Hours later when the lazy moon had begun to set, and was hiding its face behind the clouds, Jupiter stumbled into his den and staggered around until he found his throne chair and sat down. He sat there, floating in a netherworld between man and animal for several minutes when a name came floating into his subconscious.

“Van?” he mumbled as he still felt himself floating.

It was a name he’d heard before, but why couldn’t he put the name with the face? He shook his head to try and rid himself of the fog of temporary memory lapse, and looked around. The den was quiet except for the rippling of water, the soft breezes that stirred the leaves of the trees, and then suddenly, he saw something.

“Oh, God, no!”

There, on the floor, he saw a body. He jumped up and ran over to it. “Oh, my God, it’s Van!”

His throat was almost slashed to ribbons, and blood was everywhere.

“Who --”

And then he looked down at himself. His nude body was covered with blood! He could smell it all over him! Realizing he had killed Van, he let out a tormented yell. He wasn’t surprised by his animalistic act, or the gory bloodbath he saw. It was Van’s dead face, his bloody throat, and his dead eyes open and staring at nothing that tore at Jupiter’s insides. But why? Why had he killed him? The moon wasn’t full.

And then he knew.

Oh, my God, this was a blood feud, a grudge! He had known what he was doing! Remembering his involvement with Shane, and knowing he might try and take Shane away from him, he went after him.

He’d been thinking about this for several minutes when he heard someone outside the door. Moving swiftly, he jumped up and dragged Van’s body to an alcove in the back of his jungle, and then covered up the blood the best he could. He was still in back when he heard Shane open the door and walk in.

“Jupiter!” he called out. “Are you in here?”

Jupiter stayed still, hiding among the debris and thick brush. He couldn’t let Shane see him like this, so he waited until Shane left to come out of his hiding place.

When he was finally gone, he hurried over to a shower he’d had installed when he first bought the place, and stood under the hot, cleansing spray until he was rid of every speck of blood and flesh. When he felt clean enough, he came out, wrapped himself in a towel, and sat on the tree throne, wondering what he was going to do. He had only two choices. He could lie and tell Shane that he hadn’t seen Van, or he could tell him the truth.

And then a thought came to him.

Even in his human form, the beast in him was just beneath the surface, being ruled by his lust. Just the desire for a fuck, or even a kill could send him into the streets to search for any prey. On nights like this he didn’t know love and couldn’t be with those he loved. He was more predator than lover with no memory of what had happened. Tonight, when he found Van, he had no memory of killing him, but he knew the reason for the killing. Shane!

He looked around at this simulated jungle, knowing that nights such as these were the reasons for this place. It was his own private den -- his hideaway -- his hell. It was a place that no one could know about. He felt a deep dread enter his soul when he thought of how much danger Shane was in because he had discovered his jungle. The door was usually locked, but tonight he’d forgotten.

What if he forgot again?

When he remembered Van’s body lying among all that blood, in his mind Van’s face slowly changed into Shane’s.

A chill crawled up Jupiter’s spine.