“You’re WHAT?” Giles asked half rising out of his seat as the others, including Spike, gaped at her in shock.
“Immortal.” Buffy said calmly, making a split second decision. “I’m part of some ancient game where other immortals go preying mantis on one another in hopes of being the last Immortal standing.”
“You have to kill one another during…you know?” Willow asked, visibly flinching when Spike let out a vicious growl.
“No, it’s a removing each other’s heads kind of deal.” Buffy said, stoking Spike’s arm while she began to explain the rules of the game.
“You are going to kill humans.” Angel said coldly, not bothering to keep his disapproval out of his voice.
“That’s right Angel, I willingly signed up to become a mass murder.” Buffy said snidely. “Oh wait, once again I wasn’t given a choice in the matter.”
“I didn’t mean it that way Buffy.” Angel said realizing that attitude would not get her back into his life, especially since he knew Spike must be thrilled at the idea of her becoming a murderer. “But you don’t have to participate, you can move somewhere and remain on holy ground.”
“Brilliant plan Angel, I’ll just spend eternity hanging out on holy ground…maybe I’ll take up knitting to pass the time.” She shook her head, mentally patting herself on the back for predicting how Angel was going to handle this news.
“It’s better than becoming a killer.” Angel told her pointedly, wishing she’d grow up a little. He knew she was older than her years but she had a habit of acting like a spoiled child when someone pointed out something she didn’t want to hear.
“Get it through your head you git, if she doesn’t play some complete wanker could win and use all that power to cause a little mayhem“ Spike said in his most patronizing voice. He felt a tingle trip down his spine and turned to look at his girl.
“I love you.” She admitted with a dazzling smile that could shame the sun before turning to look at the others. She should have known he’d understand now all that was left to do was to convince the others. “That’s exactly why I have to participate. Whistler said the same thing Spike just did and they’re right. I don‘t care about being all uber-powerful but I do care about what would happen if the wrong kind of person wins. I’m not going to go around killing but I will do what needs to be done if an evil immortal crosses my path. End of story, this isn’t up for discussion or debate. It’s hard enough accepting it myself, so I understand if any of you can’t deal with this but it’s something I have to do.”
“No Buff, that’s not gonna cut it this time! You…” Xander said breaking off suddenly when a golden blur leaped at him, knocking him out of the chair and onto the floor. Looking up he expected to see Spike, only to find himself staring into Buffy’s yellow eyes as she pinned him to the floor a deep menacing growl rumbling out of her chest.
Before anyone could intervene, Spike stood up and moved to stand just behind the couple on the floor. With his eyes on the others, he lowered his voice to a firm but calming tone. “Xander, she sees you as her cub, her childe and right now her demon is not happy. Lower your eyes and keep them lowered, try to regulate your breathing before you sodden pass out but let her smell your fear. It will calm her down..”
Doing as Spike said, Xander looked down but had no idea how to let her smell his fear. So he tried thinking of her ripping him apart, of vampires feeding on his friends while he watched on helplessly and every other scary thing he could think of in hopes that he’d get out of this in one piece.
After several excruciatingly long minutes he felt more than saw her lower her body against his and when her teeth lightly nipped into his neck he couldn’t hold back a slight yelp. But instead of her tearing into him, he could feel a soft rumble vibrating against his chest as she slowly, rubbed her cheek against his neck, nuzzling him. It didn’t make him any less scared but he was having trouble not finding this highly arousing. The more her trim body moved against his, it was getting harder and harder not to live out his fantasy so he did the only thing he could do. “Spike…uh could you help me out here.” He asked quietly, unable to keep the desperation out of his voice.
“Calm down Whelp, she’s marking you as her cub.” Spike said finding the whole thing highly amusing. He could smell the way the boy was reacting to his mate’s touch but he knew through their bond that she was being soothed by the act. “Her emotions have been all over the place since this all happened and that brings out the beast in her but you’re helping her relax. You’re calming her and if I or anyone else try to interfere, we’ll just get snarled at most likely. So buck up mate but keep your hands to yourself.”
“Will she hurt me.” Xander asked squirming softly when her hand traced down his side, where he was very ticklish.
“No but I might if you don’t behave yourself.” Spike said in a teasing tone despite the fact he was dead serious.
“Umm Buffy, this really tickles…I…uh…promise to be a good cub.” Xander said, knowing full well that if she kept it up much longer he’d embarrass himself. He was already painfully hard and her wriggling was about to take care of that.
Coming back to herself Buffy quickly climbed off of him and sent him an apologetic smile. “Sorry Xand…it looks like my demon and I have some work to do yet.”
“No problem Buff.” Xander said, quickly picking up his chair. With a speed he didn’t normally possess he flopped down and scooted it under the table, hoping against hope that no-one would notice his erection straining against his jeans. But as uncomfortable as the whole thing had been, her little display soothed him as well. He was worried about Buffy pulling away from him, them all and adding Spike to the mix only made it worse but the way he saw it, she wouldn’t have reacted that way if she didn’t care about him a lot. He knew his crush would never amount to anything but being her ‘cub’ sounded like a pretty permanent part of her life. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you I guess. You already got a crappy deal, I don‘t need to make it worse.”
“You can say that again.” She admitted as Spike sat back down and pulled her into his lap. “But on the plus side, my inner kitty cat is all happy and purring now so maybe I won’t pounce on Willow and embarrass myself any more tonight.”
“You’re demon is a cat?” Giles said finally putting it all together and more than a little curious about what he had just witnessed.
“I got this metal picture before I woke up and it was this long lean cat, way bigger than your standard tabby.” Buffy said trying to picture it in her mind; inadvertently tapping into her beast. “Will and Xand are my cubs, to protect and train. Angel is pack, Alpha but not dominate. You are pack but a shadow man…guide.”
Letting lose a deep growl, she buried her face in Spike’s neck and before she even realized it, her canines had lengthened and sank into his neck like needles.
Spike jolted at the sudden bite but when she lapped at the wound, his entire body began to tingle with lust and power. Wrapping his arms around her, he forgot their audience and let out a moan as his eyes fluttered closed from the sensations filling him. “Bloody hell luv.” He gasped out, shifting her body so that she was straddling him. Jerking his hips up as the smell of her arousal flooded around him he was about to take her right then and there, when the sound of someone furiously clearing their throat penetrated his mind.
Wanting to get this over with so he could get her home and shag her properly, Spike gently eased her away. “Pet, let’s get this meeting done so we can pick this up late, yeah.”
Flushing furiously, Buffy turned back around and muttered meekly. “And ahh…Spike’s my mate.”
Giles had noticed the way her eyes had changed and knew that it was her demon rising to the surface, so he knew her behavior had been affected by that. But by the way Spike had once again handled the situation, Giles couldn’t help feeling relieved that she had someone to help her deal with the transition. “I suggest we conclude this meeting for the night. You’ve been through a great deal and apparently the more emotional charged you become, the less control you have over your animal side. I‘ll research tonight and we can discuss this more tomorrow.”
Spike shot Giles a look that clearly said he had just made his day. “You heard the man luv, let’s go home.”
Before she could nod, he stood up leaving her no choice but to cling to him or fall to the floor.
Smirking, he nodded at her friends and sent a cheeky wink towards Angel before heading towards the door. “See you tomorrow, gotta get my kitten all tucked in for the night.”
Buffy was about to insist he put her down so they could talk some more but then his hands reached up and grabbed her ass. No way she was staying here, she decided letting out a fake yawn. “I’m really tired guys, Spike’s gonna take me to bed…I mean home. You know cuz I’m really tired…long day and all.”
Xander waited until they had left the library, before looking at Willow. “See I told you Will, she’d be snuggling with her honey in no time.”
“You were talking about Angel.” Willow reminded him but inside she actually though Spike and Buffy were kinda cute together…not that she could say that with Angel sitting there looking like a crushed puppy.
“Okay but you gotta admit, she looked happy.” Xander said getting to his feet and getting his stuff.