Heavy Metal Heartbeat (8 page)

He cut his gaze to Paige. She lay peacefully on the grass, in white tiger form, purring contently and staring at him with her big blue eyes as if nothing were wrong
. Her human image stroked the big white cat, begging for more. Yes, he had indeed reached crazy town.  As if to confirm his fear, “Crazy Train” by Ozzie Osbourne wailed from unseen speakers.

Unsteady on his feet
and with vertigo slapping him around, he staggered back a few feet trying to maintain his footing. He fell and landed on his back.  In an instant, Paige straddled him in her human form, exposing her long neck, taunting him.

“
Bite me, Ozzie. Don’t you love me?”

“
No! Yes!”

She laughed and moved away. Her frame sizzled and took on another shape. Sebastian materialized, laughing, holding Paige intimately against him. He pressed into her, nuzzling her neck and making a show of smelling her.

A beast from Hell grew inside him, filling his being. It grew hot, large and strong. A feral growl ripped from his throat as he watched Sebastian toy with his girl. She was
his.
He would not share. Sebastian’s words fueled his rage.

“
All you have to do, Ozzie, is bite, and she will be yours completely. Look at her. She trembles, but not in fear, in anticipation. She begs for it, she wants it. She wants to be bitten. If you don’t want her, I will gladly take her from you.”

“
No, that is not what she wants. If I bite her, she will die. You know this. You can’t mix the supernatural strains, she is Were-.”

Sebastian ran his hands through her hair, exposing her neck. “Look
, Ozzie, how smooth and untouched.”

He moved to snatch her away from the vampire, only to grab air. Sebastian and Paige reappeared behind him, the vampire laughing, taunting him. Paige's back was pressed into Sebastian's chest, and he ran his hands across her midsection, teasing
and venturing lower.

“She smells so sweet, so pure.”

“
Get your hands off her.”

Sebastian laughed louder, dropping Paige to the ground. He leaned down, pushed her hair back and pressed his mouth to her neck.

He charged the vampire. It happened so quickly it surprised him.  He surveyed what he had done. Blood ran from his mouth and his hands. His chest was slick with it. Sebastian, missing his neck, lay crumpled on the ground, dead. Paige stood, in human form, fully clothed and looking horrified.

“
Ozzie, what have you done?”

He looked into her sorrowful
tear-stained blue eyes and his heart broke.

“I…
he…you…” 

He dropped his gaze back to his hands and the blood disappeared.

What the…

His head popped up at the sound of commotion. One of Perry's strays stood before him, laughing.

“
If you can catch me before I give her to Perry’s wolf pack, then you can have her back. If not, well, let the best dog win.”

Clenching his teeth, he darted forward and grabbed only air. She was gone and his bright sun-shiny day had turned into
a dark, horror filled night.

Ozzie stood stock still watching the fog roll in. The dark Irish landscape
disappeared behind thick void curtains.  It crept closer and he couldn’t move.

What am I going to do? Where am I? How do I get her back?

The thoughts in his mind were just as thick as the fog upon the ground, which consumed everything, leaving nothing in its wake. He found himself in the spotlight of the moon’s rays. They lit up his frame and blinded his vision. With his hands on his face, he shaded the brightness enough to see a form walking toward him. Perry?

The moonbeams softened their touch and smoothed out the brightness, casting a more realistic glow over the area.  Perry stepped forward in human form wearing hunting clothes and sporting a bloody
best friend
necklace around his neck. The fur on his neck stood tall, and he growled at the man before him.

“What have you done with her? I will kill you.”

He shook with rage and an inferno ignited within him. His muscles coiled under the skin and his body slowly broke. He crumpled into a painful heap upon the ground. Every bone shattered and splintered, breaking the skin and tearing the muscle. He heard Perry’s laughter in his ears but could do nothing to stop them.

His screams rattled his ear drums and tore at his throat.
The air passing through his lungs was like smoke from a fire with hot, scorching flames burning him to death. He shook uncontrollably from the pain.

“Please
, make it stop,” he choked out through gritted teeth, fighting the agony.

The laughter had ceased and so did the pain. He lay in the dirt panting
and trembling. His body felt foreign, and it ached. His eyes opened and Perry stood in front of him, still and unmoving.

“
We have her, Ozzie. She belongs to us now.”

Pain forgotten, he jumped to his feet and landed on all fours. Shocked, he tripped over his own paws, inspecting them.

Now I am a wolf? What has happened to me?

He opened his mouth to speak, only to howl at the big
, bright moon. He rolled his eyes back to the man before him. Evil lovingly caressed the mocking laughter that poured from Perry’s mouth. He sneered when he spoke.

“
If you can find her, maybe you can have her…if there is any of her left. You know how we dogs feel about cats. Even delicate, beautiful ones like her.”

Red hot rage like nothing he had ever felt before consumed him. Frothy saliva dripped from his teeth as he barked out his threat.

“
If you hurt her, I will rip every last one of you to shreds!”

He raised his shackles as Perry moved closer and leaned in as if he were going to tell a secret.

“
I will have her first,” he said, then slapped Ozzie across his muzzle and bolted.

Ozzie shot off after him like lightning. Trees and brush
were a blur as he raced through the woods in search of the pack.  He followed the scent of dirt, blood and the smell of Perry and his hounds.  He knew he was close.

The dying trees and dead underbrush thickened.
Everything was splattered in blood, and debris and broken, rotting bones littered the ground like confetti. Twigs and femurs crunched under his feet as he made his way through the harsh landscape. With his nose in the grass, he followed their trail. There was a clearing, a circle of nothing among the thickened trees, and he knew he had found them. The stomping ground of his enemies.

Now you die, Perry!

“
I’m through with these games. Where is she?”

Ozzie paced inside the circle. The moon bathed the center of the clearing in light, leaving the others to lurk in the shadows
. Their figures were made darker by the glare.  He smelled her scent all around him.

She is here.

He couldn’t pinpoint a certain direction that led to her, she seemed to be everywhere and nowhere.

The autumn leaves played with her scent and
littered the air. Her essence swam around him, intoxicating him, luring him deeper into the woods and out of the clearing.

It
’s a trick.

His mind played gruesome images as fear invaded his being, beating on
his hope. Survival instincts stepped in and kicked both of them out; no fear, no hope, just resolve. It left him clear-headed and able to finally focus. His gaze went from left to right, searching the shadows for them. He knew they were there; he could feel them.

It is over! Enough of this.

“I know she’s here. I can smell her.”

Perry, in wolf form, eased out of the shadows and spoke.

“Ah, yes. I have her. How badly do you want her?”

His eyes followed the dark wolf as he paced around the clearing. Perry made a full circle. Ozzie noticed as he did so, he dug his claws into the ground and constructed a four ring barrier. The deep lines came to life
and glowed a bright red color, pulsing with energy.

“
You can’t pass the lines. They are the blood lines of life. If you pass them before you have done what is needed, it will drain you of vitality.  If you decide to sit in the circle and do nothing, it will drain your life from you.”

“
I am tired of playing games. What do you want?”

Paige appeared in a silk
, white gown that hung to her feet. She stood just outside the circle, wearing matching blood lines around her neck. Icy shards of glass ripped at his heart and stole his breath. He gulped the air, but nothing passed his lips. His lungs burned like a furnace and seemed to go up in flames from the lack of oxygen. For the first time in his life, he panicked. With his mind in a tailspin, he didn’t notice the first blow until it pounded him into the dirt.

Air plunged into his chest and he could breath
e. He could also feel the pain.

“
Symphony of Destruction” by Megadeath played from an unseen source, giving him strength and adding to Perry’s words.

“
Embrace who you are, Ozzie.”

Another blow
hit him from behind, the source hidden by the darkness of shadows.  He got to his feet and swung at Perry when he moved passed, only to be hit a third time. Spitting dirt and leaves from his mouth, he stood on all fours and matched the wolf step for step.  He dodged a swing and lunged at the dog, only to miss.

“
You can do better than that, Ozzie.”

He noticed he’d lost
a tooth somewhere along the way. He snarled in anger at the wolf before him. Standing on his haunches, he swung his paw around. He missed once again and landed face first on the ground. Paige’s squeal caught his attention. He looked her way and noticed the blood lines were drawing closer around her neck as were the ones on the ground. His eyes darted between the two sets of blood lines. Fear crawled along his skin, threatening to strangle him. The air in his lungs stopped and lodged in his throat. Perry's words found his ears.

“
You are going to die and so is she. I will have her forever.”

He swung again, but missed.

What is going on? Why can't I hit him?

“
Embrace who you are,” followed the next blow to the back of the head. He shook the haze from his mind and wobbled to his feet. Perry paced, mocking him. His nonsense gibberish filled the air once more.

“
Look at her, Ozzie. She will die. Accept it.”

Accept what?

“I don't understand.”

As if on cue, Paige cried out and his eyes shot to her. Small trails of blood slowly ran down her neck from the blood
lines.

How do I fix this? I'm running out of time. How the hell do I save her?

The snap of his spine echoed off the trees, but he felt no pain. He lay in the dirt and mud, paralyzed and unable to move. The blood lines were slowly closing in on him and the love of his life. She screamed and so did he. Perry’s wide-toothed grin came from above. His mouth moved, but no words could be heard. Jaxson’s voice sounded from beside him.

“Ozzie
, you have to get up. You can do this.”

He rolled his eyes toward the voice. Jaxson stood outside the circle looking forlorn and tired. His shoulders sagged and tears ran down his cheeks.

I have never seen Jaxson cry.

“Ozzie, you can’t give up. Come on, Paige needs you, we all need you.”

“
I can’t. My back is broken.”

“
You can beat this. You are strong enough.”

He watched as Jaxson’s shape took on an eerie glow and shimmered in and out of focus. The dimmer his friend became
, the more power he gained. His bones melded together and his strength slowly returned.  He glanced to his friend once more and he was gone. He knew what he had to do. Finally, he understood.

The dam of numbness had been broken and a river of feeling swam through his veins, adding the final pieces to the puzzle. His wolf form healed and grew strong, becoming a part of him. As if awaking from a long nap, he stretched his long
, lean muscles. His ear swished back and forth listening as all the sound came rushing back like turning the dial on a radio. Perry laughed, Paige screamed and unknown wolves howled. His beast felt strong. In a flash of movement, he landed on all fours and stalked the enemy before him.

Finally
, he has stopped laughing! Good!

“
Now you die, Perry!”

“
No! First, I will show you who is alpha by beating you, and then I will defeat you by taking your mate,” the wolf shot back.

He flexed his massive muscles and flew at Perry. Spinning around, he kicked his hind leg and knocked Perry to the ground.