February 9, 2002
Coralis sat at the back of a taxi, on her way to Frank's dorm. Mark, his roommate, wasn't going to be home all night, so they agreed to meet at his place where they would just be the two of them. She thought about the vase's replica she created the previous week for the Chicago royal vampire family and hoped it would work as intended.
She hadn't seen Frank the entire week. When she left Chicago after finishing the vase's replica the previous week, she had to fly to Winnipeg with Eva for a meeting, and she then spent the week between South America, for flyball games, and London, for EBEE affairs.
The entire week, she debated with herself whether she should break up with Frank, or go through revealing herself to him. She knew he wanted her to let him in, but she never could. She hated how she had to keep everything at surface level, and she never knew how to talk about feelings.
She missed him and was looking forward to escaping her world with him. She knew that if she wanted to keep him, she had to tell him what she was, but she feared that once he knew, he wouldn't want anything to do with her. As far as his safety was concerned, she was genuinely worried that something would happen to him because of his connection to her, but she wanted to believe her friends and family when they swore they'd help her to keep him safe.
She paid the taxi driver and exited the car.
"Miss, your change," yelled the driver.
"Keep it."
"It's way too much."
"Nah, keep it."
She closed the door and walked to Frank's dorm building. She didn't pay attention to how much she gave the driver and how much the ride had cost, but she didn't care.
Frank had just finished cooking when he heard the buzzer. He let her in his building and waited for her by the elevators on his floor. As soon as she walked out of the elevator, he pulled her close to him and kissed her.
"Hey, you," said Frank, kissing her again as she passed her hands behind his neck.
"I missed you too, but let's go to your room before you get cited for making out in public."
They got to his apartment, and Frank served the food while she listened to him talking about his week. After dinner, they tried to find something to watch on the television, but they got absorbed into each other instead.
Coralis's pager went off. She cursed under her breath and tried to ignore it, but it beeped again, so she went to dig it out of her coat pockets.
"Shit, I need to take this."
"Can they survive without you for a night?" said Frank, handing her his phone.
"Doesn't seem like it," said Coralis, dialling the number on her pager. "Samantha? What's going on?... SERIOUSLY?... Okay, I'll be on my way."
Coralis handed Frank his phone back and grabbed her coat.
"I'll call you when I'm done, hopefully, it won't take the whole night," she said.
She kissed him and left his apartment. It was dark outside, and some lampposts weren't working. She walked behind the first shaded bush she saw, changed her coat for her cloak, retrieved her stick and took off.
She flew toward the northern shore of the city where there was trouble among her werepanther clan. She met with Samantha and Jeremie, a teenage weretiger, where Tom's aunt and uncle lived. Tom was a teenage werepanther in their clan.
Samantha and Jeremie explained the situation while Jackie and Rob introduced themselves. Stephen had come and forced Tom to come with him. He had threatened werewolves from the Moonlight Pearl pack and went to confront them, along with other werepanthers. He was out for blood, but it was unclear why.
"Finally, here you are," said Samantha, hugging Coralis.
"Oh my! She's a witch, isn't she?" said Jackie.
"Yes, well, not exactly, but she's good," said Samantha.
"We need her to find Tom and get him away from Stephen," said Jeremie.
"What happened? I'm Blue, by the way," said Coralis, stretching her hand toward the couple.
Samantha and Jeremie explained the situation while Jackie and Rob introduced themselves. Stephen came and forced Tom to come with him. He threatened werewolves from the Moonlight Pearl pack and went to confront them, along with other werepanthers. He was out for blood, but was unclear why.
"No one wanted to go with him, we don't hate the wolves. I don't know what he told the other panthers, but I know none went willingly. He left when Jackie walked outside, that's how me and Jeremie didn't end up going," said Samantha.
"I'll be right back, I'm gonna head there and put an end to this madness. I'll bring back Tom. Moonlight Pearl pack in Lachute, you said?"
The young werepanthers nodded, and Coralis took off.
She hovered above the Moonlight Pearl pack land and saw the commotion. She jumped off her stick and landed in the middle of it, facing Stephen.
"That's enough. Stop this madness right now."
"Blue Thunder, dear, you got no business here, this is a shifter business."
"It became my business when you forced kids to fight your battles and coerced clan members."
"What are you going to do about it? You know shifter laws, a witch cannot challenge a leader, it doesn't work that way."
"Shifter and elemental laws allow me to challenge you in animal form, with no magic involved. Shall we do this?"
Coralis shifted into her panther form and immediately charged Stephen. A crowd was forming around them, but she didn't pay attention to any of it. She was focused on winning her fight against Stephen, so she could take Tom back to his aunt and uncle, and hopefully be able to return to Frank.
Twenty later, with her left back paw torn up and several gashes in her rib cage, she rolled on her side as he charged her. With her left front paw, she plunged her claws into his throat as he passed next to her and swung herself on the other side of him, ripping his throat out. He collapsed.
She won, making her the new leader of the local werepanther clan.
"This mess is over," said Coralis, addressing the crowd after shifting back, and she walked to where Tom stood. Looking at the other werepanthers present, "I need to take Tom to his relatives. There is a shifter clinic nearby if you need to patch up, but you can all go home. Call me if there is anything, and I will get in touch with you all when I get a minute."
"You should come with us to Healing Moon. I'm heading there and you're also quite injured," said Jessica.
"I'll be fine, I really need to go."
She flew back to Samantha and Jeremie, with Tom clutching tightly to her back. As soon as she landed at the same spot as earlier, Samantha and Jeremie ran to them. Samantha hugged them and Coralis hissed.
"Oh, sorry," said Samantha, jumping away. "I didn't realize you were injured. What happened?"
Rob rushed outside toward them.
"Oh, Lord! I don't know when Paulie and Jean-Pierre will be back, but follow me inside."
"Mind if I borrow your phone for a minute?" said Coralis.
"Not at all, anything you need."
They followed Rob inside. Tom explained to the group what happened while Coralis stepped back outside to call Frank. He didn't pick up.
She waited a few minutes and tried again. Still no answer.