Ilona Andrews own the Kate Daniels series.

A/N: Sister Bonding Time...

Un-beta'd

Chapter 11 - Feral


Milo twitched in his sleep on my lap. The poor child, still dreaming of the Wild and being one with it. When he wakes, he'll feel trapped in human skin, with human senses and strength. But he'll have someone, the cold, familiar malicious voice whispered. You had no one. Not even dear old Pooki understood you completely.

Shut up, I told it.

Oooh, did I hit a raw nerve? It laughed chillingly. You need me, dearest Seleyda. I kept you sane at Death Valley. I gave you shelter in the woods. I sent you Pooki, at the moment you needed him the most. I kept you alive.

And sent me to my doom? I didn't live; I survived. You should know how dangerous Atlanta is to me. If you're even as all-seeing as you seem to profess.

Do not anger me, child! The words felt as if they were slapped at me. I am one enemy you will never defeat. I see everything, because everything will come into my warm embrace in time. This is part of your Fate, Seleyda. A strange emotion colored its voice.

If you wish to pity me, go find someone else to harass. I have no need for pity from the likes of you.

I'm not pitying you, child. There's more than enough of that in the world. No, I am here to warn you. Remember the witch's word. That is your Fate. A spine-chilling cold ran down my back. Oh, I remember it, alright.

I remember every word. Every new moon, the words appeared on my back, courtesy of the witch's unique seering ability. The Lion's child. The phrase bothered me. I knew the witch was talking about me. I carried the Reaper's Mark, after all. But the phrase suggests that I'm the daughter of a werelion. That narrows down the list significantly. Lion's Den. The most well-known den belonging to a werelion was Curran Lennart's –

Oh. My. God.

Curran the Beast Lord. Blond hair; grey eyes; uncompromising, stubborn personality. The God Destroyer. The man that held three thousand shapeshifters followed. This August, he ripped apart Morrigan. In December, he made a dinner out of Erra, Roland's sister. I felt as if someone had slapped me. In fact, I wish someone had; hard enough that I'd blacked out.

"Speculum," I whispered.

A shimmery, mirror-like fluid grew in front of me. It spreaded in every direction, forming a thin disc. A strawberry blonde girl stared back at me. Her eyes were proud, arrogant and a pretty greyish-green hue. We had the same nose, albeit his was smashed up a little.

How could I have missed this? We are so alike it's almost funny, and I'd almost think it were a joke. But it's not.

The boy, Milo, stirred from his sleep. His eyes widened, and he flinched away from me. I kept still, letting the wind do its job. I filed away the thought for future musings. Slowly, Milo cocked his head to the side. He remembered. I rolled back the sleeve of my shirt. The bite mark had scarred, but that was only temporary. Milo's eyes widened in surprise. He tried to speak, but only managed a croak.

"It'll take awhile for your voice to return," I explained. "My name is Seleyda Farrer." More like Medrano. Or Lennart. I squashed that tiny voice. I combed his soft dark hair aside. There were light streaks of gold in his. "Your name is Milo Ferrara. Ascanio Ferrara is your older brother." There could be no doubt in his parentage. The eyes, the hair and shifter form.

"Ascanio?" Milo struggled to whisper. I blinked. He has talent. That and lots of determination. "Brother?"

"Yes," I said gently. "Brother. Ascanio. You'll meet him in the morning." He made a soft, whining sound of fear. I felt my heart lurch. He's scared of daylight. "Milo." The boy looked up at me. "I'll be here in the morning, okay?" He didn't look as if he trusted me. I gently took his hand and pressed it on my scar. "I promise." Milo ran a jerky finger over the rough patch of skin. Black eyes stared quietly at me.

"Mooornnninng," he growled. Milo snuggled close and shut his eyes. Within moments, he was asleep. His finger continued to trace the scar. I patted his dark head. An unwanted memory of a different head, with longer hair and big brown eyes, assailed me. Shut up.

"For someone who wants us dead, that was a damn nice thing to do," Julie commented from behind me. I remained still. So kitty decided to come out and play. I'd known she was there, amongst the bushes. But she was quiet, much quieter than I'd expected a human cub to be. Picked up from the Beast Lord, perhaps? Or Kate Daniels? I felt a sudden surge of jealousy…and longing. What was it like, knowing that your parents will always be there behind your back, to protect you from harm? I quickly squashed the feeling. Sentimentality was a weakness.

"Let me guess, another hopeful shifter who wants to run things his way trying to bring me down," I snorted. "Historically, not awesome."

"How would you know anything about history?" Julie mocked.

"I know…enough," I finished. "What do you want, Julie?" She stilled beside me.

"You said Julie," she repeated. "That's the first time you called me anything other than Pack Princess."

"Well, Pack Princess was getting to be a mouthful," I admitted quietly. Milo stirred for a few moments, but drifted off again. I caught the blurred edge of his dream, something about cakes. Good. He was getting there. "I'm too tired to play games anyway." I wish I could sleep. But the wards around the damned shelter go out when I do, so I can't. Get to the point, child.

"Your aura," Julie started. I straightened. "It looks…funny. Everyone else looks bluish-green. You're…." Her eyes narrowed as she tried to describe the color of my aura. "…everything else." I flinched a little. "Right now, you're cobalt blue with greenish-yellow fire. But you're black as well. It's almost like veins, if it makes any sense. Some here –" she pointed at my right shoulder "- and here –" just under my left rib "- that looks like…balls. Or knots. They-" Julie blinked. "- They're purple. Like the undead. How the heck does that happen?" She rubbed her eyes continuously. My aura hurts her.

"I suggest you stop doing that."

"Do what?" She sounded extremely annoyed, and defiant.

"Reading my aura. It hurts, doesn't it? Stop watching it."

"I can't!" It exploded out of her. "You're not leaving me alone! Every time I try to shut it off, your stupid aura creeps at me and bang, it's back!" Julie took a deep breath she no doubt needed. "Look, your aura's confusing me. I'm not trained yet and the only thing I can really tell you from the looks of your aura is that you're a seriously messed-up person. It's based on my gut instinct." She thought for a moment, as if wondering if she should continue. I nodded, but gestured at the sleeping form of Milo. Just keep the noise down. Julie nodded, understanding.

"I think you went through stuff. Like operations," she struggled to explain. I had to stop myself from flinching. "No one alive could be born this messed up." I managed a smile. You'd be surprised, princess. "Seriously. You make Frankenstein look handsome in comparison." She pulled out the standardized water bottle I gave to everyone. Julie took a quick sip. "Back to the subject. I think they also added things into you, like those experiments on birds to see if people can be given hollow bones or something like that." She squinted at me. "Some of the stuff don't feel…right. It's like they're fake or something. You know, when the girl at the counter charges you for caffeinated Coke, and you get Coke zero?" I nodded. Looking for a sugar high, but getting vegan, bland food instead.

Julie nervously tapped on her knee. I could feel her fear and hesitation. I could probably guess what her next scenario was, telepath or not. "Go on. I doubt it's anything I haven't heard before."

"I think you're gonna die."

Yep, heard that before. But why did it hurt so much worst, having this slip of a girl spell it out to me?

Julie gulped. She raised her hands. "I mean, I think you're dying, like, right this second. I think any breath could be your last. The dark…knots, balls, whatever…it's like they're sucking the life out of you. But you're generating a lot of magic, and it's holding. For now. It doesn't look as if it's going to hold for long, though. I mean, they look big. Scary big. Crap, I'm scaring the living daylights out of you, aren't I? I'm so sorry, Seleyda. Seleyda? Oh, god, you're not going into shock, are you? You are, aren't you? Oh my god, where's a doctor when you need them!"

"How long?" I asked through unmoving lips.

"Seleyda?"

"How long?" I licked my dry lips. "How much longer do I have, by your estimate?" Julie stared at me in shock. "Julie! How much longer?"

"Six months?" She passed me her bottle. I took a large gulp. "Maybe less?" A small, fragile hand touched my shoulder. "Seleyda. I think you should see a doctor for what you have. They might be able to help. I mean, seriously, I'm not a certified sensate yet. I could be wrong." She sounded so hopeful. I hated that I had to burst her bubble.

"No, you're right." Her face went bone white. "Crap. I mean, you're right as in I'm dying. I've known that for awhile now. It's closer to eight, nine months than six." I smiled a little. "I just wanted someone else's opinion." Or maybe I just burned more of the candlestick off with all the magic I've been doing. Who knows? "You can tell Derek and Ascanio if you want. There's really nothing stopping you. I've already taught them how to get everyone out in case of emergency." Julie stared at me, shell-shocked. Surprised, Pack Princess?

Julie jumped upright and started towards where the two shifters had decided to patrol. Suddenly, she stopped. Her pale blond hair whipped in the wind as she turned to stare at me with those big brown eyes. I couldn't stop the flinch that went through me. The same brown eyes haunted more of my dreams than I could count. Julie turned, and sat back in the same spot she'd just exited. She stared at me.

"No," she said simply. "I don't think I will."

Silence hung between us.

"Does anyone know?" She asked. "The couple you live with? Ana and Andrew, right?" I looked at her in surprise. She rolled her eyes in typical angst-driven teenager fashion. "Curran and Kate talked a lot about the three of you, when they thought I was asleep." She sobered.

"Only Drew. Ana…I'm letting Drew tell her…after. It'll be better that way," I softly answered.

"'It'll be better that way? Do you really think that? For you? Or for them?" She demanded.

"Both." I sighed at the look on Julie's face, demanding more answers. "Ana's bound to me in more ways than the fact that I'd saved her from being tortured for the rest of her existence." Julie blinked. She started to open her mouth to ask. "Please, it's not exactly the sort of story to tell at bedtime." Julie scowled at the awful joke. I thought for a moment. How do I explain this? "Do you love Kate?"

"Yes."

Well, that was easy. "It's similar to what I have with Ana. I'd saved her from a lifetime of torture, and she saved me, in her own way. It's a lot deeper in many ways." Julie scowled at me. I laughed. "You'll understand about ten years down the road." I sighed. "How would you feel, if tomorrow Kate tells you she's going to die before the year ends, and there's nothing you can do to stop whatever it is killing her?"

"I'll feel angry," Julie immediately said, "and upset, because she didn't tell me earlier. Then I'll feel like crying, because there's nothing left for me to do except to watch her die."

"Here's where the depth of emotion separates us." Julie stared at me. "Ana and I are so bonded she doesn't go through any of that. In fact, if I were to tell her the truth, she could kill herself." She started to open her mouth. "When I came into her life, Ana was already in the lowest pits of hell. I'd been the only good thing that had happened to her in her existence until then, and for the longest amount of time, she confessed the only reason she remained in this world was because I told her to stay. One word from me, and she continued walking on this land for the last five years, until Drew arrived. Even then, she might not want to stay here, and I've seen exactly how much she loves Drew." I dragged a tired hand over my face. "You have no idea how many sleepless nights I've spent thinking how I should break the news without her suicide as the ending point. I can force her to continue living, but what's the point? I'd thought through every single possibility and this was the only one where Ana might survive."

Ana was my child, in more ways than I ever realized. To let her kill herself was akin to ripping out my own heart. I couldn't allow it. Not now, not tomorrow, not ever. Besides, I could never destroy Drew like this, no matter how much I'd hated him in the beginning for stealing my Ana.

"Could we just stop here?" Julie asked in a small voice. "Right here? I don't-" she gulped loudly. "- I don't think I want to hear anymore of this. I-I-Is that okay?"

"Of course." I surprised you could stand this long. I started to laugh, realizing something. "Can you believe this is the longest conversation I've had with a stranger?" And it's all about the soap opera between me, Ana and Drew.

"I think it's really brave of you," Julie murmured. "To be able to do this." Her chin wobbled. "I doubt I'd make it further than the week if it were me." Big brown eyes looked up at me. "How long have you known?'

"Since last year."

Julie snuggled closer, but then stilled. "Seleyda? Do you mind if I just put my head on your shoulder? I'm not going to try anything, okay?" She sounded so small. I didn't like it.

"Sure."

We sat in comfortable silence. Somehow, from the first day, I'd managed to make friends with the ward of the Atlanta Beast Lord, who might even be my half-sister. Somehow, we made it pass animosity and into grudging friendship. Or maybe more, if I'm in the mood to be hopeful.

"Seleyda?"

"Hmm?" I shook myself out of the clouds.

"I think Martina Ferrara is going to like you. Ascanio's mom." Julie yawned. "And I think you're the kindest person I've ever met." The sting of tears filled my eyes. Crap. I'm turning into a water tap. Julie yawned wider. "Seleyda?" She sounded sleepy.

"Yes?"

"Could you teach me how to fight?"

"If you want."

Julie had fallen asleep. The trees rustled behind me. I turned. A golden-eyed werewolf stared at me. A slow burn of lust heated my body.

Derek.

A/N: Whew. This was a heavy chapter. Thanks Mom for doing minor revisions and allowing me to get away with some stylistic stuff I know still bugs you when it comes to my writing. Hope you enjoy the chapter and character development! R&R please. Thanks!