The only thing on my mind at this very moment was murder. I stormed down every hallway and pushed past every person until I found the Beta. He was sitting at the table talking with a female that looked like she wanted to jump his bones right then and there. He, on the other hand, looked like he needed some help.
"Take me to the Alpha King," I bit out. He jumped in surprise and the girl let out a squeak.
"Of course," he immediately submitted, getting up and walking off.
I followed him but stopped as I heard the one word that made something inside me shiver with rage.
"Bitch." The girl said it as quiet as a whisper. But with my strong hearing I heard her. Hell, I could have heard the word miles away.
Too bad she said it today. Faster than anyone could see I flashed in front of her, grabbed her head, and slammed it on the table. I left her there blinking in a confused daze with blood dripping down her face.
I walked right past an open-mouthed Beta without looking at him. He followed.
"What the hell was that?" he asked.
"That was me going easy on the girl."
"Just because she called you a - "
"Don't even fucking finish that sentence!" I snapped, holding him by the neck against the wall.
Ryan put his hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay. Sorry."
I let go of my hold and continued on.
"What made you so angry?"
"If you think I'm angry now, you have another thing coming. This isn't even close to me being angry."
"That sure is scary," he muttered and decided to change the subject. "You know the way to the Alpha King's room?"
"Yeah. What about it?"
"Why save me?" He wanted to know.
A glance in his direction. "You'd do it for me," I said simply.
We finally reached the two huge black double doors that had always seemed to loom, watching, over everything. Well, those damn doors slammed open as I stormed in, my 'anger' reignited.
"Why?" I demanded.
My eyes took in his room. The dark walls, the beautiful canopy bed with black see through curtains falling in graceful waves down each side. Straight across from me black cabinets were on either side of the biggest and longest bed I'd ever seen. A dresser on the left side of the room between two doors. The door on the right, no doubt, lead to the bathroom while the other probably had a ginormous hidden closet. Two glass doors on the opposite side of the room lead out to a huge balcony.
Man, this guy really likes black. I mean, sure, I like dark places that make me feel comfortable, but I still like a little light. I walked over to the glass doors and opened them wide. The sunshine shone in, a smile spread across my lips. This felt nice.
"You look happy for a person that appeared to want to rip my head off a few seconds ago. Beta. Door." The door closed as Ryan left.
He's spoken, at last. He's been sitting in the darkest corner of the room in an old fashioned dark wooded chair while I was studying his room, well, more of a dark cave than a room, really.
Laughing with pleasure, "Oh, I still do." Turning to face him, arms crossed, leaning against the door frame. "I was just curious about" - raising my hand and motioning around - "your dominion."
A cold chuckle followed my statement. I could hear the hidden emotion, though, but decided to not say anything.
Time to get back to business, though. "Why?" I repeated again.
"The flower had to die," Is all he said.
I pushed off the door and took many threatening steps forward. "The Rose isn't dead, Shadow," I whispered calmly. "What I want to know is why do something like that?"
He was silent for a moment, then, "Things have never changed. They won't now."
"Every day a change is made!" I yelled in laughter, shaking my head and taking a deep breath.
"But it won't change," he said with true coldness.
"Yes" - flashing in front of him - "it will. Nothing stays the same."
The tension was so thick between us it could have been cut by a knife.
"Why is it so hard to change for you even if it's a little?"
"Right. Like how you want me to change too."
"I don't want you to change!"
"Even then, we will never be true mates!"
I stared straight at him. The shadows surrounding him quivered, but even in the shadows I could see how big his figure was.
I felt that sting, though. Felt it bad. My heart clenched painfully, and it was all I could do not to throw something at him. But even with that hurt, I could feel all the anger I'd been feeling these past few days come to life. Anger at myself. Only myself.
I stayed calm and said, "You're right. We'll never be any ordinary mated couple. That won't stop me, though. Have a good day, Shadow."
The outside afternoon sun hung in the sky as I stood on his balcony. I jump and easily land on the roof. I climbed all the way to the top of the mansion and moved to the edge of the roof where I sat down and leaned back on my hands.
In the open air this high was refreshing. Sun shinning on my face, and a view to look at is one of many things that I love.
I laugh out loud like a maniac. "Hell, maybe I am a maniac," I thought aloud amusingly. "What do you think, Ray?"
He flapped his wings to slow his landing and dropped beside me. To my question he shook his head.
"Thanks," I said. A growling startled me so much that I almost fell off the damn roof. "Guess that means I have to eat."
He blinked his brown eyes. Another growling sound came from him. I rose an eyebrow in question. He moved his shoulders up and down like a shrug but didn't look quite right for normal people.
"Then again," I thought aloud again. "We're not just any normal people."
And I pushed myself off the edge and went down, down, down. And we were off, him on my arm, to the kitchen. As soon as we passed through the doors every woman froze and watched as a maniac lady - me - and a big ass bird - Ray - walked to the fridge, dug out all the things needed for the tastiest sandwich, made two, and watched with open mouths as we both ate them.
"Have a good day ladies!" I took us out of there to the front yard and sat on the ground. "If you have any questions you can come out."
The children came rushing out and bowed deeply to me. I smile at their show of respect, but that wasn't necessary.
"Stop with all that funny business," I chided playfully.
"O-okay!"
I leaned forward with great interest, like a child awed by their favorite toy, as I studied them closely. "Why aren't any of you smiling or laughing or playing?" I wanted to know.
They looked at me with confusion written all over their adorable faces. Really, that made me sadder than anything, but I put a real smile on my face and jumped up.
"This," I introduce, "is Ray; my Bald Eagle."
One of the older kids raised their hand hesitantly.
I nod.
"How did you find him?"
An uncontrollable, joyous laugh tumbled out of my mouth, and I shook my head. "It's more like he found me than I him. Actually, my twin brother, Zach, has a Great Owl as his Protector. So does my mom."
"What's a Protector?" A younger kid asked.
"Well, the ancestors deemed me worthy of a Protector. The name is exactly what they are; Protectors. But only to one person, and if their person has family they truly care about, then they protect that family to protect their person. They are us in animal form."
"But aren't you and your brother and mom wolves at heart?"
I swallowed. "Having a Protector doesn't mean that their person can't change into wolves, or that they're not wolves at heart. They're still wolves at heart, it just shows how strong of a bond the two of them are connected."
"That's so cool!"
"I want a Protector too!"
I was surrounded by laughing, chattering children and I couldn't be happier.
"Let's play a game," I suggest. "Hide and seek anyone?"
Their smiling faces dropped. "We can't play," a little boy said.
"Why?"
"Our parents will get mad."
I frown on the inside but kept smiling at the saddened kids like that wasn't a bad thing. "I will personally talk to them if they get mad," I assured them firmly.
They all yelled and ran away from me into the forest where they hid as their excitement flared out of control.
"This game is quite difficult!" I spoke with a loud voice so that they could hear. "Think of this game as a mission. You and your friends have to work together to stay hidden from the enemies, which are me and Ray."
Chuckles and giggles made me laugh quietly. A person can never be too old to play.
I then began explaining the rules. "There's no staying in the same spot for more than a minute, you can't be seen or heard or you're out. You are not allowed to go outside the territory. There will be no cheating, and, most importantly, you must work as a team." I placed my hands on my hips. "Ready or not, here he comes."
As those words were spoken Ray took flight and as I let my hand fall, he dove into the trees. A moment later the sound of a boys giggle resounded off the trees and reached my ears. The giggling boy rejoined me and no sooner than a minute later the rest of the kids came back to me.
Their joyous and excited faces surrounded, making my heart warm and a big smile to sit on my lips. Suddenly their smiles disappeared like a candle blown out, my smile vanishing along with theirs. I looked behind me to see their parents storming toward our group.
"What do you think you're doing, young lady?" A mother snapped.
The father, I'm guessing, took a threatening step toward a girl in the back. She was at attention like a soldier in front of the Squad Leader. I extended a friendly hand to her and, with no hesitation on her part, took it and stood with a head held high next to me.
The protective gesture made them even more curious than before. Before, they'd looked at me just like every other person; awed; dazed; hypothesized; astonished; open-mouthed; wide-eyed. They'd stared at how 'beautiful' and 'perfect' I was. But now they saw me as more than looks.
A jealous mom growled and asked me, "What do you think you're doing with our kids?" Her words carried no real heat.
"Teaching, of course."
She scoffs weakly.
I raise a brow and laugh.
"The children have no time to play games," Ryan said behind them and moved to the front of the angry crowd. I turn my steady gaze on him.
"Do you guys think this activity is a game?" I asked calmly, draping an arm around a boy next to me.
"You were playing a game of hide-and-seek!" A woman said in exasperation.
"If you think of it as a game, then it is," I counter. "But if you consider this 'game'" - quoting the word with my fingers - "to be a real life situation, then the game becomes reality."
"It's still a game, and games take up valuable time."
I shake my head. They still don't get it. "How about you adults show the kids how it's done then? Beat Ray and you win. Not likely, but you can try."
He flew down to rest on my arm right on time. The people gave Ray uneasy glances even though they tried, unsuccessfully, to hide it. To try covering it up, they laughed. That laughter stopped when they saw how serious I was.
"No way," a man rejected the idea.
I snort, rolling my eyes skyward. "Oh, how cowardly you all are," I laugh, amused. "You're frightened of playing a little game."
"We are not cowards!" another man said with a puffed up chest.
The Beta crossed his arms while trying to keep a straight face. "Okay. We'll play. What are the rules?"
There was a moment of silence as everyone realized Ryan was serious about playing.
I found it funny.
So I began to explain the rules again and the adults ran into the forest again. I looked at Ray in amusement.
"Now this is going to be interesting," I said to him. He took that as the green light and took off.
Not even a second later Ray got someone. The game lasted thirty minutes before everyone got caught, which was a surprise.
"That was just a game," a woman commented to a wolf beside her.
"No, it wasn't," I disagree softly, climbing a tree and resting on a branch with Ray at my side. I looked at the adults. "For the adults, who was Ray to you?"
"He was it," one said.
I switched my attention to the kids. "And children, who was Ray to you?"
"Ray was the enemy!" they yelled together.
"And Ray found and killed you, the adults, in less than an hour because you all lacked something," I concluded.
"We're the strongest and deadliest pack ever known in this world. We don't lack anything," argued another woman.
I turned away from them and leaned my back against the tree while running my fingers along the rough bark.
"You all lack the passion of fighting," I reveal honestly. "You see missions and fighting in hate and anger, but that hate and anger can cloud your judgement. You see things differently when you have passion in fighting, believe me."
"You go and try hiding from that finding machine, including all of us," Ryan challenged, a twinkle in his eye.
Nodding, "Okay."
Without hesitation I jump from the tree and ran off with the wolves right behind me. I didn't hold back. It's better to push yourself as far as you could and beyond, because you have no idea how strong your enemies are or what they're capable of. I dodge trees and smoothly disappear into the shadows. They ran past my hideout.
I jump from shadow to shadow without them finding me. It took them hours as they tried to find me. So long the sun began to fade behind the mountains. But they never found me.
"See guys, things are always better when there's passion. Just like how eating with passion is my favorite," I snicker. The adults laugh with me. "So let's eat everyone."
We went to the kitchen to eat. All the kids and adults were chattering loudly with big smiles on their faces in the crowded kitchen - which was a pretty big kitchen - that just brightened up the room even though the sun was no longer up.
And as I sat at the table with laughing kids and adults, I could feel the coldness of the house warm a little bit more.
"This pack isn't so bad, after all," I said to Ray, giving him a piece of ham. He swallowed the piece whole and dipped his head, his eyes flashing with agreement.
And so is the Alpha King, I thought to myself, all the while feeling his presence close and not minding it one bit.
The art of fighting doesn't have all hate and blood and violence. Fighting is more than that. It has passion in the way you move and how your mind and body works as one.
If you have to fight everyday of your life, be it with your fists or with your heart, please:
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