Page 6 of Welcome Home: When Shifters Unite!
“The Strongbow Pack is the last of the packs that hold royal blood. It was one of the reasons that jealousy and greed caused their downfall. We need to hide the fact that you are from that pack or some Alpha will want to pick you up as Luna and drag you off by your hair. Use my surname, Adira, to help keep you safe.” Leo nods to show how serious he is, and I take a sharp breath, thinking once again I’m losing who I am.
‘No. We will never lose who we are. We are protecting ourselves. We need to find out all we can before we can make plans for the future.’
“Okay, Blue. We’ll visit the library after work and find out all we can.” I turn to Leo and give him a small smile, “Okay, Leo, I’ll use your last name of De Stormroar. You know it’s a heck of a surname? You know Lion, roar!” I giggle, shift and bolt into the woods, but don’t run too fast so that they both can catch up with us. Well, nearly catch up to us.
Running fast through the trees, jumping any fallen tree trunks, large branches, and latching on to the scent of a rabbit. Leo and Stella are behind, not quite able to catch us. But, over a long period, a wolf can outrun a lion, but both can reach the same speeds over a shorter distance.
Snapping up the rabbit we kill it quickly, never wanting an animal to suffer, but they are food to us, the same as other animals. The same as shifters are to the hunters who want to exterminate us.
Leo and Stella catch up and throw themselves to the ground. I pick up the rabbit and drop it at Leo’s feet, showing him how much I care by feeding him first.
Scenting another rabbit, I take off fast, leaving Stella in my wake. I get on top of my prey fast, taking it down before it must realize it’s dead. Back with Leo, I rip the rabbit apart and grab one piece for myself and leave the rest for Stella.
‘This is good fresh meat.’
I know Blue loves a fresh kill, and she earns it on a weekend after she’s been kept from shifting and running all week.
Kazi, Leo’s lion, stretches and ambles away while Stella’s wolf, Iris and Blue relax in the sun. It’s not long before Kazi returns, dragging a wild boar along with him. Blue chortles and Iris jumps to her feet, licks Kazi’s face before grabbing a chunk of the boar and ripping a piece free to take to one side, laying down to eat.
Kazi tears off a portion and drops it at Blue’s feet before licking her face and purring. Blue growls lovingly, which is her way of thanking him for the offering.
The afternoon is lazy and peaceful. We all lie around snoozing, enjoying each other’s company. Hearing a low guttural growl, my eyes open and flick around, but seeing nothing, I turn my head to look at Kazi.
Kazi is on his feet and looking anything but calm. He is fully alert and ready to do battle. Iris slowly stands and so does Blue. Wesee nothing, but Kazi isn’t happy, and shooting forward, he tears through the trees directly in front of us.
Blue takes off after him and maintains a small distance behind him. But when another lion is seen running in front of us, Kazi doubles his speed and tears into it. Blue and I stay back, watching the area so nothing can join in the fight.
The snarls and roars are deafening, and I’m not sure why Kazi reacted as he did, but I’m going with whatever reason. He’s my brother and I’ll stand firmly by his side.
‘Lion has a slight scent of Kazi.’
“Do you think he’s family, Blue?”
‘Could be, or could be old pride.’
The fight stops, and the lion is dead. Kazi stands over the corpse, throwing his head back and roars. Shifting back, I turn now. Leo is standing naked; I don’t want to see his tackle, that’s for sure.
Stella giggles, “You’re such a prude.”
Now, she’s standing naked. “For goodness’ sake, I don’t want to see his manly bit or your bits.”
Leo walks away and a few minutes later returns wearing a pair of shorts and a tee shirt, with another set which he hands to Stella. I’m not even going to bother asking where he got it from, as I’m too busy looking at this lion shifter, who has shifted back to his human form.
“Who was it?” I ask, kneeling on one knee while I feel for a pulse.
“An old enemy from the pride. I’ve scented him a few times lately, but I wasn’t going to let him go back to the pride and report where I am.”
“Okay, shall we bury him? Leave no evidence?” I ask, and again Stella giggles.
“Adira, I thought you were so sweet, but you’re a body snatcher.”
“Shut up, shift and get digging.” I can’t stop the smile that crosses my face, mind you. Stella throws the clothes onto the ground and shifts once more.
Blue, Kazi and Iris all dig until we have a hole large enough to roll the body into, then throw the earth back on top. We are all hot, sticky, and very dirty.
“Shall we stop at the river and get rid of his stench? We don’t want anyone in Huntsville getting a whiff of that shifter,” Stella asks, and we can’t help but agree.
After splashing each other, and cleaning up in the river, we make our way back into Huntsville, making sure we show no sign that anything was off. I get to the Tavern with Leo and Robbie, for a meal and a drink, something we’ve been doing once a week. Usually Saturday as we work Monday through to Friday, and on every Sunday I try to rest ready for the new week starting.
