Mbwa Mwitu

Title: Mbwa Mwitu
Author: frk_werewolf
Fandom: Buffyverse
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: Spike/Xander, Oz/Tara
Summary: When Xander decides to help Oz find the balance between man and wolf, he has no idea as to the events that it will trigger.
Warnings: non-descriptive non-con. for slashers: there is het in this. which is so fucking bizarre, because I've never written het and yet... here I am... writing it into this story. how... strange.

Notes: This takes place in the Fisi Mtima universe, around two months after that story. You should probably read that first, but basically Xander is both human and hyena. Spike has a soul. Giles owns the Magic Box, Anya is nowhere to be seen, Riley and the Initiative are still working, Angel is set in Season One with Angel/Doyle. Also, Oz never returned to Sunnydale after learning to control the wolf in this universe. I'm writing this after re-reading Fisi Mtima and realizing the whole Initiative needs to be resolved. Hence this story. The title is Swahili for wolf or wolves. And when it comes to Tara's gayness, I'm using Season Four Tara. In that season we really didn't know whether she was gay or bisexual and remember the whole reaction to Giles singing?

.Prologue.

The funny thing about being happy is that you know it's going to end sooner or later. Xander was perfectly aware of this fact. He had been happy, once upon a time, then things like a hyena and a sweet smiling soul got in the way. Things were a little crazy, for a while there. But it got better, and now Xander was happy. Spike was happy.

The happiness lasted for quite a while. Long enough for Xander to get a stable job and rent out a first floor apartment. All of the windows faced the sunrise. This way, once noon came around, it was usually safe enough for Spike was walk around the apartment without any of the curtains closed. The happiness also lasted long enough for Xander and Spike to get comfortable with one another, finally settling down to a routine.

Of course, being happy can't last forever. It was inevitable that it would end, and so it did. But the way it ended wasn't as shocking as Xander would have thought. After all, he always knew the Initiative was a bad thing.

But Xander was getting ahead of himself. It didn't start with the Initiative, not really. No, it started with a former pack mate. It started with a wolf.

.Chapter One.

Xander watched from the corner of the room as Willow and Tara argued. Spike rested against his side, a new pair of reading glasses resting on the tip of his nose. The vampire was hardly reading, his eyes instead focused on the two witches. Willow and Tara had been tense since the moment they had entered the Magic Box. In fact, they had been tense for the past two weeks. Something had happened, and while Xander hated the idea of choosing sides, he knew what it was.

A few weeks ago, Willow had cast a rather complicated spell just to see what would happen. The results had been Buffy becoming completely incapacitated, Spike's chip frying his brain, and Giles passing out for three whole days. Needless to say, the demons of Sunnydale had a blast with only Xander strong enough to try and stop them. Tara finally managed to cast the counter spell, but the damage had already been done. Tara now insisted that Willow stop using magic, until she had the discipline to handle it.

"Hate to say it, pet, but I think this is it." Spike said softly, glancing over at Xander and then back at Tara and Willow.

"I was hoping..." Xander sighed and buried his nose into Spike's hair. The scent of his lover, surrounded by gel, calmed him enough to continue. "I was hoping those two would last. Tara... She would have been so good for Willow."

"Red doesn't want to listen." Spike informed him, finally closing the book he had been pretending to read. "I've got to admit, I'm with Tara on this one."

"I know." Xander agreed. "After that last spell she did..." Xander held Spike tighter against him. "I never want to hear you scream like that again."

"Gonna happen if the chip decides to electrocute me." Spike pointed out. Xander made a growling-type noise in the back of his throat, causing Spike to chuckle. "Yeah, me too."

"I don't care!" Tara's voice interrupted them. Xander looked up, startled, to see Tara's face set in an angry scowl. Her body radiated with power, fused by her emotions. A part of Xander, predominantly controlled by the hyena, wanted to stand up and quickly dominate her before she turned on someone, but the rational part couldn't move. This looked nothing like the Tara he was used to.

"Tara-" Willow started, looking on the verge of tears.

"Willow." Tara interrupted, her voice deceptively calm despite the powerful charge rolling off her in waves. "I refuse to stand by and watch you destroy your gifts. You... You don't get it, Willow. You're magical strength is not determined by how many spells you can use, or how difficult they are. Strength is determined by how well you can control yourself. How well you can control the energy around you and not use the power of others to do what you want."

"I don't." Willow said meekly, her eyes darting away. "I don't mean to. Tara-"

"You don't mean to, but you do it anyway!" Tara suddenly yelled. Xander felt Spike jerk in surprise at the volume. "You refuse to train, and therefore you just grab at the power around you instead of channeling your own."

"Tara, calm down." Willow said, her voice nearly a whisper.

"I..." Tara looked at the ground, her arms crossing at her chest. Xander could feel her emotions close in on themselves. He had the sudden urge to hold her, to try and give her comfort. When she spoke next, her voice sounded broken and on the verge of tears. "I don't think this is going to work."

"What? Baby, no." Willow shook her head.

"I can't do this anymore, Willow." Tara said softly. The smell of tears reached Xander's nose. He could feel Spike shift next to him. He knew the vampire was feeling the same thing as him. Both had grown close to Tara since the whole incident with Spike's soul.

"Tara." Willow said. "Please, don't. I can work on it. Really, I can. I'll-"

"No, it's more than just the magic, Willow." Tara took a step back, as though putting more space between them would help. "It's everything. I don't feel..."

"You don't love me." Willow finished for her. "Did you ever love me?"

"I haven't had time to fall in love with you." Tara said honestly. "I like you, a lot, but... We don't..."

"No, I get it." Willow laughed slightly, before wiping tears out of her eyes. "Yeah, I get it."

"Do you?" Tara asked, frowning. "I don't think you do."

"You think I'm using you." Willow replied, her eyes hardening slightly. "You think I’m just using you as some sort of test. Or some sort of fount of power."

"Don't you dare do this to me, Willow." Tara said, her gray eyes narrowing. "I'm not your enemy, so don't even try to make me one. We've been having problems for a long time and you know it. I'm just strong enough to admit it."

"Fine." Willow snapped.

"Will-" Tara started.

"No, Tara." Willow said, walking past the blonde and toward the door. "You're right. We just aren't working out." Willow made a small noise in the back of her throat, stopping a few feet from the door. The room fell to silence, allowing Xander the chance to notice that he could no longer hear Buffy and Giles working out in the training room. No doubt they were standing by the door, listening in on the argument. With a sigh, Willow glanced back at Tara. "I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry about." Tara told her. "The blame is on both of us."

"Yeah." Willow nodded. She stared down at her hands for a moment, before looking back up. "Maybe we should take a break. I mean, not... Not see each other for a while."

"I guess I should be the one leaving then." Tara whispered. "These are your friends after all."

"No, they're yours too." Willow insisted. "Let's not do the silly friends divorce thing, okay? We should... We should still be able to be friends, don't you think?"

"Yeah." Tara said, smiling sadly. She reached over and grabbed her purse off the table. Glancing quickly over at Xander and Spike, she walked toward the door, passing Willow on the way. "I'll just... I'll just go. You should stay here."

"...Okay." Willow said softly. "I..."

"Don't." Tara replied. "It's best if we just leave this as it is. Give us some time to think, okay?"

"Yeah." Willow nodded.

Xander watched as Tara slipped out the door, into the dry California night. He glanced at Spike, who had a determined look on his face. Sighing, Xander allowed Spike to slip from his embrace and made for the door as well. Xander watched as his mate left the Magic Box, following the obvious trail of sadness that their pack mate was giving off.

And that's what Tara was, when it came down to it. She was probably more a part of Xander's pack mentality than Willow or Buffy was. She was the one that helped him when he had nearly lost Spike. She brought him back to him. If Xander was to label the other members of the pack, Tara would be Beta, third only after Xander and Spike, themselves. Xander desperately wanted to follow Spike and comfort her, but he knew he had someone else to comfort.

Willow stood by the door, her head tilted to the side as she looked out the window. With a sigh, the redhead turned toward him. "Xander..."

"Come here, Wills." Xander said softly, opening his arms. Willow quickly rushed to his side, falling into the seat next to him and resting her forehead against his shoulder. Her body shook from silent tears. "It's okay. Let it out."

"Oh, God." Willow whimpered, looking up at him with watery eyes. "I... I don't know what to feel right now, Xander. I just... Everything hurts, but at the same time I'm kind of relieved."

"I know." Xander whispered.

"She's right, you know." Willow suddenly said, one hand gripping the front of his shirt as though that would help her hold on to her senses. "We've been having problems ever since..."

"Ever since what?"

"Ever since she did that spell for Spike. The one that took you guys to the higher plane." Willow replied. "It was like... She suddenly saw how different we saw everything. How we viewed magic. We both used one another."

"Oh, Willow, that's not true." Buffy said, as she exited the training room, an uneasy Giles at her heels.

"It is!" Willow insisted, her voice breaking slightly. "You don't get it... I... I used her to boost my magical knowledge, to learn everything faster. She used me for support, to build self-esteem and finally belong with a family. I guess... I guess we didn't realize what was happening until now."

"Sometimes things happen for a reason." Xander said.

"Huh. Here you guys are." A mellow sounding voice spoke up. The group turned toward the doorway to see a short man with electric blue hair. Xander's body tensed for a moment, before the scent of woods and wild nights under a moon hit his senses.

"Oz?" Willow asked, looking stunned.

"Hey." Oz gave a slight wave.

"Oz, what happened?" Buffy asked, eyeing the bruise that stood out on the werewolf's pale skin. Oz reached up and touched the black eye, wincing slightly.

"Kind of ran into a fist." Oz replied. "Hey, did you know you have soldiers running around?"

"Well aware of that." Xander growled. Oz stared at Xander a moment, his nostrils flaring, before his green eyes dropped to the floor in what could be considered submission. Xander gave Oz a smile in return. "Did they give you that?"

"Yeah." Oz said, raising one shoulder in a slight shrug. "There was only one of them, so I managed to escape."

"Good." Xander stated, sending Buffy a look. Buffy rolled her eyes and looked away, fully aware that it might have been her boyfriend that had caused that bruise.

A few blocks from the Magic Box, Tara sat on the curb. Her arms remained wrapped around her knees, her head tilted in order to watch the vampire sitting next to her. Spike had followed her out, and had stuck with her until she finally sat down to give into her emotions. Now, her crying spell over, Spike looked on the verge of saying something.

"What is it?" She asked softly. Her hands immediately began twisting the hem of her skirt nervously.

"I just... I want you to know that I think you did the right thing." Spike said, nodding to himself. It amazed Tara how sometimes Spike wasn't completely Spike at all. It was moments like these that she saw the strong enfluence of William, who was always concerned about the feelings of those around him. "Sometimes you've got to make hard decisions that, even at the time, don't feel right. But they are, yeah?"

"Thank you, Spike." Tara replied.

"I hated Xander." Spike told her. She looked up at him in shock. "Not now, but... At the time, I hated him. I hated that he made me feel so safe around him. That he made me feel... Happy." Spike paused a moment, before continuing. "Does she make you happy?"

"She did." Was Tara's soft reply. "But... Now she makes me weary, almost..."

"Scared." Spike offered.

"Yeah." Tara sniffed. "The way she uses her power. The way she says things to make me go along with her. She... I don't know, I'm just unsure about her."

"That's the difference right there, pet." Spike told her, wrapping an arm around her waist. Tara let out a long sigh and rested her head against his shoulder. Immediately she felt a sesne of comfort overcome her. Spike or Xander always seemed to have that effect as of late. "When your partner is powerful, they should make you feel safe. You should feel that, no matter how much power or strength they have, they will protect you."

"I don't think I've ever felt that way." Tara admitted. "I just... Spike, I just want to belong. I want... To be a part of something."

"If it makes you feel any better, Xander says you're part of our pack." Spike informed her. Tara giggled slightly, before letting out a tired sigh. "Come on. Let's go collect my mate and you can stay the night at our place."