A new mate

Misty and Kason ripped the doors to the cells open. Seeing an opportunity, people rushed out, heading as fast as they could for the exit. In the chaos of it all, the priestess was nowhere to be found. Misty cursed under her breath. She wanted to know more about her intentions and the Cixin Syndicate.

In the last cell was a young woman who had a tiny baby in her arms. Misty scowled at how emaciated mother and child were as she led her out of the cell. The Cixin Syndicate was too cruel. No one deserved to be treated this way. She would ask Jay and his family when she saw them again for more information.

"Misty!" She whipped her head around. Jay stood in the entrance of the corridor. Misty eyes stung as she suppressed her tears. She ran over and jumped into his arms. He clung to her as if she could disappear in a moment. His lips sought hers and ravaged her mouth. She could barely breathe, and she clung to him to keep from falling as her knees went weak.

"This isn't the place for this." Kason growled. "They could come back with reinforcements." Jay pulled away from her and looked Kason up and down.

"Damn, you look terrible!"

"That happens when you are stuck in a cell and tortured."

"The Cixin Syndicate did this?"

"Yeah."

"We can talk more when we get out of here."

After checking the dungeons one last time, the group headed up to the surface. There, Jay took charge of the people who didn't run off or were too weak from their time in the dungeon. It wasn't long before they were joined by warriors from the town led by Leon.

Leon and Jay worked together to organize transportation for everyone. The warriors went into the caverns to make sure that nothing was missed. Misty was exhausted, and Kason offered to let her lay her head on his shoulder.

It took awhile for Jay to turn over everything to his father and come over to Misty and Kason. By this time, she had fallen asleep.

"Thank you for looking after my mate." Kason looked up to Jay. He hesitated for a moment, unsure if he should tell Jay about what had happened in the jail.

"Jay, I... " Kason looked down at Misty.

"What happened down there?" Kason told Jay about getting caught by the Syndicate and everything he had gone through, including the mana leech stone.

"You have been missing for months. We thought you died."

"I probably would have if not for Misty. She broke the leech."

"I've never known anyone able to do that. How did she manage it?"

"She said that the only way to break it was with a more powerful contract." Kason paused and tried to find the words, but Jay was quick to understand what that meant. He growled deep in his chest, and his hands shifted into talons.

He balled his hands to the side and tried to calm his inner animal nature. He wanted to destroy Kason for daring to touch his mate, but he remembered his conversation with Misty at the temple.

"Misty triggered the Mate contract with you." Kason nodded.

"It was the only way to break the leech." Misty said. She yawned and looked up at Jay. She could see that Jay was struggling to control his anger and jealousy. She knew that part of that was because they were still newly mated. They hadn't had enough time to really develop a relationship, and now he had a rival that threatened to unbalance his place in her life.

She stood and walked over to Jay and pulled him into an embrace.

"I'm sorry I wasn't able to talk to you first. What we have is new, and now there is more." She looked over to Kason. "I am asking you to give me time and trust me."

Jay and Kason nodded their heads.

"What I want to know is who is the Cixin Syndicate? Why did they try to kidnap me?" Jay was about to speak when Kason stood and held hand up to stop him.

"It may be better to wait to talk till we are back home. There could be ears around us that could hear." Kason looked around and Misty felt a sudden shiver at of fear from him. Jay was also unsettled and looked around. Misty sighed. She may be some kind of overpowered transmigrator, but she still didn't know anything about this world.

"Then are we good to leave? You dad seems to have everything handled."

"Yes, let me just let him know and we can get out of here." Jay ran over to his father and after talking to him briefly came back.

"Misty, are you alright to ride on by beast form?" Misty smiled and nodded. Jay hadn't turned into a jaguar since their first meeting so she was really curious about his beast form. "Kason, do you think you can keep up?" Kason nodded.

Jay and Kason leaned their heads back and their forms went hazy. Misty thought there would be a direct evolution from man to beast, but this was more of a magical transformation. Beauty and the Beast had been a favorite from her old world and she remembered the last scene before the beast became human. The transformation in this world had a lot less sparkles and glamor. Just a blur between man and beast. And their clothes could shift with them. She guessed that it would be difficult to wear clothes if they ripped off every time someone shifted, but she had a feeling that some beasts prefered not to shift with clothes. She blushed at her fanciful thoughts.

Jay was huge, almost bigger than a horse. His sleek fur was beautiful and Misty couldn't help but compare it to her childhood cat. She wondered if it was as soft to pet. Kason's wolf form was almost as big. He had gray and black fur, like his hair. Where Jay was long and sleek, Kason was shorter and fluffier. Maybe it was because he hadn't had a haircut in a long time, but he was covered in fur.

Misty climbed on top of Jay and settled in, wrapping her hands around his neck and pressing her body tightly to his. Jay took off slowly as Misty got used to his movements. After letting her settle in, he picked up the pace as Kason followed behind them.