Feral Bonds

Chapter 31

Gretchen was not good at waiting. Or doing nothing. Natania felt like an encyclopedia with the amount of questions the human threw at her to pass the time until Vincent called.

"So, what else can the cats do? Aside from trap you in your wolf form and stall the healing." Gretchen was lying on her back with her head dangling off the edge of the bed. She'd already questioned Natania about the vampires and the witches.

Natania snorted. "I'm really not an expert on the world's monsters, you know."

Gretchen rolled over and met her gaze. "Just tell me what you do know."

"Fine," Natania sighed. "They prefer to be called pridelanders, but they're essentially just beast bound cats. They were created by a different clan of witches though, so they've got slightly different abilities than we do. The cats can do the telepathy thing," Natania gestured between two of them, "but they can also include humans in it. Wolves can project to each other, regardless of their form, but cats open a connection between two beings and they can give and receive from that person."

"They also don't have these little shadowy things." Natania pricked the skin on her arm and the familiar black webbing spread over the wound. She peeled it off, leaving behind a minor burn, and flicked it in the direction of the lightbulb, where it disappeared. "But they can stop them from being able to surface, which is why they slow our healing. Vampire bites do something similar, though for a much shorter amount of time." The vampires stole magic, while the pridelanders blocked it.

"What do those even do?" Gretchen asked. She'd seen them before, but never really understood what it was.

"It's a side effect of the demons we're bound to, they can only appear if our skin gets broken. They'll seal the wound, but the more you rely on them the more unstable you become." She tapped the side of her head. "We were made with demons that embody shadows and darkness. Pridelanders were made with earth, pride, and occasionally sloth."

"We're both territorial, and wolves have collided with the cats more often than any other. The coyotes can also project to anyone, but they can't receive. They're fast little fuckers though, most were made from wind and fear. Those are the only beast bound creatures I've spent actual time with. I know a lot of the bears were made with fire and rage, but not exactly what that gave them."

"Can anyone become a beast bound? Can you turn others?" Gretchen asked.

She shook her head. "We can't turn people. The moon bound 'werewolves' can, but trust me, you don't want that. They only have a half and half form, and it's painful, also they're nuts. Theoretically, a witch could make a beast bound if they bound a demon to an animal, but that magic is incredibly difficult, and most of it was lost."

"Okay." Gretchen sat up and focused intently. "Last one, cause I've been wondering since meeting Nadien. How are you able to reproduce like humans? And why does a wolf with a regular human produce a wolf?"

Natania shrugged. "Both demons and wolves can reproduce individually. As far as I'm concerned the wolf gene is the dominant gene." Natania grinned at her joke, but Gretchen just gave her a disappointed look.

"Demons can reproduce with humans, and I guess the wolf gene just sneaks in there. I don't really understand the pureblood wolf and wolf pairings though. Maybe a human dies every time one of us is born." Natania shrugged. "It's magic, not science. Demons can take human form though. They likely never really needed that human sacrifice to make the beast bound, probably just gave the witch more power to throw in there. To give them a more effective leash."

"The wolf takes the driver's seat though. I guess demons don't like being in the bodies of babies, and adults are harder to take over. Anything else?" Natania asked, though she was getting exhausted.