(unedited)

== Enna’s POV ==

As I tried to shift again, I lost my balance, feeling suddenly dizzy. Simon quickly reached for me, grabbing me by the elbow to stabilize me.

“Are you feeling all right?” he asked, worry seeping through his tone.

I nodded after regaining my composition. “I’m just a little tired” I explained, offering a reassuring smile, or so I thought. Simon nodded, still looking at me with suspicion, but he stepped back, leaving me some space to shift. This time, it worked, but it was painful. I was weary from flying and I felt tired but I couldn’t say anything. They were all here because of me, all in danger because of me. I needed to get through this, but the faster would be the best. “My pack isn’t too far anymore, we’ve gotten through most of the way” expressed Collins, probably just to me as most of the other had already gone through this journey multiple of times.

“And I don’t see anything, besides some other animals” declared James. His declaration had me worried, it was unlikely for them to notice if someone was a shifter. In human form, it was easy because we just don’t smell Human, but in animal form, it was different. As an animal, we smell much more like our shifting species, and if they managed to have spies, they would pick those who’d blend in the most. I croaked lightly, and once again, Simon stated my thoughts as if he could hear them. “Enna is right, they could be shifters, we wouldn’t know. We should get going, I want to be being your borders as fast as possible” he stated to Collins.

The other Alpha nodded and quickly, all those who had shifted back to Human form, roughly half of the men, shifted again. In a huge effort, I took off again, meeting my old friend, the wind, up above the trees.

The night was very silent, I could only hear the paws of the packs on the forest’s floor, crushing leaves and twigs under their weight. My wings flapped in the winds murmurs as the sky was changing colors. Dawn was approaching and I felt relieved. I could see better now and from my high vantage point, I could see ahead. The trees had lost their leaves so my visibility was clearer than in summer.

I saw movement ahead, shapes traveling fast in the woods on the hill ahead of us. I quickly went down through the branches, gliding above the wolves, I called them in my birds voice to get their attention. Still running, Simon looked up at me, I flew ahead and stopped on a branch, croaking loudly. Only Simon shifted back to his Human form this time. “What’s going on?” he asked me, alarmed. Our time was limited, the running shapes were only a few kilometers ahead, and they were coming downhill. I croaked, moving my head to indicate something ahead. I didn’t dare to shift back into my human form, I feared I couldn’t go bad, and I selfishly though that I needed to be able to fly away too.

“There’s something ahead?” he asked again. I nodded, all of the other wolves growled and took defensive stances towards the direction I pointed at. James hears perked up, listening intently. “James says there are at least five of them, wolves, running towards us, they are only a minute away” said Simon towards the wolf group. “You should get back into the sky. If we start fighting, fly ahead to Collins’ pack, his wife knows you are coming and she will welcome you” said Simon in a serious hushed tone. “Do not come back and try to help us, we’ll be fine. I will feel better if I know you are not here.”

I croaked softly at him, my little bird’s heart breaking slightly. Would I even be able to fly away? I took off anyway, but only to stop on a higher branch, where they wouldn’t be able to touch me from the ground. I knew better than become a beacon flying over their heads in circles. I picked the noises of the group approaching, and then, the sound of a shift, but it wasn’t Simon shifting back, it was Collins shifting into his Human form.

“Stand Down!!” he called, “They’re from our pack!”

Suddenly, a group of five wolves erupted in front of us, they were as big as Collins’ other warrior and they stopped short of us, slightly panting. One of them changed back to his human form behind a tree.

“I’m afraid you gave us a fright Gideon!” laughed Collins, greeting his pack member. Gideon was almost as tall as Collins, with broad shoulder and a scar running down his face. Martin, Collins’ Beta, shifted back as well, and went to greet the new arrivals. “Brother” he said, bro-hugging Gideon. They did look alike, Martin was bigger but Gideon looked younger and more peaceful.

“I’m sorry, Alpha, we had trouble mind-linking you” explained Gideon. “Your mate sent us as extra escort. A package came to the pack yesterday night, she said she feared for you safety after that.”

“What was in the package?” asked Collins, frowning and giving a quick look to Simon.

“She didn’t say, she looked worried”

Collins gave a curt nod to his pack member and turned to Simon. “Let’s hurry, the pack is very close, the border is over the hill ahead” he explained. Simon nodded too, and got ready to shift back.

That’s when all hell broke loose.

I mean, not literally, my hell broke loose. I tried to take off again but it didn’t work, I ended up crashing into a few branches, the pain erupted on every part of my body and I shifted back still halfway up in the trees. I barely had the time to open my eyes to see the ground charging towards me really fast, before the impact robbed me of everything.

.

.

When I woke up, I felt like I had been crushed by a truck, drowned and had a severe head cold. I tried to sit up but the world was spinning around me a little too fast so I stayed with my head on a soft pillow, my eyes trying to adjust to the white ceiling. There wasn’t any noise in room I was in, besides the soft breathing of another human being. I tried to sit up again, this time, I felt less dizzy but the pounding in my head was relentless. Sitting on a chair beside me was Simon, taking all of the space between the two arms with his massive frame. He seemed asleep but his face held a deep frown. I didn’t want to break his sleep but I couldn’t help to feel like he would sleep much better if he knew I was fine.

I reached for his knee, squeezing it softly until his eyes flew open looking around like he was having a bad dream. “Enna?” he asked, his voice slightly broken. “I’m fine” I answered but he obviously needed proof as he stood up so fast and crashed into me, sending both a wave of little tingles down my spine and a deep muscular pain all over my back. He pressed me against his chest, breathing my scent in before stepping back and holding my face between his two huge hands, searching my eyes for any trace of anything.

“I was so worried” he said in a murmur.

“I’m fine” I answered, covering one of his hands with mine, fighting off the muscular pain it induced. I mostly felt very sore. “I should have told you, I’m sorry” I explained.

He sat on the bed next to me, holding both my hands in his. “You were so lucky, if it wasn’t for Collins’ man, you could be dead” he explained. “You were behind me and the time it took to understand that you were falling…” he started but didn’t finish, as if me falling from the sky was entirely his fault for not being able to catch me.

“It’s all right. I should have told you that I wasn’t feeling good. It’s my fault, I just didn’t want to risk everyone’s life by taking a longer break in the woods.”

“You should have told me, I would have carried you all the way if I had to. You know that.” He answered, closing the space between us to nuzzle his face in my neck, sending shivers through my body. “You need to tell me these things or I’ll just spend all of my time holding you against my body to make sure you are fine” said his muffled voice against my skin. “You don’t need me to be against you to see that I’m fine” I joked.

He pulled back, a very serious face on. “I need to feel your heart beat to make sure you are still alive”. I smiled, we both knew he could hear my heart from the next room and probably the room after that, but it wasn’t important. I reached for his face and brought it close to mine, softly kissing his smiling lips. He pulled slightly back though, just to ask me, “I need to know what happened to you. The doctor said you were just tired but he doesn’t know anything about shifters and…you need to tell me when you’re not feeling well.”

I nodded with a little smile. “I’m sorry. I exaggerated when I said that I could fly. I can fly, but I had never tried to fly for so long. The last time I had been free to fly was with my parents, they didn’t let me in prison, and I didn’t when I was in your pack because of the secrecy…I’m sorry, I just didn’t want to be more of a burden, and I ended up causing such a mess.”

He chuckled, pulling me to him and hugging me tight. “I’m happy that you are fine. When all of this is over, you can fly as much as you want, but only if you let me run nearby.”

“That’s a deal” I stated, pulling back to kiss him.

“I see you are feeling much better” stated a voice at the door.

The man called Gideon was standing in the doorway. To me, he had been as quiet as silence but Simon didn’t seem surprised, he probably heard him coming from far away. “Collins sent me to see how she was doing” he explained, “and to fetch you for a meeting.”

Simon pulled away from me and stood up to look at the man. “I’m not going anywhere until she feels better, I was pretty clear”

Simon’s jaw was set, almost as if he was mad. I stood up, wincing as my head started to throb again. “It’s all right, I’m fine. I’ll just go with you.” I answered taking his hand in mine. He relaxed at the touch and looked at me, probably wanting to ask if I was sure, but I cut short his questioning with a radiant smile. Despite the pain and the soreness, I felt like I was up to it. Simon reached for a change of clothes and handed it to me.

I came out of the bathroom with my hair tied up in a pair of jeans, a black shirt and black hoodie. I didn’t have shoes but I guessed Simon told them I’d rather not wear any, and he was right. Gideon was waiting in the hallway but before I could head out, Simon pulled me to him to kiss me again, squeezing me flush against his warm body. He only let go of me with a sigh. “Let’s go” he said, offering me his hand.

As we walked out, Gideon, who was leaning against the wall, stood straight, ready to show us the way but I cut him off before he could start to walk. “Wait! I wanted to thank you, for catching me” I said to him with a smile.

I could feel Simon’s radiating heat close to my body. If I wasn’t in the middle of thanking someone, I would have rolled my eyes. I could feel his Alpha possessiveness seeping through all of his pores, but I wasn’t going to stop thanking someone just to save his pride.

“Arf, it’s normal” stated Gideon, scratching the back of his neck and blushing slightly, “It’s not every day that a bird-woman falls from the skies into your arms” he joked. Simon emitted an half-scoff-half-growl, which set Gideon in a very serious stance again.

“Please, follow me” he simply answered before turning around and starting to walk. I lightly slapped Simon’s arm who looked at me with a mischievous smile.

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Extra long chapter ! Next one will come to you in a couple of days because I'm off to the countryside for a pre-new-year's-eve party & other shenanigans (don't judge me, I didn't invent it). I don't think I'll have the luxury to sit and write there ^^

Thank you for all the votes on the chapters I posted yesterday, I'm happy to see many of you are still following despite the break ! :D