Rose
Ivan was just part of the family now, and we were beginning to settle down into our new rhythm when interesting things started happening again. Ugg, I hate interesting things. All of us underlings were called to Jared's office yet again for an "emergency meeting." Once we were all in his office he un-steepled his fingers and stared at us.
"As you all know, I am not only the owner of this bar, but in charge of this quarter of this city. And as all of you know, as my compatriots are also reasonable for the welfare of this quarter." Well, whatever this was, it was a big deal, and we were going to have to do it. "At the moment there is a problem in this quarter that we must deal with. We have been instructed to deal with it." He re-steepled his fingers and sighed. "Usually the werewolves of this city keep pretty much to themselves. However, something is causing a disturbance among them, and they are becoming quite violent. Our job is to find out who or what is causing this disturbance, and remove it. Now, we're pretty sure that it's a living creature, and we've been instructed to bring it in alive." That was a surprise. Usually they just asked us to kill something, not take it in alive. Interesting. "We know the general area that the problem is in, so lets get moving." And get moving we did.
We drove to the area. It was a particularly grubby part of town, of course, and we were paired up to search. Jared went off on his own. Makiel and Alicia took off down an ally, and Ivan and I took a sharp turn to the left.
The entire area was like a maze of dirty alleys and it was easy to get lost in. There was an utter lack of homeless people here, probably because of the recent activity of the weres. Speaking of which it was just then that we heard barking, screeching, whimpering, yowling, thudding, squishing, and crunching all from just around the next corner. We dashed towards the scene and found a mass of writhing fur.
Ivan
As we came around the corner I saw what might be described as a dog pile. It looked as if twenty or thirty "dogs" were all trying to rip something underneath them to shreds. Apparently, by the sounds of dogs in pain, the thing was doing a pretty good job of defending itself.
Rose and I jumped in and started grabbing wolves and throwing them away. They would slam into the ground or a wall; lie for a second then limp away, or just lay there. We did not worry for them. Soon we were able to see what they were trying to kill. Well, sort of. It looked like a slightly lighter writhing mass of fur. We finally pulled the last of the dogs off it and knelt down beside the bleeding animal. It was a Panther, a Wildcat, a Mountain Lion. Apparently it was a Were-panther by the way it was turning into a beaten, bruised, and bleeding, young man. He was huddled up in the fetal position, shaking and holding his eyes closed, waiting for it all to end.
I reached out to him; I couldn't help it. I laid my hand on his shoulder and he flinched.
"It's all right. You're safe now. We'll protect you." I thought it was the right thing to say at the time, but apparently I was wrong.
"I don't need protection." It was hoarse growl, but man, it was sexy.
"Yes you do, you're naked, covered with blood, and bruised in I don't know how many places." I stroked his shoulder and he growled.
"It's not my blood." His eyes shot open and he was suddenly standing, hair bristling, fangs and claws extended, tail whipping. He took one swipe at my head and I felt my skin rip. I fell back in surprise and pain. Rose was on the ground too, four bloody gashes in her stomach. I saw a flash of gold fur disappear around the corner and jumped to my feet. I wiped the blood out of my eyes and I ran after the beast.
It may have been a were-panther, but it was still just a beast, I was a supernatural being. I caught up to it momentarily, and sprang at it. I landed on its back and dug my fingers in. I, simply out of instinct, also clamped my teeth onto its neck. I felt it's blood spilling into my mouth and it howled. He stumbled and fell. I had almost drained him; that was one big bight. It was moaning, returning to human form. I was laying on top of him, in case he didcided to jump us again. My wounds were almost fully healed, and his was beginning to close. He groaned and closed his eyes.
"We don't want to hurt you. We just want to house you, we can't have you causing trouble amongst the werewolves. Please, let us help you." I didn't get up. I even stroked his chest. He was panting, still tired from the fight. I felt like kissing him. He tensed for a moment, then his body went limp.
"All right. I'll go with you. I don't think I can move though. You took a lot of blood there, buddy." I could tell by the strained voice he was speeking in that he probably had some broken ribs. I got off of him. All he did was turn his head to look at me.
"So, what's your name?" I asked him, kneeling beside him. I rolled him over onto his back to give his ribs a rest.
"Feral, you?" He grunted.
"Ivan, nice to meet you, Feral, welcome to our family."
Jared
I came into the ally with the blankets Rose had told me Ivan had asked for. Ivan had said that the boy was still a little skittish, and since he was okay with Ivan for the moment, Ivan should probably be the only one to see him. As I turned the corner I saw Ivan with the boy in his arms. The kid must have been no more than nineteen, I felt so sorry for him. I put the blankets beside Ivan, he was stroking the sleeping boy's blond hair. I was glad that the boy had a protector as caring as Ivan. I couldn't think of anyone more suited for the job.
Ivan smiled up at me and began to wrap the sleeping form in the blankets. It was fall, and the air was nippy, especially for a skinny naked boy. Come to think of it, the boy did look like it could use a good meal. Living off the streets of Boston, with the wolves to compete with, must have been hard. Again my heart panged for the beautiful little boy.
Ivan picked him up and carried him out to my car. He sat in the back seat, with the boy in his lap. Ivan held him close the entire way back to the mansion. I would let him have some time off for a while, to help our newest friend settle in.
It wasn't long until we were in front of the manor. I parked my car and Ivan carried the still sleeping boy up to his room. And by "his" I do mean Ivan's. Ivan wanted to keep a close eye on him for a while, and despite his love for his nest mates, he was still suspicious that they might try to do something to him in his weakened state. I wasn't going to say anything about what Ivan himself might do. I trusted the look in his eyes when he gazed at the were. You can't rape someone you love.