It just seemed fitting that when I flew over to the Flamingos house, I may as well be a nightingale. I don’t know a lot about those birds, but I knew they weren’t nearly as big as some of the other birds I could’ve chosen, and I figured they probably flew at night, what with a name like that. I needed to make sure I watched for owls so I didn’t become someone’s dinner. Visions of me changing my form back into my human self while an owl tried to swallow me down cracked me up a little.
I headed right up the stairs as soon as I hung up, intending just to fly to the Flamingos’ house and look for any lights that were on. I didn’t intend to do anything more than that, and I figured it wouldn’t take long. My wolves were still out in the forest and probably wouldn’t be back for at least an hour, maybe longer, depending upon how deep into the forest they decided
The beacon of light calling to me through the snowy winter air was like a lighthouse, bringing me into safe harbor, even though I knew that it was actually dangerous. I could sense, in my gut, even though I was in the shape of an owl at the moment, that I was headed into trouble. I just couldn’t get myself to stop and turn around.I had flown for over an hour when I finally got a true picture of where the light was coming from. The house was a large cabin in the woods at the foot of the mountain. It was situated between several large pine trees, and I had to think the house itself was even larger than my grandma’s, after we’d built onto it. The main part of the house was two, maybe even three, stories tall, and then there were other wings that didn’t reach as high into the dark sky. The building looked fairly new, like someone wanted a cozy cabin in the woods but also wanted it to b
It seemed to take forever for me to fly back home. The snow and wind had picked up a lot since I’d left. It was getting late, and the sky was darker by far than it had been when I’d originally flown to the Flamingos’ house, which seemed like forever ago now. I considered stopping to shift into something else, but my desperation just to get back to where I knew I was safe and could get out of the weather kept me going.When I finally got back home, my talons touched down on the railing of the front porch before I shifted into my human form and extinguished the light on top of the house I’d put there to help guide me back. I rushed inside. All of the lights were on, but the house was silent. “Hello!” I shouted, hoping that someone from my pack was there so that they could let everyone else know I was okay. The thought that something might’ve happened while I was gone
Apparently, mages and wolves take holidays off. Maybe not Halloween, but they must take New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day off because whenever I brought up the idea of going to check on the woods or that strange cabin I’d found the night before up to my pack at breakfast the next day, they all reminded me that it was a holiday, and I needed to chill out.I’d laid away most of the night thinking about the things I’d seen, so I was in no mood to be playful. Knowing that it would do me no good to go to the cabin myself and not willing to go out to the forest to check to make sure that what they’d found out about the pink trees the night before, that they were gone, by myself, I retreated to my own trees and spent most of the last day of the year feeling the power of the forest flow through me. Most of the colors I saw were familiar to me. Colors of my pack members and mysel
After the fireworks ended, Ben took my hand and pulled me back toward the house. I had a feeling all of the couples would be headed to their rooms now, which would leave Brice on his own. I watched as he shifted and took off into the woods. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. He was the only one who didn’t have a significant other, after all. Still, I got the impression that he was trying not to let it bother him. Maybe he had a lady wolf waiting for him in the woods. When Ben tugged me into the house, I forgot all about Brice.In our room, with the door closed, only the moonlight filtering through the curtains to provide illumination, Ben walked me backward to the bed, his mouth back on my shoulder, where it had been when Raven interrupted us all of those hours ago. “Where were we?” he whispered, slipping the strap of my dress down off of my shoulder. “Oh, yeah. I was tak
I woke up on January 2nd wondering if this would be the day that Ben went to talk to Starla or if he’d wait until the next day. It was a Monday, and we were supposed to start school again on Wednesday. We’d gotten emails and phone calls from Principal Short that all of the damage caused before Christmas break had been repaired. None of those messages mentioned the crazy mage who had lit a bunch of students and a teacher on fire. They made it sound as if the damage had been caused by something accidental, like a Bunsen burner that was accidentally left on too long. I guess I couldn’t blame him if he was trying to help everyone forget about the horror fest that was our last day of school.I slept pretty late that day because I was still tired from New Year’s Eve and the fun we’d had the day before, celebrating New Year’s Day. When I woke up, Ben wasn’t there. I heade
As soon as Ben headed out the door, I flew up the chimney, switching forms into a bird that followed him home. He seemed to recognize me as soon as he saw me, slowing down on the porch and waiting for me to morph into my human form. “Well, hello there, Harlow,” he said, shaking his head. He sounded more like Sam now than I could handle. “Have fun eavesdropping?”“Did you know I was there?” I asked him, checking to make sure I didn’t have any soot on me.“No, I didn’t, but I’m not surprised you were. Did you hear the whole conversation?”“Not all of it,” I said, “but enough. Do you believe her?”Ben shrugged. “I have no idea. I didn’t
We had one more day before school was scheduled to start. After about a month of being home, it seemed like torture to have to go back, but I was also looking forward to starting my last semester in high school. I had applied to a few colleges online, and every day, I would wake up and check to see if I’d gotten any responses. I would’ve loved to be going off to college, like I’d always dreamt, but I knew now, wherever I went, at least for the next year, I’d have to do it online because I’d either be needed with my pack, or I’d be in Europe. I had no idea what Mage Jaye’s plans were since we’d had our tiff since I hadn’t heard from her since the phone call where we’d argued, but she’d promised me I’d be hearing from her soon. I was beginning to think perhaps she was bluffing.Until that day before we were to start school again. W
I had won. It was difficult to believe. Mage Jaye had come all the way to Montana from Europe, seething the whole time, ready to put me in my place, to take me down a notch, to teach me a lesson, and whatever other viscous thoughts she had had in her mind for that entire long, boring flight. But in the end, when she’d gotten here, I’d reminded her that she needs me a hell of a lot more than I need her, and now, here she was pretending like she had somehow settled things in her favor.I didn’t expect an apology, and quitting while I was ahead entailed me not asking for one. We just had an understanding now. I would do whatever I could to help the council, as I had been doing, and she would shut the hell up when it came to trying to “punish” me when she disagreed with what I determined was the right thing for me to do for myself and for my pack. I could’ve been bluffing a