-He reentered the room just in time to see the kitten shivering, doubled over, and hear him cry out in agony as four great black tentacles shot out of his back.-

Jack could only gape in shock. The old man, on the other paw, seemed unsurprised. He padded over to Hunter’s bed, unperturbed by the young panther’s new appendages, and picked the boy up in his arms.

“Lock the door,” he ordered. Jack obeyed automatically. Disobeying this man at this moment would have been unthinkable, not least because the young rabbit was more than a little scared of him.

The tentacles growing out of Hunter’s back whipped around violently, forcing Jack to keep his distance from the two panthers. Elder Sharpclaw calmly laid a paw on the kitten’s forehead and started… singing? No, it wasn’t exactly singing. Chanting, then, in the same strange language that Hunter had been murmuring in. Jack wondered what it meant.

Whatever it was, it seemed to be having some effect, though. Hunter’s wild thrashing slowed and then ceased entirely. The tentacles slowed to a gentle kind of waving in the air, as though blown by a light breeze. The old panther chanted for a little while longer and, one by one, each tentacle began to dissolve at the tip, turning as insubstantial as black smoke and wafting away as though they’d never been there to begin with. The only sign that they had ever been there were four small scars on the cub’s tattooed back where they had emerged.

The old man laid the little boy back down on the infirmary bed and sighed. “He will rest now for a while longer,” he said.

“He’s been sleeping all day, though,” said Jack.

“Sleeping, perhaps. Not resting.”

Jack nodded slowly, flopping into a chair. Suddenly, he felt exhausted himself. Now that the crisis seemed to have passed, he felt like he was coming out of a daze.

“Uh… Mr. Chief Sharpclaw, sir?” Jack had no idea how to address him, “…What was that? I’ve known Hunter for a long time now, and he’s never… you know.”

“That was something that should not ever happen. It is curious… unless…” The old panther suddenly gave Jack a hard, penetrating look. The rabbit shied back, sinking into his chair.

“…Unless what?”

The old man gestured at Hunter’s wrist. “Where did he get this?”

Hunter was wearing a spiky leather bracelet. Unconsciously, Jack started playing with the matching one on his own wrist. He’d worn it ever since that night. Ever since…

“H-he got it…” He gulped and tried to look away but found himself unable to, frozen under the old predator’s glare. He couldn’t lie. Not to those eyes. He winced, poking his finger on a spike. “He got it w-when we were coming home f-from a d-date. We tried to take a shortcut t-through an alley.

“There was someone there. Older boy. H-he used to b-bully me. He had a knife. I think he would have used it if Hunter hadn’t…” Jack broke off and started to sob.

“If Hunter hadn’t what?” The old panther didn’t sound angry, but his tone was very serious.

“P-please, sir. You have to understand, he was protecting me. He saved my life. It’s not his fault. Please don’t punish him…”

“Calm yourself, young one. You must tell me what he did.”

Jack wiped his eyes and took a deep breath. There was no getting out of it. He would just have to tell the truth and hope for the best.

“Hunter… ate him. He saved me,” Jack said, urgency rising in his voice. He had to make the old man understand. “This guy, he was about to… he was about to hurt me. Hunter saved me.”

The young rabbit glared his defiance at the old panther. For his part, Elder Sharpclaw merely looked pensive. He was silent for a long moment.

“I believe you,” he said at last, “I believe that our young warrior had only the best of intentions.”

The bun breathed a sigh of relief.

“However,” the Elder continued, “the fact remains that he knowingly and purposely devoured an anthro.”

Jack’s face fell.

“No, child, do not look at me like that. He will not be punished. There will be consequences, however.”

“Consequences? But you just said—“

“I said he would not be punished. He is of the Panther tribe, and predation is not against tribal law. That is the law to which he is subject, and that of which I am the final arbiter.”

Jack trembled a little. That meant, at least, that his boyfriend wasn’t going to get locked up, but it had certain other chilling implications that the rabbit wasn’t sure he liked. Could the Panther tribe truly just devour others with impunity?

“The consequences I speak of are biological and spiritual in nature, not legal,” the old man went on, “a predator who feeds on another anthro will desire to do so again. Hunter has awakened a hunger within himself that will never go away. He will have to face that hunger every single day for the rest of his life. It is possible that in time he may come to regard his decision to save you in that manner as a curse. I cannot say.”

That sent another chill up Jack’s spine. “And what about the… you know…” he spread his paws and wiggled his fingers.

The old man let out a long sigh. “It is difficult to explain to outsiders. Please bear with me. When Hunter was very young, little more than a baby, he fell deathly ill. His parents took him to every doctor they could fin; to dozens of specialists, but none of them could figure out what was wrong. All tests came back normal, negative for any major diseases, and yet the boy was still clearly suffering. By no means am I disparaging the medical community, but they were looking for the wrong kind of affliction.

“In desperation, having tried everything else, they brought him to me. Until then, neither of them had been very active in tribal affairs, but there was nothing left to try. I spent a long time looking him over, and determined that he was under attack by a malicious spirit, which was clinging to his spirit and draining it like a parasite. Yes, I see the look of disbelief on your face, but I promise you that I speak only the truth.

“It took me three solid days to exorcize the spirit, but when at last I finished, our young friend began to recover almost immediately. He did not survive completely unscathed, however. The aftereffects remained dormant, and they would have all his life, except…”

Jack swallowed. “…Except he ate someone.”

“Precisely. He is not entirely a normal boy. He isn’t even a normal predator.”

“And it’s all my fault.”

“No, child. This was always a possibility. It is the reason I ordered his father to raise him within the tribe. I needed to keep an eye on him. You are not to blame for any of this, but you need to know. He will be different now, and he will need you by his side.”

“Of course. I don’t care about weird shadow tentacles, not really. I care about Hunter.”

“Good. He will wake again soon. Please keep him calm until I return.”

Jack looked up. “Are you going to tell anyone? About… you know, I mean—“

But the old panther just stood up and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him with a firm click. He had not said where he was going, or why. Just like that, Jack was left alone with the young panther again. He sighed and placed a paw on Hunter’s forehead, sweeping the panther’s long headfur out of his eyes, and then yanked his paw away with a yelp. The other boy was burning up.

“Oh Hunter,” the rabbit murmured, “what are we going to do?”

No response, only a resounding silence.

“Please wake up. Just be okay and we can go home. It can be like none of this ever ha—“

The panther stirred.

“Hunter??”

The boy sat up like a shot. When he opened his eyes, his pupils were narrow slits in a sea of glowing yellow. He stared at the rabbit uncomprehendingly. His ears were flat to his head and his fur was standing on end. 

“…Hunter? It’s me, Jack, remember? Your boyfriend.”

Robotically, as though in a trance, the panther climbed out of the bed. At some point, his loincloth had become untied and it fell off, unheeded. He sniffed the air, his eyes darting left and right before settling again on Jack. He let out a low, menacing growl and doubled over as a pair of the same black tentacles from earlier shot out from his back. They whipped around him wildly, but aimlessly. His lips curled in a nasty looking snarl. Jack was used to seeing far more of Hunter’s teeth than any herbivore should be comfortable with, but he had never seen anything remotely like this expression on his lover’s face before. At least, not since that night…

Hunter took a step forward, and Jack took one back. The Panther tribe elder had told him to keep Hunter calm, but the panther boy didn’t seem to even recognize him. For a moment, the rabbit considered calling for help, but somehow he didn’t think there was anything anybody could do. Even if someone came, it would be too late. And worse, Hunter would be in even bigger trouble.

And that’s when he noticed it. In addition to everything else, Hunter had a raging boner. So did Jack, actually, but he scarcely even noticed. Trembling, the bun took a step forward and dropped down on one knee.

“My chief,” he said, placing a gentle paw on the the feral-minded kitten’s thigh, “please allow me to assist you.”

The wildly moving tentacles slowed and the young kitten seemed to relax ever so slightly. Jack adjusted himself into a more comfortable position and planted a kiss on Hunter’s shaft. He buried his muzzle deep in the panther’s pubic fur and inhaled deeply, making an extra show of submissiveness. He took a breath, then another, and a third before pulling back and taking Hunter’s pierced cock into his mouth, beginning to work his magic.

***

The Beast was awake. The Beast was starving. It took in its surroundings, every sense sharpened to a razor edge by hunger. It sniffed the air, taking in the scent of the little prey in front of it. The prey made a noise: Hunter. That sounded familiar. It sounded like him. He was the Hunter. He was hunger incarnate. He was power. 

A shiver ran up the Hunter’s spine as his power manifested itself physically, growing out of his back. The little prey cowered before him. As it should. As all prey should. As all prey would. It was all so clear to him. Even the prey acknowledged his superiority. It knelt before him in supplication.

Good. That was the natural place for prey. Beneath him. Worshipping his superior feline body. Feeding themselves to it, adding themselves to his glory. That was the natural order of this world.

A sudden feeling on the Hunter’s glorious cock. The prey was kissing it. And now it was taking it into its mouth. Yes. A new wave of pleasure washed over the Beast, momentarily distracting him from his vainglorious musings.

The feeling of the muzzle around his cock, the prey gently sucking, was glorious, even transcendent… and familiar. As the wonderful sensation overtook him, it all started to come rushing back.  The boy sucking his cock wasn’t some anonymous prey, that was Jack. His boyfriend Jack. Whom he loved. He wasn’t the Hunter, some unspeakably perverted predator god figure, he was just Hunter. Just a perfect superior Beast no, just a boy who loved another boy and who would crush all who opposed him no, who had responsibilities to his tribe. He wasn’t a beast, he was a boy. He would make his tribe proud.

What in the name of all the gods had he been thinking? The unfamiliar thoughts receded. His tentacles slowed their movements and soon stopped moving, drooping down and vanishing one by one in a puff of smoke.

He placed a paw on Jacks head. The rabbit flinched, and it felt like a dagger pierced Hunter’s heart. He stroked his boyfriend’s headfur and the bun finally relaxed. Hunter was back, he was himself again, and now they could both just enjoy this. He moaned happily and just relaxed. However, the strange feelings, while minimal, were not entirely gone. Continually, the darkness rose inside him and continually he pushed it back down. Every dark impulse made his cock throb harder. He is mine. He is my boyfriend. He is my property. I love him. He is my prey. Throb. He is my toy. Throb. He is my prey. Throb. I must claim him. He is mine.

With a sudden growl of pleasure, the panther boy came harder than he ever had in his young life. The Beast inside him pounded its chest and roared in triumph. It had won a small victory, and so it fell silent.

It turned out to be a little too much for Jack to handle. The poor rabbit did his best to keep up with the volume of it, but he had to pull off to take a breath, so his face ended up getting painted by rope after rope of hot predator seed. Hunter shouldn’t even have been capable of that volume. Something was definitely not normal about him. 

“…Hunter?” Jack asked while the panther caught bis breath, “is that you in there?”

“…Yes. It’s me. I’m me. Jack, I—” He was cut off when the bun sprang up and threw his arms around him, hugging him tight.

“It’s okay Hunter. It’s okay, as long as you’re you.”

Jack let go of Hunter and slid back down to the ground. He suddenly looked very tired. They stayed like that for a while, Jack looking exhausted, Hunter trying to fight the immense feeling of guilt over what he might have done. They were still like that when Elder Sharpclaw opened the door. Hunter and Jack’s head snapped around in unison.

There was silence for a long moment as the tribal elder stared at the boys — one more naked even than usual and the other very obviously covered in semen.

“…I see,” he said at last, his face betraying nothing, “get cleaned up, boys. Put your loincloth back on, Hunter. It is time for you to go home.”

“Yessir!” said Hunter, bowing low and grabbing his loincloth, tying it on backwards in his haste, then having to redo it as Jack ran over to the sink and frantically washed his face.

“Are you well, young one?” The old panther put a paw on the younger one’s shoulder.

“I am now, Elder. I deeply apologize for the trouble I have caused for you, for everyone.”

“Hush, kitten. Do not apologize for matters beyond your control. You were ill, and now you are well, that is all that matters. It has become clear, however, that you will require special training. From this moment forth, Hunter Sharpfang, I will be responsible for your education.”

Hunter blinked. Had he heard that right? What kind of training could this be?

“You, Elder? But… are you not already busy with more important matters?”

“There is no more important matter than learning, young warrior.” The old man said it with a completely serious face, but Hunter somehow felt like he was being made fun of.

“Does this mean I am being pulled out of school?”

“That we may decide at a later time. For now, you will see me for an hour or two after school every day. If I decide you need more training… we shall see. Now, it is long past time for us all to go home, boys.”

***

“Are you sure you’re alright, dear?” Mrs. Sharpfang sounded concerned. Hunter was on his fifth helping of dinner and was gulping it down like he’d never seen food before. He felt like he was still starving, even as his belly started to visibly bulge out, he still didn’t feel full. He stopped eating long enough to nod, and his stomach growled loudly.

“Son, do you want to talk about what happened at school today?” Mr. Sharpfang asked.

The cub swallowed and put his fork down, looking up at his father. He’d kept quiet about it, he didn’t know how much the elder had told them, if anything at all.

“I… don’t really understand what happened, to tell you the truth. I’m better now, though. It’s okay.”

His parents shot each other a look. They didn’t believe him, obviously.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it. Just remember, Elder Sharpclaw will be here tomorrow to check up on you, so come straight home, okay? And be on your best behaviour while he’s here.”

“I know, mom. I will. I would not bring dishonour to our family by embarrassing us in front of the elder,” more than I have already, he thought in the privacy of his own head. He still cringed at the memory of how he and Jack had been.. found, but not as much as he did about how he had been behaving at the time. Thoughts and behaviour completely unbecoming of a panther. What he had almost done to Jack…

He pushed his plate away suddenly. “I think I’ve had enough now”

“Finally, you’re going to eat us out of house and home at this rate,” his dad said with a chuckle. It was meant as a joke, but it only made Hunter’s guilt worse. He was, actually, still hungry.

He got up, dropped his dishes in the sink, and padded upstairs to his room and sat down on the bed. He pulled out his phone and opened the messaging app with a sigh, tapping on his most recent conversation with Jack. His screen filled up with messages he’d sent the bun on the way home, all variations on “I’m sorry.” None of them had been read. He fell sideways onto his pillow, his golden eyes blurring with tears. He’d really screwed up. It might not have been his fault, but it was his responsibility, and he didn’t know if Jack hated him now, or if—

bzzt.

bzzt.

Hunter blinked and looked at his phone. He swiped it open.

J: hey don’t worry about it, u didn’t hurt me

H: yeah but I scared you

J: wasnt really u, was it? ur elder told me all about it

J: its cool

J: still luv u <3

H: love you too, I just…

J: its fine Hunt, its fine

J: sry I didnt answer, mom makes me turn my phone off til im done homework :(

H: right, forgot she does that

J: ya it sux

J: u doin ok?

H: yeah, starving tho

J: we’ll have to find u some1 else 2 eat jk jk

H: dont say things like that!!

J: well as long as its another asshole idc

J: just let me watch

H: WAT??

J: jk jk… unless…?

H: jack lapin i swear to all the gods…

J: gtg, see u at school. Love u <3 <3 <3

Hunter sighed, but he was actually feeling a lot better. Jack always had a way of cheering him up. And he still loved him, even after what he’d almost done. Now he just had to make sense of everything else that was suddenly going on in his life. His memories of the day were hazy, except for the dream which was too vivid to be a dream. Who had that warrior been? And why had he felt… that way after waking up? And why did his back ache?

He got up and padded into the washroom, he’d worry about all that tomorrow. As he looked at himself in the mirror, getting ready to brush his teeth, he noticed that they seemed to be even longer and sharper than they had been. And his fur had a new sheen to it…