"You want to tell me that this small… thing can turn us into rabid animals?" Valeriana wanted to know a short while later, looking at the shard which now laid on a white handkerchief critically, "how is this possible?"
"I'm not sure", Willow replied, glancing at the innocent looking piece of stone as well before she looked back up at the Alpha woman, "but I do know for sure that it caused the… outbreak of their wild side. I tried to analyse it with my magic, and it nearly caused my dark side to take over."
"What? Oh my", Buffy threw in, looking at her best friend in concern, "are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine", the witch reassured her, smiling slightly, "Pat kept me grounded and helped me calm down again before anything could happen. It was caused by that shard though, and I found it hidden in the hem of these pants, which belong to Alexia."
"We better all check our clothing, then", Oliver threw in, shrugging when Valeriana gave him a sharp look, "just to make sure there aren't any more hidden anywhere, we don't need more wild shapeshifters than the two we already have here."
"I bet you a thousand dollars that we'll find such shards in their bodies somewhere", Willow replied, "but I need to work out how first, if I make contact to them with my magic, they have an effect on me, too, and believe me, you don't want that."
"We'll go figure this out then", Buffy decided in reply, ignoring it when now, she was the recipient of a sharp look from Valeriana, the Alpha woman clearly not liking it that such decisions were made without giving her a chance to be part of it, "and you guys check your clothing for more of these shards. Also, Oliver, make sure to keep Simone and Alexia down."
"Yes, of course", the young man nodded, then sighed before his gaze focused on Valeriana, his voice having a hint of impatience when he went on. "And you, stop glaring, you might be the Alpha around here for now, but without Willow discovering this, we still wouldn't have an idea what is going on, so you shouldn't glare at them."
"Forgive me if I withhold my enthusiasm", Valeriana coldly replied, "but all we have so far is this woman's word, and she's not one of us, so I find it hard to believe that finding one tiny piece of stone will solve all our problems."
"Excuse me?" Willow snapped, finding it hard to believe what she just had heard, "you asked me for help! And now that I found out what is responsible for this, you don't believe me?!"
"I'm just sceptical", Valeriana shrugged in reply, ignoring it when Pat shot her a dirty look, "as you surely understand. After all, this seems like quite an easy solution, right? Who tells us what you are honest, and not just trying to make us leave?"
"Well, that's easy to find out, isn't it", Derek threw in before anyone could reply anything – and then, he snatched up the shard and rammed it deep into the soft flesh of his palm, causing Willow to cry out "No!" while Valeriana said his name sharply, glaring at him when blood started to drip from his hand and to the table.
Next to him, Oliver already was pulling out a bag of the powder they had used to knock out the other two shapeshifters; and while he still undid the piece of string keeping it closed, Derek groaned and staggered to his feet, tearing at his clothes as his eyes went wide – before his body changed with shocking speed, a large, brown and black wolf standing where he had been moments ago, a low growl coming from the beast as he launched himself from the floor and towards the table.
Without thinking about what she actually was doing, Pat threw herself off her chair and against Willow, taking the redhead down to the floor with her; on the opposite side of the table, Buffy did the same for Valeriana, the wolf growling angrily as they all vanished from sight, and then Oliver had thrown the powder into his face and he went down, whining softly as it took effect and knocked him out.
"There", the demon grumbled as she came to her feet again, glaring at Valeriana, "that enough proof for you?"
"Yes", the brunette replied, visibly shaken, watching how Oliver quickly removed the shard from Derek's paw and dropped it back on the handkerchief, "but… how does this work? And where does this come from? We need to find out quickly, before this is spread among our people…"
"And that's just what we'll do now", Buffy reassured her, picking up the shard and carefully wrapping it up in the hanky, "we'll take this to my Watcher, he's very… Pat?"
"Yes?" the demon gave back, frowning, having been busy with helping Willow back to her feet, only to grimace at the next moment as Buffy spoke on. "You're bleeding."
"Oh, that", the taller woman gave back after a glance at her shoulder, "that's just the bite from Alexia in I'm-a-crazy-wolf-who'll-eat-you-form."
"Told you we should've stitched that up", Oliver rolled his eyes, already moving over to her, "but you had to be all macho and tough. Let me look at that."
Rolling her good eye, the demon sat down again and unbuttoned her shirt, exposing the bloodied bandage; by now, the white fabric was soaked, and the blood had seeped through on her shirt, some of it even trailing down her arm and dripping from her fingertips.
"How did you not notice that?" Willow wanted to know at the sight, frowning, "didn't you feel that?"
"Nope", Pat shrugged, then grimaced as now, she did feel pain from the re-opened wound, "was too busy worrying for you. You're alright, aren't you?"
"Yes", the witch reassured her, then flinched as Derek let out a low growl on the table, his paws moving slightly; she threw a concerned look at the wolf, afraid that he might wake up and attack them again, then Oliver spoke up and distracted her, sounding calming as he explained what was going on.
"It's the blood", he let her know, smiling at her, "he smells it and reacts to it, but don't worry, he won't wake up. We use strong powder."
"Good", Willow mumbled, "just in case the influence of the shard lingers after it was removed…"
"Just another thing we'll need to find out", Buffy commented, "and we'll go do just that, as soon as you've been patched up again, Pat."
"Good plan", the taller woman agreed, then flinched as Oliver called out for one of the other shapeshifters to bring some bandages, doing so right next to her ear, only to give her an apologetic look when he realized what he had done.
"If you do that again, I'll yell in your ear", she threatened in response to the expression on his face, "don't panthers have sensitive ears?"
"At least I do", Oliver mumbled, "so please refrain from doing that." To his relief, the man he had called out to came with the bandages right afterwards, before Pat could say anything; thus, she just grumbled as he bandaged her up again, then told her to be careful with the wound until she could heal again, making her nod impatiently.
"Yeah, sure", she then told him, sounding as impatient as she was looking, "but can we go now and figure out how to end this?"
"Yes", Willow agreed, watching how Oliver finished knotting the bandage and grimacing when Pat simply pulled her bloodied shirt back on afterwards, clearly not caring about the reddish-brown stains, "let's go… Buffy?"
"Ready when you are", the blonde shrugged, rising from her seat, "but before we go, Valeriana, let's exchange numbers so we can call you in case anything comes up. Or the other way round."
"Yes, sure", the brunette gave back, already digging out her phone; they quickly exchanged their numbers, then the Slayer, the witch and the demon left the mansion together, heading on to Giles' home, eager to find out what this shard had been made of and how they could be made sure it wouldn't be used on any other of the shapeshifters anymore.