The black tabby stormed back off to his room, furious at the fact that the Fallen werebeasts could just do whatever they wished, and his mistress did nothing about it. As he entered the room, he relocked the door behind him, then walked over to the bed. Sitting on the edge of it, he looked over at the sleeping weredragon. Even though the blood-bond made him fully loyal to Moira, he still cared for the dragon, and he considered her to be his. It took some time for him to finally calm down, but once he did he then reached under the bed and pulled out the long case that was there. Opening it, he pulled out the contents and again began working on his 'project'.

Nakela slept for the rest of the night and through most of the following day after the incident. Without being healed, or being able to regenerate, it would take several days before her health was no longer at concern due to her injuries. Grendel stayed with her as much as he could, keeping the door locked even when he was there. He barely even went out to feed anymore, taking much of what he needed from the ghouls within the compound, often by force, as well as by some stored blood-bags. The only other times that he even left the room was to get her something to eat and drink, not trusting anyone else to do it.

Either way, he made sure not to go very far from her, and never for any length of time. He was certainly becoming very attached to the beautiful shifter, and he hated to see her hurt so badly. Even what he had previously done to her was nothing as damaging as this.

Four days after the attack, Gren was sitting at his workbench at the other end of the room, while Nak lay in the bed, awake, but lost in her own thoughts. A knock on the door caught both of their attention. Nakela looked up, her eyes narrowed coldly. Grendel growled and reached for his silver dagger, which he always kept within easy reach regardless of what he was doing.

"Who is it?"

"Ten-Card. I've come to speak with my pack-mate."

Neither of them expected that it would be her there. Grendel gave Nakela a concerned look, seeing the worry on her face as well. He then stood up and moved to the door, leaving the dagger sitting on the table. Of all the werebeasts, Mara was the one that he knew he stood no chance against. He both respected, and feared her. Unlocking the door, he opened it slowly, then stood aside so that the werecat could enter.

Mara Ten-Card was in her homid form, wearing simple black slacks and a matching black V-neck top with loose-fitting long sleeves. She entered calmly and walked over to where Nakela lay on the bed. The dragon first gave her a cold look, but the look quickly changed and she lowered her eyes to the stronger shifter. Mara looked her over, ignoring the vampire.

"Have you accepted you place yet, kitling? Make sure you answer me truthfully."

"Yes..."

Nakela's voice was soft as she lowered her head, her eyes now closed. The werecat simply nodded.

"Good. Then I trust there will be no more problems with you that needs to be adressed."

"There will not."

Ten-Card narrowed her dark golden eye for a moment, the other one hidden behind the black eyepatch, then pulled out a small gold key from her pocket of her slacks. Grendel leaned against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest. He kept a close eye on Mara as she spoke, and watched carefully when she retrieved the key. Nakela looked back up at noting no verbal response from the werecat, and seeing the key, she slowly turned her head to the side.

Mara opened and removed the lock, then gently removed the golden chain collar from around Nakela's neck. She turned to look back at the vampire now, and tossed the chain, key, and lock over to him. Grendel caught them easily in one hand, but looked at her with mild surprise.

"She can shift to her beast form to heal, but I expect her to stay mostly in homid. If she causes any problems, do not hesitate to put it back on."

He nodded his understanding, and she then turned and left without another word. Grendel watched her go, then closed and locked the door again after her. Setting the collar and key down on the dresser, he then walked back over to the bed, sitting down beside Nakela.

"It must feel good ta finally be free of yer chains."

She simply nodded slowly, still looking down. She was still somewhat weak, and the wounds caused from when the werewolf had raped her were a long way from healing.

"The physical ones anyway. It'll probably be only another seven to ten days... Then I'll be with them. I don't know if they'll even let me see you again afterward."

"I dunno. I'd like ta keep ya as long as I can. I've enjoyed the time we've spent together." He gave her a gentle smile. "An' not just fer the sex either. Perhaps... perhaps I can get them ta let ya go out with me fer one night before they take ya away from me."

"I don't know if they would, but you could at least ask. I don't dare do so." She then hesitated a moment. The Fallen shifters weren't supposed to show any form of weakness, but the upcoming test worried her. "To tell the truth, I don't know if I'm ready for this. I'm afraid that... that I'll fail. That I won't survive it."

Grendel put his arms around her and held her gently, careful of the wounds. "Ya will make it though, darlin'. I'm confidant ya'll be able to survive whatever those beasts can think of fer ya."

"I hope you're right..."

She closed her eyes. She did hope that he was right, and that she would survive. But in truth, she greatly doubted it. The Fallen was dark-hearted and cold, but the Gaian was not, and it was from that personality that the true fear arose.

.

The sound of Grendel's heavy combat boots echoed through the damp tunnels. He was some distance from the main Haven complex, and the passageways here were far more degraded, the walls crumbling and the stone floor riddled with cracks. Only a few flickering candles in small alcoves lit the cobweb-filled corridors. There was a very eerie presence to the area.

The vampire kat had hoped to find Moira in her room so that he could ask her if he could take Nakela outside with him for the night. Now that she was able to shift to her alligator form, her wounds had healed much faster over the past few days, and she was now doing much better. But he also knew that they would surely be parting company soon. Nakela feared that the Fallen would take her away any day now. The problem though, was that he was told that Moira had gone to see the Ten-Card within her own lair, and the werebeasts preferred to stay in the older part of the complex, far away from the vampires.

As he rounded another bend in the corridors, he found himself in a large room full of spider webs, with thousands of the tiny creatures swarming all over them. He got the creepy feeling that they were watching him. Grendel shivered, remembering how he had been caught in the werespider's thick webs, and then nearly burned 'alive' within them. Three more corridors went off from the room, one in each direction, though two were completely blocked by the webs. Seeing no other choice, he headed down the only open one.

Grendel continued down the dark hall. He was already wearing his usual black leather clothing, and was ready to leave, hopefully with the weredragon with him. He first simply needed to get his mistress to allow it, though if she was with the werecat, he suddenly felt unsure if that would even be possible.

After another hundred or so yards, the corridor opened into a semi-circle of doors. Each one had a strange glyph carved into it. Incense could be smelled wafting from under one of the doors, and he recognized it as jasmine, which he had noticed faintly on the were-tigon each time he had encountered her. He slowed his steps as he approached, and listened carefully for any sounds that might be coming from that door. There was no way he was just going to go barging in this time.

He was able to hear faint talking from the other side of the heavy door. Both voices were female, though he couldn't quite make out the words. Slowly, he raised his hand and knocked. The voices went silent, then after a moment he heard the shifter's voice give a soft "Enter". Very little brought fear into the strong vampire, but he was feeling a bit nervous as he opened the door to the werecat's lair, and cautiously entered.

Ten-Card's room had black walls with a deep wine-colored, plush carpet. The low bed had black & wine blankets and pillows on it, and had golden colored bars for the headboard & footboard. There was a low table of dark polished wood against the back wall, with several small statues of red and green jade, of tigers and dragons. Two incense sticks, one at each end of the table, were burning slowly, filling the room with the calming scent of jasmine.

The werecat was in her homid form, kneeled down in front of the table, a deck of Tarot cards sitting in front of her. Nine cards were arranged in a pattern across the table. Moira stood nearby, watching her doing the reading. In the corner, the black-furred jaguar, in her felis form, watched Grendel with cold eyes. Curled up asleep beside the feline was a tiny black jaguar kit, only a little over two months old.

Grendel looked over at the kitten. He knew that it had to be Sarita's, and idly wondered if the Hellcat even realized that her kit was even still alive, or if she now believed that her daughter dead. He was quite surprised that neither of the kitten's parents had already tried to attack the compound, despite Nakela saying that they both knew it would be too dangerous an attempt. Apparently, the threat alone seemed to be more than enough. Slowly, he looked back over toward his dominator, walking over to her.

"Moira, I had a question ta ask of ya."

Moira looked up from the cards arranged on the table, and narrowed her eyes at the larger vampire.

"And what is that?"

"I was wondering if I would be allowed ta take Nak outside fer a night? Since she'll be leaving my care soon, and has been a 'good' were-dragon."

Moira glared, and was about to open her mouth to say something when a soft, almost inaudible laugh came from the tigon. Moira turned to look at the shifter in surprise. Ten-Card then spoke up softly.

"That might actually be a good idea. We have a slight problem that the two of you could assist with."

"A problem?"

Gren also looked at the shifter. That caught him by surprise. He'd have though that Moira and the Fallen werebeast would have the city firmly in their claws by now. It seemed that even the Swat Kats and werejaguars were leaving them alone. Mara simply nodded, still not looking up from her cards on the table.

"Yes. One by one, vampires have been going missing lately. Not a trace. Here, in the northern part of the city. We have kept the bargain and left the southern half to the Gaians. My pack and I have been unsuccessful at finding the culprit, but we are quite certain it's that Eater dog, Ghost-Shadows. I want the two of you to go to the western warehouse district near the docks. I'm certain that's where she's hiding. Find her, and eliminate her."

As she spoke, she ran a hand slowly over a few of the cards, lingering on one marked 'The Tower'. Grendel watched her curiously. He didn't know much about Tarot cards. Only enough to recognize what they were, but nothing else. Even so, he knew that she obviously saw something in them, and she certainly knew something that he didn't. But regardless, it meant that he could take Nakela out of the Haven complex, and that's all he was really wanting.

"Sounds like a plan ta me. I was beginning ta get bored without any action. With yer permission, we'll leave at once."

Mara slowly nodded as she moved her hand over to the final card in the pattern. Flipping over the tenth card, she looked at it carefully. It was the 'Death' card, but it was upside down. She leaned back a bit, now looking over the full ten-card pattern, then finally nodded again, a dark smile forming on her face.

"Good. Now go. And do not fail me, vampire. Else both of you will suffer greatly for it."

Grendel nodded in response, then gave his mistress a respectful nod before turning and quickly leaving the room, closing the door behind him. He was eager to be well away from the werebeasts. He had to admit that the tigon's lair was quite creepy, almost more-so than the cobweb filled halls. He swiftly made his way back to the main complex and finally back to his room. Nakela looked up curiously as he quickly opened the door and stepped in, shutting it behind him, and leaning against it in apparent relief.

As soon as he had left the room, Mara turned to the female vampire.

"The cards have told what I have suspected. And now it's time to set the trap..."