* * * *
Lowell distantly heard the Pack Leader call him by his real name, but he couldn’t care less. The sight before him had him entranced and yet he felt his heart squeeze painfully. There, in the big enclosure the Alpha had led him to, was a tiger. And it wasn’t just any old tiger. The animal was magnificent. All orange-golden fur with black stripes and powerful muscles hidden underneath. Lowell had no experience with wild animals, but something told him that the tiger was unusually large. When on all fours the tiger would easily reach up to Lowell’s neck. While he wasn’t a very tall man, he always thought tigers were more like, up to his belly or chest if they were really big. The animal was also very long. Lowell suspected, if it stood on his hind legs, it would tower over him with ease.
Without conscious thought Lowell took a step closer. The tiger’s head whipped around and huge golden eyes concentrated on Lowell. The animal’s lip rose in a silent warning. Still, Lowell couldn’t help himself as he stepped to the chain-fence, and clutched the cold steel in his hands. His heart squeezed harder and a small whimper escaped him. Because down deep he knew… He knew this wasn’t a wild animal. It was his lover in his true form.
“Purr…” Lowell whispered. “What happened to you?” He didn’t expect an answer and he didn’t get any. The tiger’s ear flicked forward but otherwise the animal ignored him. Lowell had a sudden feeling the animal’s calmness wasn’t natural. “What have you done to him?” Lowell demanded turning to the Alpha. The rise of the man’s brows was the only indication that he didn’t appreciate Lowell’s disrespectful tone.
“Lowell, is it?” the Alpha asked and Lowell snorted. He wasn’t going to give the man respect until the Alpha earned it.
“You know very well it is. That’s why you brought me here, isn’t it? You wanted me to see what happened to Purr.”
“Purr?” the man’s tone was questioning.
“Yes, Purr. It’s my pet name for Patrick. Now tell me what’s wrong with him? Why is he so… apathetic?”
The alpha sighed and narrowed his eyes as he looked at the tiger. Lowell could suddenly see the tiredness in the man. There were dark circles under the Alpha’s eyes and his skin looked sallow as if he wasn’t getting enough sleep. Lowell didn’t care though. This man was responsible for what happened to Purr… Well that might be not exactly true, but Lowell was too worried about his lover to be reasonable. He needed someone to blame and the Alpha was right there.
“You were supposed to protect him!” Lowell accused. “This is not protection!” he pointed at the tiger who barely even looked at them. The alpha sighed again, then spoke.
“He needs to be medicated. We put sedative in his food, that’s why he looks so sleepy.” Lowell opened his mouth to say something but the Alpha interrupted him by rising hi hand. “You need to understand we did it for his own good. Are you familiar with the process of going feral in shifters?” the Alpha asked. Lowell thought about it for a minute.
“It is when a shifter reduces to an animal state, isn’t it? Usually as a reaction to losing his or her mate…” Lowell paused, suddenly terrified. The alpha didn’t seem to notice it.
“Yes and no,” the man said. “Yes, it is a reaction to losing one’s mate and it is similar to reverting to animal state. But it is more than that. When feral, shifter loses most of his or her human awareness. They are still capable of some basic thoughts but not much. And they become dangerous. Consumed with rage and grief they would sometimes attack indiscriminately, killing innocents. If the worst happens and a shifter turns feral, he needs to be contained for their own as well as everyone else’s safety. If it’s impossible though, they’d often be killed.”
“Killed!?” Lowell exclaimed. “But that’s… that’s barbaric!”
“Yes, Mr. Hayes, it is. But you need to understand that there is no known cure for shifter ferality and not every pack has means to capture such shifter and keep them contained. Hell,” the man shook his head, “we had problem doing it, building the enclosure and capturing Patrick. And he needs to be kept sedated most of the time. Otherwise he’ll just throw himself against the fence until he hurts himself. He barely eats, barely sleeps… you get the idea.”
Lowell did. It sounded terrifying. His heart went to poor Purr, and he wanted to go to his tiger. He couldn’t though, not yet. He needed more information first.
“How did it happen? Why did Patrick turn feral? And how did he do it anyway? He has never been able to take on any of his forms fully. He’s been stuck in the in-between form ever since birth.” Lowell looked up at the alpha, whose face darkened.
“It was our fault, I admit. When Patrick had been brought to us, we were under the misconception that he had been kept captive and abused by your father or you. We didn’t understand your relationship, and with him calling you Master…”
“You assumed the worst, I get it.” Lowell was growing impatient. “Just FYI he calls me Master because he chose me. Before I saved him he had known only cruel, abusive masters. After I took him in and we grew close he decided to call me Master. It is his way of saying I am the Master of his heart. The one master he willingly submits to. But anyway, what happened?”
“It was actually my beta who pushed Patrick over the edge. As I said we assumed you were abusing him and that he had some kind of Stockholm syndrome or something because he kept asking about you and claiming you’d come for him. My beta was disgusted with what he thought was your treatment of Patrick and he blurted out that you were presumed dead. I think atop your separation and Patrick’s general lack of experience with the society that news pushed him over the edge. He simply snapped. That was when we understood our mistake. Shifter doesn’t go feral for just any reason. They only do it when they lost their mate.”
“So, we are mates.” Lowell said more to himself than the Pack Leader. “That explains a lot.” He went quiet for a while before lifting his eyes and looking the Alpha square in the eyes. “What’s your plan then? You wouldn’t have brought me here if you didn’t have one.”
“You’re partially right,” the man said. “The problem is, there have never been an instance of a shifter gone feral returning to their senses. But we have an advantage. You, Patrick’s mate, are not actually dead. He only thought so. I believe because of that we might have a chance of helping him revert back. I actually have someone, a scientist friend of mine, helping with it. She’s trying to come up with a cure, or a way to revert this process. Now, that we found you, we might finally have a chance!”
As Lowell looked at his lover’s enormous form curled on the grass of the enclosure, he really hoped the Alpha was right. Because if Purr was gone, so was Lowell’s reason to live.
) So there is that missing cuberow girl, another cuberow who’d joined the pack, a bunch of teenage cuberows who’d attacked Jason and his friends on Halloween… Yeah, a lot of cuberow shifters! Oh, and of course there is the owl-cat. I believe he’ll become a very important member of the pack. So anyway, a lot to figure out and so I foresee finishing this book will take some time. 
) some DIY projects for my cat. Figuring out my finances… and a ton of other stuff that isn’t half as exciting as writing. 