Short Stories

Chapter 1:

Loud whispers erupted around the room. “Kiba’s back.” 

Her eyes darted to them in worry but landed on the person she had been searching for. “Humans have been spotted close to our hunting grounds,” Kiba yelled out as she raced over to him. The communal area where most sat down to eat.

Dark brown eyes slid to her, his hand poised to take a bite of toast with egg on it. He frowned before sitting up straighter and discarding the food in his hand back to the plate. “Were you scheduled for patrol this morning, Kiba.”

“Yes, Tristan.” Her gaze faltered, glancing around the flock.

“And who are you meant to report to?” His steady gaze stayed trained on her. His body relaxed and calm waiting for the answer.

“Tristan, this is serious. Hunters are in our woods.” Her hand flung out emphasizing the people around them.

Taking a deep breath in and slowly letting it out, Tristan stood up. His long slender body towered over her. “If you had reported it to who you were supposed to.” His thumb and finger pinched the bridge of his nose. “Which would be Conner. He would have told you we have hunters close to our lands today. We have to work with humans if we want to keep under the radar.”

“I–I thought.” Kiba lowered her head in submission.

“No, go find Conner. Tell him you will be working in the Hawk House until you can learn the difference. Not all humans are the enemy.”

Shocked gasps and hushes washed over the large room.

Her lips twitched, she swallowed audibly. She nodded and turned on her heel quickly walking to the exit. The cool air hit her burning cheeks. Her boots crunched through the autumn leaves that littered the ground. She made her way down the dirt path winding through the trees.

How dare he! Tristan and her went way back to when they were just children. They had both been a part of this flock since they were teens. They used to be very good friends, where she could tell him anything but lately she felt ostracized by him and the flock all together.

She tugged at her collar the wool from the bomber jacket warm against the cold air. Conner would be at the patrol’s base which was next door to the hawk’s area. It was the main reason she rushed to Tristan, if she had taken time to rush back to base then it would have given the hunters time to wound the flock. Not to mention she wanted them to take her seriously about these hunters.

Kiba shook her head, running her fingers through her short hair. The wind blew the long part of her pixie cut hair into her face. The short spiky hairs of the freshly shaven right side felt good against her nails.

Between one step and the next, she took on her animal form and changed into a hawk. The dark brown of her feathers pulled her light body up into the air. Feathers stretch in the wind adjusting to the air currents around her. Her wings beat heavily as she climbed further up the sky clearing the tops of the trees. Turning she tipped the top of her body towards the sun as the rays warmed her.

Her eyes scanned the ground below watching, waiting. She soared over the tops of pines and zoomed around an old oak tree. Up here she could see the edge of their territory and it bumped right up against a small town. The town had been there, way before she had even been thought of. Tristan, the current alpha, was like the alpha’s before him. They wanted to grow with humans and learn to blend with them.

Kiba thought back to the fateful day that brought her to this pack. Tristan and his family had been visiting hers. Their families were in talks of the future and possibly joining with the flock here. At the time they had been too young to join their parents for the flight. During which human hunters had found them and slaughtered her family. Tristan also lost one parent that night, his mother the only one to make it back. She had come stumbling in the small cabin bloody, shushed us and turned out all the lights. She told Kiba to pack what was needed, they would be leaving the rest and wouldn’t be back. Shocked, she hardly remembered making a bag, couldn’t recall if she had even thought to take any memories with her. When the day broke and their long drive, they had made it to Tristan’s home. They welcomed her instantly making that night bearable to remember at all.

The underside of her feathers catch her eyes, speckled dots of the dark brown mixed with the mostly white of her under body. Zeroing in on Connor she spotted his blonde hair easily. She screeched out before folding her wings close to her body and diving down slicing through the limbs and leaves of the trees.

Screeching her battle cry she opened her beak to pluck at one of his blonde fly away hairs. He turned at the last second angling away. She spread her wings and caught the current, pulling back up into the air. Kiba changed a few feet up in the air, her fingers reaching past her winged tips. Falling the rest of the way she lands solidly on the ground, her knees bent to cushion the force of her fall.

“Kiba!” Conner squinted his eyes from the sun. “You are never going to get me if you keep announcing your attack each time.”

She smiled, brushing her hand against the short hairs. “Oh I’ll find a way, don’t you worry about that.” “Shouldn’t you be out patrolling?” He gave her a once over before turning back away from the sun. His sights set high in the sky.

She set her sights on the sky in wonder. Scuffing the dirt with her brown boots she held her tongue a moment. Glancing at him from the side, “I went to Tristan and told him I saw hunter’s close to our hunting grounds.”

“You shouldn’t have done that.”

“I know,” she said somberly.

Between a blink of an eye a large bluish-gray bird dashed through the air. Its short head let out a screech that was almost like our own but not quite.

“What is that doing here?” She asked.

Her eyes watched the bird be called back to two men that were in close talks.

“Kiba,” Conner corrected.

“What is he doing here?” She bristled at the sight of him and the falcon. Marching up the small dirt hill she kicked at the fallen leaves making it crunch extra loud as she made her way.

Conner pulled up behind her trying to get around her quick steps heading her off. “They are here in an official capacity. Tristan wanted to work with them since they run The Falconry on the other side of town.”

She allowed him to stop her for a moment, still glaring at the one who held the bird. David. Her sworn enemy! His dark brown hair was cropped close to the scalp he wore a red and black flannel with jeans that hugged his legs. Cowboy boots finished the ensemble, making him look like the cowboy he wished to be. Too bad he was more redneck with a bad attitude in this small town. He liked to pretend though. Oh and pretending is what he was good at. Until you find out he was a hunter and liked to send falcons to hunt hawks along with anything else that comes into their site.

“Why would we need to work with them? You know they are hunters.” She turned to him and lowered her voice. Her eyes slid to the two men, they still ignored them in a heated conversation. David faced another but his back was turned and she could not see much of him. “He knows what we are and still does what he does.”

“Both our Hawk House and their Falconry are not doing well. Both of us are hurting in this economic dip the world is in right now. David is not in charge, the brother will be the one conducting business and as I hear it straying away from what their family does.”

A short harsh laugh burst out of her. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

“Go, take care of the hawks and we will talk about your punishment after this.” Conner nodded to the right, where the hawks were housed and taken care of. They had a few actual hawks on hand that worked well with them in their bird form. But Tristan liked using this as a punishment if needed. For many they wouldn’t be caught dead having to be here in animal form more than once.

Turning away she trudged towards the building. She was embarrassed the amount of times she had been sent here and every time it chafed at her. Tristan knew where to strike. He was deadly, like that in all ways.