by C. J. Snyder
I can feel my heart starting to race and I slide a glance over to Cora to see if she is still asleep, she is, “How many men, Chay?” I can hear him take a hit off his joint before he answers, “at least five from what I could tell, it was dark, and the moon was hidden by clouds.” Exhale, another hit, “All of them had on dark clothing and I could make out a small patch on the top left breast of the hoodies they were sporting.” Exhale, hit, “Kangee, they were all tactical crossbows and a few had regular bows.”
He is out of breath from talking so fast. It sounded like they were a group of hunters out after dark looking for some game. To Chay, I said, “Just sounds like a bunch of men out after dark to poach to me.”
“Chay, take some breaths man, you’re going to pass out from lack of oxygen.”
His voice raises just a little, “Kangee. Listen to me! These are not just normal human hunters, they are hunting us.” I reach for my soda and take a quick sip before I answer, “How do you know that, Chay?” Now, he’s screaming, “Because they shot me!” Fucking what?!
Taking a deep relaxing breath, I steal another look over at Cora, now her eyes are open and she’s staring at me. I raise my finger to my mouth in a signature ‘hush’ gesture before going back to Chayton.
“What do you mean, they shot you?” I can hear him taking another hit off his joint, “I was sitting in the tree, in bird form, when one of them points right up at me.” As he is telling me this, something deep inside me is screaming to listen and closely.
“I got the strong urge to get the fuck out of there when the one standing next to him raises his crossbow and fires.”
Exhale, I didn’t realize I was holding my breath. “They missed.” Chay snorted, “No, they clipped one of my wings and I went down pretty hard.”
Hit, exhale, “Thankfully, I landed in a brush area they weren’t able to walk into, or else I wouldn’t be making this phone call.”
Not quite fully understanding what I’m hearing, I ask him, “Chay, did you go to the healer to make sure you weren’t damaged?”
He snorted again, “Yes, I’m fine. But there’s a bigger problem here, Kangee.”
My hand is wrapped so tightly around the steering wheel that it was starting to cramp, “Hang tight, man. Need to switch hands and I’m driving.” I put the phone on my lap while I take the wheel with my other hand and then stretch the cramp out of my hand that was holding onto it a minute ago. Picking the phone back up I ask, “So, you’re saying that these men are responsible for Dad’s death?”
Chayton took a shaky breath, “Yes. I am and they are here to hurt anyone who isn’t like them, human.’ This is a real problem; there are plenty of shifters in the New Orleans area. Not all of them are ravens, my buddy Gage and his clan are wolves, there is at least one Lynx that I knew of and I am damn sure there is a tribe of bobcats in the immediate area. Looking at the display of the GPS, “Chay, I have about two hours and I’ll be home.”
He said ok and we ended the call.
Cora reaches over and squeezes my shoulder, “What’s going on hun?” I’m going to have to tell her everything or else none of this is going to make any sense, “Cora, I have to tell you something and you’re probably not going to believe me. But, if I don’t tell you none of anything else that I need to tell you will make sense."
I briefly look over at her, her eyes are wide with curiosity and her mouth is in an ‘O’ shape, “I will answer any questions you have, but please wait for me to finish before asking. This is hard enough to tell you as it is.”
Cora slowly takes her hand off my shoulder and places it in her lap, “You’re married, aren’t you?” She looks down at her lap and I swear I can see her lower lip start to tremble, “No! no no, I am not married.” She looks back over at me and smiles, “Ok, then I can handle whatever else you can throw my way.”
Don’t be so sure my mind answers. Taking a deep breath, I release it and start, “Cora, honey, I am not human.” She looks at me with confusion written all over her face, “Not human, ok. Want to explain what you mean by that?”
Well, she’s taking this better than I expected her to so far, “You like to read, yah?” I wait for her to nod before I continue, “You’ve read books with paranormal beings like; Vampires, werewolves, and shapeshifters?” another nod, “I am in that third category. I’m a shifter. We exist, but quietly.”
Glancing from her to the road and back again I continue, “That raven you saw at the station? That was me. I took off for a flight to clear my head and saw you. I wanted to see how you’d react to a large winged bird, so I landed on the top of the Jeep.” To my chagrin, she starts laughing.
“This is a joke, right? There is no way you were that raven. These types of things just don’t happen. It isn’t possible for someone your size to be a raven.”
Right now, I wish this was a joke. I could be ruining a very good thing with her, “Not joking. I wish I was.” She tilts her head at me and pokes my arm, “Show me.”
Show her? How the fuck – “I’m driving, I can’t show you.” Cora crosses her arms over her chest, “Then pull over, I want to see with my own eyes.” Oh my god, this woman.
Signaling to get into the slow lane, I find a pull-off for sightseeing and turn in. pulling as far away from the freeway as I can, I throw the Jeep into park and get out. Cora follows me, still with her arms crossed over her chest.
“Remember I said I would explain and answer all your questions. But I can’t do that as a raven.”
She looks at me arms still crossed, waiting. I can’t believe I am about to do this in front of her. “Please don’t freak out, I’ve never shown anyone outside of our circle this.”
Cora nods her head, “Well, let’s see it then. I think this is some kind of sick joke and I’m not liking it one bit.”
I’m doomed I think heading to the edge of the viewing area. What will I do if I can’t make her believe me? Every step I take makes my gut clench. I feel like I’m about to lose the one person I want to get closer to. I mean want. And I can’t tell if she’s really upset or just plain curious
At the edge now I look around to make sure there are no other humans around and then shimmer into my raven form. I stand there in all my birdly glory, waiting.
Cora lets out a gasp of surprise and then silence. With a giggle, she says “Nice magic trick Kangee. You can come back now.”
I stand very still, waiting for her to come closer. She has got to look at me to see I’m the same bird. She just has to!
Finally, she walks closer to me and I tilt my head to the side so I can watch her.
Slowly bending down to get a closer look she calls to me, “Kangee? My raven dips his head as if he were bowing, then spreads his wings wide.
“Oh my god, it was you. You are a handsome bird, Kangee.”
Then the little wench reaches out and pets my head. I let out a caw and shimmer back into human form, “Did you have to pet me?” I said smiling at her.
She laughs back at me, “I did! So, why was this so important to tell me now? You must know I’d have a million questions.”
I start heading back toward the Jeep so we can get back on the road, “Because my brother was also attacked, and he saw who did it.”
She inhales quickly, “Oh no, is he ok?” Unlocking the driver’s side door and then the rest of them, I wait until she is inside, “Yah, shook up pretty badly, but otherwise ok. These men are going after supernatural creatures, like us, and killing them for sport.”
She nods while trying to understand, “Wait, wait. How many of you are there? Can they all change as you do? Were you born this way or did you learn it?”
Figuring there were many more questions than she’d just asked I thought I’d take the easy one first. I was prepared, “Hundreds of thousands of us, if not more, all around the world.”
Her eyes light up and she starts laughing like a little girl who just saw their first animal. “And they can all change just like you? Were you born this way? Oh my god, I have so m
any questions!”
“Let’s take them one at a time…Yes, we all can change. But it’s different for different animals. No, it’s not a learned thing. We are born this way.”
“Oh, I see.” She looks at me a little sadly. “I was hoping maybe I could learn to do what you do. I love birds and the freedom they have to fly.”
We left the viewing area and continued talking for a while. I was just beginning to relax when she turned in her seat and asked me, “So, we are going to be hunting the hunters who killed your dad?”
She sounds excited over this situation, “We are. They are still in the area, but we are going to have to be super careful. I heal quickly, but you don’t. You’re not freaked out about all this?” Reaching over for her hand and lacing my fingers through hers, “I couldn’t bear it if something happened to you because of me and my world.”
Cora gives my hand a squeeze and smiles over at me from her seat, “Yes I’m a little freaked out by you being a bird, but I trust you enough to know you will tell me what I need to know and be honest about it. And honestly, the attraction between us is not something I’m ready to give up on yet.” Besides, your hunters are going to have to be able to catch me first.”
Damn, she’s sexy.
I release her hand and reach for my now warm soda and finish it off, “I’m going to need something a bit stronger than soda when we arrive in ‘Orleans.” Cora looks like she has one more question on her mind, “Go ahead, and ask.”
She laughs a little nervously, “I’m human. How is your family going to handle you being with me?” That was an actual legit question and I’m surprised I didn’t think of it before. The truth was, I didn’t give a fuck what they thought. Hell, Gage met and proposed to Presley, a human woman almost two years ago and his clan took it rather well.
“I think they will be just fine once they meet you and see that you could kick anyone’s ass that came between us.” She laughed hard at that and sat back fully in her seat.
Finally seeing the signs for New Orleans, my heart starts to ache to know what awaits me in my hometown. I step on the gas, getting there as quick as I can now is a priority. My whole family is in danger, hell, the whole shifter community is in danger and we are headed right into the eye of the storm, so to speak.
Stealing a glance at Cora, I say, “Hold on cupcake, this is going to be one helluva ride.”
∆∆∆
This was shaping up to be one hell of a day. We finally made it into New Orleans after the long drive from Flagstaff. The air was heavier here, but it made me feel like I was home. Parking the Jeep in the driveway of my childhood home, I sigh and look over at Cora. Her eyes are wide with excitement on meeting everyone inside the house, mostly because she knew what we were and was perfectly cool with it.
I still couldn’t believe that she was ok with me being a shifter. I wasn’t human, I turned into a large black raven and she was cool with the whole thing.
How did I get so lucky? Looking back to Cora, “Well, you ready?” She nods her head and reaches for the door handle to get out of the Jeep.
We weren’t even up to the front door when it popped open and my Mom came running out and into my arms sobbing, “I’m so glad you’re home!” I wrapped my arms around her little frame. My mom is only about five foot three and a hundred five pounds soaking wet, but don’t let her size fool you. She will cut you where you stand faster than you can blink.
She has no problem calling someone out on their bullshit and her tolerance for shenanigans tends to be shorter than she is. Right now, she needs me because she is grieving the death of my father, her sobs tear right into my heart. I run my hands up and down her back in a soothing gesture. “I know, mom. It’s going to be ok; we will get the sons of bitches that did this.” She sniffles and nods her head against my chest before releasing the hug and taking a step back and smacking me in my chest, “Watch your language.”
Just noticing Cora, mom smiled and looked at me, “Who’s your friend?” she extends a hand out to Cora to shake it. Instead, Cora grabbed it and brought her in for a hug, “I’m Cora, I met your son in Flagstaff.”
The air sizzled and crackled around us as Mom went from sad and sobbing to happy and giddy like a teenager who just got a call from their crush. “Cora! Well, Kangee,” side-eyeing me as she said this, “has never brought home a girl before. I bet your starving.” I’m rolling my eyes at the typical mom thing to do, offer food. She almost skips into the house with Cora in hand, leaving me outside to bring in any luggage.
Turning around and walking back to the Jeep to grab what I could out of it, I make my way into the house and follow the voices into the kitchen. There are two or three plates full of baked goods sitting on the breakfast bar and I can smell the sweet aroma of coffee drifting it’s way to my nose. “Did you make all of these?” I asked pointing to the pastries.
She smiles sadly and sits down at the bar, “No, honey, these were given to us by the cl um, family.” She looked quickly at Cora to see if she caught the almost slip up of saying, clan. Cora smiles at my mother sweetly and reaches over to grab a blueberry muffin.
Cora stuffs a bite of muffin and looks over to me for validation.
I take that as a hint that I should clue my family in that she knows about us. Reaching for a coffee cup from the cabinet I turn to mom, “So, um, yah, Cora is aware of what we are.” My face is scrunched as I pour my cup, preparing for an outraged burst from mom.
The silence is deafening. Turning around slowly to face certain death from telling a human our secret, I see nothing, but my mom’s jaw dropped so low that it’s almost hitting the table.
I walk over to her and gently push her mouth closed, “She thinks it’s neat and wants to be like us.” This produced roaring laughter out of her tiny body.
Between gasping for air and trying to form words, Mom finally squeaks out, “Oh, honey, I wish it were that easy.”
Cora’s eyes are as wide as saucers and finally lets out a laugh in comfort. Suddenly, there is a muffin flying toward my head. “See, Kangee, that wasn’t so bad.” Cora laughs and takes a sip of her water.
Reaching down to pick up the now wasted muffin, I turn around to toss it into the garbage bin when Chayton comes strolling into the kitchen.
“Bro! Damn dude, it’s about time you got here.” Chay wraps me in a tight brotherly hug and thumps me on the back a couple of times before letting go, “Look at this shit,” he pulls open his button-down shirt to show me where the arrow had entered his body.
It was healing fast, as all shifter wounds do. Still being the big brother and poking it to get a reaction was something I couldn’t pass up on doing. “Ow! Fuck man.” That also landed me a punch to my shoulder.
“Looks like you are healing pretty damn good, bro. What can you remember?”
Chayton shook his head, “Everything. I’ve already alerted the local wolf clans. Gage, Presley and his parents will be here in a couple of hours.
You and your lady should go unpack and we can discuss all this then.”
In case you weren’t aware, Gage is a wolf shifter.
His parents are also Wolves; however, his dad is technically the Clan Chief and district Chief of the area – of all clans – regardless of animal. His mom is a wise woman and will be needed for the wake. Presley is a human woman that Gage has bonded with and since proposed marriage to. Gage and I were raised together, hence how a bird and a wolf became best of friends.
“Come on lady, let’s go unpack and unwind while we have a few minutes to do so.” Cora takes her glass to the sink then follows me into the living room and down the hallway into the bedroom that has been mine my entire life.
Shutting the door and dropping the luggage to the ground, I pull her into my arms just long enough to hear her sigh and wrap herself around me.
“Don’t get any ideas, bird boy. We have a mystery to figure out.” This one has jokes. I like that.
Chapter 11
CORA
Smacking his hands away from my ass, “I’m serious, Kangee.