{26} Hush, Howl
Darren
I bolted through the forest in haste, tracking down the scent that I picked up a while ago. I felt bad for leaving Sapphire on her birthday, but if it weren’t for those dumb birds we should’ve been celebrating up until now. But look on the bright side, I got to kiss her before I left.
My paws stroke the snow-filled ground with a powerful force as I exerted to my full speed. The scent was coming closer, I know that he’s near. And he’s just around the corner. I slowed down to the spot where I can smell his scent in the strongest. I sniffed the trees, the ground, but it ends here.
Silence echoed from the forest, the gentle blow of the wind dominated my senses. The fall of white snow continued still without any interruption.
A thump came behind me and I spun around instinctively, baring my teeth. And there he was, my old enemy. Jet black hair grown long but cut shortly before it reached his shoulders, ice-cold blue eyes, slightly tanned skin and the identical abs as mine. No matter what, I’m still better.
“Nice to see you again.” He said, a lopsided grin tugging on the right corner of his lips. “What took you so long?” he began circling me like a predator, so I decided to shift back in my human form. “I’ve been waiting for you a long time. Seriously,” He had a hint of amusement in his voice. “You still got to kiss that girl?” He huffed. “Who is she anyway?”
“That’s none of your business.” I snapped, glaring at him with a blazing intensity.
“Oh, snappy.” He snapped his fingers at me, his facial expression darkening to an unfathomable appearance. “Didn’t you ever learn to not ever get involved with girls? Huh?” He leaned towards me, striding long steps. “You’ll only put her life into danger.”
I growled. “Dumb bird. You’ll never hurt her. Not when I’m around.” I retaliated. “Where is the rest of your kind?”
“Yeah, right.” He backed away. “Don’t you remember what I did to your sister?” He grinned as anger boiled in my veins. My fists clenched and unclenched, my knuckles itching to make a hard contact against his face.
“Don’t you even dare . . .” I did not get to finish my sentence because he began speaking again.
“Yeah, yeah.” He rolled his eyes. “Took advantage of her, broke her heart . . . took her virginity and killed her. Simple as that.” He taunted.
I growled and leaped at him, shifting in my wolf form in the process. I tackled him to the ground and swiped my paws across his face, leaving long, open wounds in his face. He eventually decided to strike back by using his fists to punch me on the snout. The blow nearly knocked me over. The strength he exerted had caused me to stumble backwards away from him, giving him a chance to stand back up on his feet and shift into his bird form.
His fingers webbed like those of a frog, but his nails extended and turned into talons. Some extra skin grew down his arm, feathers popping out of him suddenly. His face grew longer, a beak growing in place. His eyes turned into slits, glowing yellow. His feet shrank, turned into those of an eagle’s.
I growled at him as we began circling each other. He snapped his beak at me as a sign that he won’t back down. I bared my teeth at him in return, my chest reverberating with another growl that escaped my throat.
I used my mind waves to be able to talk to him. Knowing that the alpha blood flows in me, allowing me to communicate with other beings as such—like him. “You! You and your filthy flock! Dare to destroy the peace and harmony that now exists between my pack! You dare hurt them, or her, you’ll have to get to me first. It has happened once, never shall I allow it to repeat again!”
