Tales of a Shifter (P5) The White Mountain

Chapter 20 - Unwilling Leverage

Chapter 20 - Unwilling Leverage

Stop! Please don't kill him!

Ezekiel! Ezekiel!

Ezekiel remembered everything like a flash of light from the last few hours of his life.

He remember the contented happiness in his heart as he heard Brandon confess his love.

He remembered the fiery passion that bordered on a painful ache in his soul as Brandon had touched him and he had freely touched back.

Ezekiel also remembered the fear he had felt as his self-control and common sense began to slip away the deeper he fell into Brandons embrace.

And he remembered felling the beast within pushing him to pull the beautiful creature, down and feast on every desired inch that had been denied to Ezekiel for half a year. The searing heat in his body had overwhelmed him. Brandon overwhelmed him.

But then Ezekiel remembered everything that came after.

He remembered the rage that he had felt as Brandon was torn from his side, by foul Alchemy.

Ezekiel remembered hearing Brandon's screams. He remembered fighting and killing...and blood. He remembered Lions musk...and the acid scent of Alchemy burning in his nose.

He remembered the pain, as attack after attack blinded him.....and finally took away the light.

What....what happened? I thought...I thought I was dead....

Ezekiel internally questioned as he floated at the back of his eyes.

Suddenly Ezekiel felt air in his body. He felt his legs. After that he felt something warm, something hot. It made him gasp. It brought him back.....Then it was gone.

Ezekiels eyes shot open, then snapped back shut, as sharp light bit into his temples.

Confusion and weakness were all he could feel or think. But he quickly grew tired of this and he tried to reach down into his core. He softly prodded at the beast inside...and got a harsh pang of pain and frustration. The beast was hurt. He was hurt.

They were both barely back for the edge. It would be a very long time before Ezekiel could do more than hiss or flash his fangs. The Shifter inside needed rest....but Ezekiel had the feeling that neither he or the beast would be getting any of that.

But deciding to back off for the moment Ezekiel tried to take stock of just how he was feeling and if he was still injured. Surprisingly....there was no pain. No flashes of agony as he breathed or when he tensed his muscles....but there was another sensation that he could have done without.

Ezekiel moaned as his stomach flipped upside down for no good reason. But as he went to swipe at the unpleasantly sharp sensation he was suddenly pulled up short by the sharp rattle of chains.

A piercing swirl of nausea curled up and down' Ezekiels torso, making him gaga in revulsion as a single thought ran past his thoughts.

Its Silver.....

Ezekiel knew the sensation well.

Silver was the only metal in the known world that induced sever weakness, sickness and irritation in Shifters. For hundreds of years Hunters had been known to employ the toxic metals in traps or in their guns when they came after Ezekiels people. It made Shifting or eating nearly impossible, once Ezekiel had spent an hour wrapped in Chains by Mantilo to teach him never to underestimate the stuff...and he had learned the lesson well