Full Moon Rising

Chapter 17

Richard’s eyes narrowed in irritation. “We need to talk.”

The light friendly atmosphere quickly evaporated as Xander and Richard’s beasts rose to the surface. The wolf rose first in an attempt to assert his dominance over Xander then the hyena in her refusal to be intimidated by any male. The tension grew and the subtle struggle for dominance continued as the two beasts clashed.

“I have nothing to say to you,” growled Xander in agitation.

At the brunet’s angry outburst several diners looked curiously over in their direction. Richard looked around nervously and lowered his voice. “Please, it’s important.”

With a sigh of resignation Xander gestured to the open seat next to Jason.

Richard’s eyes fell on Nathaniel and he frowned. “Alone”

Xander didn’t like the look that Richard gave Nathaniel. It was one filled with disgust and disapproval. He didn’t know if the werewolf had a problem with Nathaniel or their relationship but either way it still pissed him off.

Xander let his arm fall on Nathaniel’s shoulder and pulled the wereleopard closer until his dark auburn head rested comfortably in the nook of his arm. “No, they stay. I trust them a heck of lot more than I trust you and if you have a problem with that you can buzz off,” growled Xander angrily.

Richard raised his hands in surrender. Jason looked at Richard nervously as the werewolf settled stiffly into the seat.

Nathaniel rubbed his face back and forth against Xander’s shirt as he purred into his shoulder, which seemed to have an immediate calming affect over Xander. “What do you want?”

“I want to apologize for what happened at Anita’s place. We got off on the wrong foot and we both did and said some things we didn’t mean-” begun Richard but Xander didn’t let him finish.

“Maybe you didn’t, but I did. You were a right bastard for talking down to Nate like that and you deserved to get your but kicked.”

The werewolf gave Xander an angry frown. “The leopard knows exactly what my problem with him is and frankly it none of your business.”

“The leopard has a name and since we’re together now I think it is very much my business how you treat my boyfriend.”

“Your boyfriend,” sneered the werewolf in disgust. “And has your boyfriend told you that he serves as Anita’s pomme de sang.”

“Yeah he did,” Xander lied. He’d never even heard the word before much less know what it meant. It was probably another one of those weird official titles that these people seemed to be so fond of using to indicate Nathaniel’s position in the pard like how Anita was Nathaniel’s Nimir-ra.

“And you’re okay with that?” asked Richard incredibly.

“As long as he doesn’t do anything illegal and no one gets hurt I don’t care what he does.”

Richard sat back and opened and closed his mouth several times while Nathaniel stared at him in bemusement and Jason with open adulation.

Xander looked around in confusion. Why was everyone staring at him like that? Sure working as Anita’s housekeeper/errand boy wasn’t the most glamorous job in the world but who was he to judge. He had worked as a pizza boy for over year before he found his dream job in construction.

“Well um-,“ Richard stammered, “the reason I’m here is because Dr. Lillian wanted me to ask if you would be willing to work at the shifter hospital. We could really use someone with your talents.”

“Oh no, I’m not a doctor. I have no medical training what so ever.”

“But you have an amazing gift Xander. My God, you healed Rosie and saved the life of her unborn child without even having to channel the Munin. Even Anita couldn’t do that and you aren’t even pack. There are a lot of lycanthropes - and I’m not just talking about werewolves - who could use your help.”

“Shh, not so loud, I don’t even know what I did last night or if I can do it again,” whispered Xander as he squirmed under Jason’s wide, awestruck gaze. If this was the kind of reaction he could expect Xander definitely wanted to keep his healing ability a secret.

“But you will try, right?” Richard asked hopefully.

Xander couldn’t ignore a cry for help, even if it was from a sanctimonious jerk like Richard. His inner Scooby wouldn’t let him. “Okay give me her number. I’m not promising anything but I guess is wouldn’t hurt to talk to her.”

Richard stood up and gave Xander a small white business card with a picture of a full moon on it. “Thank you Xander you won’t regret this. I’ll tell Lillian to expect your call tomorrow.”

***

When Anita finally got home it was to an empty house. Anita gave an irritated huff as she read the brief note that Jason had scribbled on the small dry erase board hanging on the fridge.

Went out. Be back by curfew.
XOXO Jason, Nate and Xan

Cute, very cute, Anita thought in frustration. Maybe she should have been a little more specific with her instructions. She meant that Jason should watch Xander here at the house and not go traipsing across town to who knows where. What the hell was Jason thinking?

Anita walked through the kitchen into the living room and was about head upstairs for a nice long bath when she noticed the light on the answer machine blinking. The first message was from Micah telling her that he had to go to emergency meeting for the shifter coalition and probably wouldn’t be back until late. But it was the second message that sent chills down her spine as Edward’s smooth voice filled the room.

“You should really think about changing your locks.”

Anita pulled out her gun and spun around the room. She left the answer machine playing as she made a slow circuit around the room checking every closet and dark corner with one hand holding her browning in front of her and the other resting on the hilt of her knife underneath her jacket. The room looked empty at first glance but that didn’t mean someone wasn’t there hiding behind a door, waiting to ambush her. Edward was a good friend but not exactly someone she could trust. He was the type of guy who wouldn’t think twice about shooting you in the face if you annoyed him enough.

“Sorry that I couldn’t stick around but I left you a present on the coffee table. Your friend seems pretty normal, but interesting town he lives in.”

The message was brief, deliberately vague, almost cryptic and exactly Edward’s style. If Anita didn’t know any better she would think the man was paranoid.

When Anita was certain that she was alone in the house she walked over to the coffee table and found a large vanilla envelope. She opened the envelope and found two folders inside. The first folder held a copy of the city of Sunnydale’s birth and mortality records for the last fifty years and Anita’s eyes widened in surprise. There was no way the mortality rate could be this high for a town of that size. Hell they could give New York City a run for their money in shear number of deaths alone.

The second folder contained a stack of newspaper clippings. In each article the victim was male and died a very unusual and horrible death. Yet in every case the deaths were deemed accidental and no further investigation was required. Anita didn’t buy it. There had to be a connection, one that the local police had over looked. But the most alarming piece of evidence that Anita found was that shortly after Xander left Sunnydale a number of unusual deaths had been reported in every state that lay between California and Missouri. It seemed that whatever was causing these deaths wasn’t confined to Sunnydale’s city limits and the only connection they had was Xander.

Anita quickly dialed the Jason’s cell phone number and cursed when it immediately went to voicemail. “Jason, it’s Anita. Where the hell are you? Call me as soon as you get this message.” Anita hung up the phone, took a calming breath then picked up the phone again. It was too early to panic. All this could still be some bizarre coincidence but if these deaths were connected sooner or later the bodies were going to start piling up; and as with anything strange or unusual the Regional Preternatural Investigation Taskforce (RPIT) would be called in to investigate.

“Zerbrowski, this is Blake. I know this may sound a little weird but has anyone reported any unusual deaths lately.”

The phone went quiet for a moment then the Detective spoke. “How the hell did you know?” he asked in surprise.

Anita closed her eyes. “What happened?”

“It was the craziest thing. Somehow this guy managed to castrate himself with a lawn mower.”

“How did he managed to do that?” asked Anita incredibly.

“Hold on a sec, let me get the file. Let’s see. The poor schmuck was wearing boxers while he was mowing the lawn and as he was stooping down to pick-up some trash his dangling bits got caught up in the motor. His lower body was reduced to mince meat by the time the engine finally choked. Ouch. Remind me to switch to briefs.”

Anita held her breath throughout the gruesome account. If that didn’t fit the description of unusual and horrible death she didn’t know what did. In addition, damage liked that could easily hide any physical evidence of a shifter attack.

“Who is handling the case?”

“Well normally it wouldn’t be in our jurisdiction since the death appeared accidental. But the case seemed so unusual they brought Tammy in to check for any signs of witchcraft.”

“I’m coming down to the station. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

“I don’t think Tammy is going to like you stepping on her toes,” said Zerbrowski uncertainly.

“Well tough, she just has to deal with it. I want to see the body.”

“Well you won’t hear any complaints from me. I’m always up for a good cat fight.”