Scottied Estimations

He was bored. So, so bored.
Why wouldn’t those stupid humans let him run free... he would take care to not kill anyone by overfeeding - well most of the times at least. Pinkies swear as they say in this realm, but no: This tribe of... of... frustrated he realized he couldn't even find an insult fitting this situation.
He stretched, yawned and let his long tail curl and uncurl. Maybe he should have chosen another creature of this realm instead of this bear cat thing they called Binturong. He chose it because it looked harmless and kind of cute, exotic, the kind which attracted humans. They let him come near them. But maybe he would have been able to flee this place in another shape.
Well... don't cry over spilled milk they say. Plus it wasn't so bad here. He got food every day to sustain that body of him and Humans came by and he could snack from their emotions. Unfortunately for him they never stayed long and the emotions where mostly like wonder, amazement, curiosity, happiness. It was ok, but he missed drama. Fear, panic, a little bit of anger... oh soo delicious. A real treat.
His tongue shot out his muzzle at this sweet memory when he heard the door to his spacious cage open and someone with an animal keeper uniform stepped inside carrying his usual bowl with fruits and, he squinted and noticed tiny movements. Mealworms! From the food his body required he liked those the most. They were alive and even if very, very limited, they felt terror, fear and panic.
The bowl was set down and he neared it. The human backed away - curious. Usually they wanted to cuddle. Only now he realized he never met this one but the human smelled of all the other creatures. So he belonged here. Maybe it was just insecure. He observed the human backing out the door and closing it again. He waited for the telltale 'click' of the lock but it never came. Curious and intrigued he padded over to the door and when he lightly pushed it gave way. Could it be? Hastily he used his muzzle to pull the door back to him. He needed to be patient and wait until he was sure the human had left this building. Until then he enjoyed the meal he had been brought. A grin spread over his bear-cat face - This was going to be fun!

After he picked the worms from the fruits he padded back to the door and turned around. He observed the other side of his little home which was transparent to allow the other humans to watch him. When he was sure no one was watching him he pushed the door carefully open, peeked out and when there was no one to be seen he slipped out, pushed the door shut again. In pleasant anticipation he sneaked around the building, until he made his way out.
Outside he was nearly overwhelmed with all the tall humans bustling around trying to reign in smaller humans - sometimes emitting annoyance. Still not his favorite emotion but a decent snack nonetheless. He enjoyed this for some seconds before he decided to get lost before one the Animal keepers saw him and locked him up again.
He looked around and saw big gates - the entrance. Big letters where enthroned above the archway but he couldn't read them for they were intended for the humans outside. Again he made sure not to be seen when he made his way towards the gate. When he finally slipped out the bustling of humans was even greater. He already loved it. He turned around one last time and gave a nod to the three tall letters spelling 'Zoo' before he randomly chose a direction and vanished.

His getaway hadn't been as unobserved as he thought it was. Nate brown had watched the animal and recorded his escape. Now he used his phone texting a nameless contact 'Binturong set free. Left Zoo' he wrote, attaching the video. After a short wait his banking app informed him that he had received a considerable amount of money.
Grinning Nate pocketed his phone again and continued with his work. First he locked the Binturong enclosure again. He didn't want to lose his job over this. He contemplated if he should report the cameras gone offline - which he had done right after feeding the Binturong and pretending to lock the door. After a second he decided against it - he would have to explain why he was checking on the CCTV… he would leave this to the one noticing the Binturong was gone. Whistling he made his way to the parrots. He loved them

"Nobody cares a fuck about you or what you want, girl" the man yelled at the about 10 year old girl "You will do what you are told. You will learn all the things a virtuous woman should know - if you like it or not."
"What about Edward? He is six and is allowed to do all the fun things!" the girl asked, tears in her eyes but this made the man just more furious "He will one day take over your fathers business or start his own. You will marry and give a worthy man children. Learn your place. The sooner you do the better!" He had gotten even louder and when the girl wanted to speak again he raised his hand, making her flinch.
"ROBERT!" another man came in and stood between the girl and the man called Robert "I thought I made myself clear? You are not hitting Anya!"
Anya, breathed a sigh of relieve "She won't learn her place otherwise. You have been too lenient, Andrew." Robert countered
"I know! Still, this is not an option!" he gave a laugh "If you manage to father a child you can do whatever you want because YOU will have to explain the bruises and be ripped apart in the yellow press." He looked intensely at the other man "We can't risk bad press. You know this!" he now turned around, stood behind Anya and let his hands rest on her shoulder "Apologize to your uncle for talking back, Anya." His tone made clear he wouldn't tolerate any defiance from her side.
Anya was on autopilot and did what her father asked of her with monotonous voice. That the only reason he didn't let her uncle beat her was because of the press had hit her hard.
This was the day Anya believed her uncles words. She was no one worth to be cared about.

At first she was broken. Her family didn't notice or care because they were just happy Anya was not arguing or talking back anymore and followed their orders. The teachers of the posh private school her parents send her to noticed her being closed off too but didn't question it - finally she behaved like a girl. Still her grades stayed mostly average or even below. She took all the courses after school her parents wanted her to: classical dancing, violin lessons, etiquette lessons, French class.
It was time consuming and frustrating because Anya not only hated it and was bad at every single one of them - it also left no time for her real hobbies.
Often she fled into the school's library to just have a minute for herself, sometimes silently crying.
On one of these occasions she came across a book. It was crammed in the back of a shelf with some lonely books the elite turned their nose upon. It was the day she met her first Doctor - or more her first companion: Martha Jones. The Book was called 'The story of Martha' and probably been purchased by mistake. It was the story of a woman walking the earth alone for a year telling the story of the doctor to spread hope. Something with the character of Martha resonated with Anya. She felt connected to her, felt understood. Martha was alone but that didn't stop her and in Anya the awareness hit, that even if no one gave a fuck about her, she did.
Not chancing that her parents forbid it, she secretly found more books of Doctor who, read them and found herself wound up in the quirky British Sci-Fi world and from there the doors to other Sci-Fi and fantasy worlds were opened.

With every year her families focus was more and more on Anya's brother Edward as the 'heir' to her Fathers business. But being the neglected, useless daughter brought advantages too. What has sounded as a threat became a gift: No one cared a fuck what she did as long as she didn't step out of line.
When she graduated school she enrolled herself into a University offering remote courses to study computer science - if her parents were aware they didn't care or stop her.
At the same time plans where set into motion to 'introduce her to the society' - she was eighteen after all. The social circles her family belonged to still held to the antiquated tradition of debutantes balls but it wasn't a once in a lifetime thing. As long as a girl wasn't 'chosen' she would attend that yearly event.
Anya hated these events. Dressed in impossible uncomfortable and ridiculous expensive gowns she felt paraded around - kind of like a priced bitch at a dog show. With the difference she wasn't priced or thought of having some worth by her family.
She had vivid memories of those other mothers watching her closely when she danced with their sons or when they talked, judging her. She still heard all the mean remarks: 'Clumsy', 'moves like an elephant', 'plump', 'too sassy'. How they sneered and shook their heads at their sons who afterwards didn't gave her a second glance. She was never good enough and never would be.
Not that she cared. True, it hurt to be discarded like an ugly, ripped sweater not worth the effort to be repaired. She also didn't want to be married off to some random jerk but the constant rejection got to her and it branded into her soul that no man would consider a girl his mother didn't approve of.

When she was of age and finished her basic CS degree she proclaimed to leave the family estate to start a life of her own and not burdening them any longer. After a heated discussion and her father realizing he couldn't prevent her leaving short of locking her into her room, he agreed under two conditions:
First she had to take on her mother's maiden name so it wasn't obvious that the daughter of Andrew Sherrington worked a mundane job.
Second she was to keep a low profile. No scandals. No drunken excesses. Nothing that would cause bad press for the family.
This was all that mattered to him. His reputation and his business. But Anya didn't care. She stopped caring that one day about ten years ago.


Blinking Anya got dragged back into the real world. Misha looked at her worried. Had she asked her something? If so Anya couldn't remember what it had been "You ok Sweetheart?" Misha asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.
Slowly Anya remembered that she was in the park at the lake. With Misha, Sam and many other people - shifters and humans ... Music… the pegasids… After the success of last year Peter and his crew had decided to repeat the little festival - maybe this was the birth of a tradition.
Ben would be here soon too… they had talked about the rafts and Ben not going near them? Right, that was it.
"I..." Anya started, smiling but it turned out to be a sad one "Sorry, I zoned out for a second. Ben, the rafts…" she showed Misha she had been listening after it all had come back to her.
Misha sighed. She liked her sons mate and after finally meeting them Anya had warmed up to them immediately too. She usually was funny with the right amount of sass dealing with her son but sometimes she got quiet and a bit sad. Misha didn't want to push but she wished Anya would tell her what made her sad.
"What I meant…" Misha continued what they talked about "… I don't know what his deal with water is… he never liked it. Maybe it’s a cat thing." She teased and her eyes roaming the scene finding the lake where the rafts where being prepared. Anya followed her gaze but hers stopped at a tree, remembering how Ben had sat alone under that specific tree last year and, after she joined him, finally confided in her that he couldn't swim.
Misha focused on Anya again and cocked her head. Something in Anya's expression and the way she wasn't questioning Ben's aversion with water had made her realize she knew Ben's secret "You know!" it wasn't a question but a statement.
"Yes, he told me last year. Funnily enough it was at the pegasids too." Anya admitted with a light smile. Those first innocent, tender moments between them would always be happy memories for her.
Misha nodded approvingly realizing the two had still been just friends at that time. Even then he had trusted her so much he told her the one secret he hadn't even told his mother "That's good! I think I know too but I won't push him. But I'm happy he told you." Misha's smile was honest "Still as I said, don't let my son keep you from the rafting later if you would enjoy it." She grinned.
Anya laughed lightly when she looked at Misha and realized that this had triggered her memory flashback before… and she remembered how nervous and mortified she had been before that family lunch a while ago. "And I had been so afraid meeting you…" she just blurted out with a faint smile.
Misha chuckled, "I think I need to have a word with my son." She said in mocked offence but amusement gleaming in her eyes. Anya joined the laugh but shook her head "No… not Ben's fault. I…" she paused but decided to open up "I was scared to lose him once you met me and decide I wasn't worth him. That he'd break up with me."
Misha looked at her wide eyed for a moment. So much went through her mind that moment and she wanted to say so many things at once but she settled for one "A man who doesn't stand with his mate is not worthy a good woman." she smiled "What did they have to criticize about you?" she was curious. "The other mothers I mean… I guess you speak from bad experience…" she clarified.
"Well, the judgement was… I'm clumsy, plumb and too sassy… and I obviously have the grace of an elephant… so…" Anya shrugged with a smile.
Again Misha had to blink. Anya may be joking about this now but she felt how deeply scarred it had left the young woman. Falling in love with Ben and honestly being scared Misha would deem her not worthy and to lose her love because of it - how could you break someone like that? "Well my judgement is that you are a beautiful person and I'm happy Ben didn't scare you away…" she smirked "… and the sass may have been the key to it."
Anya gave a light laugh, looking down "Thank you…" she whispered, blushing.
"So… what about rafting?" Misha asked again but Anya shook her head "No… I don't think I can enjoy this without Ben." She smirked "Don't worry. I don't let him keep me from going for a swim if I want…"
"Good for you!" Misha laughed and noticed how Anya held her belly, wincing barely visible. "That time of the month?" she asked full of compassion and just realized Anya was a shade paler than usual.
"Yes, that's the second reason I better stay on solid ground tonight…" she admitted with a shy smile.

On the other side Ben had arrived. Again he had the slight feeling of dread creeping up when he saw the rafts being prepared and just the imagination of himself being on one of them made him shiver.
"Cat boy!" Sam clapped Bens shoulder from behind as a greeting "Mom and Firefly are on the other side…" Sam had started to call Anya Firefly somewhen after they first met. He couldn't explain why but somehow her small size and her sunny disposition made him think of fireflies. "Mom tries to convince her to go on the rafts… is this a developer thing? To avoid water I mean" he wanted to know.
Ben snapped out of his thought, realizing that Anya again wanted to sacrifice this experience for his sake. His gaze grew determined and serious.
Sam frowned when he saw the serious look on Ben's face. "Something wrong?" he wanted to know but Ben just shook his head.
"I need your help, Sam." He looked around and when he was sure no one was listening in he continued "Teach me how to swim." He just blurted out leaving Sam confused before the younger brother cracked up laughing. After some seconds of laughing, Sam looked into his Brothers face again, which showed mostly annoyance.
"You done?" Ben asked with a grumpy sigh and looked annoyed at his wristwatch.
"You are serious!" Sam realized in astonishment "You really can't…" he suddenly didn't know how finish that sentence and Ben gave another sigh, blushing "No I can't swim. I hate so much water around me but Anya…" she started to explain "…she loves swimming but usually she stays out with me. I just… want to go swimming with her once in a while - or going on a raft. I don't want her to miss out on it completely just because of me…" He ran his hand through his hair.
Sam's face had softened when Ben explained "Damn, you really love her." He stated and finally put an arm around his brothers' shoulders "Count on me. We get you a duckling swimming award in no time." He winked but got serious "Your secret is safe with me, Bro. I'm telling no one … not even Anya." He promised.
"Oh, she knows." Ben shrugged "Told her last year when she came to stay with me instead of joining Peter on the raft." He smiled at the memory and realized something "I'd probably be dead if I hadn't told her."
"How so?" Sam looked at him confused.
"Last August… when I was attacked by these idiots trying to bash my head in and fell into the river?" he reminded Sam "I'm not sure she would have jumped after me if she hadn't known I was a non-swimmer."
"Right…" Sam nodded a bit shocked when he became aware how this would have ended "Well, she obviously kept that secret." He remarked
"Yep…" Ben grinned and held up the cup labeled 'chocolate dream' he had been carrying the whole time "Ok, I need to find my mate before this gets too cold."
"Hot chocolate? It's after nine and still more than twenty degrees man…" Sam groaned but Ben chuckled "Believe me she needs this today. I'll text you!" He winked and off he went.

When he rounded the lake a smile appeared on his face when he saw her sitting under 'their' tree - the one they sat under last year. "Hey Love…" Ben smiled when he sat down beside her. He gave her the cup and put a wrapper with a chocolate Muffin into her lap. "I thought you'll need this." He grinned.
Anya looked at him in disbelief "How the hell…" she smiled "You are the best!" she stated and took a sip, moaning in pleasure "How do you always know when my period is acting up more than usual?"
"Not sure… it is just a feeling." Ben admitted, happy he had been right again. He made himself comfortable against the tree and lifted his arm to let Anya cuddle against him.
Anya did exactly this while unwrapping the muffin "I share…" she broke off a part, feeding it to Ben and took the next for herself.
Ben chuckled, enjoying the sweetness of the baked good and Anya snuggling up against him. His phone gave a short vibration and Ben glanced at the messenger notification. It was from Alec Nerron, one of their coworkers, who gave input to the problem he had logged in a ticket around lunchtime without providing any real information at all except for 'Not working'.
"Sorry I pushed off Nerrons' ticket onto you…" Anya sighed when she glimpsed the message "I probably would have gotten fired for what I had replied to him."
Ben gave a laugh "What?" he shook his head "You are the one who usually defuses MY replies!" he looked at his blushing girlfriend and counted two and two "Wait… You have been fired for… what?"
"Unprofessionalism." Anya chuckled "Ok, I'm not proud of it but here is the story..." Anya started "...we had this guy, project management. I have no idea what he always did but he had a problem with his tech at least once a week. His Tickets always where kind of 'Computer broken, fix it.' - Nothing else. Never." she started and looked up at the sky which had gotten quite dark "At first we just went over to him. Mostly it was something like a loose cable, WLAN in flight mode or things a restart would have gotten rid of. What made it even worse was that he was always moody and constantly complained about us being incompetent because his tech always acting up." she shrugged "So we started to give him the tickets back asking for information first. That resulted in him complaining even more and we all got mails from HR, the boss and who else thought to weight in." she chuckled because she knew Ben would love what came next "One day I just snapped. He logged a ticket with 'Computer broke' again and I answered 'Ductape is in Storage room 3, top shelf.'" as she expected Ben couldn't contain a laugh "Yeah, I thought it was funny too but that had been the last straw and I got fired." she ended.
"Rookie mistake." Ben still chuckled "You should have called him - no proof." he winked. Anya gave a short laugh "True…" she agreed and Ben sighed "But Cian wouldn't fire you for something like this… He is used to worse since he knows me. Plus he wouldn't fire the one person who doesn't bail working with me." Ben smirked and Anya just snuggled closer.
The drone show started and most of the others where on rafts on the lake. All the happy chatter and laughing from the people around made Anya smile "This is wonderful." she sighed and Ben nodded in agreement. He gently kissed her neck, hugged her tight and swore to himself that next year he would be on one of the rafts with Anya.

"Pick up, pick up, pick up…" Hayley Albright walked in circles in the small food preparation space of the Binturong house. Every time she passed the door she made sure she was still alone. This day had started out as an absolute nightmare for her. Her hand went through her hair until it got stuck because Hayley forgot she wore a ponytail at work. Muttering a swear under her breath she peeked out the door in the empty hallway again.
"Haley…?" a sleepy voice finally answered the phone - she had woken him.
"Ezra…" Hayley interrupted any further greeting or whining why she called him at seven in the morning on a Sunday "Kirac is gone." She blurted out and was met with sleep induced confusion because her friend was still half asleep "The spirit which took over the Binturong…" she pointed out sighing and suddenly the person on the other side was wide awake.
"Wait what? How… When…" the man called Ezra stuttered "How…" he repeated helpless and unable to form coherent sentences.
"I don't know… trying to find out. I just went to feed him and the enclosure is empty." She said audible freaked out by this.
"You sure?" Ezra asked
"No, I just like to wake your lazy ass up on a Sunday morning…" Hayley snapped "Of course I'm freaking sure!" she hissed in suppressed anger.
"Ok, Ok… calm down… I'm sorry…" Ezra answered all defensive "We need to find it. Kirac is dangerous…" he added needlessly.
"No shit Sherlock…" Hayley scoffed "Ezra, I have been there two years ago. I know exactly what Kirac is capable of." She made clear.
Ezra felt how agitated the whole situation had made Hayley. "Again: Sorry." he stated, thinking "Right. Find out as much as you can about how it happened. Was it an accident or did someone set it free on purpose…" god, he hoped they hadn't to deal with an unknown mage who thought it was fun to let a malevolent spirit roam around freely. He so hoped for an accident or at least just someone pranking the zoo or animal welfare group gone radical.
"That was my plan." Hayley said "I need you to call some of the others and arrange a meeting for later. Alecia and Roman are both studying the scripts Adrian used in his experiment…" again she tried to run a hand through her hair and again it got stuck because of her ponytail, this time some strands got loose because her hair was still in a growing long process. "I can sneak you in the zoo tonight." she was sure.
"Got it." Ezra answered "I'll call them. When we arranged everything we might need I text you." he added.
"Thank you…" Hayley breathed.
"We will find it, Hayley…" Ezra promised and hung up leaving Hayley with her head against the wall, eyes closed. Images and memories of the events two years ago flooded her mind.


Adrian ran a hand through his chin-length blond hair. It was sticking to his head right now because he was sweating… he was always sweating when he was nervous. 'Deep breaths' he told himself.
The air in the small utility room was stifling but it was the best he could do without being caught. The Binturong house had been opened two month ago after newly build for the exotic animal. This was why there wasn't much equipment stored here yet. Within half a year this room would be as cluttered as most of the other utility rooms scattered around the zoo.
For now Adrian could benefit from the partially empty shelves and a still clean and uncluttered small table.
In a little cage before him on said table hid a Guinea pig under some straw and litter. He had rescued it from being fed to the snakes - even though rescued was a two strong word considering what he planned to do.
Next to it stood a bowl with a knife in it, some flasks and bottles and bundles of herbs. Two candles and chalk completed the picture.
He again checked the door of the small room. After he was sure he wouldn't be disturbed he smoothed the paper of the script he had placed on the shelf. Again he read the old incantation and his own additions to this collected from other scripts and papers he had found between his great grandmothers things. They had been hidden in a trunk he had found in the attic of the old family house he had inherited a long while back. For the last time he checked that he had everything he needed including the jade necklace he had inherited along with the scripts. The instructions in the scripts where clear: Wear the necklace when you want to summon spirits from the other realm - otherwise they could choose you as their vessel instead of your chosen one. He touched his chest and felt it under his T-Shirt. With everything ready to go he took a deep breath.

He carefully put the cage down on the floor, causing the Guinea pig to scramble around in the small space. Ignoring the animal he started to draw some symbols on the table. He had to chuckle because this was so clichéd. Chalk circles and runes, candles he would light. But that's how this worked, he couldn't help it.
Now he only had to put the Guinea pig in the middle of his fresh drawn circle, read the incantation and hope for the best.
He slid the latch of the cage aside which held the lid closed. Carefully he reached inside to gently pick up the small animal. It skidded away before his fingers even touched the short fur. Even though the Guinea pigs space was very limited it managed to slip through Adrian's hands four or five times until he managed to grab it, straighten himself and keep it close at his chest. He looked between the space inside the circle where he needed it to stay and the pig at his chest back and forth. No, this would not work - it wouldn't sit still.
He shortly contemplated if it would help if he would put some cucumber and salad in too so it would be distracted with eating but didn't want to chance it. The idea alone to chase the pig through this small room with all the little corners and shelves to hide under let him shiver. So he looked around the room, the pig still at his chest. The cage was too big to fit inside the circle… maybe he should redraw it larger? Would it still work then? Finally his eyes found a deep bowl usually used for food preparation. It was small enough to fit the circle and deep enough so the pig couldn't climb out.
His problem solved he placed the bowl along with the Guinea pig inside the circle and took the papers from the shelf. He cleared his throat and started to chant.
Over and over he repeated the verses written down by his ancestor and slightly changed by him to fit the current times. At first it seemed that nothing would happen here.
Disappointed he stopped, wanted to blow out the candle but suddenly a shape made out of light appeared. It floated in the room for a moment, seemingly deciding what to do, before it went for Adrian, slammed against an invisible wall and then circled the Guinea pig.
Adrian eyes gleamed in expectation and happiness. It had worked. Soon he would be the first mage who had the opportunity to find out how this spirit-symbiosis worked.
Kirac - the name of the gleaming light - had other plans though. It sensed this host which it was presented with, was weak. It zapped through the room. The two legged thing had some sort of protection… the little creature was weak… it would die shortly after it would possess it.
Kirac zapped around the room until it found a way out and inside a labyrinth of walls. It flew through it, the two-leg on his heels, that stupid little creature clutched against his chest.
Somewhen it found itself outside in brought daylight. More of those two-legged creatures… so many of them. It was nearly overwhelmed with emotions. Some tasty some not so much but still ok. They were all watching another creature in a kind of enclosure.
Panting Adrian barreled through the door he had seen the light slip through. Since he made much more noise than an apparition of light, all eyes were on him and he began to stutter desperately trying to find an explanation.
Luckily for him an excuse was not needed as one of the children saw the guinea-pig and there were soon some kids surrounding him wanting to pet the animal. While he showed the children the guinea pig close up he tried to keep track of the spirit which no one had taken notice of yet.
Suddenly it made a move, zipping towards the man next to Adrian but suddenly slammed against the invisible wall again. Huh. His amulet must work for people close to him too. He needed to make a note of that later.
The spirit, growing frustrated, contemplated its next move. Were all of those shielded?
Carefully Adrian made his way towards the spirit. The visitors were back interested in the Binturong and the spirit, having to decide, choose the bearcat as host. The two legged creatures with the tasty emotions were interested in it so they would come to him and he could feed. Adrian slightly cursed but he couldn't help it.

Over the next weeks Adrian spent a lot of time with the Binturong and the spirit inside it. He tried to find a way to communicate so he could find out more about this other realm and most importantly how spirits could be sent back. This was what this was all about for him: how to send a spirit home again. Since that day a good friend had told him that his son had to be killed because his awakening had gone wrong. Yes, the son of his friend was kind of an asshole but to see his friend devastated like this… no he wanted to spare other people this pain. There must be a way to send a spirit, or beast as they call it, back when they took over the body.
Adrian wrote everything down old fashioned in a notebook - not that there was much worth noting yet. As of now, his notes were more of a ‘Things that don't work’ collection. But every failure will bring you closer to success - this he was sure off. Maybe it was that Kirac - the name of the spirit - either wasn't cooperative or didn't know the answers himself - maybe a combination of both.
The most interesting fact his research showed was that, contrary to the spirits the shifters hosted, this one seemed to influence the humans around him. He had noticed that sometimes children were more quiet and calm after their visit or unusually cranky. It was something he wanted to observe more because if this turned out to be harmful he needed to act.
He never realized his own tiredness and exhaustion was caused by Kirac until it was too late. He called another mage for help but had a fatal accident due to his exhaustion before they could help him. His notes were secured, read and Hayley appointed as his successor. She was tasked to keep the Binturong and Kirac within him safely locked away in the zoo. There was no other option at this point because the Binturong belonged to the zoo and short of coming clean about Spirits and Mages - and either get laughed at or locked away - there was no way to take the animal somewhere else at the moment.



Hayley shook her head to clear her thoughts of the memory. She needed to focus and gather all the information she could until tonight. First she had to inform her superior about the missing animal and that the CCTV had been malfunctioning. They would try other cameras and hope it wasn't a system-wide error.
Cursing about the whole situation she put the loose strands back into her ponytail - maybe she should skip the 'growing long hair' stage - and made her way to the next internal phone to call up the next in charge.


Since the zoo was located in the outskirt of the city with only a few apartment buildings in the vicinity, it had gotten quiet soon after the zoo closed for the day. By the time it got dark only the streetlights gave some illumination and around 11pm on a weekday only very few lights in the nearby apartments where still on, indicating the inhabitant was still awake - or fallen asleep watching TV. The only activity on the street came from a small group of more or less hooded people who slipped through a side entrance of the zoo.
"CCTV in the enclosure and the house is still off." Hayley informed them "The cops couldn't finish today." She added while she led the group through the eerie quiet zoo evading the working cameras. Only some more night active animals could be heard.
"Never thought the zoo could be that creepy…" Alecia, a woman in her forties with long blond hair, rubbed her arm. Her sliver earrings gleamed in the light of the lanterns lining the zoos main passages.
"Most places are creepy all vacated and in the dark." Roman, a tall, dark-haired and heavily bearded man, shrugged. He was around the same age. "The library I work at? Totally chilling at night." He said. As he hoped it calmed the woman.
"Didn't know the library is open at night…" Ezra interjected but Roman shook his head "It isn't. But since I have the keys I can read each and every book in there in peace." He smiled.
"Can we please focus?" Haley asked them when they stopped in front of one of the buildings and she jingled her keys, finally finding the right one and opened the door. The three others shut up, Roman rolling his eyes behind Hayley's back. He was fairly new in their little magic circle and still struggled to apprehend the danger of Kirac or spirits in general.
The smell of animal still lingered in the corridors Hayley let them through. She didn't turn on the lights but used a flashlight. "Hayley, you know how this happened? Did you manage to catch anything?" Ezra wanted to know and turned on his flashlight too.
"Not much…" Hayley sighed "The cameras have been turned off deliberately and the door was locked and not damaged. That's what the police said." She looked at the others while fumbling for the next key "And the enclosure shows no sign of someone chasing the animal - not that this could have been done without visitors or anyone else realize." she opened the door to let the others in the enclosure. "And something else. The main part of his meal was untouched." Hayley looked at the others again "Police sift through the recordings of the entrance and other possible exits to find something but no luck. And since it is no dangerous animal this is not their highest priority."
Alecia scoffed "They probably just searching for someone with a box or something, transporting this thing out."
"And that is wrong… why?" Roman asked frowning.
"Because this is no ordinary animal you just put in a box, Roman." Ezra looked at Hayley "With no signs of forceful entrance and the camera shut off…" he started and Hayley nodded with a deep sigh "Someone who knew how to turn off the camera and had the keys." She looked around "Either it is an inside job or someone just stole the keys. The CCTV System is pretty standard and not really secured. I mean we are a zoo for fucks sake…" she threw her hands up and turned around in a circle, frustrated
Alecia closed the distance to Hayley and embraced her in a hug which wasn't an easy feat because she was a head shorter than Hayley. "It's gonna be okay, Hays…" she soothed her "Not your fault." She added and saw a slight smile on Hayley's face "You are right…" the zookeeper sighed.
"Ok. Let's start. Alecia? What are we doing?" Ezra clapped his hands and looked expectantly at the woman. "We sit in a circle, light the candles, burn some herbs and the energy the spirit left behind should be stored inside the stones we brought." She summarized.
"Ok… and how does that help us find Kirac?" Ezra wanted to know while he already put down his backpack.
"The Energy craves to be reunited but can't on its own. So it will always occupy the spot in the object it is in which is closest to the spirit. We make it glow so we see it. It's gonna be like a compass." She explained. "That is the theory at least." She added.
"Then let's test this theory…" Roman said and they started to dig out various candles, herbs and other stuff they needs for their ritual from their backpacks.
Finally they sat around in a circle in the middle of the room. They had turned off the flashlights and the enclosure was now lit only by the candles. In the middle of their circle four stones had been laid out. One for each of them. They were just random cheap stones, not too small and round - regular costume jewelry you would find in any store. While they chanted the mages felt how the energy in the enclosure shifted and the stones started to glow. When they were done each of them reached for one stone. The even glow the stones radiated had shifted towards the edges pointing each into the same direction.
"Seemed to work." Roman pointed out the obvious. "How long will it hold?" he asked and Alecia shrugged "I don't know. Never done this before. Script indicates we are talking months but it could also only be days." She gave what she could.
"Then we should not waste time." Hayley nodded at Ezra "Keep me updated. I'll catch up with you when everything quiets down a bit. Maybe I can provide some additional information." She said and Ezra nodded "We will…" they crossed wrists before they took their stuff and left Hayley to do a last sweep and locking everything back up.

"Is it really necessary that we do the audit personally? We have people for that." Edward Sherrington whined. He took the cup of coffee in front of him and winced when he tasted the hot liquid. Way too bitter.
"Yes. You need to learn the ropes when you take over the business in a couple of weeks!" his father, Andrew Sherrington, snapped. He had the same facial expression as his son. The hotel's breakfast was not up to his standards. "And since your disappointment of a sister neither answers a call or a letter we have to see her personally." He was visibly annoyed by this. "And we won't tell anyone in advance to not trip her off and give her a chance to evade us before we spoke." He added before his son could ask.
"Do we really need her at the Gala?" Edward asked and this time his father gave an exaggerated sigh because they had this conversation over and over in the last days.
"Yes. As I told you repeatedly her appearance it is of utmost importance. If she is not there, questions are asked, rumors will spread. Journalists will dig around and make up even more stories hurting the business and the family name in the long run. They already pressed a lot of questions at the last two events… where she is and when she will be back with us." he explained again but Edward scoffed.
"What keeps her from doing exactly this - damage our reputation I mean? She will have the whole press world watching her every step and word." he looked at his father before he continued "She is just a useless woman with the grace of a walrus and the manors of a swearing sailor." he leaned back "Do you really think she will comply and at least try to step up to our family name?" he pushed the plate in front of him to the side, obviously done with breakfast.
Since this repeated discussion had annoyed him, Andrew Sherrington had taken up a small local newspaper lying around on the table next to them. He continued to talk with his son while he was flipping through it.
"Well that's why we are here, Son." he drawled, reading about an event two days ago. Stargazing or some timewasting stuff… "We will show her that we can destroy her little, pathetic life with one signature. If she doesn't obey..." he froze mid-sentence. "This can't be..." he muttered.
"What is wrong? Edward asked cautiously and flinched back when his father threw the newspaper at him. Edward opened it but didn't know where to find the article which had made his father tick out "The Pegaseid thing." Andrew grunted helpful and while Edward searched for the right page his father added "The picture."
Finally Edward found the article. At first he didn't get what his father was upset about "I see a lake, and a guy named Peter... oh shit!" he exclaimed and looked at his father wide eyed "Is this Anya? Kissing a..." he squinted but the background was a bit blurred - but this was definitely his sister. His father ripped the page away, folding it "A black male I haven't approved of and probably never would." his jaws tightened. Bad enough she, as a Sherrington, behaved like this in public but with a black man? "I guess I have given her too much slack the last years. This will change today. She will come back to the fold of the family." Andrew Sherrington decided and got up, taking his jacket of the back of the chair and readied himself to leave. The messenger bag hit the next table, shaking everything on it when Andrew forcefully put it over his shoulder in his anger.
"She won't like it." Edward stated with a smug smile and followed suit.
"She is my daughter and will do as I say. She is a woman - no one gives a fuck what she likes or wants."
"Uncle Robert would be happy to hear this..." Edward chuckled, almost fondly remembering the times when the only thing stopping his uncle from hitting his sister was his father's concerns of damage to the “assets” and bad press.
"Who knew this bastard was right in some things.” Andrew mused ”Well, we will fix this." Both men left the hotel with a tight pace and not in the best mood.

"Is there anything else I can help you with?" Cian wanted to know, visibly tense. He was used to audits - they happened every two or three years. They are planned. This one was no different but that the CEO of one of the biggest financial advisor agencies did that in person was not normal. A lot of alarm bells had went off in Cian's head but he couldn't pinpoint why.
Yes, Andrew Sherrington was charming and friendly on the surface but Cian just felt something was off. And his son was just sleazy - like he tried to copy his father's charm but just didn't get it right.
"This looks all good to me…" Sherrington closed the folder he had looked at after he had shown it to his son "Just one thing left: I want to meet your development department." he stated.
"My developers? Why?" Cian asked wary. Never before had someone asked to meet specific employees of him. This couldn't be good.
Andrew Sherrington looked at him for a second. Usually he would have just answered with 'Because I requested to meet them.' But as chance would have it he had been given a reason and one he could even use as an excuse for whatever was necessary to force his daughter to bid his will. Plus this would more likely to bring the shifter to play into his cards and fire her if her employment meant him losing university contracts - Cruz was a businessmen after all. "Because I had some complaints about your development department. More precisely a Mr. Witting complains about how he is continually treated when he calls." Andrew explained and looked expectantly at Cian.
The redhead barely prevented an eye roll. God he hated Witting. "I lost three employees over different departments because of him and his yelling and harassment. And now he dares to complain about my Dev's talking back?" he scoffed but took the receiver of the phone on the large conference table, pressing three digits on it. After he was silent for a second someone picked up "Ben, get Anya and come over to the conference room please…" he told the person on the other end.

Just some moments later the door opened and the two developers stepped inside the conference room "Ok, what have we done now?" Ben asked - his first look was at his Boss and only then he looked around registering in the other two persons in the room. Oh. The auditors - damn he had forgot those where here today. Well too late now to pretend professionalism.
Andrew raised an eyebrow. He didn’t like this nonchalance. Not knocking before entering, this flippant greeting… he would never allow this in his company and neither would his son. Edward slightly elbowed him and that was when Andrew realized the male developer was the men from the picture - and he was not only black but a shifter! God damn this couldn't get any worse. The only daughter of the Sherrington's snogging around with a black shifter boy. His face was a stone faced mask and he regarded his daughter, who had entered the room before the male Cruz had called 'Ben', with cold eyes. She had been focused on her boss too, before noticing they weren't alone.
"Father! Edward!" Anya exclaimed when she recognized the two men. His cold stare send shivers down her spine. If Ben wouldn't have held the door for her like the gentlemen he was, and was now accidentally blocking the only exit, she would have run out again.
"Hello big sister…" Edward gave her a smile which an outsider maybe found sweet but never reached his eyes and his greeting sounded slightly sarcastic. He enjoyed her shock, how she paled when she saw them. Stupid bitch, how he hated her.
She only ever had ONE responsibility for the family and she failed it. Only one thing had been expected of her: Marry a man who would be a valuable asset for the family but she didn't even manage this. He on the other hand had to live up to all of the expectations his father and uncle put onto him and hell this was not an easy task. Grades in school, his professional career… everything planned out, no room for what he wanted - he never had any say. But Anya? She just displayed intentional incompetence and could more or less do whatever the fuck she wanted. Yes, her days of disobeying them where over - and by the look on her face she knew it.
"Wait… what?" Ben was perplexed by this and Cian was rendered speechless too. This whole situation was so surreal and confusing they needed some seconds to wrap their heads around. This was Anya's father and brother?
"What the fuck are you doing here?" Anya's first surprise and shock about their sudden appearance had mostly vanished and anger settled in. They had a deal. She had her life, not bothering them. She was happy for fucks sake!
"Watch your language, girl!" Andrew thundered and slammed the folder he still had in his hands on the table "I will not tolerate you talking to us like this." He looked at her in a threatening way.
Anya didn't flinch - she knew her father wouldn't get physical. He couldn't afford a picture of her with bruises and rumors in the yellow press but she had put two and two together. She knew about the audit today and the multiple folders on the table left no doubt who the auditors were. She knew her father and that he would ruin Cian in an instant just to teach her a lesson. "I apologize, father." She swallowed down her pride.
"That's better…" Andrew grunted "To answer your question: You don't answer or return my calls, E-Mails or letters. So I chose this… little company… to show your brother the ropes since he will take over the business in a couple of weeks and to see you." Andrew said, seemingly expecting her to anticipate what that meant but Anya was still so in shock that she didn't think "Congratulations…?" she half stated, half asked in her brothers direction, still not knowing what she should do with that information or what they were expecting from her.
Heaving a sigh her father pulled out an official invitation from his jacket and handed it to Anya "I expect you to be there, Anya." He stated while Anya opened the Envelope, peeked inside and looked at her father and brother in disbelief "You are kidding me right?" she asked "Why would I come… or even more why would you want me there?" she asked.
Edward scoffed but was silent at his father's warning look "The family needs to appear united for this. The questions about your whereabouts got more frequent at the last events and rumors start to surface about fractions in the family…" Before Anya could say something he continued "Since we are very busy preparing said event the evaluation of this audit and the resulting decisions will be made after the gala." He got up and Anya's brother followed suit. Anya wasn't stupid. She immediately knew what her father wanted to say with this: 'You come there and behave or we will fail this audit.' Unfortunately her father wasn't done.
"Anya, this …experiment is over." He gestured around with his hand "You'll come home. I assume the time until the Gala is enough to tie up any lose ends you might have here." He stated and regarded Ben disparagingly when he said those last words.
Anya had finally shaken off last bits of irritation "Oh no! Not a chance. We had a deal, Father!" - "Yes and you broke it." He fished out the folded page from the newspaper, slamming it down on the table. Anya just glanced at the page, recognized the photo. Peter had called them yesterday after it had been published and found Ben and Anya in the background. They had one copy hanging on the whiteboard in the lair because it marked the one year anniversary of them - at least they had decided to count it as their first date because they didn't know when casually hanging out together had stopped and dating had started. It was when Ben had told her a secret, finally deciding to trust her. She also realized what had ticked off her father "There was never a rule about me dating, so no. I didn't break the deal." She insisted, crossing her arms before her chest.
"I decide this and you come home!" Andrew took a step towards Anya and that was the moment Ben gently pushed his mate behind him and stood between her and her father. He didn't say a word because everything out of his mouth right now wouldn't be helpful but he needed to show Anya he she was not alone, he had her back and would not let anything happen to her. He let Cian take the lead in any conversation because the chief was good in those things.
Cian positioned himself between Edward and Anya, effectively securing the second threat in the room.
"You are not threatening one of my employees." Cian made clear in a voice and pose reserved for when he had to shut down brawls between shifters. It wasn't loud or aggressive but radiated 'I am the alpha here. I may be short but if you fuck around with me you will be in find out stage sooner than you can say my name.' "She is a grown woman who decides for her own." He added.
Andrew looked at Cian, trying to tower him "You should reconsider this attitude if you want to keep your business running, Mr. Cruz."
Cian held Andrew Sherrington's eyes "And you are certainly not threatening me in my own territory. I think it is time you will leave us now Mr. Sherrington. I will await your evaluation." Cian answered and a slight simile played around Andrews lips. A cruel one.
"You don't want me as your enemy Mr. Cruz." He turned around but looked over his shoulder at Anya "We see you at the gala, daughter." Andrew and Edward left the room, leaving a shell-shocked Anya behind who just slumped down on chair.


"I'm so, so sorry… I really thought we were done. My family and me, I mean." she whispered still trying to fully grasp what just happened. Her father and brother just invaded her life again… and they threatened Cian over her. She put her elbows on the table and hid her face in his hands.
Ben was quick in grapping a glass and a bottle of water from the sidebar - they always stored refreshments for meetings there. He filled the glass, gently took Anya's hand from her face and put the glass right into it. She grasped it for sheer life.
"You have absolutely nothing to apologize for, Anya…" Cian assured softly "…just… can you explain to me what just happened? What deal have you been talking about?" he asked. His tone made clear he would accept a no - he would not push further but Anya nodded. He deserved to know. "I never fit into my family or the high society circles they are moving around in." She started "Mostly women are meant to be something pretty to look at and bear children… trophy wives so to speak." She shrugged "I never wanted that, no one wanted me either so when I was of age I convinced my father to let me have my own life. He agreed but had two conditions…" She looked at her boss for whom this was all news and Ben who already knew the basics of this. She held up a finger "First: I am to take on my mother's maiden name to not poke the press on this with their noses. That's why I go by Jarett and not Sherrington. Suited me right - never wanted to be associated with them in the first place." She counted a second finger "And second: No scandals. No interviews, nothing which will make the family look bad or harm my father's business or reputation." She looked down on her glass "In his opinion I violated the second one by letting myself being photographed, kissing Ben… or maybe because Ben in general I don't know." She emptied the glass in one go, her eyes still on the table before she looked at Cian again, sad "Maybe you should just fire me… then he wouldn't have a reason to ruin the company."
"The fuck I will!" Cian exclaimed. Ben raised an eyebrow, smirking because while Cian did swear it didn't happen often "And yes I'm aware I swore." Cian added and looked at the still shaken developer sitting at the table again "Anya, I can't prevent you from resigning if you want, but sure as hell I won't sacrifice or fire you for this." He had a smug smile on his face "I'll call my lawyer. Not a shifter but a fierce little woman who will eat any negative evaluation without sound justification for breakfast." He ran a hand through his hair "but your father won't let it come that far, believe me." he grinned "This would cause just the bad press he so desperately wants to avoid…" he looked more serious again "Honestly, Anya. I can handle this." And after another second of silence he stated as matter of fact "You are Tribe, Anya… if someone messes with one of us they better can take us all."
This drew a light laugh from Anya who slowly nodded, believing him "Thank you…" she whispered and reached for the envelope still on the table, tabbed it on the smooth surface before she pulled out the card made out of cardboard "You are cordially invited…" Anya read out aloud and snorted "…my ass…"
"You are not really thinking of going, right Ani?" Ben asked her but she shrugged "Acting as the good little daughter for an evening? Could be worth it if he lets us alone after it." She mused but could see Ben didn't like it. Neither did Cian.
"That's a big if." Cian pointed out "I mean he already made it clear he wants you to come back 'home'." He added.
"Cian is right, love. He won't just let you go without a fight." Ben agreed and slowly Anya nodded "You are probably right." she admitted with a sigh and saw Ben's relieve. Again she rubbed her face and groaned "I never thought I had to deal with their bullshit again." She looked up again, taking a deep breath and pushing herself up from her chair "Come on Ben… let's go back to work and get that day over with…" she sighed, sounding a bit defeated "…so I can get a drink afterwards." She added and Ben smirked and put an arm around her "And I propose a stop at that bakery… you know the one with the multi chocolate cake…" he opened the door.
"Or we all call it a day now and the drinks are on me." Cian had checked his watch. It was after four. Since none of his friends voiced anything against this offer he followed them outside. What a fucked up day.


While they gathered their stuff from their offices, Anya was quiet. Ben finally just hugged her from behind "I have no idea how you must feel right now…" he said in a quiet and calming voice "…but whatever they pack, I'll have your back, no matter what. You don't have to go through this alone." He promised
Anya reached for his arms which he had wrapped around her, holding them tight, like she was scared he might just vanish, fighting tears. "This doesn't scare you away?" she whispered but heard Ben chuckle "What kind of an idiot would I be to leave you just because your father and brother are dipshits?" he wanted to know.
"Very Powerful dipshits." Anya remarked but Ben just hugged her closer "Doesn't change a thing." He turned her gently around to look into her eyes. "The worst thing they could do to me would be to take you out of my life - everything else I can figure out." He smiled and kissed her softly, cupping her face. "But I admit after the revelations of this day I need a drink too… so come on." He winked and it made Anya smile again.

Over the next day's everything calmed down a bit. There was still the feeling of looming apocalypse but slowly Anya could accept that Cian knew what he was doing and took the calculated risk standing up for her and that Ben wouldn't leave her no matter what. So short of abducting her, her father couldn't do much to make her return home against her will - and Anya was quite positive this wouldn't happen because not only Ben but Cian and some of the others wouldn't stay quiet, ask questions. They would not stop looking for and asking about her. The cops would get involved to investigate a possible abduction and this would cause press coverage… no her father wouldn't chance it. This didn't mean he wouldn't search for other ways to make her obey his will. They would have to wait and see.

Today they were gathered at Ben's parents place for cake and coffee and to chat about Sam's PHD Thesis he was writing at the moment. He needed some help with the visual presentation of the data he had collected and Anya had been happy to help him out. They were now standing around the large table in the living room. Ben was curious and had joined. Ben and Sam's parents just watched them with a smile from the couch. Carl was zapping through the channels to bring on today's game and Misha having a book on her lap. They had fully embraced the idea of having three kids now.
“Firefly, these are awesome!” Sam smiled widely “Thank you so much for doing this… and so fast. Sorry I had to push.” he rubbed his neck
“Glad you like them…” Anya smiled, sipping on her drink looking upwards to meet Sam's eyes “Why the rush all of a sudden, by the way? Thought you'd have about six months left?” she asked. Sam sighed “Yeah me too… but my advisor unofficially hinted I should finish as fast as possible.” he admitted. This statement was met with frowns. Misha had put away the book she was reading and looked up worried too.
“Only rumors, but there was this letter about the funding and the wording must have set some people off - at least obviously Professor Larron took it seriously.” Sam started “So, there is a possibility that the funding will be cut. While I probably still would be able finish my PHD there, he didn't want to take any chances.” he sighed “And if the funding is cut, they won't have room in the budget for the position they offered me.” he shrugged “But as I said, probably nothing. We get this type of letters all the time, not sure what set them off with this particular one.” he shrugged.
“Fuck…” Ben exclaimed in sympathy and somehow Anya felt nauseous. Maybe she was just getting paranoid now but the timing was so spot on that it couldn't be a coincidence - could it? “You know why they wanna cut the funding?” she asked Sam and Ben looked at her frowning. She didn't think that her father… Did she?
“Not really.” he mused “Professor Larron just showed me the mail which sounded like all the others to me… some pending audit of a financial advisory agency stuff, like always…” he shrugged and Anya stiffened “Was the name of the agency mentioned?” she asked. Something in her tone and posture had shifted and made the others realize something was wrong “Sweetheart?” Misha looked at her worried but Anya's eyes were fixed onto Sam.
“I don’t know… I didn't read it that close… but I remember there was something official looking when I skipped through the e-mail chain. I didn't look closely at it, just scrolled through but the logo was a weird red and violet combination.”
Anya slightly groaned and turned one of the sheets of paper scattered around over and set some practiced lines, sketching a logo “Kind of like this?” she asked and Sam nodded surprised “Yes I think so… Firefly, what is going on here?” he wanted to know while Anya hid her face in her hands. “I'm so, so sorry…” her voice was muffled with her mouth hidden behind her hands.
“Explain please?” Sam's voice had gotten soft and gentle, without any pressure. Usually Anya was cheerful, confident but now she sat before him all hunched, as small as possible. Ben had gotten up to hug her from behind, not irritated or worried by this so he probably already knew whatever it was that was bothering his bonus sister.
“I thought I was finally done with them, we didn't speak in… ten years. I was happy with that arrangement…” she said in a quiet voice, more to Ben, and shook her head. Blank faces looked at her.
When Carl wanted to state that they didn't understand, Ben raised his hand. Anya needed a moment. When she finally looked up again and spoke she tried hard to keep her voice steady.
“You know I'm no-contact with my relatives.” She started to tell the story. “That's mostly because we have very different ideas of life. Long story short: they tried to force me into theirs and I refused.” she summarized “My father is the CEO of the 'Sherrington financial agency'. That weird Red-Violet Logo is theirs." She pointed with her chin towards the sketch she had made "He is in the process of handing his business over to my little brother. This will be celebrated in a huge event in about… three weeks with a gala, press coverage and all that shebang.” she sighed “Reputation and image are everything to them and a lot of questions about my absence have been asked in the last years, rumors started… so they turned up at Cian's some days ago.” She swallowed again and Ben took over feeling she needed him backing her.
“The biannual government audit. Her father and brother turned out to be the auditors.” he just said and since Anya saw everyone nod in understanding the audits must have been something Ben had mentioned over the last years.
“Now they want me to be at this event so the family would appear united and intact and the rumors stop… and subliminal threatened to fail Cian's audit if I don't.” she continued. "Cian threw him out and said to let his lawyer deal with the fallout." Suddenly her refusal to just play along seemed stupid and selfish and her she looked down on the table before her.
“What she didn't tell:” Ben added after she didn't continue. He felt her turmoil and wanted to remind her why she refused “Her father wants to force her to abandon her life and go back ‘home’ because he doesn't like that I'm her mate.” Ben added.
Sam blinked “So what do you want to say… you think your father is threatening to cut the department's funding because… he wants to force you to do what he wants and to threaten Cian didn't work the way he thought it would?”
“This sums it up…” Anya nodded “Sorry Sam…” she started again but Sam silenced her “Firefly… how can this be your fault? If he really does this just to get you to an event I'd say: stay the hell away from there!” he looked at her but Anya had come to a decision - one Ben probably wouldn't like.
“No. I will go to this fucking event.” Anya suddenly decided “Love…” Ben started but Anya held up her hand “No, Ben. This has gone way too far.” she was determined
“Firefly…” Sam started “I can't let you…” he started but Anya's expression stopped him “I can't ignore him anymore.” she looked around. “This is not just about Cian or about you, Sammy… he is ruining lives left and right just because I won't play the loving daughter for one fucking evening.” She swallowed and Ben tried one last time to make her reconsider “You heard what he said back in the office. What if he doesn't let you leave again? And even if you play along for the evening and he doesn't try to keep you from coming back home… what will keep him from pulling this stunt again or cut the funding nonetheless?”
Anya scoffed, “He would need to get physical to keep me against my will and this will give bad press.” she looked pleading at Ben “Benji, I can accept that Cian takes a calculated risk because of his lawyer. I can accept Sammy not blaming me… but this…”
“Fine…” Ben grudgingly admitted “But I'll come along.” he stated as a fact, realizing he couldn't change her mind because Anya was… Anya. She wouldn't let people suffer for her sake “I'm not letting you go there alone. Who knows what he will come up with. You need back up.”
Anya opened her mouth to argue, but closed it again and just nodded “Thank you…” she just said.
“Sweetheart…” Carl’s voice was deep and soft. He was a quiet man, didn't talk much but was always kind and warm towards his family – this included Anya. Like Ben he had accepted Anya wanted to do this and he wanted to support her too “...From what you just told us: you hold the greater leverage.” he looked at her “He can cut funds. That's it. But money can't control everything. If he is so focused on reputation and how he is perceived then he can be defeated or even crushed with the right words to the right person. Use this to show him that he shouldn't mess with you.” he advised and gave her a small, encouraging smile.
"Thank you…" Anya swallowed “I never looked at it that way…” she smiled at him suddenly a strategy started forming in the back of her mind. Why hadn't she thought of this? Carl Logan was more of a father to her than hers ever been.
"Why don't we do this to begin with?" Sam wanted to know and Ben shrugged looking at Anya "I kind of like the idea…" he admitted.
Anya chuckled "God, I would love this… but honestly? I'm scared what he will do, how he will retaliate. If I call him out in public it will mean war and he will rather leave scorched earth then let me win…" she looked at her mate and her brother by heart "I will definitely do it if necessary. I don't do empty threats but it should be last resort." She pointed out and Carl nodded approvingly.
"I knew you have chosen a smart one, my son." Carl winked at Anya who sighed "Let's see if he accepts this as a compromise. I play the loving daughter for him for this event and he leaves me alone."

Through the Binturongs eye's, Kirac observed the hustle and bustle of the first responders from his hiding place in the bushes. A man was just loaded into the ambulance - his current food resource. At least he was still alive unless the last one he accidently killed - he needed to be more careful.
He had stuck around because he had hoped that in the bustle he would find a snack. Unfortunately those humans were all so calm, professional. Nothing to feed from for him. Bugger.
Other people arrived - with cameras and microphones - reporters. He overheard them asking the first responders questions and speculating about this being connected to a death or other people fell into comas. They claimed it to be a new disease - maybe even engineered as a weapon. Others speculated if it maybe was a new drug. No one thought about magic - at least none of those he overheard.
Still he needed to go now. The Binturong sighed and turned around, carefully watching his surroundings for anyone who might be looking. He couldn't be seen. Those humans calling themselves mages probably looking for him since the moment they realized he was gone from his cage.
But he needed one last snack before he went on. One of the man carrying a camera radiated annoyance. Annoyance over being here, having been dragged out in the middle of the night just for some guy having a heart attack or a circulatory collapse, maybe? Not important. It would have to do. Kirac reached out with his magic, tasted him and instantly recoiled.
It tasted weird, nearly repulsive. The man froze, looked around sniffing the air, having felt something strange he couldn't place. That's when Kirac noticed the tattoo on his face - he hadn't seen it before. This man was a shifter. He never tasted a shifter before. Not that he didn't have a chance back in this 'zoo' thing but he was afraid they would notice something and trying to kill him. He wouldn't have had a chance against them locked away in this cage. Obviously he had been right.
What happened next was interesting though. The Shifter sniffed around some more, let his eyes roam over the surroundings. Something had made the hairs on his neck stand up. He couldn't pinpoint it. Was someone watching him?
"Hey Andy… you filming or what?" his coworker called over - mic in his hand ready for his report.
Usually he was chill and rarely lost his temper but something made him snap. Not only had he been called into work on short notice so he had to cancel his date. He had been looking forward to a good movie, drinks afterwards and see where this would have gotten him. God, he even could smell the popcorn. This annoyance combined with his coworker speaking to him like this and this weird feeling made him snap. Growling he looked at his coworker with his golden eyes.
"Woah… chill…" the journalist said with hands raised in a defensive way. It just riled Andy more. He just heard himself yell at his coworker. Why did he do this? Blinking, he shook his head "I… Sorry… I have no idea what gotten into me…" he apologized, the weird feeling he just had completely forgotten.

Interesting… The Binturongs tongue slipped out and wetted his snout. Did his feeding cause the Shifter to snap or was it a coincidence and that man just had a temper? He would test this theory the next time he came across a shifter - he just needed to be careful. And fed. Maybe it was because they, like him, were not from this realm but they tasted awful and he definitely felt something while Kirac fed from him.
Speaking of feeding… He needed to find a snack so he could move on. The animal turned around and used the bushes as cover to make his exit.

"Another one in coma." Roman jogged over the street after leaving the hospital. He had been the one the group had chosen to snoop around. He had a very trustful face and could be very charming. He had been able to engage the nurses at the front desk into a conversation about the patient that had been brought in two days before. He had enough sense not to ask about a name or address of course. "From what I have gathered it fits Kirac. I sneaked around a bit and think I felt some traces of its magic." The bearded man added.
"So we get closer…" Ezra remarked and the others nodded. He took out his stone again and observed the faint glow pointing behind him.
"Seems like that." Roman nodded.
"It is late…" Alecia said when they all fell silent "I vote we have a look around the town in case it is still here - even though I doubt it. Then we find a hotel to sleep and go on tomorrow." The blond proposed.
Ezra looked up the sky promising rain. "I agree. Let's have a quick look around to where the stone is pointing…" he thumbed behind him.
"Shouldn't take long…" Hayley sighed. She had joined the group two days ago with unfortunately no new information to who released the Binturong. The police had found some visuals of the Binturong moving towards the exit - just the animal in the background; no one was seen with him. "If it has a destination in mind?" Hayley mused, looking at the others.
"At least it doesn't seem random…" Ezra pointed out and looked at Hayley. "I know we have been over this multiple times but I have the nagging feeling we missed something: We are sure it wasn't some kind of a militant animal welfare organization?" he asked and the zoo keeper shrugged.
"We can't rule it completely out but I think it is unlikely." She mused "I mean they would have made sure he made it somewhere safe and appropriate." She argued "And why just this one specific animal." She added "No, I think it was either one of the keepers - accidents happen - and is now too afraid to admit it or someone planned this and knew exactly what they were doing." She sighed "I'm kind of scared of the latter. Just think of it. Someone deliberately let a mean spirit loose." she shook her head.
They fell silent again for a moment while they walked in the direction the stone showed them. "What could someone gain from this?" Alecia asked. "This can't benefit anyone, right?" she added hopeful. A door accidental left open or something like that would be the best case scenario here.
"I can't think of anything too… so we can only hope." Hayley sighed and held her hand out, palm up, when the first raindrop hit her. "Let's go find somewhere dry…" she suggested.

"We have no official confirmation yet if any of this is connected but this is the eleventh case of a healthy person falling into a coma. The phenomenon, dubbed 'Medusa-Sleepers' due to the patients' rigor, seems to spread across the country. So is this a new disease? If so is it of natural origin or engineered? Or is it a new drug? We will keep you informed. For now, back to you, Jules." The man disappeared from the screen and was replaced with a woman, sitting in a studio "Thank you Dave. There are other reports of people feeling tiered and unwell in those same areas as the Medusa-Sleepers. If they are connected to this too, is still investigated. But they all insist there are no drugs involved but some claim to have smelled a lot of Popcorn lately." The woman shrugged with a patronizing smile which showed she definitely believed this would turn out as a drug issue.

The remote control of the large LED TV scattered on the floor where it had landed. It had hit the off button when hitting the floor, turning the TV - and the news show with it - off. Isaac Roberts had thrown it in his fury over the news.
He had assumed that the yellow press would be fast to blame this on shifters. That was what he had planned with this. To fire up the already present distrust against this supernatural bullshit and finally get the politicians in his circle to introduce some bills to put a stop to this awakening madness.
Obviously he hadn't counted in that journalists' not always took the easiest explanations… or there are just too many conspiracy theories out there. Damn now he had to think of a way to spin this to fit into his plans.

Kirac pondered if he had somewhen chosen the wrong direction. Since a while he hadn't encountered a human. A lot of other animals, mostly rodents or birds - nothing he could really feed upon. Yes, he could survive on them but he needed more. He was about to turn around when a big, multiple store building came into view. It was surrounded by trimmed greenery and was separated by a metallic fence from the outside. It looked human build so he decided to give it a shot before giving up and turning around.
Kirac was rewarded when he saw and felt the bustling humans - so many humans. He sneaked around in the shadows of the greenery. There were a lot of trees he could hide in and a small pond to drink from. There was another large waterhole too, but the water smelled funny. A pool the humans called it. They put in some chemicals to keep it clean - but you shouldn't use it as drinking water anymore.
He finally managed to enter the big Building without being seen. There was a small tree and bushes arranged on one side where he immediately hid behind, observing what was going on.
A big hall opened before him, busy people running back and forth working on something. Others were on phones, organizing stuff. The best thing? They were all stressed out and scared. They snapped at each other, were short tempered. Apparently there was a kind of party coming up where it wasn't an option that even the smallest thing went wrong.
Kirac took a little snack that moment, made himself comfortable. There were so many people to feed from he could probably stay for a while without accidently kill someone or sending them into a coma.

He avoided the shifters who worked there though. He had tested his theory on one or two occasions when he carefully fed from them. They all tasted disgusting and all had gotten angry, furious. They couldn't think straight for some minutes and looked around wary as if they had sensed him or the feeding.
So while shifters would never be a source of food for him he was sure this knowledge would come in handy somewhen.
Kirac yawned and stretched. There must be a pantry in whatever this building was. While he was well fed the body of his host craved for some fruits.
Afterwards he needed a place to sleep and hide. Inside here was cozy and warm but he was afraid the humans would discover him by accident so he would check out the trees near the pond. With this plan in mind the Binturong hosting Kirac made its way through the maze of the hotel.

The rental car they took from the airport smelled freshly cleaned and quite new. Ben drove while Anya got quieter with each kilometer they came closer to the events location - a reclusive luxury hotel - very exclusive - with a huge hall for this kind of galas or events they were forced to go to.
Ben hated to see his mate like this. All silent, insecure. None of the sass, teasing or joking he loved “We can always turn around…” he offered halfheartedly, already knowing Anya’s answer.
“You know I can't do this…” Anya sighed.
“I know…” Ben replied, giving her a soft, smiling sideway glance before concentrating on the road again. “…and I love you for the way you are… but I also hate it right now.” he admitted.
“You could spare yourself this shitshow… just drop me off and get yourself into a nice motel… have some fun…” Anya stated after a moment of silence. She absolutely meant it. She wouldn't be mad at him if he took her on this offer.
“You know I can't do this.” Ben mirrored her words with a grin, again glancing at her for another second when she leaned back.
“God I love you, Benji…” she swallowed clearly fighting tears. Ben scowled at the road in front of him “What is wrong, love?” he wanted to know.
For a second Anya didn't know how to answer. “I…” she started “I’m scared.” she finally admitted.
“Of your genitor and what he may have planned? That he won't let you leave again?” Ben guessed. He had decided that Andrew Sherrington didn't deserve to be called ‘Father’.
“Genitor?” Anya chuckled, gaining a bit of herself back. This relieved Ben and he gave a sharp nod. “Yes, Genitor. That's all he is, Ani. He treats you like a possession, not his daughter."
“Genitor…” Anya tasted the word in her mouth “I like that.” she agreed, “...but no, I'm not scared they won't let me leave again… a bit nervous about what he tries though but not scared.” she admitted.
“Then what scares you?” Ben asked softly.
“That they will do or say things that make you break up with me when this is over…” she answered after a second. “I'm not sure I'm worth the trouble of you constantly being berated and vilified… we have no idea what they are up to and when or if they will leave us alone in the future.” she added.
That was the moment Ben stopped the car on the side of the road. “You are worth so much more than this ‘trouble’.” he had gently cupped her face to make her look at him. “They can yell at me, call me names or treat me as their personal butler and I couldn't care less as long as you are safe and we go back home together.” He gave her a smile, finally kissing her.
“I have no idea how I deserve you but I'll not argue with the universe about this.” she chuckled “Just thirty six hours… we can do this…” Anya sighed and Ben laughed “Less! I plan to pack up as soon as the party is over. We can nap at the airport until our flight back home.” he winked “Deal!” Anya agreed. The rest of the drive they joked again or sang along with the radio.

The first sign that something was out of place was that no one was outside the hotel complex to greet guests or park cars. But maybe this was for the better. There had already been some few journalists and paparazzi gathered outside the gates trying to get pictures of the guests to spice up their stories with. They would have gotten some good shots of the ‘lost Sherrington daughter’ if Ben wouldn't have gone straight for the underground parking.
Ben had grabbed their bag from the boot and Anya took a deep breath when they took the elevator up to the lobby. “How is the chance they forgot to book a room for me and we can go home?” she joked and drew a chuckle from her mate.

When the door opened with a telltale ding, they could see some people buzzing around, clearly in preparation for the gala and clearly in stress. Carefully not to disturb them they made their way to the single woman manning the front desk. She already gave them a professional welcoming smile when a voice cut through the lobby “Daughter! I'm glad you made it.” Andrew Sherrington said coming towards them, ignoring Ben. The friendly tone which must fool the receptionist and the other employees around was clearly contrasted by the cold in his eyes “What is he doing here!” he hissed when he stood close to Anya but tried to keep his mask “You haven't expected me to come alone, have you?” Anya answered equally quiet. She kept eye contact - something she never dared when she was younger. “Why wouldn't I bring my mate?” she added.
“I'm not accepting this! I am not approving a black shifter boy and you know this. You know exactly what kind of men are acceptable and which are not. And I told you to cut all ties because you'll come back home!” he hissed again, barley keeping himself from pointing a finger at Ben or brandishing his hands in rage. He had turned his back to the reception so the woman behind the desk wouldn't see his angry face. “You will leave. NOW!” he addressed Ben, still in a hushed voice to not draw a scene but clearly angry. On the outside Ben didn't show it but it had hit him more than he wanted to admit to actually hear her father say those words. He could deal with that Sherrington didn't approve of him and that he was not good enough in his opinion - no problem. To hear him say that Anya was well aware and should have known better on the other hand… this somehow triggered him in a way he couldn't logical explain. Maybe because Andrew Sherrington made it sound like Anya just chose Ben to annoy him? His own words not even two hours ago in the car echoed in his mind. How he was so sure they couldn't say things really touching him but here he was, Andrew Sherrington, gotten to him in less than five minutes.
Anya felt how Ben slightly stiffened. She couldn't imagine how these words must have hit him so she shrugged “If you throw him out I'll leave too. Front door. Through the reporters.” she threatened, heeding Carl's advice. “I neither care for nor need your approval.” she added and went a step further "I will act as the loving daughter for this event so the rumors stop and Edward can take over in peace. But after this you will leave me alone again. And you will leave my friends alone." She didn't ask, she stated.
For a minute Andrew and Anya just stared at each other until Andrew became aware that they slowly attracted an audience… just employees walking more slowly or lingering in a corner. If he didn't want new rumors to start or old ones to intensify, he had to give in for now. “Fine…” he hissed “But if someone asks he is your bodyguard. He is not your… whatever you call this.” he glowered at her and Ben but before Anya could argue further Ben chimed in with a radiant smile. No matter how hard Andrews's words had hit home, Anya had stood up for him. This was all that counted.
“Perfect. Then let's get you checked in Miss Sherrington.” he winked at her and walked her towards the reception followed by Andrew who tried to act as everything was the way he wanted it to be.

Hidden behind the greenery, Kirac within the Binturong had napped and enjoyed the bustling of the humans and the stress they radiated. This was perfect. Napping and eating.
Suddenly there was something new going on, the energy surrounding them shifted and he smelled something so delicious like never before. Curious he looked around and saw a woman arguing with a man while a third - shifter this time - watched. The smell came from the woman. Carefully he used his magic to taste and damn! This was even better. He never tasted something like this. A mixture of fear, anger, defiance, and a pinch of anxiety… but also mixed with anger, fury. He fed some more but forced himself to stop before it was too much and the shifter would become aware of him. He needed to keep tabs on this woman without the shifter notice it so he could feed from her on peace.

Anya and Ben both let out a deep sigh when the door of the suit had closed behind them and Ben just put their bag down in the first corner. They knew this little victory was deceptive at best.
Anya looked up and saw that Ben had closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. It had been months since she witnessed this. It had happened occasionally when they officially became an item and moved in together - every time when something had triggered memories from bad experiences he closed his eyes and breathed.
Gently Anya took his hand, leading him to the armchair and made him sit down, so she could hug him from behind. For a minute nobody spoke “My genitor has a talent to exactly find the words you don't even know will hurt you.” she finally whispered.
“Yeah… hadn't thought this would trigger me like that.” Ben admitted.
“The ‘black shifter boy’ comment?” Anya asked but felt him shake his head and heard a scoff “No. I'm used to this… but the way he said he doesn't approve of me and you are aware…” he turned slightly and gave her a small smile and shook his head “Sorry, it's stupid, forget about it. I just needed a second.” he reached for her hand to squeeze it. Anya kissed his cheek, resting her elbows on his shoulders and keeping her face next to his “No, tell me. It was enough to trigger bad memories so it can't be stupid.” she argued.
The way she just validated his insecurities made him smile. “You didn't choose me because it would annoy your father the most, did you?” he asked but shook his head before Anya could react “It sounds even more idiotic when I say it out loud… sorry, love.” he chuckled, himself again.
“No, I didn't, Benji.” Anya assured him “I'm not trapping myself in a relationship I'm not happy in just to stick it to him.” she added with zero accusation and just reassurance. "That yellow wall behind the TV on the other hand? Totally because he hates that color." She admitted drawing a chuckle from Ben. He turned around in her embrace and pulled her gently over the backrest in his arms and both kissed, giggling.

A knock sounded on the door and made them jump. “Who is it?” Anya called out and was met with an annoyed and demanding “Your mother.”
After a second Anya detangled herself from Ben, who stood up too, and opened the door.
“Anya!” Sophia Sherrington exclaimed, slightly touching her daughter's shoulders and air-kissed her left and right cheek. “Mother…” Anya greeted the woman carefully as if she feared she was a poisonous animal and would attack and bite her any second.
“We haven't seen each other in such a long time…” she entered the suite with a woman in tow carrying a cloth bag. Anya wished she could believe her mother cared but she knew her well enough. As expected she just skipped any personal questions or used the opportunity to catch up.
"For your brothers' gala…" Sophia started but stopped mid-step when she saw Ben closing the distance to Anya. “Ah… my husband already informed me about your… attendance.” She made it sound derogatory. “So you haven’t grown out of this phase, Anya… a shame.” she sighed and Anya blushed. She hadn't known her mother had realized she always had a sweet spot for black guys and found them attractive.
"Mr.…" Sophia looked at Ben questioning.
"Ben… Ben Logan." Ben extended a hand towards Anya's mother but she just looked at it as if it was something filthy.
“Mr. Logan… I’ll go ahead and assume you haven't got an adequate suit… so how tall may you be?” she mused and Ben, who was perplexed by her, just answered automated “1.90!?” it nearly sounded as a question because he had no idea what this woman wanted with that information.
“Sabine…” Sophia turned to her assistant “Put the bag on the couch and organize a suit for this… man. If he will join us for the Gala he needs to dress accordingly.” she waved her hand at her dismissively and returned her focus on Anya, ignoring Ben. In the background, the assistant put down the bags and disappeared through the door.
“Let me have a look at you…” Sophia rounded her daughter who just surrendered and stood still. “You gained a bit of weight but I think the dress I chose for you will still fit even though we probably need to find a way to bind away that belly pouch." She slightly padded with her hand against Anya's belly before she continued "This evenings dinner will be casual... so wear what you had planned for the Gala, hopefully it will do." she stated, then paused and took a strand of Anya's hair between her fingers.
“Whatever you did to your hair… We can't help it today.” she looked at Anya sternly “Try your best with that mess and your makeup for tonight so you look presentable. Maybe you can find some tutorials online.” she sighed “I already booked you in with Claude for tomorrow at 2pm… maybe he can save this for the gala.” She gave a deep sigh "I'll never understand where I went wrong with you." She shook her head and left.
Anya's shoulders slumped, her eyes on the floor. Her mother always knew how to get under her skin and make her feel insecure. "And this was my mother…" she finally said into the silence just to fill it, rubbing her left arm with her right hand "How can she make me feel like a teenager again… and insufficient… just like that?" she swallowed, trying not to tear up as memories washed over her.
Now it was Ben who just pulled her into a hug "Charming woman…" he said with the dry sarcasm Anya loved "How the fuck did you manage to turn out the way you have? A loving nanny maybe?" he shook his head chuckling. Anya snorted, his joking helped her "You wish…" she replied and heaved a deep sigh. She just realized how fast and far she would went down that rabbit hole again if Ben wouldn't be here with her, grounding her. "Thank you for not letting me come here alone…" she whispered.
Ben, who felt all the unspoken emotions took his phone out of his pocket and set a timer and started it - 34 hours, 59 minutes and 58 seconds and counting backwards. He kissed her head while they watched the timer for a second.

From the tree before the window, Kirac had watched the scene and carefully snacked from the woman - not too much, not drawing attention. That damn shifter! The woman got the girl in such a delicious state - like the male in the lobby had - but the Shifter tainted her taste again. Well she was still radiating a tasty mixture of emotions for him to feed of and expand his powers.

"This must be the place!" Ezra took the binoculars down, looking at his friends. They had been hunting the spirit for weeks now.
"At least there are news reports of sick employees…" Roman scrolled through his phone.
"Look at all the reporters…" Alecia pointed out "This is getting too big… how do we keep this hidden after that?" she shook her head, clearly starting to get overwhelmed and Hayley lay a comforting hand on her shoulder, but she had the same doubts.
"Well…" Roman looked up from his phone "They are not here because of the 'mysterious disease' going around… or not exclusively at least." He held his phone out to his friends "There seems to be a big event tomorrow. Lot of upper class douchebags…" he smirked "Yellow press hopes for some scandals." He added.
Ezra nodded slowly "Still they are here." He sighed "And they hotel staff is probably on high alert if they have this fancy event going on." He looked around "How do we have a look around without being caught?" he asked the question everyone had on their mind.
Hayley took the binoculars and watched the estate for a moment "I'd say let us try to find a way through or over the fence on the backside. See if we are in luck and Kirac is outside." She looked at the others.
"He probably knows we look for him. He wouldn't want someone to accidently find and capture him so I think Hayley is right. There is a good chance he hides somewhere on the grounds and not inside the hotel." He agreed.
"If he is there…" Alecia pointed out "We don't know for sure…"
"We split up." Ezra decided "Everyone takes a side - just not too close to draw attention. If all of our stones still point towards the Hotel then we know Kirac is here." He laid out his plan "And then we go with Hayley's plan as soon as it gets dark… after we put up the ward and made sure he doesn't get out." He added. The others nodded in agreement and a silence ensued.
"Here…" Alecia pulled out four necklaces - simple leather bands with a stone hanging from each of them. She gave her friends one each, keeping the last to herself "I finished them yesterday. I can't guarantee it will work though." she admitted.
"Lea…" Roman took her hand "Better to try and fail then not try at all." He smiled "But I'm sure they work and guard us against Kirac feeding from us." He was sure.

"We are really sorry that things are taking longer as usual, Mr. Sherrington. One of our waitresses had to go home - she nearly passed out. The doorman is sick too, unfortunately. Something must go around - we never experienced so many sick employees at once…" the hotel manager tried to calm Andrew but he just shook his head "This is not acceptable. Most of your staff is just lazy and slow. I expect you to find more people until tomorrows gala!" he ordered "I don't care how you do it but you have to ensure prompt service in every way during the whole event! Food drinks, parking…" he demanded. The thought alone that the attendees would have to park their cars themselves or wait for drinks and food… unacceptable!
"Of course…" the manager agreed, not sure how he would pull this off. He hurried away, past Ben and Anya who had just come down for dinner.
They both agreed not to provoke and turning up in Jeans and T-Shirt. Since they had been supplied clothes for the gala they had decided to go with what they originally planned for tomorrow - aligning with Anya's mothers' wish.
Ben dressed in black slacks and a dark red button down with a dark tie. He owned exactly three dress shirts: two in white and the burgundy one he wore now. Both went with the black slacks - the white ones where for business meetings he had to dress up to (thankfully only once in ages) and the red for special occasions. Over the shirt he wore a jacket matching the slacks. He felt a bit constricted but he would manage.
Anya wore one of the two dresses she owned. It matched Ben's shirt in being a dark red color. It hugged her upper body from her breasts down to her waist before becoming looser, swirling her legs down to her ankles. Sparkling small stones forming what looked like a thin, curved belt around her waistline. She brought her black, flat summer sandals to go with it. She had them for ages now and treasured them because it had taken her so incredibly long to find sandals which only had a slight heel and looked kind of delicate at the same time.
While Ben turned his head after the manager mumbling something along the lines 'How do I conjure up more staff…?' Anya faced the judgmental look of her parents.
Ben, who brought his attention back to Anya, ignored the stares and pulled out Anya's chair and let her sit before he took his place next to her. "The shifter has manners…" Andrew shook his head in disbelieve.
Under the table, Anya reached for Ben's hand and squeezed it for a second. "I just wished you could have done something with that hair." Her mother sighed "But at least you tried…" she added with another sigh.
Anya swallowed. She didn't need or want her mother's approval but that she was dismissed that way when she really liked her look, still hurt. She reached for the glass of water already prepared for her when two waitresses entered with plates. "We took the liberty to already order for all of us." Andrew announced, draping the napkin on his lap.
The plates, which were put in front of the men, held full meals with steaks, veggies, salad, and potatoes. Anya and her mother were served just salads and some few veggies. "You should consider keeping a diet, Anya. You need to watch your weight." Sophia Sherrington announced. Anya just shook her head in defeat.
Ben waited a moment, expecting her to just order what she liked. Anya had never been insecure about her weight or body in general - and she had absolutely no reason to. He realized her mother must somehow gotten under her skin because she kept silent - or his mate just thought it not worth a fight. So he just shared part of his meat and potatoes with her, stealing some additional salad from her plate. "No, you don't." he just contradicted what Sophia had said, winking.
Anya looked at him and the insecurity he saw for the fraction of a second melted into a slight smile. While she had a really good weight/height ratio, she couldn't deny a small belly pouch or her thighs looking a little bit thick with her short legs. She never cared or felt insecure about it until now.
But Ben obviously liked her exactly the way she was and she was grateful for it.
Edward scoffed and Andrew produced sounds of dismay too but they didn't care enough to keep Anya from eating - for now at least.
"For tomorrow evening we have arranged for a dinner partner, Anya." Andrew stated.
"I think Ben will be…" she started but Andrew cut in sharp "As we established, Mr. Logan acts as your bodyguard - nothing more." He spoke about Ben as if he wasn't present "You remember Donald Northwood. He recently divorced and agreed to help us out for this event." He explained proudly and Sophia added "That poor man. Married twice but always had bad luck choosing women not able to give him children…"
Anya paled a bit when all the memories from the one date about ten or fifteen years ago bubbled back up.


Anya had built up a life of her own after the deal with her father - found a job as a developer, rented a small apartment. She had only little contact with her family in those five-ish years and she liked it that way.
She still answered calls from her family back then and one day her father demanded she met with a man - Donald Northwood. He was an architect and would be a good asset for the family. It was the call she had always dreaded. This was a date with a possible husband. She had a bad feeling from the start but still obeyed her father - it was just one meeting after all.
From the start Donald treated her like she was already his. Small things first like order for her - not what she chose but what he thought she should eat and drink. Then he commented on her outfit and how, from now on, she should dress to please him or how to do her makeup and hair to please him. He already decided that she had to quit her job so she could take care of their children because while he absolutely had employees for cooking and cleaning Donald Northwood despised the thought of a nanny or that his wife would work a mundane job. He didn't like the way she spoke too - she had to lose this until the first child was born.
By the end of the date Anya was relieved because the way he looked at and talked about her creeped her out - even scared her.
Her father called her the next day but it wasn't the expected chewing out over her not behaving and driving away a man and business opportunity. No. Donald Northwood asked for her hand and how she should be grateful for it because the only thing he found agreeable with her was that she was a female of fertile age. Not his type but he would compromise on this. That was what her father relayed to her. This was also the day Anya went no contact - after telling her father she would, under no condition, see this man again.


"Maybe this time you don't mess it up, sister." Edward stated and pulled Anya back into here and now. "He'd be a good catch... and profitable for the family…"
Ben ignored his comment, his attention on Anya. He practically felt that Donald Northwood triggered bad memories "Ani?" he gently asked.
Anya was about to answer when she suddenly felt drained and tired. Dizzy. "I… need fresh air…" she just said and practically fled the room through the large glass doors leading to a small side terrace. Ben was behind her a second later. "Of course she runs out where the press could see her…" her father hissed through clenched teeth.

Outside Anya had followed a little path of walking stones of the terrace and just held onto a tree, shivering because she felt cold on the inside all of a sudden and her being in a summer dress in the cool autumn night didn't help. The air was fresh from a little shower, the ground outside the terrace still damp and a bit muddy but she didn't mind. She hoped neither her father nor her mother would risk staining their clothes to follow her here.
"What did he do to you?" Ben appeared behind her. He saw goosebumps building up on her and slipped out of his jacket hanging it around her shoulders "Love… what did Donald Northwood do to you?" he repeated.
"Nothing…" Anya answered finally "…just been a general dick. Possessive and creepy. I refused any contact after that first 'date'." She added and turned around to face Ben.
"Ok… so why…" he accepted and his expression changed from anger over a guy mistreating his mate sometime in the past to worry because she looked pale and riled. Before he could inquire more, Edward appeared, taking careful steps on the walking stones.
"You come back inside. NOW!" Anya's brother hissed.


Back behind some more trees, Kirac moaned in pleasure. She tasted so good.
He was so lost in the aftermath of his feeding he didn't hear Roman sneaking up behind him. Only the very last second he felt something - magic - Human magic. Instinctively he jumped out of the way, up another low hanging branch. But his sudden weight on it was too much. Leaves rustled and the twig snapped. He fell but ran as soon as he was right side up again. Swearing, Roman ran after him. The trees and bushes which seemed no obstacle to the Binturong slapped him in the face, entangling his feed and generally slowed him down.
Kirac was escaping but suddenly felt magic again. Another mage? He changed his course to avoid the one behind him and the one coming up. Then he felt a third source. Damn. The only way left was towards the building. He had to be fast, slipping through like a shadow so the humans in that building would concentrate on his follower.

Roman squeezed through another hedge the Binturong had just slipped through. Eyes only on his prey he suddenly crashed into someone. In the corner of his eyes he saw the animal vanish under another bush.

Kirac had curled up under a bush, breathing heavily. His eyes darted around and saw no way out. He didn't want to go back being a prisoner without proper food. The Shifter! He could use the Shifter! He braced for the vile taste when he started to feed from the black man.

The person Roman had hit turned out to be a woman in a red dress. She had fallen into the mud and must have hit her head on the tree a bit. "Shit…" he swore. Two men were with her. One kneeled down immediately to look after her. Roman only just had time to notice the shifter tattoo on his face before the man looked up growling, the tattoo swirling in fury. Then he changed into a freaking snow leopard. Of course it had to be something dangerous - why not a cute, small rabbit for a change?
He swallowed the apology he had on his tongue and ran. He knew what Kirac could do to shifters - or he at least suspected what he might do - and he didn't want to stay and find out if this was usual shifter rage because he accidently hurt his friend or if their theory was correct and Kirac making him lose control.

Ben saw Anya fall but was too slow to catch her. He went down on his knees beside her to check on her. She was conscious but there was blood on her forehead. Suddenly there was the smell of Popcorn and he felt something weird, something draining.
The sight of Anya on the ground, muddy and bleeding… fury build up inside him when he fixed his eyes on the man attacking her. He was dressed all in black, hooded so he couldn't see his face. His only thought: Protect Anya!
Usually shifters used to strip before shifting into their animal forms. It was way more comfortable doing this naked and sometimes it could even be painful doing it clothed - it all depended on the animal you changed into.
Hanson for example didn't care. His bear was even larger than the already bulky male. If he shifted dressed, his clothes ended up in shreds.
If your animal was way smaller than you - like Cian's fox or Chin's monkey - you would end up entangled in a heap of clothes and needed to dig yourself out.

Snow was a bit smaller and lighter than Ben so in his rage he just loosened the tie and shifted all dressed. Some buttons and seams ripped when Snow freed himself from the clothes before he approached the man growling and in a menacing way.
Two others broke through the trees - dressed similarly, hooded - looking shocked at the leopard, their eyes moving from the cat then to Edward, Anya still on the ground, and hotel employees slowly gathering. After a split second they just ran. Again Ben felt a weird draining sensation, erasing every sensible thought, and he bolted after them.
A race between men and Snow leopard usually has a clear winner - the leopard. He should have caught them within seconds but while he was riled he also felt like he wore lead cuffs on his limbs and somehow was terribly tired. This feeling dissipated fast, leaving him only riled but the attackers had vanished.

For a while Ben tried to find a scent, to find the attackers. His mind was still clouded with anger - his rage mixing with Snows. 'They hurt Anya...' that thought overshadowed everything else in his mind. He growled 'Anya...' thinking of her more clearly made Ben shake his head, calming down a bit. He needed to focus. What the hell was wrong with him? What if this had been a distraction? He left Anya more or less alone! He immediately turned around, running back. Anya was still sitting on the ground when he arrived. He shifted back to human between one leopard leap and a human step and wanted to embrace his mate but Anya's brother and father stepped in the way.
"Get decent you animal..." Edward hissed. Ben growled dangerously, not appreciating to be spoken to like that. Ben's clothes lay scattered on the ground where Snow had wriggled out of them, probably needed stitches at some places, maybe new buttons. "Keep your distance..." Andrew warned. Only the staff member who suddenly appeared and handed him his pants and shirt he had quickly collected from the ground, kept him from doing something he might regret. Ben was thinking about to stay butt naked just to annoy Andrew Sherrington but the pleading way the young employee looked at him made him reconsider. The boy looked like he would get into trouble if he didn't manage to get Ben 'decent'. So he slipped into his pants and threw the shirt loosely over his shoulders.
Since Anya's Family still kept him from coming near Anya, he looked around. Now that he could think more clearly again he realized Anya had been caught in the crossfire between one of the hooded figures and an… an animal maybe? Whatever it had been it was gone now. Be it, he needed to take care of Anya now.

Edward had joined his mother in inspecting Anya's bruises "That's nothing. Just superficial." Edward looked at his father straightening himself. Sophia stood up too without assisting her daughter further "I am sure Claude can hide the bruises with make up for tomorrow evening if necessary so no one at the Gala will notice..." now she looked down at her daughter "Get up Anya, the press is watching! You look weak!"
From afar they could see multiple persons - journalists - Paparazzi - taking pictures, filming "We will have to give a statement before they publish their own interpretations, causing rumors..." Andrew mused and started to make inviting motions towards the journalists.
Ben nearly exploded again. Was this all they had to say? Their daughter had just been injured in an attack! Anya looked down, emotionless, like she was used to this kind of treatment. He'd never seen her that broken and defeated and it made him so unbelievable angry. Was this how her whole childhood had been? Ben used the opportunity created by the Sherrington's self-obsession to help Anya up. She had some trouble to get on her feet and needed support to stay upright. Ben cupped her face. He looked into suddenly exhausted eyes, her skin was cold. Sure she hit her head but something felt very off here "You have an abrasion..." His voice was quiet and soft; trying to calm her "Let's get you inside and clean it… see if we need a band aid… maybe call a doctor…" he couldn't even finish his sentence when the mother pushed him out of the way again making Anya flinch when she ungently grabbed her head to take another look for herself "A doctor for a small bruise? Ridiculous! And no band aids or strips or anything overly visible..."
Ben glared and Snows tattoo churned on his faces in anger "Listen…" he started, forcing her to let go of Anya and took his mate in his arms again but was interrupted by the first journalists arriving.
Immediately there was a bunch of questions all asked simultaneously. "What happened?" - "Was Ms. Sherrington hurt?" - "Who is the man protecting your daughter?" - "Is this connected to all the sick hotel staff?"
Andrew Sherrington just raised his hands to calm the journalists who either stood there with notepads paired up with photographers or waving microphones and cameras.
"He is my daughter's bodyguard." Andrew nearly hissed, fixing Bens eyes, warning them to contradict him but returned to a wide smile, even squeezing Ben's shoulder in what appeared to the journalists as appreciation "… and I'm very grateful he was here. Apparently there was some kind of wild animal which attacked..." there it was… the charming press version of Anya's father. "…but as you see she is fine and standing strong like a true Sherrington."
Ben ignored him. Anya hadn't spoken or reacted in any way except for flinching away from her mother and Brother. She seemed in shock, muddy and from her shivering she was cold. He used that Andrew Sherrington was occupied and distracted with the press to get Anya away from all this. Her parents, the reporters, possible other attacks.

By the time they reached their room he had sorted his thoughts. There was an animal or creature and those guys attacking it? Trying to capture it? He didn't know. Something had made him lose control. He had felt something before it happened, a draining sensation. Then he did hunt the men because… yes why? Whatever made him lose control caused this…
His attention went back to Anya who was still shivering, clearly needed his support to stand upright. She seemed incredibly tired out of nowhere. She still was hardly responding to the soothing words he whispered. He had thought of her being in shock but he wasn't so sure anymore. So his first priority was getting her warmed up, making her comfortable, tucking her up in the bed. If this wouldn't help he would call Alanis first and if she thought it necessary to call in a doctor - screw the Sherringtons.
He brought her straight into the bathroom, gently helped her undress. He first thought of running her a hot bath but the tub was too small to fit them both and she wasn't in any condition to bath alone so he opted for the next best thing - a hot shower. He supported her into the cabin, carefully making her sit down. He reached up and took the showerhead, carefully turned it on to get the water warmed up then hung it up again and kneeled before her. Ben didn't care he got drenched in what less clothes he wore - he only saw his mate. Somewhen he lost his dress shirt when it got in his way.
Gently and carefully he removed the dirt from her face and arms then washed her muddy hair. A bit of life returned to her "I'm so freaking tired…" she whispered "…and my head hurts…" she added.
"I know love… you hit your head when you fell…" he gently cupped her face again and made her look at him.
"Are you feeling sick?" he asked, searching her eyes for signs of a concussion, realizing he wouldn't recognize any even if they were there since he wasn't a doctor. Still he knew: if she felt sick after hitting her head he needed to take her to a doctor. "No…" Anya answered after a second "Not sick." She assured.
"Good." Ben smiled, turning off the shower to get her out and wrapping her into one of the fluffy hotel towels. He made her sit on the rim of the bath tub "I know your 'mother'…" his voice dripping in distain "…doesn't want strips but fuck her." He got the small first aid kit from his toiletry bag and produced a small package with two steri-strips - he always carried strips and bandages. Even though Shifters had healing abilities sometimes this was needed.
Anya gave him a tired smile, managed a slight chuckle and held still while he tended to her wound. "What the hell was going on down there?" she asked when Ben helped her up and towards the bed and made her sit, still wrapped in the towel.
"No idea." He sighed while he rummaged in their bag for her sleeping shirt and PJ pants and his shirt and boxers. "I…" he paused "I can't even explain why I attacked those guys hunting this animal…" he admitted, looking at Anya who clearly fought to keep her eyes open. To speak it out loud somehow made it worse. He had lost control.
"Shit…" Anya remarked, unwrapping herself from the towel in clumsy movements. "Puck?" she asked, aware he still wasn't fully comfortable with the beast controlled shifter but no one knew more about balances and beasts than him. "Yeah… I guess I should call him..." He sighed, helping her into her shirt. "But not now… it's late." He added.
He wanted to sit down next to her but realized just in time he still wore the drenched slacks. He handed her the rest of her clothes and then went into the bathroom to strip the slacks off, drying himself off with a towel and slipping into boxers and T-Shirt. He hung the wet clothes over the tub and took Anya's dress and his jacket with him on his way out to throw them over the chair. He grabbed his phone from the jackets pocket before he joined her in the bed. While he was in the bathroom, Anya had managed to pull off the cover, slipped in and under the sheets.
After he lay down he raised his arms and offered her to cuddle against him for extra warmth and she did, dozing off immediately. He gently kissed her head, reaching for the light switch. This was something he liked about hotels: nearly all lighting could be switched on and off from the bed.

As soon as the lights were out, his own tiredness dissolved and his brain began to replay the evening's events. He reached for his phone and tried to distract himself scrolling through social media. He soon realized he wouldn't find sleep until he had a chance to talk about this with someone and since Anya was asleep he called Cian.
"Ben?" the tired voice of his boss and friend answered. He must have woken him up.
"Sorry…" Ben started, his voice low to not wake up Anya "…but I need someone to talk to." He apologized.
Suddenly Cian was wide awake. The way his friend sounded? The lack of swearing? "What happened?" Cian wanted to know.
"There were some guys hunting an animal of sorts on the hotel's grounds. Anya got hurt a bit - harmless, thank god." Ben started "I haven't gotten a clear view of the creature because all of a sudden something drained me and I kind of lost control when I saw Anya hurt on the ground. No… we lost control. Snow and me. I shifted and hunted the attacker… but I couldn't keep up. I was suddenly so tired…" he swallowed "Anya is exhausted too… exhausted in a way I can't explain. It feels off…" he admitted his worries.
"Anything else feels off or is unusual?" Cian wanted to know and had urgency in his voice making Ben tense. "Except Sherrington being an ass? No…" he said but paused "Wait… some of the employees seems to have gotten sick." He suddenly remembered and heard Cian grunt.
"Listen…" the redhead said "There have been a couple of news reports over the last month about people getting sick, falling into comas. There are speculations about a new disease or a drug or even a government experiment…" he related what he had heard. "Alanis disagrees though. Or… she doesn't want to rule out that some kind of magic is involved." he hummed "What you told me… draining feeling, being tired without real cause, sick employees… and a strange creature…" he grumbled "But Magic? Hard to believe…"
That was the moment Anya raised her head slightly, looking up to Ben with tired eyes but a smile on her face. "You're regularly running around furry, lead a group of people doing the same… but you can't wrap your head around magic? That's where you draw the line?" she addressed Cian in a teasing tone and a light laugh. She had very good hearing and her head lay high on Ben's chest so she had gotten what Cian had said.
Cian chuckled when he heard Anya speaking, his shifter senses making out every word "Hi Anya." He paused, growing serious again "I can make some calls tomorrow first thing for backup…" he offered but Ben scoffed "Cian… when you could be here we are already off again." He pointed out and Cian sighed "You are right… so… be careful and watch out the two of you." He pleaded
"We will…" Ben promised "Thanks for listening… good night…" he added and after Cian repeated the 'Good night' they hung up.
"Sorry, did I wake you?" Ben asked Anya worried but felt her shake her head "I'm so freaking tired but can't sleep…" she whispered, shivering again "I dozed off and then I had weird dreams which I can't recall but unnerved me…" she sounded a bit scared "Listening to you and Cian talking actually helped…"
"You're still cold, Ani?" Ben asked and again Anya nodded. Sometimes exhaustion and tiredness causing exactly this: freezing.
Ben gently lifted her up a bit to pull out his arm "Then let me shift." He smiled. He knew that she liked to curl up against his snow leopard form and that it sometimes helped her calm down and feel better.
He didn't even let her answer, just stripping out of the shirt and boxers and the next second a snow leopard lay on the bed. Anya just curled up against him then pulling up the blanket "Thank you…" she whispered then frowned "Why does it smell like Popcorn?" she mumbled but already fell asleep.
Ben sniffed but couldn't smell the Popcorn but… hadn't he smelled Popcorn too? Outside? Before he lost control?
Was this a connection? A warning sign? He needed to watch out for it. He felt Anya drifting to sleep, her breathing evened and her heartbeat was slow and steady. With her against him, Ben fell asleep too.

Kirac slowly and carefully moved away from his place on the tree before the window to the woman's room - he had taken a snack from her to recharge the lost energy after his narrow escape. He couldn't feel the human magic anymore but he knew they were there somewhere. Now he needed a safe place to sleep and tomorrow he would feed some more from this woman to have enough energy to escape the human mages.
He would have sneaked away the moment the Shifter run off the mages but something held him here. But whatever those human mages did, as soon as he fed enough he would be strong enough to break their magic.

Outside the hotel grounds the four mages had gathered again around a little campfire. They all looked flustered, shaken and tired.
"On the plus side, we now know that Kirac is there." Roman swallowed.
"If he already realized we trapped him on the grounds?" Alecia wondered.
"I'm sure he did." Roman scoffed and Hayley nodded "I agree but that means we need to act fast now. He will drain the humans to build up energy." She pointed out
"Then let's hope there is not much drama for him to feed from…" Ezra sighed.
They were all silent for a moment, Alecia stretching out on her sleeping bag which she had put up in front of the tent. "What is the plan?" she asked in the silence.
After another moment of silence Ezra looked up "I overheard the manager talking on his phone when I was sneaking around looking for Kirac." He started "They desperately need staff for tomorrows gala. Waiters, car parking…" he looked up "I'm sure if we manage to not look like tramps we could get hired and can move around freely." He proposed.
"Good idea." Hayley nodded "That leaves the shifter. He will be a problem if Kirac feeds from him again." She shivered when she remembered the leopard chasing them.
"You sure he didn't just tick out because I bumped into his friend?" Roman pointed out.
"No, but you remember what that one dude said… the camera man?" Alecia reminded. Roman nodded slowly "Good point…" he leaned back with a sigh "I will find a way to talk to him." he decided "If it wasn't Kirac and he ticks out I will try to get him thrown out so he won't interfere otherwise he is warned." He shrugged.
"Ok…" Ezra clapped his hands, rubbed them together to warm them "Let's sleep and try again tomorrow."

Ben and Anya slept in the next day, even missed breakfast. Both felt better even though Anya was still tired and opted for an additional nap. They ordered room service when they got hungry and holed up inside their room until, at two pm sharp, a knock sounded. When they opened the door, a lanky man just walked inside with two hotel employees carrying various cases and bags.
"You can leave…" Claude - surprisingly without a French accent one might have expected - shooed them out again and then looked at Anya, still in PJ's. "Your mother didn't exaggerate… this will take a while." he sighed then his eyes fell on Ben who was dressed in Jeans and T-Shirt "You? Out!" he commanded.
Ben glared at him and crossed his arms prompting Claud to dramatically sigh "She won't be in need of a bodyguard."
Ben was unsure what to do. For one he still was in protection mode after what had happened yesterday and second he hated to be commanded like this but on the other hand? He wanted to have a look outside, maybe find that animal if it was still here or a clue to the attackers - if they even had been attacking.
Anya could see his indecisiveness and gave him a slight smile "It's ok… I'll be fine." She assured him. Ben stared at Claude for a second longer before he nodded "If you are sure…" he held her eyes for a second longer then went for the door.
"Put the 'do not disturb' sign on the door on your way out." He called after him and waited for the door to be closed.
"Seems he takes his job too seriously…" Claude scoffed then looked at Anya "You sit down." He motioned to a chair "We start with that hair of yours…." He commanded. "And stop that grumpy face. Smile!"


Half an hour later Ben sat frustrated in the hotel's lobby. All the scents from the evening before had already dissipated in a second rain shower and there was no sign of the animal. Since Anya was still in the clutches of Claude - this stupid 'do not disturb' sign was still on - he decided to wait here. He had ordered a coffee and now reached for the local newspaper lying around.
They hadn't made it on page one but on page three he found an article with a picture of Andrew Sherrington, The Hotel manager and a sensational headline 'Wild animal attacks high society.' Ben snorted and skimmed the article. Basically it tried to connect the many employees sickness with the 'medusa sleeper Syndrome' - that was probably correct. There was a second image where he recognized himself tending to Anya - it was more blurred like it had been cut from the background of another picture and been enlarged. The caption raised the question if he really was 'just' the bodyguard. A slight smile crept on his face - the journalist probably had just been trying to make a story out of nowhere but turned out to be right. Talk about broken clocks… Sherrington would probably explode when he read this. Good!
A shadow fell over him and the little coffee table and Ben looked up expecting the coffee he ordered. Sure enough it was someone in the Hotels attire with a coffee but Ben recognized the scent immediately "YOU!" he tensed unsure what to do. His eyes wary but the man, after he put down the cup on the table, raised his hands ready to defend himself "I'm not here to fight, Shifter!" he said and when Ben wasn't attacking him instantly he relaxed a little bit. "First I'm really sorry I bumped into your friend. It was an accident." He started "Second, this animal wasn't an ordinary one."
For a second a silence ensued and neither spoke "Go on…" Ben finally said. This man seemed to have information and didn't pose a threat - at least not at this moment. He would listen to him, decide if he believed the man and if he did he maybe had some answers for Ben too about the loss of control.
"May I…?" the man gestured to the chair and when Ben nodded he sat down "My name is Roman. I'm a mage and my friends and I try to capture the animal you encountered last night." He started
"A… mage?" Ben asked in disbelieve "Like Harry Potter?" he looked at him clearly having a hard time to believe what he heard. He even forgot to introduce himself.
Roman scoffed "Wingardium leviosa… no…" he looked at Ben "We do wards and enchantments… potions… herbs." He gave some hints.
Ben still looked skeptical but then remembered what Anya had said to Cian last night "I turn furry whenever I want so why am I questioning magic existing…" he sighed.
"True… and we keep it low key… Witch trials and all that…" Roman smirked "But trust me… magic exists like shifters and spirits do."
"Ok… so you are a mage. What was this animal?" Ben tried to get back to the important stuff.
"The animal is a Binturong, an Asian bearcat, possessed by a spirit."
"How did an Asian animal get here?" Ben was confused, had dozens of questions and went for the first in his head.
"It was captured some years ago and lived in a zoo. When the spirit - Kirac is the name - possessed the animal we thought it was save enough there. One of ours is a zookeeper there…" he looked at Ben "Some weeks ago someone freed the animal and the spirit with it."
Ben slowly nodded "What can it do? What does it want?" Ben asked the next questions.
"He is insatiable and lives to feed and roam the lands. That’s it." He winced and Ben groaned "I am afraid to ask but: What does he feed from?"
"Mostly Humans. He loves darker emotions like frustration, sadness…" he explained causing Ben to interject "The people in comas which are all over the news? Or the sick employees?"
The mage just nodded "Yes, that's him. I'm not sure about those in coma but the others will recover." Roman was sure but looked at Ben again, his lip a thin line "There is something else… We don't know for sure but we believe if he feeds from shifters they get angry… very angry… they may lose control." he was suddenly unsure how the shifter in front of him would take this news but Ben just nodded.
"I can confirm that." Ben decided to trust him. "That's why I hunted you yesterday. I couldn't explain why or what made me angry like that but actually I'm relieved to have an explanation…"
Roman let out a breath and relaxed completely. "Me too because we hadn't been sure and I was afraid you'd attack me again when I try to speak to you." The mage chuckled but got serious again "But that means he used you as a distraction and he could do it again."
Bens jaw tightened "I just checked the grounds. There is no sign of him." He tried to assure himself but Roman shook his head "He can't leave the grounds. Not yet." He looked around nervously "We made sure of it. We will try again to catch him today." He informed Ben but was taken aback by the anger he saw from him and the unhappy swirling of snows tattoo.
"You mean you trapped those humans here with him? And with me?" he hissed and started to get furious again but this time it was well-known anger.
"That's why I'm having this talk with you." He tried to sound calming "It would be best if you leave the grounds until we caught it." He advised but Ben shook his head "No!" he looked at him determined "I can't leave because my mate can't. I need to stay and protect her." He explained.
"She won't be in danger. Even if Kirac feeds on her, it won't put her into a coma instantly." He promised but Ben shook his head "I won't leave her… and that’s completely unrelated from this… Kirac situation." He wouldn't budge on this.
"Ok…" finally Roman nodded and slipped his necklace of and gave it to Ben "It is charmed and prevent Kirac from feeding from you." He said with more conviction than was appropriate - it hadn't been tested. Ben frowned at the round uneven charm on a leather cord but pocketed it. "You need to wear it." He said and Ben, after hesitating for a second, slipped it on.
"So… you won't interfere with us when we hunt it?" Roman wanted to make sure and Ben nodded "No… If I can, I'll even help." He looked at Roman "What's the plan?" he wanted to know "So I don't interfere accidently…" he added but only got a shrug "We need to catch it and put it into a common carrier box for large dogs… Thankfully Kirac chose a relatively harmless animal as a host. Could have been a Lion or an elephant…" - "Or a poisonous spider?" Ben added helpfully and saw how Roman shivered. "And that is my cue to leave. It was nice to talk to you…" he realized he didn't know the name of his new friend.
"Ben." Ben realized too he hadn't introduced himself.
"Nice to meet you, Ben." Roman repeated and then got up. "I wish you a quiet night." He bid goodbye and Ben nodded "Good hunt." Ben replied.
He realized too late that it would have been of advantage to share numbers but sure enough, when he took the cup to drink his coffee he saw numbers scribbled on the paper napkin.

It took about three hours until Claude finally turned up in the hotel's lobby looking exhausted. Ben took this as a clue it was safe to return to Anya. "I got news…" he started as soon as he closed the door. Only then he took her appearance in and froze.
"I know! I look like a Barbie…" Anya scoffed. Claude had used extensions to lengthen her hair only to bind it in a kind of complicated up-do. She had lost count, how many needles had gone into it. She hated it. Not only did her head hurt lightly because the up-do was really tight. But she also was more the 'wild and untamed maybe with flowers' type of girl.
Her make-up wasn't any better. Claude had put on layer after layer of moisture, foundation, make-up, blush, different eye-shadows, lipstick, powder, and things she couldn't even remember. She felt like someone had used a putty knife, dipped into color and plastered it on her. The worst thing: Claude had said this where the most trendy colors this season but he hadn't cared that they didn't really suit the more pale Anya.
But it hadn't stopped there. At some point his assistant came in and started on her nails. Of course not just a trim and a polish, oh no, a full blown manicure with fake, lengthy, fingernails.
So now she stood before her mate, holding up her hands to show him the full extent of the horrors but was still dressed in her TMNT T-Shirt and pajama pants.
"Developer Barbie…" Ben chuckled but shook his head "It is not that bad… just not your style, Love." He carefully hugged her to no ruin the make-up or hair and get her into trouble with her genitors for it or worse: Claude.
Anya sighed "You said you have news?" she reminded him and looked expectantly
"Yes…" Ben nodded and both set down "I was outside the terrace again but there was no trace left of the animal but…" he looked at her "…I met the one who crashed into you." He told her
"Really?" Anya looked wide eyed "Did you talk?" she asked
"Yes…" Ben nodded "Apparently the animal hosts a not-so-nice spirit called Kirac. You remember what Cian told us yesterday? The people in coma?" he reminded her and Anya nodded "Apparently he causes those comas and the guys in black are mages trying to catch it."
Anya looked as wide eyed as he had "Mages? There really are mages?" she shook her head laughing just accepting this info "Cian will freak out…" she smirked and Ben chuckled but came back to their situation. He looked at the window before looking back at his mate "Your tiredness and me losing control? The spirit caused this when it fed from us."
"Ok…" Anya answered unsure how to feel about the news being snacked on. "Good that you have an explanation…" she finally added and tried to see the positive.
"It is still out here…" Ben cut her off and when he saw her still tired eyes, he remembered how exhausted, cold and non-responsive she had been for some minutes last night... how much he had worried. Ben slipped the necklace Roman had given him off, took Anya's hands and placed it inside them. "Roman, the mage I talked to, gave that to me. He says it prevents Kirac feeding from the wearer."
Anya looked confused at the necklace and then at Ben before she handed it back to him. "Then you have to wear it." She was determined and added "Ben, you just said your loss of control was due to Kirac feeding from you."
"Ani… I need to keep you save…" Ben pleaded but Anya shook her head "No, Benji… you wear it so you stay in control. You want to protect me? Want me save? Then you have to stay in control."
Finally Ben slipped he necklace back on "I hate it when you are sensible." He grumbled. "They will try to find and catch it again… so if you see someone hunting an animal - don't interfere." He said finally and Anya nodded "Good to know."

The evening came soon, someone had brought a suit for Ben over and he was standing in front of mirror next to the door to give it the finishing touches. Anya was in the bathroom, changing into the dress her mother had chosen for her. Probably she was struggling with that as much as he was with this freaking bow tie.
"How bad is it…" her voice suddenly sounded from behind him.
"Holy…" Ben's mouth stood agape for a second. The dress was tight and figure hugging. The color was a kind of pale blue-violet-ish. It went down to the floor but probably meant to be ankle length - Anya always had short legs and therefor struggled with dress lengths. Most dresses looked weird on her - floor length was the safest option and thankfully the Gala called for an evening gown.
While the hair and make-up had looked off when she was in her PJ's it kind of matched with the dress.
"You are stunning!" Ben breathed "I still like your dress better… but you look absolutely stunning - just this seems quite tight?" he admitted and Anya chuckled in response of the first part of his comment but groaned again in agreement "This thing is so tight, I can't even move properly."
She carefully slipped the high heels on which stood next to the bathroom door, holding on the doorframe for support. At least the dress was now off the floor - even if only just "God these are so uncomfortable." She groaned when she took an awkwardly step forward then another. She was clearly not used walking in high shoes - at least not anymore "I forgot how much I hated high heels…" she grumbled but closed the distance to Ben who still struggled with his bow tie and reached up and tried to straighten it.
"Bow ties are so not cool…" Ben stated with a sigh which drew a laugh from Anya due to the Doctor Who reference.
"I agree… and this is not really your style…" Anya admitted "But I love you kept your sneakers on." She grinned and Ben shrugged.
"I need to wear something comfortable I'd be fast in with a mean spirit around." He argued.
"My Father will hate it." She laughed "So I'm all for it." She winked.
Finally the bow tie was in place and Anya gently caressed Ben's cheek where usually part of the black tattoo sat. Snow had retreated from Ben's temple to the side of his neck so Ben wouldn't stick out as a shifter on first glance.
Anya's fingers slid down on Ben's neck, running over Snow, then placed a gently kiss on the tattoo and then another on Ben's cheek. The soft touch and the wave of pleasure he felt from Snow about it made Ben smile lovingly. His hands slid up her arms and caressed her shoulders for a moment "Let's get this over with…" he tried to sound encouraging.

They had already been expected when they came down. Ben was pushed quickly to the sidelines - he was supposed to be the bodyguard after all. They knew this was coming so Ben did the only thing he could: watch her for any signs of distress to step in.
Anya had to pose with her father, mother and brother for photographers of various magazines and they were bombarded with questions. One or two were even directed at her. Where she had been, what she had been doing, why she hadn't made an appearance for so long…
Anya wasn't allowed to answer them herself - her father did that for her. He didn't want to chance that she would say anything wrong so he made up some things. He claimed Anya had been not entirely well for a while. She got better but they agreed she should avoid the spotlight and focus on other ways to serve the family. But she hadn't wanted to miss out her brother's big night so she was here today.
Only God knew what the press would make up about her in tomorrow's articles. A disease or a mental health problem? Depression maybe or anxiety? Maybe just all of it for good measure?
Suddenly this behavior of her father gave Anya an idea. What had Ben's dad said? She had the bigger leverage. She could ruin her father's reputation with a couple of words to the right person but what if… a slight smile appeared on her face. Finally she had a plan and didn't feel so helpless anymore.
Her father ended the little press conference and ushered them all towards the big hall in which the gala was held.


Donald Northwood was already in the hall with many other guests when they entered. He was slightly older than Anya, taller than her with broad shoulders. There were signs of a beer belly but he sure still did impress in a tuxedo. His blond hair started receding. He wore a sleazy grin while he measured Anya when she walked towards him and gave her a hand kiss - the wrong way of course. Since he made no move to pull the chair out for Anya, Ben did.
"Thank you Mr. Logan…" Andrew Sherrington said in a clipped tone and gave him a glare "That would be all… you can stand at the back with the other servants." He added.
Ben slightly squeezed Anya's shoulder to make sure she knew he would have her back and did as he was told. At least he had a good overview from here and could observe everything.
The ballroom was huge. Multiple chandeliers that looked like made out of crystals provided light. Multiple round tables were set with glasses, plates, and cutlery and already occupied by various guests. Anya and her family had their seats at a table positioned as kind of a head table - it was their party after all. With them seated it was the sign for the waiters to start serving the starters - drinks and alcohol was already flowing.
While plates where placed on tables, Anya had a look around to see, if by any chance, she could remember someone from all those years ago. Surprisingly she did and fabricated her plan to whom she had to talk to and what to say.
"You kept yourself in an acceptable shape…" Donald suddenly spoke, looking Anya up and down "and this time you even dressed and styled appropriately." He gave a generous smile.
"Well… my mother chose this." She just answered coldly and started to eat the salad.
"Don't act so curtly and cold…" Donald put a hand lightly on her shoulder "I am your table partner, it is expected we enjoy each other's company…"
Anya stiffened when he touched her like that but forced a smile "I'll keep it in mind." the smile stayed but her eyes went even colder "You should try this salad. The dressing is really good." Her eyes darted towards his hand on her shoulder for a second leaving no doubt he would be in danger of getting hurt if he wouldn't take it off of her. Thankfully Donald wasn't daft and removed his hand.

Ben kept his eyes on Anya looking for any signs she wanted him to get her out of the situation with Donald. Or if he had the feeling she got dizzy again hinting Kirac feeding from her. God he wished she would have agreed to keep the charm… but she had been right: he had to stay in control.
His jaw tightened when Donald touched Anya. Was he jealous? Why would he be? This was stupid. Then he saw how the touch made her stiffen. She clearly didn't like it. Should he step in - would she even want that? He was still debating when for one Donald took the hand away and second he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. He dug it out and saw a text from Roman. They spotted the Binturong on the east far grounds.
Ben caught Anya's eyes, pointed to his phone and thumbed towards the door. Only when he saw her giving him a light, confident nod, he went for it. They had talked about this: If she would have been insecure without him around the mages would have to cope on their own. Anya was his priority.
He hurried through the lobby, out the large glass doors leading to the huge grounds. For a second he froze - east… where the fuck was east? He concentrated but not even with his enhanced hearing he could make out fighting noise - he heard a lot though. Rustling trees, water, soft humming from some technical device, the odd animal - nothing resembling an animal being hunted or a fight, though. In the end he remembered that the moon, like the sun, went from east to west so he set for a direction, hoping for the best.
It didn't take him long until he picked up the noise of grunting, running and… a sound between an angry cat hissing mixing with a pinch of a donkey screaming - just not as loud. He never heard this sound in his life but knew immediately it was the Binturong hosting Kirac.
"You made it…" a woman appeared from his left "I'm Hayley..." she introduced herself "Roman said you maybe would help." She pulled him towards the noise.
"Ben…" he just stated "What's the plan?" he wanted to know.
"Catch it and put it inside the box… it is spelled too so Kirac can't feed from humans anymore." she held up a large carrier "Unfortunately the animal is way faster here than in his enclosure…"
"So nothing special…" Ben started but suddenly he smelled Popcorn and froze. He didn't feel the draining sensation he had felt yesterday or the rage. The necklace worked.
"Ben?" Hayley asked worried, even taking a half step back from him.
"I'm good… Kirac just tried to feed from me…" he stated.
"How do you know?" Hayley wanted to know with a wary tone. Another step back.
"I smell Popcorn. Like my mate did yesterday…" on her worried glance and her backing away he showed her the necklace he got from Roman "Works…" he just assured and Hayley relaxed.
"Good." She nodded "Round the trees from there to cut the way off." She ordered him and Ben did just that - it was their show.

It had not escaped Andrew Sherrington's notice that Ben had left the room and hadn't come back. Without him around his daughter would be easier to control - that he was sure of. He should use this chance and add something to the little speech he had planned.
The melodious, repeated 'ding' from cutlery tabbing against glass was heard when he gracefully got up and hit his wine glass slightly with his knife.
"My friends… we are gathered today to celebrate my son Edward and him taking over the agency." He smiled proudly to his right and Edward rose too "I will still be around to help him in the beginning but I am sure he will handle everything in the best interest of the family." Now he looked to his left side, next to Sophia, where Donald sat. "We also want to use this opportunity to announce the cooperation with Northwood enterprises after twelve years of building it up." He gave Donald a little wink. "And maybe our families will be connected with more than just a business contract in the future…"
Anya stiffened when she heard her father's words. She paled and if Claude wouldn't have put so much make up on her, anyone would have seen it. The applause and cheering faded in the background. The whole dinner she had tried to ignore Donald as much as possible to avoid giving anyone ideas about her relationship to him but her father had been two steps ahead. So that was his plan. He 'sold' her out to Donald Northwood, hinted today a relationship between them to make it somehow official. Anya swallowed. Suddenly she wasn't so sure anymore her father wouldn't use force to get what he wanted. The claim she had health problems, him fabricating this relationship with Donald… Could this be enough to stop a police investigation in case she vanished? No, right?
She tried to calm herself again. She had a plan. If everything went as she wanted this would be the last time she had to play the role of the obedient daughter.
The smug grin on Donald's face showed her he was in on it "I told you to be a bit nicer to me." He whispered "You will not embarrass me again like you did 12 years ago, right?" He added and Anya could feel the threat lying underneath the words "Don't worry, I will take good care of you…" he promised and again he put a hand possessively on her shoulder which made her stiffen again.
Thankfully her father's speech had also ended the official dinner and people started to mingle. "Excuse me." Anya got up to lose the unwelcome touch and looked around to zone in on the people she wanted to talk to. Not close friends of her father, not his rivals either - one or two had been invited because 'social convention'. She looked out for the ones with influence who were into Science, Research and Education.
Donald was swarmed with congratulations and couldn't follow Anya and soon lost sight of her in the crowd.

Catching the Binturong was harder than Ben had thought. It was fast and every time they thought they had it, it slipped past somewhere again. Ben had started swearing like he was debugging code from a vibe-coding intern who had pushed directly on prod. On a Friday.
"And you kiss your girlfriend with that mouth?" Roman chuckled after they picked themselves up after the Binturong escaped them again.
First Ben was confused how anyone could think Anya would have a problem with him swearing until he realized the obvious "Oh, right… you haven't met her yet…" Ben gave him a smirk, stretching out his left arm after he had landed on it quite painfully. "She swears as much as me…" he added
"Really?" Hayley asked skeptical but saw Ben nod "We started out as co-workers. My boss made me to cut the swearing to not scare her off and when she learned this, she made us dice out who should be more offended because of that order." He laughed at the memory.
"Nice story… can we get to catch Kirac again? He must tire out eventually…" Ezra grumbled.
"Maybe we should change tactics…" Hayley suggested but no one came up with a better idea so they continued what they had done.
Finally the Binturongs Movements became more slowly but he had also managed to make his way to the main building without the mages and Ben noticing. When the side terrace suddenly appeared Ben swore again. The Binturong was nowhere to be seen and they started to look through the Trees until Roman found him. From the way he dashed away he had used the time to have a snack from the people inside having fun and being oblivious to the drama outside.
This time Ben kept track and followed it - realizing it made his way to the other side terrace of the ballroom. He had a feeling it scratched all pretense of being quiet and hiding… it would want to make a break through the ballroom. A lot of food for him and maybe in hope to find another shifter to distract them while he hoped to find a way out there and break the ward.

Since Anya had been off the grid for so long many were interested in talking to her - mostly hoping to get some spicy information to use against her family. To anyone listening she would tell that while she didn't appear in public and hadn't chosen a man and had a family of her own yet, she served her family in other ways. She pointed out the importance of universities work and Research. How companies like Cian's supported this and how her father supported them with his company while she herself dedicated her time to actively support them too - as workforce. She even got complimented for this and had the feeling her plan worked out. If her father made his clients cut funding he would either lose his face or be replaced by those only too eager to take his place for PR - maybe both.
She also made clear that her father was a bit too enthusiastic concerning a relationship with Donald Northwood. There were no plans or dates planned after this evening.
While she tried her best to avoid her father, brother and Donald during this they eventually caught up on it.
"What are you doing?" Andrew hissed, trying not to show his anger.
"Smalltalk." Anya smiled at him and Donald who used the chance to put her hand on his arm and cover it so she couldn't pull it away. "Let me go Donald." She said calmly but was prepared to cause a scene.
"You really have to work on your attitude, Anya." Donald's grip got tighter for a second before he loosened it again, so Anya could slip out.
"Whatever the two of you have planned, I am not gonna be part of it." She made clear.
She didn't hear her father's answer because suddenly there was the smell of popcorn again. It came out of nowhere and hit her strong. Anya looked around but of course there was no one serving Popcorn. Before she could process this thought and realize what it meant that she smelled popcorn the dizziness hit. Breathing hard she grabbed the next best table for support, making a glass tumble over in the process.
"Anya!" her father's tone was sharp - Anya knew that it was not out of concern. "Get a grip, what is wrong with you?" he hissed angrily. Other guests were more concerned and asked if anything was wrong. Before Anya could form a coherent thought she felt hands gripping her tight - Donald - pushing and dragging her towards the glass doors leading out of the ballroom.
"Nothing to worry…" she heard her father say "She just needs some fresh air. Donald will take care." He added. Anya could only assume he followed them because the next thing she knew was she stood next to the pool and her father berating her in angry hisses, his words blurring in her mind.
"Did I make myself clear?" Andrew asked her but only got a blank face back. She hadn't understood a word but the fresh air slowly cleared her mind again. The smell of Popcorn had vanished. She looked around to see if she could spot the animal or Ben but her father grabbed her shoulders and shook her slightly "I asked you something!" he realized she hadn't listen "You got five minutes to collect yourself then come back inside, smile, and dance with Donald." He ordered after he let go of her.
"Fuck you." She blurted out and she saw how her father's hand twitched and how much self-control it took him to not slap her here and there. She couldn't elaborate further because suddenly there where noises behind the trees and finally an animal crashed through the bushes, its head turned to look behind it so it didn't see where it ran. Anya was too slow to react and couldn't prevent the animal crashing against her.

Anya fell. The pure force of the Binturongs weight smashing against her made her lose balance. She toppled over and fell straight into the hotels pool. The cold sting of the water dispelled the rest of the dizziness for now and she started kicking, the pools light over the water's surface guiding her upwards. Panic hit her when she realized she didn't make much process because of the heels and the dress which grew heavy with the water.
Struggling Anya continued to fight, managed to get rid of her shoes. This helped a bit and she managed to break the surface panting, trying to get her bearings. Usually she was a god swimmer and would have been able to reach the edge of the pool even fully dressed but Kirac feeding from her the last hours made her so tired and exhausted. She needed all of her strength to keep her head over the surface.

Ben had used Kirac's short confusion about where to go after colliding with Anya to grab him long enough for Hayley to get the catching rod into place. He kept glancing at the pool for Anya and started to worry. She was a good swimmer so he had prioritized holding the animal over her getting wet but now he had the dreading feeling something was wrong.
Anya had broken surface but instead making her way towards the edge in her usual confident strides she seemed to struggle keeping afloat. That Andrew Sherrington and Donald whatever-his-name-was just stood there made him angry. "Bloody fucking dipshits…" he growled when he passed them, slipping off his shoes while running. It was something Sam drilled into him: Shoes gonna drag you down. Thankfully sneakers just slipped off - dress shoes would be more of a hassle. He had also ripped away the jacket - the less clothes the better.
Without thinking twice he jumped into the pool, feet first and hoping he remembered all Sam taught him. When the water crashed above him, slight panic crept up on him but he forced it down. He felt his feet touch the pools ground, used it to propel himself up and broke surface. As calm as possible he made small strokes, best he could manage, finally reaching Anya.
For a second he was at a loss what to do. He could hold himself over water but how could he help Anya? Again the lessons with Sam popped up in his mind: You exhausted? Get on your back, let the water carry you.
Somehow he managed to grab Anya around the chest and get on his back. He could steady Anya without going under even though his head was in deep and the clothes were dragging him down. Kicking with his feed he inched towards the pools edge where they both grabbed a hold. Roman reached out and pulled Anya up, Ezra helping Ben out.
Anya and Ben were on their hands and knees, Anya coughing, Ben just panting. "You good, love?" he asked with shaking breath and Anya nodded, looking at him wide eyed "You… you can swim?!" she stated the obvious.
Ben blushed "I asked Sam to teach me and after he was done laughing he did." He panted, dragging himself up a bit so he was half sitting, half kneeling next to her and embraced her. "This was not how I wanted to show you though." He admitted.
Anya slightly shook in his arms, hugging him close "You learned to swim… for me?" she was still in disbelieve.
Ben gently pushed her away to cup her face "I love you…" he just smiled and gently kissed her. He didn't care who watched or the deal they had with Andrew Sherrington. He nearly lost her today and neither her Father nor the douchebag he forced on her for the evening because he thought him more worthy had tried to help her.
They were faintly aware of reporters asking questions and the flashlights from the cameras all around them. The mages presented the Binturong in the transport box so the questions quickly went from 'What happened' to 'Why did Anya kiss her bodyguard'. A Binturong escaping from the zoo apparently wasn't as interesting as this. If they only knew what this animal could do…
Donald glared daggers at Anya "To only think that I intended to give you a second chance… whore." He spat and stalked off. "Donald… wait…" Anya's father looked back and forth between his daughter and Donald "You are a disgrace…" he hissed towards Anya but plastered a smile back on his face for the press "Well… seems like my daughter already chose someone without telling me…" he tried to sound lighthearted as if this didn't displease or annoyed him at all. Like, he was happy for his daughter being in love.

Ben helped her up "Is it too early to go to the airport?" Anya asked shivering - she presumed the party was over after the incident and she wanted to leave before her father made another move to hook her up with Donald. "No… But let's change into something dry before we piss off." He suggested when they made their way out of the flashlights towards the lobby. Andrew Sherrington was still occupied with the press so they reached the lift and their room without being stopped.
While they redressed and packed - or better Ben packed because Anya needed time to get the tons of makeup from her face and the uncountable amount of pins out of her hair - they got each other up to speed. Ben checked in again with the mages. They promised they had the animal under control and would bring it somewhere safe - not the zoo anymore.
Soon Ben and Anya headed to the rental car, when they were stopped by Andrew and Edward in the garage. After what Anya had told happened during dinner, Ben stepped in front of her to protect her from whatever they now planned.
"You ruined the gala and embarrassed us, Anya!" Andrew snapped. Since no one else was here he let his mask fall "Kissing this… this…" he searched for words
"Black shifter boy?" Ben offered helpful, shrugging, mirroring his words from the day before.
"You shut up, get into your car and get lost! You will never come near my daughter again." Andrew commanded Ben "And you get back upstairs. I got Donald to agree to talk this out and maybe overlook your inappropriate behavior and come to an agreement about your relationship. You can be happy he is desperate for a heir…"
"No!" Anya had enough "I will NOT come upstairs, I will NOT come back 'home', and I will certainly not agree to a relationship of any kind with Donald Northwood." She made clear.
"How dare you…"
"How dare you!" Ben interrupted loudly "Anya is your fucking daughter not some accessory or possession you can pass on for your gain for fucks sake." He scoffed "She nearly died this evening when she fell into the pool, fully dressed and too exhausted to swim. No one of you even TRIED to help her." He calmed a bit when Anya put her hand on his arm.
"I came here to keep the peace and now we will go home again." Anya took over again "You can either accept this and leave me alone from now on or you can go on trying to force your will onto me." She kept her father's eyes "Just keep in mind I will not come peacefully, this I promise." She now took Ben's hand and both walked to the car, throwing their bag on the backseat.
"If you get into this car, you are dead to us." Andrew stated in a threatening voice. "This we can agree on!" Anya got into the passenger seat and slammed the door shut.

Anya fell asleep as soon as they were away from the hotel grounds and the reporters lingering. At first Ben just took it as general exhaustion but when she was barely awake for check-in and boarding he got more worried. While she was responsive and he could wake her up when they had to get off the plane again he called Alanis as soon as they sat in their car in the airports parking lot. Alanis agreed to immediately see her and so their first stop would be the hospital.

"She is a bit more awake again… but I'm still worried. This spirit must have fed from her really much." Ben ended his explanation while Alanis took some blood from Anya to let it get checked. A nurse took it away to get the lab work done. Alanis had taken the 'Mage' thing without pause - clearly already accepted that other kinds of magic existing in this universe.
"Benji… I'm good…" Anya promised tired "I'm just tired." She tried to calm him but Ben wasn't convinced.
"You have been fed from by a malicious spirit which probably has put various people in a coma…" Ben started when Alanis put a calming hand on his arm.
"Ben is not wrong and it was good he brought you here - just to be safe." She admitted starting to look after the slightly red wound on her forehead. It hadn't been a good idea to put makeup over it. "This looks like a beginning infection." She started to clean it properly "Since when do you use makeup, sweetheart?" the doctor asked Anya.
"I didn't have much say." Anya grumbled "That guy just kept treating me like a doll, messing with my hair and putting so much stuff on my face…" she clearly wasn't happy.
"Doesn't sound like you had fun…" Alanis stated while putting something over her wound to keep it clean.
"No, not really." Anya sighed "My father even tried to kind of marry me off…" she shuddered and Alanis froze for a second, glancing at Ben who just shrugged and nodded
"Nice man." Alanis retorted sarcastically then squeezed Anya's shoulder "All done. We need to wait for a moment for the lab work though." She looked between Ben and Anya back and forth "But I think from what I see, Anya really is fine and just needs to sleep this off." She smiled "And to ease your mind: the people in comas are gradually waking up too. A colleague told me just yesterday." She assured. Since it had been possible they dealt with a disease, there had been nationwide updates between hospitals. This info really calmed Ben.
The lab work came back ok and Ben took Anya home. She slept for most of the next two days with Ben working from home to keep an eye on her.

Ben had told Cian, Puck and Alanis everything he had learned about the mages and Kirac. They had reached out to Roman and the other mages again and after some reluctance they agreed to a meeting in the near future. Maybe a cooperation would come out of this. At least they should try to be on friendly terms. They still asked not to make a big deal out of mages being 'real'.

Of course there had been press coverage of the event and the unexpected turn of events had made it prominent in some yellow press papers. While Anya kissing her 'Bodyguard' seemed to be an important part in most of the story, everyone made up their own narrative of the background and Donald Northwood's involvement.
It was also speculated what kinds of health problems Anya had or if she really had been sick at all or if there were tensions in the family. Had Andrew Sherrington misinterpreted the interactions between Donald and Anya or had Anya cheated on Donald Northwood with her bodyguard. The rest of the articles painted Andrew and Edward Sherrington in the best lights because of their support of science and research. Anya's plan had worked. The people she had talked to and fed her story had taken it out to the press - binding her father's hand a bit. He couldn't cause the cut of funding on Cian's business or Sam's University without facing uncomfortable questions and if he still did there were others only waiting to take his place.
Andrew Sherrington crumpled the paper in his hands, throwing it into the fireplace. He fumed. This ungrateful bitch how did she dare…
His brother had already given him the 'I told you so' speech and he hated he had to admit Robert had been right. He should have been much stricter when Anya had been a child. He couldn't change it now. It looked like he didn't have a daughter anymore.

Ben, carrying a box with some light snacks, led Anya down to the lake which had become kind of the heart for the park not least thanks to Peters Pegaseid Events in July. The jackal knew what Ben had planned because he helped set up the raft. He also prepared some floating candles with the help of Hanson which Ben didn't really know of - Ben had played with the thought but dismissed it due to logistics. It would be a pain in the ass to collect them afterwards but both Peter and Hanson thought it was worth it for the occasion.
They hid at different places along the bank in the bushes with both having some candle boats ready to be lit and set out, waiting for Ben and Anya embark the raft and paddle on the lake.

"Wow..." Anya smiled "This is beautiful!" she said while she walked towards the raft which not only had a blanket laid out to sit on and one to wrap into but also a lantern hanging from a small pole. It radiated a warm light even so it was not a real candle but worked with a bulb and batteries. It was already dark even though it wasn't that late - it was October after all.
"My first time on a boat... raft... whatever..." Ben chuckled to hide his nervousness. He wasn't just antsy because he would be in the middle of a lake on some wooden beams. Even though he mastered his 'ducky', as Sam called it, and wasn't in any danger to drown anymore, he still didn't like so much water around him. No, there was something else he wanted to do this evening, a question he wanted to ask Anya and to be frank: he was scared as hell she would say no.
Anya watched him carefully "You don't have to do this, you know?" she said "We can just sit here and watch the stars..." she offered "You don't have to prove anything..." she added. God she knew how he hated to be surrounded by water and still that he learned to swim just for her... Never had anyone done something like that for her.
"I know but I want to do this..." he smiled at her "Take it as a dress rehearsal. If I freak out and need to abort I don't want bunches of people around me laughing." he admitted and Anya let him gently take her hand to help her onto the raft.
"Ok... but I don't think this will freak you out." she was sure "I mean, you jumped into a pool to save me from drowning... it's not getting much more intense after this." she grinned and settled down with Ben following suit and then taking the long pole pushing the raft off the bank.
When they were a bit into the lake, Ben put the pole aside and settled more next to Anya - his palms started to get sweaty and the small box in the pocket of his jeans felt heavy and hot - like it would burn a hole into it any moment. God, how should he go about this? While he was still thinking about how to ask her, small floating candles suddenly appeared "Oh my god... look!" Anya gasped in surprise and Ben had to blink too but then chuckled because he recognized the little candle boats. He had some great friends, he realized again. The part of the lake they floated on looked like lit up. The warm candle light reflecting from the lakes surface, shimmering, gave kind of a fairytale vibe.
Suddenly Ben felt totally calm, fumbled the box out of his jeans pocket and held it open in Anya's direction who turned around that moment "I have never seen something as beautiful..." she started but froze when she saw Bens soft smiling face and the open box in his hands with a small, silver ring inside it. It was a design she had never seen before. The top consisted of various circles with three tiny silver diamonds and one slightly larger blue stone. Then it hit her: this reminded her of Gallifreyan! They both loved Doctor Who and this definitely had a meaning - she just needed to look it up. This must be a commissioned work. While she still tried to rack her Brain in a futile attempt to read Gallifreyan Ben spoke.
"Will you marry me?" he said with a hoarse voice then looked down laughing "I thought about so many witty ways to ask you this but somehow they all sounded stupid..." he stuttered, scared she would turn him down but then felt her hands cupping his face so he looked at her - her smiling face, teared up. He hadn't time to ask himself if those were tears of joy or sadness before her lips met his.
Anya wasn't able to say anything. She never thought she would be one of those women tearing up or crying and unable to form coherent sentences when THE question was asked - but here she was. So she just kissed him.
"This is a yes?" Ben whispered when they broke the kiss, just to be on the save side. Anya nodded "Yes..." she brought out "I want to marry you." she added. Ben gently took her hand and put the ring on her finger.
In the background they heard cheering and when Anya turned she saw the figures of Hanson and Peter waving at them, clearly on the leave. From the kissing they could anticipate Anya's answer and decided the two needed privacy. Anya waved back, wiping a happy tear away. She cuddled against Ben again and both enjoyed the ride on the raft some more until it got too cold.