Wings of a Feather

Chapter 8

So, unaware that he was being followed by the very person that was on his mind, Riley trudged on until Heather's house was in sight.

Tristan ducked behind a large tree and peered over at Riley, who was approaching the large house. Is this where he lives?, Tristan wondered. He didn't think so. When Riley had gone home last night, he had been walking in the opposite direction, towards the town.

He watched with interest as Riley knocked on the front door of the creaky house. A minute later, someone answered the door, and Riley's face broke out into a radiant smile.

Tristan's fists clenched around the trunk of the tree he was hiding behind, his nails retracting and sinking into the bark. 

The girl who answered the door gave Riley a small smile in return. She was undeniably pretty, but not in the way that most other girls were pretty. The girl was slight, but Tristan could see the toned muscles of her arms and legs. She had the perfect proportion of muscles to soft curves, and Tristan knew that if he hadn't been gay, he would be drooling at the very sight of her. Her hair was long and blond, but remained natural and untouched as it tumbled past her shoulders. Her face didn't contain an ounce of makeup, but she hardly need such a thing. Her skin was pale and flawless, and at the sight of her lovely green eyes looking over his human, Tristan was instantly churning with jealously.

The tree creaked in protest as his grip tightened. He gritted his teeth, resisting the urge to lunge over there and mark what was rightfully his. 

 Of course, the young Beta thought to himself. His mate was beautiful, it was only natural that he had a pretty girlfriend. And the worst part about being mated to a human, was that although werewolves accepted each other as full mates immediately after meeting, humans weren't as drawn to their partners, and had no knowledge of the bond at all. So even after meeting him yesterday, Riley most likely had no idea that Tristan was bounded to him.

Tristan growled lowly, his nails sinking further into the tree until his knuckles were submerged and he could feel sharp splinters pricking at his skin. 

 The girl opened the door wider and invited Riley inside. Tristan could only glare, managing to hold himself back at the reminder that mates always ended up together in the end. It was their fate, and no pretty face could get in between a bond so inevitable.

'Tristan?' His Alpha's voice filtered through his head through the pack link. 'Where are you?'

He growled again and yanked his fingers out of the tree, wincing at the slight pain. He turned and stormed back into the woods, a scowl planted on his face as he assured Skyler that he would be back soon.

Someday soon though, Riley will be mine.

~

"Well let's get going then!" Riley cheered over-excitedly.

Heather nodded, grabbing her jacket to cover the slits in her back. When Riley had turned to exit the house, Heather gave him a concerned look over. Although neither of them had brought anything up, she could tell that something was wrong with the Feliss as soon as she had opened the door. There was something a little too bright about his smile today, as if he were covering something up.

But they had only just met, and surely whatever his problem was, it wasn't any of Heather's concern. That didn't stop her from worrying, though.

Heather rushed out after him, smiling and shaking her head at Riley's child-like enthusiasm. He hadn't even noticed that her wings were still painfully obvious, and that in her state she couldn't  possibly go out in public.

"Riley." She called, and he stopped and turned to face her, golden eyes gleaming in the early morning light with some intangible emotion that Heather couldn't place. "Watch this." She grinned at him, dropping her stuff.

Riley silently watched with wide eyes as Heather outstretched her wings. His eyes appraised the graceful white feathers that arced delicately around her slim build, fluttering with an altogether breathtakingly beautiful swoosh. And just as quickly, Heather's glorious wings were pulled back in to her body, folding over and angling away into the slits in her back.

Riley watched in amazement, until Heather was standing in front of him looking completely human.

"Tada!" She smiled at Riley's awestruck face, bowing a little.

"That was so cool!" He snapped back into life and bounded towards Heather, with real excitement this time. "It was all like, whoosh, and then like, ka-pow! And there were so many feathers-"

"Yeah yeah, I'm awesome, I get it." She rolled her eyes and picked up her jacket, and started back towards the forest.

"Man, I wish I had wings, they look so freaking awesome! All I have are ears and a tail, which sucks because I can never properly do my hair, and my tail get so uncomfortable when I have to hide it in my pants! I mean, it's like trying to hide my arm in my pants, my tail gets all cramped, and talk about uncomfortable. But wings are so cool, maybe you could even fly soon! When did you learn to do that?" Riley rambled on, his tail twitching happily as he went on.

"Yesterday." Heather hates to admit it, but she spent the entirety of the last 12 hours working on just putting her wings away. Like RIley's tail though, it felt mildly uncomfortable to keep the large wings tucked into her back for a long time, and she preferred to let them hang out most of the time.

"This is even better! Now we can walk into biology class and not be offered up for dissection!" Riley grinned humorously, ears twitching in amusement at his own joke.

"Ha ha very funny." Heather replied sarcastically.

The two of them continued on towards the school, Riley bouncing around in excitement and Heather giggling at his various other lame jokes.

At least whatever was bothering him before, seems to have been forgotten, Heather thought to herself.

Her mind then wandered to Riley's earlier statement, and rush of her own excitement made her body feel suddenly restless. 

She glanced up at the sky, halfheartedy listening to Riley as he went on. Could I really learn how to fly?

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Chapter, done!