In his many centuries of existence, Isom had never pledged himself to anyone’s service. Not before Wil. The idea of a proud and fierce apex predator serving anyone had been absurd. Until it wasn’t.

Right from the beginning, Wil smelled different. Seven hundred years had passed in Faerie before the rift opened. Which meant that it had been about seven hundred and thirty years, give or take a decade, since he’d last eaten a wizard. Even so, the memory of the time he’d earned the ability to teleport short distances remained strong. That wizard had been among the best of his time, but his power paled in comparison to Wil. He wasn’t easy prey, which made him the perfect prey.

Until he wasn’t.

Rather than get ambushed and eaten quickly, he’d fought Isom off and delivered a nasty blow that took a few days' rest to get over. After that, the wampus cat approached it cautiously, waiting for another chance to strike. And each time he tried, he lost.

Normally that wouldn’t matter much. In the wild, losing a fight could mean dying, and no matter how much Isom threatened the wizard, he only ever got driven away. Which led to a realization: Wil was a stronger predator, and he treated it like a game.

Isom wasn’t stupid, but he wasn’t much of a thinker either. Following the humans back to Harper Valley hadn’t been a choice so much as a compulsion. He and Wil had unfinished business. That’s what he told himself, at least.

Truth was, he had been curious. What kind of apex predator didn’t finish off their opponents, and went around doing things for the weak? Wil and his kind were obviously social creatures and functioned as a colony, not unlike some of Isom’s cousins who hunted in packs and took care of each other. So he watched the wizard, following just out of sight in order to better understand him.

That never happened, but instead he saw the other wizard come into town and throw his power around, acting every bit the fighter Isom craved pitting himself against. At least, he thought so. When he challenged Wil at the feast, it had been as much out of frustration as a desire to fight and prove to himself what he had suspected since their first meeting: Isom couldn’t win.

It hadn’t mattered. There was a joy in the fight, in playing with someone who was evenly matched or better, and knowing that no matter how many times the game went on, it wouldn’t end. It was an opponent that wouldn’t kill, but would at least play. For the first time in his long life, after years of hunting and fighting, Isom found a friend.

And then, trapped after losing once more, Isom was helpless as the mage Hugo broke his mind.

He didn’t like thinking of that period of time, where life was like a dream controlled by someone else. It had been like watching himself from outside, unable to affect anything or even scream.

And then Wil had saved him, but not only that. He allowed Isom his revenge, and then healed him. After he recovered, what else could the proud wampus cat do but dedicate a few decades to the first person who had embraced him without bending to him at all.

Sure, Isom gave the wizard as much trouble as he could. It was fun, and he really did need as much meat and stimulation as he could get. The wizard was great about letting Isom run around and hunt in the woods as much as he needed, but the wampus cat cared about his oath, and his duty.

Which brought him to tonight, when Wil and his pack went for yet another celebratory dinner. Isom didn’t fully understand the point of what they were doing, but it made them happy and it made them vulnerable. They left, and it was up to him to guard their home against all intruders, as he did most nights he wasn’t hunting.

The three story den had tons of people come by at all hours to gawk and bask in his master’s seat of power. The majority of them could be scared off by a growl, or a whisper in their mind. Isom had all kinds of places to hide and stalk in, from the roof of the house to the trees surrounding it, and even a few choice places along the road, behind brick walls where plants grew and framed the walkway.

He’d been lightly napping behind one of these walls when a trio of people approached Wil’s house. The moment they came into Isom’s range, his eyes shot open and he listened in.

…stupid wizard, thinks he can get away with…

This is a bad idea. We’re going to get in trouble, but after what he did…

His home doesn’t have much in the way of defense. This should be easy.

Slowly, Isom peeked his head over the wall. Three humans stood in front of Wil’s house, looking up at it. An older man looking around nervously, a beefy one Isom immediately wanted to taste, and a stony woman glaring at the house. Three wizards, all blatantly thinking about trespassing on Isom’s territory. Wil had been very clear about what he could do while defending the house. The wampus cat licked his chops in anticipation.

“How long is this going to take?” Mark hissed to McGinnis. “We don’t know how long they’ll be gone, and we shouldn’t be here anyway. Elliot is this close to pulling the plug on things as is.”

“Please,” McGinnis scoffed. “He’s all talk. We’re doing good work, and he can’t afford to lose us now. Not when the president and others are coming. If we can get inside, maybe we can destroy their notes and evidence they got there first. And it’ll serve that bastard McKenzie right for what he did to me.”

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“Maybe you shouldn’t have antagonized him,” said Gayle. “Seems to me you had that one coming.”

“Who’s side are you on, Gayle? You don’t want to be here, you can leave!” McGinnis snapped.

“I didn’t say that,” she muttered. “He shouldn’t have embarrassed us like that.”

Well, this was just perfect. Isom almost wanted to thank them. Instead, he jumped up to the wall, and then leaped through the air. He disappeared from view right as Gayle’s head shot around to look where he’d been. He reappeared in the branches of a tree above them and pondered who he should take out first.

“What was that?” Gayle hissed.

“What was what?” Mark looked around frantically. He stroked his short beard again and again. He was the weak link, Isom decided. He wouldn’t be a threat, but if he took him out early…

It was nothing.” McGinnis turned around. “You’re imagining things. The wards haven’t been activated. It’ll only take me a few minutes to break through them. Just shut up a minute and let me work.” Ooh, he’d be distracted.

Isom resisted the urge to purr. Only one of them was wary enough to be a bad target. One didn’t care, and the other reeked of fear. He bunched up his muscles, ready to strike.

All three of the wizards inhaled sharply. As soon as Isom made up his mind to strike, they reacted, much like how Wil did. Just as they looked up, Isom jumped and disappeared into another tree. The branch he’d been standing on swayed violently.

“There’s something wrong here,” Mark said. “Tell me you didn’t feel that.”

“I felt it,” Gayle confirmed. “Something’s watching us.”

“It’s just an illusion.” McGinnis laughed suddenly, as if catching onto a joke. “McKenzie’s a master of them. I bet he has more than just wards here. Be careful about what you see or hear, it’s probably just there to scare you off and isn’t real.”

Isom couldn’t have been more delighted. Prey that helped him stay hidden. He watched in amusement as the three tinkered with the magic tied into the house. As a member of the fae, he could vaguely sense that there was magic tied to the house, but not the nature of it. A few minutes later, that magic disappeared.

“There we go. As good as he is, those wards were child’s play,” said McGinnis. “I don’t expect anything dangerous here. He’s not half of what people say he is.”

“And yet he got under your skin,” Gayle muttered. McGinnis didn’t respond other than to go up the walkway to Wil’s house, and magically unlock the door.

Well, that was Isom’s cue. He jumped and disappeared, only to land on the roof. He went in through the tower bedroom’s open window and stayed low. He slinked through the door and crept down the stairs to the second story as the wizards entered.

“His office is over here,” Mark said. “I’ll check that out.”

“Gayle, you should check the basement,” McGinnis said. “I’ll poke around upstairs. Be back here in ten minutes with whatever you find.”

Splitting up would make it so much easier to deal with them, but Isom wanted a challenge. He crept up to the top of the stairs and inhaled deeply. The taste was always the real cost of using this ability, but the chaos and fear it caused was worth it. He exhaled a poison fog down the stairs, settling at the landing where the wizards waited.

McGinnis opened his mouth to say something and got a whiff of the poison. He coughed, at first light and surprised but then deep and wracking as he couldn’t breathe. The other two were no better, though Mark managed to cover his mouth with a spell to filter the poison out. Gayle already ran out the door.

You shouldn’t have come here. Isom delighted in the way they jerked as his words entered their minds directly. Their thoughts turned to fear, and then they dismissed it. Just another McKenzie illusion. Isom leaned into it and let out his loudest roar, rattling the walls with his call.

“Wait…” Mark said, voice distorted by his spell. “That’s not an illusion. That’s…”

Isom appeared in front of him out of nowhere. He landed on the wizard and tackled him to the ground. His middle paws wrapped around the wizard’s front while his front claws raked lines into his side. His teeth snapped right in front of his face and he roared again, mentally crowing as the wizard relieved himself on the spot.

Heat bloomed to his side and then seared his skin. Still coughing, McGinnis projected a flame his way. Isom leaped to the side and disappeared, and the flames danced over a screaming Mark.

Isom reappeared outside, where Gayle waited. Her eyes were wide and she tried to catch him by opening the earth around him, but he knew that move already. He leaped up and pounced at her. Right as she raised her arms to defend herself with a hissing, violent glyph in the air, Isom teleported behind her and crashed into her. He sunk his teeth in her shoulder and shook violently.

Fear and blood, the best tastes in the world. The wampus cat’s heart sang as he gnawed on her bone. Then another blast of fire came out and he jumped away, projecting his voice behind McGinnis. “Do you still think I’m an illusion, wizard? I’m going to drink the marrow from your bones!”

And then he disappeared again, landing on the roof above them. In the dark night, he blended against the pain. He watched and waited as McGinnis helped Gayle up. The stony faced woman breathed hard, nearly hyperventilating as she cradled her wounded arm. Isom enjoyed her taste while she looked around in terror.

“Get a hold of yourself,” McGinnis barked. “It’s just one weird cat. How bad could it be?”

Mark staggered out of the house. “We need to leave.”

“No!”

Isom helped them along by breathing another blast of poison down on them. They weren’t prepared again, and Isom jumped down. He chomped down on Mark’s leg and dragged him to the ground.

Coughing and hacking, McGinnis and Gayle looked up in time to see Mark disappear into the house as Isom dragged him in. His scream cut off suddenly, replaced by hideous laughter right into their minds.

Isom didn’t need to be able to read their thoughts to know when they gave up. McGinnis and Gayle ran from the house as fast as their legs could take them, while the wizard underneath Isom gathered the power for a spell. He released his leg and wrapped his fangs around the wizard’s throat.

We’re going to wait a while, you and I. Isom purred, letting his teeth carry the vibrations against his prey’s skin. You shouldn’t have come here. But I’m so glad you did. Please, struggle. I’m so hungry.