Ursanthropy
70. Fight it

Jack

“RUN!” It beamed through my mind and apparently through every other shifter’s mind as well, as I could see that everyone reached for their heads to try and muffle our Queen’s command.

I hated it that I hadn’t been in time to keep Doreen’s brother safe, to keep him from this fate that he had to endure now. It all had happened so fast, and I just couldn’t comprehend both the facts that he had managed to get the gas out of the pack house and that he could subdue Justin as well!

But there was no time to think about my own mistakes or confusion, so I quickly picked Justin up from the ground and dragged him with me, following the complete chaos that erupted right after the command that was given to us. Everyone either shifted or ran in human form, away from the sound of the plane that was soaring through the sky, right above our heads.

Screams and howls of desperation were heard as we tried to run for our lives. But as soon as we were into the forest, to find shelter from whatever bomb was about to come down, I couldn’t hear a thing. No whistling sound from the object that was supposed to come down, no smoke or fire from some sort of rocket that I could detect, nothing!

Fuck! Damien had fooled us all!

I quickly let go of Justin, gently putting him in the grass between some trees. Then I ordered for every other man to come with me, to rescue their Queen!

Doreen

One hell of a massive roar was heard in the distance, as soon as Jack found out that there wasn’t a bomb. I only realised it that my father had bluffed because he was now chuckling as he kept dragging me.

“So intelligent, yet so easy to manipulate.” He said and I growled towards him, both because I was angry at him but also towards myself! How could I have not seen this?!

Together with the sound of the plane soaring in, the fear of my father hurting anyone, me being a Queen and thus having the need to keep everyone safe, he had indeed successfully manipulated me. So when he touched his watch, after planting the idea of the existence of a bomb, I had – just as he expected me to – told everyone to run for their lives, giving him plenty of time to get me towards where he needed me to be.

I pushed the arm that was around my neck, away with plenty of force. It startled my father for a moment, until he realised that I was much stronger than he had anticipated. While pushing myself away from him, he tried to grab my hips as he had just dropped the knife he held to my neck before. He is a strong man, because of his years of training I assume, but I’m a bear and a well-trained fighter as well!

Yet, I still don’t know how he managed to make Justin inhale the purple gas, but I just have to be careful for anything that he might come up with. Any spray, of any size, could mean the failure of my own fate.

I hit my father straight in the face at which he took a few steps backwards. He grabbed his own chin and swiped away some blood that came pouring down the corner of his mouth. “Wow princess, I knew you were strong, but I have underestimated you!” He chuckled.

We fought for a few moments, where we both landed some heavy blows and it surprised me again that he managed to embrace the impact of my blows. How is he doing this?! He gave me a kick to the chest and then took a few steps backwards.

“Shoot her!” He suddenly said and I looked around to see who could shoot me. My father had me dragged away from the place where the fight had taken place, and now we were in a part of the forest that was unfamiliar to me.

A soft pang was heard and then I felt something being lodged in my left shoulder. Instantly I reached over to what had been shot into me, but a sudden blur reached my mind and immediately I felt like I had drunk six bottles of wine.

Half stumbling I took the metallic item out of my shoulder and looked at it to understand what I had been hit with. A silver, small dart with a glass container attached to it, where only a small residue of something green remained, let me know that my father just ordered his men to tranquilize me!

He was about to knock me out and to take me away in one of his cages! I couldn’t let that happen! I don’t want to be experimented on!

Sudden fury unleashed from within me, from all the hurt and suffering he has caused to so many people already. But tearing away Justin’s bear had been the drop. The face of disbelief that the sixteen year old had, was terrifying my thoughts. Of course, I desperately hated it that he had lost his other part, but what scared me the most out of this, was that my father probably had more of the gas. He could now create more with it and eventually be able to eradicate all of the shifters, without even killing them!

He can’t get away with this!

Another shot was heard and this time I could feel a dart being shot into my right lower back. My right knee instantly caved in from the substance that was already soaring through my veins there. Quickly I pulled the dart out and threw it on the floor, but it was of no use, the glass container was empty already.

“Jack!” I linked him, hoping he was in range now of hearing my plea.

My mind got hazier by the second but I couldn’t give in to this! I couldn’t let my father take control so easily! Right now I was on all fours, still in human form, exhausted from the tranquilizer.

“Fight it, Doreen!” Jack linked me back, probably feeling my haziness through the mate bond. “I’m almost there!” He linked me again, which gave me the power to rebel against the tranquilizers in my body.

Damien

My fast thinking had gotten me out of that nasty situation at the battle field, but we had to act fast now! Of course I hadn’t had plenty of other resources anymore, the shifters had taken about eighty percent of my army and vehicles. But still I had my plane and a few sets of trucks at this clearing here. A dozen of my men had been waiting here, as a contingency plan in case something went wrong. And fuck, it went wrong indeed!

I had underestimated her power, her will to survive and determination to lead her people! Of course I hadn’t known about her being a true princess, even though I had called her that when she was a child. That title was something that I had given her, just because she was my little girl, not because she happened to be a true princess at all!

I hadn’t even known that my late wife Ophelia had been a princess on her own either! Of course, a few days prior to me killing her mate, she had explained some of her origins, but never the part about being royalty. If she had told me that, I wouldn’t have killed her so easily right after the birth of Justin. I would have used her for ransom or as some other form of leverage instead!

Don’t get me wrong, I loved my wife, I can even remember the first day that we met. It had taken me plenty of time and effort to make her even look towards me. At first she been hesitant and awkward towards my flirtatious moves, but when she had decided to date me and eventually marry me, I was the happiest man on the planet. She had even gotten pregnant and we had a beautiful daughter who I had been caring for deeply. But now that I know this, I know I had been right to have killed her! Ophelia only needed me to create an heir, as she was doubting herself to ever meet her mate! But as soon as she had gotten pregnant with Justin, she started to change and became distant to me, avoided my sexual innuendos and said she had a headache! At first I thought it was because of the pregnancy, but after a few weeks she finally came out with the truth that she had been sleeping with someone else!

She couldn’t help herself, she’d said. It was beyond her own self-restraint, she’d explained. But I didn’t want to buy that shit! She was married to me! She was only mine to be touched and cared for! She had broken my love for her and I had decided that if I couldn’t have her, no one could!

I had hoped for Doreen to be different, for her to be human and able to follow in my footsteps. But when she was appalled by my actions towards the shifters, I knew she was just as soft as her mother! But I was glad that I was able to capture her, even though it was hard for me to see that even after two tranquilizing darts, that were filled with enough substance to knock an elephant out, she still managed to stay awake. Her strong character and determination to endure this was something that was confusing me. Had she really suffered so much pain, that she was able to fight this now too?

No! I can’t let guilt wash over me now! She is an abomination! I will tear her insides out, right in my laboratory!

For a second I had thought about using the asthma inhaler that we had filled with the ‘de-shifting’ gas, to make her inhale the substance, to make her human again. Maybe she would listen to my commands then, maybe I could turn her around to my side then. But seeing her this strong, as she was now even fighting a third tranquilizing dart, made me decide differently.

It was fun to see both Justin’s and Jack’s face as I had administered the gas to Justin. It hadn’t been easy, but the serum that was running through my own body, made by the plasma of the blood from Justin, had helped me a lot. It was still in its experimental state, but I wouldn’t want to have the substance injected to anyone else but me! And I’m glad that I didn’t decide otherwise. I might be in my fifties now, but my agility is that of a twenty year old and I have the strength of that of several men! So when I managed to use that strength and put Justin’s head in a head-lock, when I had my back faced to Jack, I reached out to the inhaler and squeezed it a few times when I had it lodged between his teeth.

Jack hadn’t understood how I managed to do this, as he was surprised by my strength. But by the time I had turned around, for Jack to see what I had done, Justin was crumbling in my arms, while I reached for my knife and put it against his throat.

Doreen was growling now as she stood in front of me, swaying her body sideways in a deep haze, because of all the tranquilizers that roamed through her veins now. And as my men came out of the bushes, thinking that she had enough, she stumbled and fell to the ground a few times over. She even managed to push out some of her fur, failing an attempt to shift.

She is strong, I’d give her that, but even given the fact that she was still managing to fight this, I will manage to take her home!

Shaking her head, she was about to shift for real now, before another low and loud growl pushed through some trees. Her mate was tearing them down, roaring and swiping his way closer to us. I ordered for my men to shoot her one last time, and then drag her inside the back of a truck. Quickly I followed them and got in, in time, to yell to the driver to start the car and drive off.

Jack

“Jack, help me.” She linked me again, but now in a whisper sort of way.

I saw the black trucks taking off, with Doreen inside. I could feel her mind drifting away from our mate bond, which infuriated me more. While pouncing my claws in the ground, I ran after the trucks with a dozen of shifters hot on my tail.

Maxwell’s cats were faster and leaner build, so they could balance their way through the forest where the truck was trying to plough its way through the half wet dirt itself. They cut off a part, by climbing up and jumping from tree to tree until I could see them jump on the trucks.

Shots were heard and growls erupted, but we were all determined to get these trucks to stop. Eagles flew over the treetops, guiding us towards them, and we all ambushed them together.

Finally, the cats had been able to stop the vehicles and were now throwing the hunters out of them and held them against the trees. Again, Damien had managed to held a knife against Doreen’s throat. It would have made me laugh for his endless endeavours of unoriginality, if it weren’t for the fact that my mate was being threatened by it.

She was hardly awake now and was really struggling to keep her eyes open. Had she been attacked with the purple gas? Was she losing her bear? No! I couldn’t believe that, she was still able to link me, so she still had her animal.

Her limp form was being held up by her father. Could I be able to take Damien out, without getting Doreen hurt? I don’t know, but I have to do something soon.

“Doreen! Fight it!” I told her again, as she was nearly fading off into some sort of coma. She was getting lazier by the second and I needed to do something to snap her out of this. I roared fiercely, trying to let her know that I was here, that I had listened to her whispers.

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