’m going to go and scope it out.”
Then without giving them a chance to answer I handed them a map of the compound, kissed my mom fast on the cheek and took off at a full run. The moment I was away from my mom and Uncle Nik I felt the presence of my soul mate again. I was so grateful I said a silent prayer of thanks as I followed the feelings of my soul mate straight to the compound. For just a tiny second I actually thought to myself that it odd that my beloved was anywhere near this mess. Then, I looked at the clock and realized everything I’d experience had taken less than fifteen minutes from start to finish.
I found myself looking around the compound in confusion. Where was my mate and how was he connected to this mess. Was he a human helping the sick scientist? I hoped not but I could understand if he did what he needed to in order to survive in this poor country. It suddenly hit me that the compound appeared to be almost empty. I wasn’t sure but there appeared to be less people than when I was here the night before. I was even more surprise when I suddenly realized I could smell my beloveds scent in the air. I was astonished and immensely pleased that he smelled of breezy fall nights and thick trees. His scent reminded me of the jungle. I listen carefully and could still hear his heart beating slowly and quietly. Each beat just a little slower than the one before it.
I hid myself behind several rocks and allowed my soul to separate from my body. As a vampire-wolf hybrid I had the benefit of the pros from both species with the cons of neither. As such I was a master of astral projecting which is the ability to remove my soul from my body and move about in completely invisible to everyone but my soul mate. I moved quickly through the gates and into the underground compound. I let my soul lead me to my beloved. I found him lying in the corner of an empty lab. He was bleeding profusely from his eyes, ears, nose and throat. I looked down and saw broken glass from test tubes and I smelled battery acid. That's when I realized who my beloved was and what he had done to himself.
I had only moments to decide my best course of action. I knew my family would never accept my beloved or forgive him for what he did to Rena. I should leave him and this place and never look back. Just a little more time and my beloved mate will be gone from this earth forever. I screamed and felt the tears fall from my eyes. I knew I could never walk away. My beloved was a monster that deserved to be punished...but hadn't he already been punished in ways that no man should have to endure? I pushed myself back into my body and I charged into the compound with one goal. I was going to save my beloved no matter what it took. Then later, much later I would decide what was right or wrong.