Wings of War (Book 2 of Dark Wing Collective Series)

1. Royal Welcome

Rieka's eyes darted back and forth through the trees. It was quiet. Too quiet. 

The sun had started to set on the horizon and the remaining rays of sun cast deep shadows through the forest. Rieka could feel eyes watching her as she carefully made her way through the tall pine trees. 

A swoosh of air brushed past her a few yards away... the wind rustling the leaves, making it harder to hear the soft steps as they rushed towards her. 

Rieka's eyes glowed white as her wolf Rayna came to the surface, giving Rieka a burst of speed, turning at the last second just to be tackled by a large snarling wolf!

Rieka used her wolf strength to use her momentum to flip the wolf off her and quickly get on her feet. The dark brown wolf recovered quickly and snapped his massive jaw at Rieka- a warning shot. 

The wolf started to step towards Rieka, growling and baring his teeth. She widened her stance, getting into a defensive position. 

A twig snapped behind her and she ducked quickly as a black blur swooshed past her head and ran into the wolf! They tumbled and flailed- a discombobulated ball of yelps and groans. Once the dust settled, Rieka cautiously walked up to where they disappeared and started laughing. 

Pierce's jaguar and Jax, her brother Jason's wolf, had gotten themselves tangled in thorny bramble bushes. They yelped and growled as they kept trying to untangle themselves, all the while cutting and scraping their fur on the thorns. 

Once they finally freed themselves, the guys shifted back- small red scratches and lacerations all over their body which had already begun to heal, and leaves in their hair. 

"That wasn't fair..:" Jason rubbed his butt and glared at Rieka who was still chuckling at their expense. 

"Oh please," Rieka rolled her eyes, "I had NO idea those bushes were there. Besides, you two need to be more aware of your positioning if you're going to gang up on a target. If they're fast like me, you two running into each other is bound to happen if you don't take precautions."

Pierce stood and stretched his sore neck, before looking at Jason with a mischievous look in his eye, "What's the matter lobo (wolf)? You know you enjoyed my love nibble on your furry ass."

Rieka snickered at Jason, who was glaring daggers at Pierce, and tossed them both small rolled bundles of shorts she had tied to her belt, "Play nice you two. You can kill each other when I'm gone, but I have to leave in an hour for my flight. Hop on! Rayna will take you both back."

The men pulled on the shorts as Rieka shifted to her midnight black winged wolf Rayna. Once both of the guys had climbed onto her back, she lifted her great wings and leapt into the air, flying back to their estate outside of Santa Cruz. 

After showering and changing, Rieka ran downstairs to see Jimmy, Pierce and Jason waiting for her near the front door. Pierce obviously still making lewd comments to Jason, which were met with warning growls, while Jimmy tried not to laugh at Jason's expense. 

Jason saw Rieka first and gladly took the opportunity to get away from Pierce, "I'm so excited for you Ri. You'll have to tell me all about your trip when you get back." 

Rieka hugged her younger brother warmly, "I'll be checking in on you during my trip. I have to make sure you and Pierce aren't actually killing each other. Your pack needs their Alpha and Pierce is my general, so.... I kind of need you both." 

Jason grinned, "Don't worry about a thing." He gave his sister a kiss on the cheek and let her approach the others. Pierce and Jimmy both gave her warm hugs and assured her that they would keep her appraised of anything that needed her attention with the collective while she was gone.  Rieka thanked them both, stole one last glance at Pierce, then walked to the car to head to the airport.