Tales Of A Shifter (P4) The Blood

Chapter 4 - Instinctive

Chapter 4 

"Ezekiel? Brandon?....Sweethearts?" Glen called softly.

A small jostle and the soft feminine clearing of a throat forced Ezekiel to claw himself up from a mind fogged with odd nightmares and anxiety.

When Ezekiel looked up, into the warm green eyes of his mother and the stoic brown gaze of his father....it didn't matter. An alarming hiss was slithering up and out of his mouth before he could stop it.

And if Ezekiel could have stopped the sound from escaping....Ezekiel knew he wouldn't have. His entire body tightened like the coils of a snake as his mother removed her hand from his shoulder where she had been gently rocking him awake, to hover over, then gently caress Brandon's forehead and face.

Brandon stirred slightly in Ezekiels embrace, his expression transforming from peaceful sleep, to a pained furrowed brow. A soft small cry settled in his chest as Brandon turned from Glens caress, and unconsciously borrowed into Ezekiels chest.

Bursting with another hiss, and his arms locking around Brandon's disturbed form Ezekiel had to swallow the undeniable need he suddenly had roar at his mother. To swipe at her with his claws. His inner leopard bared its fangs in a show of possessive irritation.

Curbing the sound behind his teeth, Ezekiel instead pulled Brandon against his chest, and rumbled in content as Brandon clutched at his shirt and snuggled against him trying to get comfortable once more. Luckily he didn't awaken.

But unluckily for his mother she released a small chuckle and once more reached towards Brandon, this time she tangled her small hand in the hair at the base of his scalp, and gently rubbed his nape. With a soft mummer she crowded Ezekiel as she leaned in. "Brandon...please.....Wake up....it's been half a day, you need to wake up now...."

"Stop!" Ezekiel snapped, shackling Brandon closer to his chest and flashing his fangs at her. "What are you doing? Why are you touching him right now!?" Ezekiel whispered/hissed in warning. A part of Ezekiel didn't like the tone of his own voice in those moments.

It was almost silky, calm, sharp. When inside he felt a need to roar and growl and scream. This voice felt wrong. The ach in his body to lunge across the bed and roar at his own mother was horrible and inappropriate....but like drawing his next breath Ezekiel didn't want to stop the involuntary actions of his body and muscles...or the thoughts that accompanied it.

IT felt right. Like this was exactly what he needed to be doing.

In the back of his mind Ezekiel registered the intense burn in his eyes that signified that his eyes would be slit like a beasts and glowing an unholy florescent blue. His tongue dance across the deadly points of his six fangs that Ezekiel hadn't even realized were already bursting out of his gums.

"Ezekiel...?" His mother intoned his voice with two parts surprise and one part caution. With a slow recoil, she slowly, if quickly rocked back on her heels and up to her feet.

With wide green eyes latched onto Ezekiel she retreated to stand beside his father, whose own eyes were now filled with the same caution as his mothers. As if they were in a dangerous situation....as if Ezekiel was dangerous.

A part of Ezekiel wondered what they saw on his face just then? What did they sense about his mental stability in those moments?

Did they know that he was fighting every fiber of his being not to get up and bodily toss his own parents from the room like trash?

Did they sense that he didn't want any one near Brandon when he was still hurt; Not when his tempting blood was still polling behind a vicious fresh wound in his face?

Did they understand looking at Ezekiel that he couldn't stomach the idea of anyone disturbing Brandon...A man that he had helplessly watched scream and scream for the last three days and this was all before a psychotic Lion burst onto their lands and split open his jaw, he needed rest desperately!?

Ezekiel and the beast inside felt a nearly unacceptable ache to make sure Brandon was undisturbed...and healed.

He needed to sleep. He needed to be left alone.

Ezekiel needed to be the only one in that room. The only one touching him.

Ezekiel wanted to cut out the people that were interloping on Brandon healing and peace. No matter that the people he was thinking of were his own parents.

Their presence was like steel wool to his precarious control that was and had been hanging by a thread following all of the intense healing his body was going through and admittedly sleeping with Brandon's body tucked against his own was not making Ezekiel think any straighter.

A small thick minute passed as Glen and Mantilo both seemed to regroup. With a gruff voice Mantilo glared at him. "Ezekiel get a grip! Both you and Brandon, needs to wake up, right now!" he said. "Have you forgotten what is happeing!?"

There was a strict undercurrent to his words, but also a sense of true urgency.

"We have that bastard Lion sitting down in the Meeting room right now! Hes demanding that we speak with him regarding Brandon's father! Nothing has been resolved...and unfortunately we can't wait any longer! We gave you and him a day to recover. But Before we risk getting further involved in this matter I said I would speak to Brandon. So, I know that he's hurting, but time has run out for him..."

Ezekiel knew that what he father was saying was truthful and accurate, but the rest of the world's time didn't matter to him in that moment. Until the blood stopped rushing to the surface and pooling in the four giant hideous slices in his cheek, until Brandon's green gaze opened on thier own....everything else would wait.

So as Mantilo stepped up next to the bed with his mother Glen and tried to call Brandon from his embrace, Ezekiel hissed and flashed his glowing eyes up at the man. It was not a warning. It was a threat.

A part of Ezekiel should have wilted in obedience to his father, the Clan Head....but it didn't. Not when it came to Brandon.

Mantilo didn't even blink, before he growled back in outrage, the sound skirting up and down the walls of the room vibrating like condensed dominance, as he flashed glowing eyes back at Ezekiel beating Ezekiels will down mercilessly but Ezkeiel just couldn't submit.....after a second more of growling at each other, Mantilo didn't make any more moves.

He seemed to spy something in Ezekiels gaze, which actually made the man drop his eyes, grab Glen's hand pull her back, and shoot her a very serious if unreadable look.

Still feeling uncontrollable and far to tense Ezekiel realized that he didn't care what that look meant, he just wanted his parents to leave them alone!

" Look at him! Hes not ready to awaken! Brandon's not just sick from the attack.....his body is healing from another sickness. You can't disturb him!" Ezekiel snarled possessively, not registering that he was even doing it. "Leave him alone! Hes still hurt. Let him sleep a little while longer."

"Ezekiel...we cant just wait..." Mantilo began, but when Glen cast him a serious look he slowed to a stop, sighed then slowly intoned. "Okay...fine."

"We won't disturb him Ezekiel...not yet." Glen finally said, after casting Mantilo another unreadable look, then she stepped up to the bed and sent their son a calm smile that came off genuine considering the fact that he was still sporting glowing eyes and six wickedly long fangs at her. His mother reached up and touched an errant curl behind Ezekiel's ear as she continued.

Her green open gaze heled to lull some of the tension in Ezekiels chest. "Ezkeiel we know  you want to keep him safe, but you have been down here in those same torn dirty clothes since yesterday's attack. Your wounds should have mostly healed by now. Don't you think you should go change? Wash away the blood?"

More and more the tension in his body began unraveling...until Ezekiel was left with nothing but obvious embarrassment and shock at his own reaction.

"Yeah...Sorry, I was being pissy." Ezekiel slowly apologized, starting to pull himself up from the bed. "Your right I know I should go upstairs, but I've been unable to convince my body to obey me. My back was on fire all night...and being here with him helped...."

"We understand." There went another unreadable look between his parents as his mother said. "The meeting with Jacob was postponed because...well.... we can talk about that latter." Glen exhaled. "For now are you both okay?"

"We will be. His face is still healing and my back is tinder..." Ezekiel sighed, resting on his elbows with a grimace. "But he hasn't woken up  since we returned. Its driving me crazy...I'm reluctant to go."

And he was....Ezekiel's entire body felt laden to that bed, laden with Brandon's warmth and presence. He felt too heavy to move.

"Ezekiel get up. He will be fine." With an odd softness in his voice his father finished. "Don't worry. He'll be perfectly safe."

And because Ezekiel believed that when his father said it. Some of the weigh on his heart lessened...and Ezekiel finally managed to pull himself away.