Chapter 8: A Special Gift

POV ALFRED

Hours before meeting Akira at the festival preparations…

My steps are calm. I don't want to frighten the beautiful bird that is preparing for its flight. I don't want to hit it with an arrow. I am afraid that its blood will stain my luck. So I risk a jump and my fingers pull a feather, in return, he pulls my finger with his big beak. Our encounter turns into a war until I get the perfect feather. The bird flies away and I return to near old dad who is amused by the whole situation.

"Wouldn't a letter on a flowery paper be more effective?"  I grumble.

I am not at all confident in this plan. Because the fact that Akira has shown herself to be more open since she left the Rockefeller mansion doesn't mean that she prefers things like that over her imported jacket she got from Lilian or Christian's stupid letter. 

"Old father, this might be my last chance. I don't want to waste it..."

I confess my longings, and honestly, there is no one better to listen to me than him. 

"There is more of love in feathers than in hearts. Because loving requires wisdom as we launch into a first flight not yet knowing how to fly. So what would be the best gift but a feather plucked from a bird that took almost a finger from an Alpha?"

I don't know if it's a question from old dad or his philosophical way of explaining things to me. All I know is that my finger hurts and the sleep that weighs on my eyes is not easy to send away. The day does not suit the wolves and we find it hard to get up before nine in the morning, especially to be humiliated by a bird.

" Apparently Akira is not the only one who has a lot to learn, right?"

 For not doubting his wisdom, I surrender to his crazy plan.

"Look around!"

He asks, and us being on top of a mountain, my eyes go to meet the crowd gathered in the center of our small town. 

The half-closed eyes more than our nature deliver that most would rather be asleep if it were not for the magical and warrior blood that runs in our veins. No time for complaints, just smiles for another year that the guardians will come to visit.

"If you try to win Akira over by being him, Richard, even she will not forget him. However, if you do it by being who we are, Alfred, she won't look their way" Said the old father still with his gaze lost on the horizon. 

" You are absolutely right!" 

I am the first to look away from the landscape and stare at his wrinkled face.

"Before I forget, boy. I have something for you!"

He reaches into his pocket and his fingers bring with them a sparkling stone.

"Are those the stars of the mountain?"

I am surprised. No one would dare touch them, much less pick them up. Because they are also known as the Guardians' tears.

"Small and valuable, men like Jeremy and Richard call it a diamond, too! " Explained the old father. "To the men of the city, that is worth as much as moonlight is to us. So for Akira, it should have the same effect. However, I believe your intuition will guide you, my son..."

He places the stone in my hand, and I examine it carefully, despite fear for the curse my people usually tell about them. 

"Nothing will happen when they are touched by whomever they choose." 

The old father reassures me and I breathe a sigh of relief. I soon look again at the quill in one hand and the shiny stone in another.

" I already know what to do with them!"

✧✧

I've lost count of how many tree trunks I've carried, accepting the idea that anything serves to distract us when we want to put off an inevitable situation for a few seconds longer. 

In my mind, I think of a way to get closer to Akira when she arrives. Love doesn't come with a ready-made recipe, and no doubt hunting a dangerous animal would be easier. At least it wouldn't give me this tingling feeling that forces me to take off my shirt from the heat, anxiety, and rapid beating of my heart. 

Having done this, I receive a few longing glances from girls who would not think twice about my pairing, either at the festival or in bed. Together, we would build a traditional family, leading an ordinary life in Skyfall. But, ordinary is not attractive as much as the pairs of black eyes that arrived this instant.  Akira carries a basket of feathers for the making of the ordinances we will use later. They are needed to assemble the traditional costume.

I have the impression that your eyes worship me. It is a feeling that is confirmed when her face flushes from being caught by me. She turns her attention away from my body and she concentrates on her task. Still, I'm not willing to finish that moment. Because knowing that Selena desires me, is a dose of confidence served to my previously bruised ego by the image of Richard and his stupid metal horse that he calls a car.  It's a powerful armor that gets me through the wall of people keeping our bodies apart very quickly. 

And finally, I am close enough that I can whisper in his ear:

" Hi, Sel!"

The surprise is stamped on her face so that her breathing hangs, although she can't do that with her imagination. 

It is a pity that I cannot read your thoughts as well as I would with a Skyfaller if I had your permission. However, I am a wolf and I can read the body says, without needing to hear a single word. And what Akira Selena wants right now is to touch me. Not only for pleasure, but also because she feels the connection that binds our souls together.

" Do you want to touch me, Sel?" I ask her.

I know it's a bit cheeky, however, her touch would scare away all the doubts that constantly sabotage my heart.

" Don't be cocky!"

 She says and taps my sweaty arm hard and I feel my skin slightly burn. 

" It's not being cocky, Sel. It's your eyes, your trembling hands and your teeth digging into the soft skin of your lips, that confess to me your desires..." 

This time, I am bolder than ever and my desire takes over. 

" Feel it!" My voice is firm. 

For her it sounds like a request with no chance of being refused, while for me, it is a need that is only satisfied when I grab her free hand to place it on my chest.

She doesn't resist and surrenders her fingers to the journey down my bare chest, starting from my heart to almost another place that I would love to feel instigated. It's an animalistic urge that I find hard to control. I'm glad my mind regains its human, rational side. Then I remember what I came here to do. 

" I have a gift for you. Take it."  I ask, and if followed, I guide his hand sensibly to my pocket.

"A gift?"

Her voice strains to hide her hesitation, and yes we are both a bit drunk from this surge of sexual tension. 

"Um, a little birdie?" 

She suggests as she touches the feather first. 

" An earring?"

She finally gets it right as she takes the accessory between her fingers and from her expression, she is a bit intrigued.

"It's not just an earring. " 

I smile at surprising her once again and prepare to share the wisdom of the old father:

" That feather goes from your ear to your heart. It means you should never stop following your intuition. Birds always know the direction to go, so does what we have inside of us."

"That's beautiful to come from such a hollow head." 

She pins it and we burst into laughter.

" I'll use it later..."

She winks at me and disarms me with a kiss. And though it is on the cheek, it leaves a mystery in the air about the possibility of something more tonight...

"Until Alfred, book me your first dance..."

I sense that it won't be just a dance....