Let’s do a giveaway!

It’s a beginning of a new year, the possibilities for a better future stretching ahead of us. I thought it’s a high time I do that giveaway I’ve been planning for months. There’s a lot to celebrate. Last year I turned thirty, It’s more than two years since my first book was published, the world hasn’t ended yet despite some really disturbing things happening around the world. I guess that’s more than enough reason for a giveaway.
So here’s the rules:

1. Go to my facebook page and like it: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorSophieMartin/
2. Comment under the post: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorSophieMartin/posts/769427276544475
3. I will randomly chose three winners on Sunday 15th and contact them.

I will chose three random winners. The prize is an ebook copy of one of my books. You’ll be able to chose the book you want.
There, I think these are pretty straightforward rules. Lets do it!

The Prince and the Frog - my inspirations

As a kid I loved fairy-tales. Who doesn’t? You get to go to another world where magic is real, where people have amazing adventures and come out of them unscathed. (Or mostly unscathed which is good enough.) The evil is punished, the good deeds rewarded and everything ends with a happily ever after. I never outgrew my love of these stories. As the time passed it changed slightly and I became obsessed with fantasy books instead, but fairy-tales have always stayed with me.
When I first found some fairy-tales redone into M/M books I was hooked. But with time I discovered that most of these books focus on mostly the same fairy-tale themes. There’s the immortal Cinderella story, the Beauty and the Beast, and a few others. There are so many fairy-tales out there with so much potential. So I decided to write the books myself.
With that thought in mind I wanted to focus on some of my favourite fairy-tales, the ones I grew up on. These would be the traditional Middle- and Eastern-European fairy-tales. While The Prince and the Frog is not my all-times favourite story it is in the lead.
Writing the book, I consulted my childhood storybooks. The Prince and the Frog is a popular fairy-tale and I knew both the Polish and Russian version of it. I included elements of both but I also added some things of my own. The result is hopefully enjoyable one.
The fairy-tale world I created is a mix of historical and fantasy ones. While magic is an obvious indication of fantasy there are many elements that hail from the real world and are based in historical times.
The Magical Academy is very loosely based on European Universities and Academies of late middle ages. I did not include many details and because it is a magical institution most of the ones that I did include is made up but I hoped to convey the general feel of those Schools of old.
One of the things that are based mostly in real world are the subjects of three tests.
Even though my book is based on a fairy tale I also wanted it to feel as authentic a story as it could. Because of that I thought there needed to be a valid reason for the three tests the Frog in the fairy tale faces. I didn’t think “Because the King fancies so” was a valid reason. (King Aleksiey didn’t seem like the kind of father who’d force something like that on his sons, even though he does like to send them on dangerous quests.) I decided to reach to a custom that I’ve known of for a long time.
The witnessing of the marriage consummation was a tradition applying to royal and sometimes noble marriages. It was exactly what it sounds. Some people stayed in the bedroom of the newly-wed couple to bear witness to the consummation of marriage. As the consummation was often a legal requirement for the marriage to be considered valid, the custom could prevent future trouble.
Just look at Henry the VIII. His first wife, Catharine of Aragon had first been intended as his older brother’s wife and betrothed to him. After the older prince had died Henry and his father went to a lot of trouble to ensure that marriage be considered invalid. (It would be impossible for Henry to marry his brother’s wife, it was forbidden) So Henry the VII, wanting to ensure an alliance with Spain, made sure that the previous relationship of Catherine was annulled and she was available to marry his younger son, future Henry the VIII. However, after many years of prosperous marriage, when Catherine failed to give Henry a male heir, the king did what? Yes, you guessed it, he tried to have his marriage annulled as well. It didn’t work to his favour as the pope at the time was Catharine’s relative, thus Henry’s later split from the Catholic Church.
The point I’m trying to make is that the witnessing of the marriage consummation could save a lot of trouble in situations like this. But like I said, it was a custom reserved for royalty and sometimes, nobility. For that reason I thought it believable that when king Aleksiey decided to marry a merchant’s daughter, a woman of a very strong character, she wouldn’t be amused by having to have witnesses to her wedding night. King Aleksiey and Queen Ekaterina seemed like a couple who’d move heaven and earth to get what they wanted and so I thought they’d have made sure the custom was abolished. But tradition is something that cannot be discounted lightly and neither can politics. I’m certain making such a big change couldn’t have been easy and there would have to be some concessions. Hence the three trials...
In my book the three tests get symbolical meanings, as I’m sure would happen in such circumstances. The princes’ spouses must prove their worth. In the situations I depicted baking a cake is supposed to show their devotion and ability to take care of their husbands basic needs (something like providing food for your family – the very basic way to prove you can take care of that family). Second test in the fairy tale was to weave a carpet. I thought it was an extension of the first test, to show you can take care of more sublime needs of your spouse (Provide food, then shelter). Then there was the third test of attending a ball. This one seemed obvious enough. A member of royal family had to be able to find themselves in any social situation. A ball where members of each social class were invited would be a great test of those skills.
Concentrating on the tests I decided to add some authenticity to them. Princess Nasha cannot bake, she had been catered to her entire life, she had no time to learn how to cook. Prince Colia’s husband and wife come from a Northern Tribe, and they led a very different lives, prior to meeting Nicolai.
And here we come to the fascinating element of real world in my book. Vil and Kunney belong to a Northern Tribe. I based that tribe on one of the peoples inhabiting Siberia. Since the kingdom where Ivan and his brothers are from is mostly based on old time Russia, it seemed obvious that going North would more or less lead Colia to Siberian Tribes. The tribe I chose as a focus for where Vil and Kunney came from are Sakha people or Yakuts. Kunney is an actual female name from their language and means sun-moon it is also a mythological hero’s name. Vil, I believe, is also a word from sakha language. I encountered it while doing research on some of yakut traditions, but for the life of me I cannot find the webpage now. If I remeber correctly the word is supposed to be a name of a fish, either salmon or trout.
When it comes to the tests, what Vil and Kunney present are actual elements of Sakha culture.
Salamat is a creamy sour porridge made of cream, wheat, butter and salt. Usually eaten on feast days. It seemed like the best equivalent of a cake.
Colia also mentions a dish of a frozen fish that he had been offered in his spouses’ tribe. The real dish is stroganina - raw, thin, long-sliced shavings of frozen fish.
In the second test, when the contestants are asked to weave carpets, Kunney and Vil present some uniquely made fur rugs. Once again it is a real tradition. There are historical depictions of those checked fur rugs, like this woodcut:

The culture of Yakuts (Sakha) is an altogether fascinating subject. Here are some links if you wanted to know a bit more about it:
http://www.cosmicelk.net/Yakutia16c.htm
http://primitiverug.com/journal/yakut-pieced-skin-primitive-rug
http://travelingyourdream.com/?page_id=1596
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-3735993/The-wolf-hunters-Siberia-Incredible-pictures-battle-reindeer-herders-super-packs-predators.html
http://www.biligbitig.com/2014/07/saka-turkleri-sakha.html
The elements of Sakha culture are not the only real-world/historical thing that inspired me. In the book Vasya uses his personal experiences in the king’s challenges. These are also based on real things. This time I drew from Slavic traditions.
Kolach the special cake Vasya bakes for the first test is actually exactly what it is described as in the book. A traditional kind of sweet bread mostly served during big celebrations. In pagan times it was reserved for ritualistic purposes but with time it got adapted and was mostly used during wedding or birth celebrations. Even now it is a tradition in Poland (where i’m from) and I believe other Slavic countries as well, that a newly wed couple is greeted by their parents with bread and salt (and more often than not, vodka). Also during various religious celebrations there are beautifully decorated breads being blessed with holy water. These breads are often made by braiding the dough and are in a shape of a circle. The name kolach is derived from the word koło – circle. There is even a saying in Polish – “Bez pracy nie ma kołaczy” – literally meaning – “Without work there will be no kolaches.” So it is easy to see how important a part of slavic culture kolach actually is.
A picture of kolach from wikipedia
Here’s a picture I took last year at my cousin's wedding. It is a decorated sourdough bread.

  And some picture’s of breads made for religious celebrations (from the web.)


 
In the second test Vasya weaves an arras depicting his first meeting with Ivan. As an inspiration I used real arrases from the Royal castle of Wawel. Especially this one:

You can read more about Wawel arrases here: http://www.wawel.krakow.pl/en/index.php?op=22
and some other links: http://www.revolvy.com/main/index.php?s=Jagiellonian%20tapestries
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jagiellonian_tapestries
www.fibtex.lodz.pl/2005/6/85.pdf

Despite now living in UK I am and have always been very proud of my country. Poland has a very colorful history and a lot of interesting traditions. Writing “The Prince and the Frog” I dug into some of those traditions. after kolach and Jagiellonian arrases, another unmistakably Polish element in the book is Vasya’s mage robe. While I admit many authors write about wizards wearing robes Vasya’s is a bit different. The main difference is the long row of small buttons Ivan has trouble undoing. (Poor Ivan ) That robe is based on żupan and kontusz. Żupan is a kind of long garment, always lined, worn by almost all males of the noble social class in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, typical male attire from the beginning of the 16th to half of the 18th century. Kontusz is an outer garment worn over the inner garment żupan. Kontusz was a long robe, usually reaching to below the knees, with a set of decorative buttons down the front. The sleeves were long and loose, on hot days worn untied, thrown on the back. In winter a fur lining could be attached to the kontusz, or a delia worn over it. The kontusz was usually of a vivid colour, and the lining was of a contrasting hue. The kontusz was tied with a long, wide sash called a pas kontuszowy. The kontusz was more of a decorative garment than a useful one.
Polish nobles of the time had a very distinctive culture a main part of which was Sarmatism. Wikipedia has a pretty good article about it. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarmatism) Here are some pictures of Żupans and kontushe so you can have a better idea of what I imagined Vasya wearing. (and links to wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kontusz; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%BBupan)

Last but not least, there’s another element of Slavic beliefs that I inserted in the book. It fit so perfectly with the fairy-tale that I couldn’t not add it. I mean the fate-magic. It is not called that in original Slavic culture. It doesn’t really have a name, at least not that I know of. It is simply a belief that your words and wishes might come true if you speak them in a bad hour. There’s a lot I could write about it but I’ll keep it for the second book in the series which is based entirely on this belief. I only introduced it in The Prince and the Frog to give you a taste of it.
I believe that’s most of what I wanted to share with you about the book. The last  little bit is in a form of a video. Just so you can see for yourself how vicious the herbivorous hare can be.
Have fun watching it!

Change in plans etcetera

 

Oh, how we all love when our best-laid plans get messed up and need to be changed.

Well, it just so happens that my characters won’t cooperate with me and insist on changing my plans. And thus, a good servant that I am, I follow their orders.

The original plan was for me to finish Jack’s story, then start working on part two in The Bigwells Chronicles. This plan went up in smoke. At the moment I’m working on re-writing my last year Halloween story into a full book. I’m probably somewhere halfway there. I suspect it won’t be ready for the Halloween, though.

And meanwhile, some other characters have been clamoring for my attention. It’s a pretty short story settled chronologically before the Reality Series. It’s a story from the time of Fey Wars that sprung in my mind when I was writing Timiny’s book. I hope (fingers crossed) that I’ll be able to finish it for Christmas.

 

Up to fun thing, though.

My first fairy-tale book is coming out soon!

Here’s the link: http://www.bookstrand.com/book/the-prince-and-the-frog

I’m planning a post about some of my inspiration for the things you’ll find there. There also might or might not be a giveaway happening…

That’ll be all for now. I need to get to that Halloween re-write.

New book - new cover

I got the cover for my first fairy-tale book. The Prince and the Frog is set to release in September.

Besides that I am working on Jack's story and struggling with research to Fey Wars, a spin-off series to Reality.
Also I'm trying to juggle my work, preparing for my holiday in Poland, dealing with train problems, etcetera. All in all it's a busy, busy time!

What's new

First of all, "The Warrior's Light" is out now! In the five days since it's been released Ulr and Brad's story crawled to the top ten on Bookstrand bestseller list! Wow! I'm so happy. And I haven's had time to promote it properly with the mess that was going on in my house. Changing a boiler along with putting in new plumbing for it means three days of constant mess and not much time to spend online. I still need to send my ARC's to some reviewers, but that'll have to wait till the end of my workweek. 

Now, I'm nearly done with edits for my fairytale book. I hope to finish them Wednesday the latest. After that I can finally concentrate on Jack's book from Reality. 

This Wednesday my three weeks of holiday start. Actually I booked only a week but with my work schedule it gives me three weeks off. How cool is that!? I already know I'm spending the last week camping in Scotland. What will I do with the other two weeks? Relax and write! :D

I really look forward to that! 

Captive or Captor #13

A slightly longer post today. Lowell and Purr’s story is gaining momentum!

 

With each passing day Lowell was getting more and more frustrated. He’d been with the pack for more than two weeks now and Purr wasn’t getting any better. True, the tiger let Lowell close to him and he stopped needing sedatives. But there was still no humanity in the animal’s eyes. Lowell spent every moment of every day with Purr. He fed the tiger and spoke to him. He reminded his lover of all they’ve been through, telling him stories of their time together. It wasn’t working.

The tiger was content for Lowell to sit with him, to pet him, but he didn’t show any signs of understanding Lowell, either. Slowly doubts started creeping in. What if Purr never got better? What if he stayed an animal forever? Without even realising he was doing it Lowell started planning for a life if this happened. Of course he wouldn’t leave Purr, that was out of question. So they’d have to find a place where Purr could roam. Somewhere away from civilization because the tiger didn’t react well to anyone except Lowell. Every time someone got close to them Purr became aggressive, situating himself between Lowell and a perceived threat. The pack members quickly learned to stay away from the enclosure.

Lowell slept in the room that Purr had been in before he turned into a tiger. He had to admit that the room seemed pretty comfy, even if it had been wrecked by an out of control tiger. The pack members who lived in the Pack Leader’s house were also pretty friendly. The didn’t go out of their way to get to know Lowell, but they were nice to him whenever they met.

Lowell himself wasn’t trying to make new friends. He wasn’t even sure he knew how to do it, anymore. Ever since his exile to the mansion Lowell had lost touch with his former friends. And after meeting Purr he felt he didn’t need anyone else. Now his social skills seemed to be seriously lacking and he was too focused on helping his tiger to do anything about it.

Lowell stopped sharing his thoughts with the tiger at his feet and looked up. Someone was running towards the enclosure. As the man came closer Lowell recognized him as one of the younger guards, Fabian. Lowell frowned as the young man came closer and closer to them. By now all the guards knew it wasn’t the best idea to get close to Purr’s enclosure, so why wasn’t Fabian stopping?

Purr tensed, the tiger’s powerful muscles coiling as if readying for attack, and he snarled. The young guard’s steps faltered but he didn’t fully stop. Just as Fabian reached the chain-link fence Purr jumped to his four paws and situated himself between Lowell and the newcomer. Lowell sighed and shook his head.

“Fabian, you know better than come here when I’m with Purr,” he stated, standing up. He kept behind Purr, not wanting to agitate his furry lover even further.

“I know and I’m sorry Lowell, but I’ve got an important message for you. There’s police here to see you,” the guard blurted out.

“Police?” Lowell felt all blood drain from his face. “How did they find me?” he said in a near whisper, more to himself than Fabian.

“I don’t know, but they’re here to arrest you. Alpha Marek tried to convince them it’s a mistake, but they wouldn’t listen. So he stalled them giving me time to notify you.”

“Shit!” Lowell exclaimed and noticed that Purr started backing him into a corner behind him. The tiger was obviously sensing his distress. “This is a disaster.” Lowell shook his head. He knew there was no use running away. Once the police figured out he was alive, they wouldn’t stop looking for him. And Lowell couldn’t leave Purr. Dragging a full-grown tiger with him everywhere was out of question as well. “There’s no other way,” he spoke softly to himself, petting his tiger’s fur absentmindedly. He had to give himself up and count the police would listen to him and believe the truth. “Fabian,” Lowell spoke in an even voice, “if you could please back away. I need Purr calm so that I can leave the enclosure. He won’t let me out otherwise.” Fabian nodded his understanding and did as asked. Lowell watched his tiger relax as the man left their proximity. Crouching before Purr Lowell hugged his furry lover.

“I’m sorry Purr,” he whispered softly into one fuzzy ear. “I have to leave you. Hopefully the police will listen to what I’ve got to say and they’ll let me come back to you. I wish we had more time. I wish I could have made you turn back to normal. But I believe in you. I know you’re in there somewhere. One of this days you’ll come back to me, and we’ll have this life together we’ve always dreamed of. So, hang in there Purr, my love. Don’t give up.” Lowell felt tears prickling his eyes as he stood up and walked to the gate slowly. Purr was still sitting in the corner, watching him. There was still no humanity in the tiger’s eyes and Lowell felt his heart squeeze painfully. Who knew how their separation was going to affect the shifter? Lowell prayed it wouldn’t undo whatever progress they might have made.

Lowell stepped through the gate and closed it behind him. Purr stood up and padded to the gate, their ritual familiar now. Purr knew Lowell was always coming back to him and the tiger never protested Lowell leaving the enclosure. Lowell stood before the gate clutching the chain-links in his fingers. He didn’t want to go. Didn’t want to leave his lover, vulnerable like Purr was. Soon, he heard voices and footsteps from where the mansion was. Lowell shot a look over his shoulder and recognized the alpha with two other men coming toward him. Lowell turned back and locked his gaze with Purr. His whole being hurt at the thought of being separated from Purr, but there was nothing he could do to prevent it. The steps came closer and a voice spoke from behind him.

“Lowell Hayes?”

“Yes, It’s me,” Lowell answered quietly.

“Lowell Hayes you’re under arrest on suspicion of kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment of Patrick Peters,” the man was saying as he came to Lowell. Without a word Lowell put his hands behind his back and let the man handcuff him. Lowell never looked away from Purr. The tiger narrowed his eyes and a low growl escaped him. It was obvious the shifter knew something was wrong.

“I’m telling you, you’re making a huge mistake, officer.” Lowell became distinctly aware of the Alpha saying. “Like I said, Patrick is in a feral state right now and Lowell Hayes is essential to bringing him back to normal. He might be Patrick’s only chance at recovering.”

“I’m not arguing it Alpha,” the officer was saying, “but it is not our call to make. We were sent to arrest him and we’ll do just that. Everything else will be resolved during the investigation and trial. I’m sure the judge will take the circumstances under consideration.”

“But I just told you separating them now might have horrible effect on Patrick, causing him to retract even further into his animal!” The alpha’s voice had a growl to it that betrayed his annoyance. Lowell couldn’t concentrate on it though. As the officer pulled him back from the fence Purr seemed to sense something was wrong. The big tiger snarled and threw his whole body against the gate, trying to get out.

“Shit, I told you!” the Alpha shouted. “He’s going back to harming himself! Fabian, run to the house, we might need to shoot him with a sedative again!”

Lowell heard the young guard’s confirmation, as he run off. As the police officer led him away from the enclosure, Lowell kept looking back, his heart bleeding for his lover who kept throwing himself against the fence. Lowell could feel tears trail down his face as he whispered.

“I’m sorry Purr. I love you.”

* * * *

I’m sorry Purr. I love you.

His Master’s words reached him, piercing through the veil surrounding Purr’s mind. He shook his head trying to get rid of the horrible fog. His Master was here! Purr threw his body against the steel fence trying to get to his Master. The fence didn’t budge. Purr snarled. The bloody gate was in his way! It prevented him from reaching Master! He had to get to him! He had to protect Master! Purr shook his head again and looked around. Wait, what? What’s going on? The world seemed different, wrong somehow, but Purr couldn’t figure out the reason. He was behind a chain-link fence in what seemed like a cage or enclosure of sorts. He remembered those from his time in the circus. That’s where they kept the animals. But that couldn’t be right. He wasn’t in a circus anymore, was he? He had been with his Master for years now.

Master! Purr looked up and saw his Master being led away by some strange men. There was also another man, one that looked familiar. Alpha, his mind supplied. That was the alpha who told him his Master was dead. The same alpha who kept Purr from going after Master and saving him from Master’s evil father! Purr felt rage overwhelm him. They were taking Master away from him again! Purr backed up as far as he could go. Then he started running. The fence was tall, but Purr was determined. He wasn’t going to let them take his Master from him again. Purr’s paws swallowed the ground as he gained in speed. And then, with a loud roar he leaped.

Purr soared over the fence and landed on the other side of it gracefully. Not missing a step, he run after the men kidnapping his Master. The three men turned and two of them shrieked. The Alpha only swore but looked slightly panicked as well. Purr felt satisfaction and a need to grin. Good! You shouldn’t have taken my Master from me. Stupid Alpha! The two shrieking men were frozen in fear as Purr advanced on them. The Alpha though seemed to gather his composure once again. Ripping off his shirt and undoing the button of his jeans the man initiated his shift. Just as quickly there was a big grey wolf standing in Purr’s way. Oh, hell no! You’re not blocking me from reaching my Master! Purr slowed down as he reached the wolf and the three men behind him. Purr quickly made sure that his Master was unharmed. Lowell looked fine if a little sad. Well, Purr could deal with cheering his Master up later. Right now, he had an annoying wolf to take care of! Purr showed off his teeth in a show of aggression and started circling the wolf. The alpha jumped at him, trying to nip him, but Purr’s quick reflexes made the wolf’s teeth close on air. The alpha renewed his attack again and again. The wolf didn’t seem to want to seriously hurt him. He was trying to coral Purr back to that cage he came out of. Purr gave a little snort. Not going to happen! He avoided the wolf’s nips and batted his paw at the wolf. He wasn’t trying to seriously hurt the wolf, he kept his claws hidden, but he wasn’t going away either. Some sixth sense alerted Purr to the danger behind him and he leapt up, twisting his body out of the way. Purr watched a small, feathered dart sail past him and hit the wolf. He smiled inwardly as the wolf alpha staggered then fell down. There, that’s better, one annoyance out of the way. Purr turned around and looked at the wolf who shot the dart. The man was young, and, by the looks of him, he was terrified. Purr barred his teeth at him and snarled. The wolf shook so hard he nearly dropped his rifle. Purr smirked showing of his teeth and stalked the wolf. The pup shook as he backed away.

“Purr, leave Fabian alone. He won’t shoot you, will you Fabian?” His Master’s voice reached Purr as he stalked his prey. Purr’s ear swivelled back and he paused, his eyes never leaving the wolf.

“I won’t,” the wolf said and Purr realised he was answering his Master’s question. The wolf seemed sincere, but he still held onto the rifle and Purr was no dummy. He wasn’t turning around until that rifle was far out of the wolf’s reach.

“Fabian, drop the gun. I think Purr feels threatened by it,” Lowell said and Purr felt proud of his Master’s intelligence. The wolf dropped the rifle and stepped away from it. Purr waited a bit longer before the wolf was way out of reach and he quickly jumped and took the gun in his mouth. He wasn’t leaving the weapon where anyone could get to it. Luckily for him the rifle had a strap attached to it and Purr put his head through the loop, the gun now hanging on his neck. Turning back to the humans and his Master, Purr stalked closer. The two strange humans were sitting on the ground, obviously in shock. Purr’s Master stood straight though. He wasn’t easily scared, Purr knew. His Master was a brave man. Purr padded to where his Master stood and rubbed his head against the man’s thigh. Mmm, his Master smelled so good!

“Purr, can you understand me, my love?” Master asked and Purr sat down on his haunches and looked at Master quizzically. What did the Master mean, could he understand? He tilted his head as if to ask: What do you mean?

“Purr, do you realize what happened? Do you know who you are? Who I am?” This time Purr snorted. Silly Master! Of course Purr knew who they were. They’ve spent years together, how could he not know who they were.

“Purr,” Master said kneeling before him, “look at yourself. You’re a tiger now, my love. Do you realise that?”

What did master mean? Of course he was a tiger! Purr had always been a tiger. He was a shifter after all, that’s how they’d met. Because Purr was a tiger and had been left for dead by people from the circus. He was a tiger... Holy shit! Purr looked down at his furry body and took stock of it for the first time. Holy shit, I’m a tiger! Purr looked up at his Master, his eyes growing huge and his jaw going slack. His Master chuckled, even though Purr could see there were tears in his eyes.

“There you are love!” Master said. “You understand now? Can you change back?” Purr took a minute to think about it, then shook his head. He had no idea how to change back. How could he if he had no clue how he had changed into a tiger in the first place? Lowell frowned but then smiled. “Doesn’t matter, love. We can figure this out. The important thing is that you’re sentient now,” Master said and Purr wondered briefly what that meant. He didn’t have time to worry though, because the humans seemed to recover from their shock.

The two men got back on their feet and reached for their weapons. Immediately Purr stepped in front of his Master. He wasn’t going to let anything happen to Lowell! Suddenly they were all surrounded by a bunch of snarling wolves. Purr had his attention split. He had to protect his Master from the humans and the wolves now.

One of the wolves turned into his human form and Purr recognized the rude man who had insulted his Master before. Purr barred his teeth in a warning and let out a snarl. That wolf had been mean before and he hated Purr’s Master! Purr angled his body so that it was between humans and the mean wolf and Lowell.

“What have you done to the Alpha?” the mean wolf asked with a growl. One of the humans answered.

“We didn’t do anything. The tiger jumped out of the enclosure and chased us. Your alpha turned into a wolf and fought him...” the man paused.

“Then how comes he has no injuries yet is unconscious?” The mean wolf snarled at the humans and Purr felt satisfaction. Go ahead, fight each other, stupid wolves and stupid humans!

“The officer is actually right, Beta. Although I don’t think they were actually fighting, I think it was more of a small scuffle. But anyway, Alpha Marek is unconscious because Fabian accidentally shot him with a dart,” Lowell said.

“Is that true?” the mean wolf asked turning around to the young wolf in human form who just now run to them.

“Yes, Beta Robert. I was trying to shoot Patrick, to stop him from killing everyone, but he jumped out of the way and the dart hit Alpha Marek,” the young wolf explained.

“Shit, what a mess.” The Beta pinched the bridge of his nose. Then he looked up straight at Purr and his eyebrows crawled up his forehead. “Is that the rifle on Patrick’s neck?”

“Yes, Beta,” Purr’s Master answered. Suddenly a huge smile bloomed on Lowell’s face and tears of joy run down his face. “Purr is cognizant again. I think me being taken away shocked him out of his feral state.”

“Well, why isn’t he changing back then?” the beta asked.

“I don’t think he knows how to. Remember, he has never been able to shift before.”

“Oh.” The beta wolf scowled but said nothing more. Instead he turned to the two humans. “Could you please put away your weapons, officers? They’re unnecessary right now and they agitate Patrick, who is new to shifting and not in full control of himself right now.”

“What if he attacks us, though?” one of the officers braved a question.

“You’re not going to attack the officers, are you Purr?” His Master crooned and before he realized what he was doing Purr shook his head, no. Sneaky Master. “See, he said he won’t attack you. Now can we please all calm down and at least try and reach a compromise?” After another moment of hesitation, the policemen put away their weapons and everybody visibly relaxed.

“Lovely,” the beta said. “Now why don’t we go back into the mansion and discuss things like civilized beings. Fabian, Trent, you can carry the alpha. He’ll be one cranky wolf when he wakes up.”

Captive or Captor #12

* * * *

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.