Fierce: Feathered Protectors: # 1, page 1
Fierce
Pepper Paris
Copyright © [November2020] by [Pepper Paris]
All rights reserved.
No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.
Contents
1. Fiona
2. Killian
3. Fiona-Anne
4. Killian
5. Fiona Anne
6. Fiona-Anne
7. Fiona-Anne
8. Zachary McCoy
9. Killian
10. Fiona-Anne
11. Zachary
12. Fiona-Anne
13. Fiona-Anne
14. Fiona-Anne
15. Killian
16. Zachary
17. Fiona-Anne
18. Zachary
19. Fiona-Anne
20. Epilogue
Also By
About Author
Chapter 1
Fiona
A fist moved quickly toward my face and I dodged at the last minute. Following up with a punch of my to my assailant’s ribs brought the desired ‘Oof’ from his mouth.
The only way to win was to do something that he didn’t expect. Most women would have gone for the balls, but I needed something that would distract him and give me an advantage.
I slid the palm of my right hand upward toward his nose instead of down and the look on his face was more than worth it as he moved back fast enough that my left was able to land a follow up to his stomach. The thud from his body landing on the ground, made me smile in satisfaction.
“I yield.” He held his stomach with both arms as if I was going to come after him once he was down.
A slow clap from behind me reminded me that I was being watched.
“Nicely done, Fiona. Killian will learn not to go easy on you next time I’m sure.”
My head dipped in acknowledgment, but I continued to keep my eyes down. If he found out that Killian and I were best friends, he’d make sure that I had to hurt him just to prove that I wasn’t afraid to do it.
“Dismissed.” The instructor grunted as he moved past me and began to tell Killian all the ways he could have done a better job.
I hated that I’d had to do that to my friend, but the alternative was having all the instructor’s anger focused on me. It had happened too frequently since I’d come to training at the Protector’s academy and I was simply relieved that I had done well enough to leave the mat while still standing.
Killian shot me a glare as I walked away. I wanted to stick my tongue out at him, but our instructor seemed to have eyes in the back of his head.
Suddenly free for the next hour until my next class, I decided that I’d use the time to take a quick moment to see if the items I needed had come into the potions shop in town.
This wasn’t some kind of alternate reality or magic school, but being a Protector held its own sort of magic.
The small little town held a few specialty shops that we mostly frequented by those in training or the rare person that came through by accident.
Everything seemed normal to the average passerby, but behind the closed doors, our everyday life would shock the norms as we called them.
Sometimes I forgot how different the rest of the world was compared to us. I’d been part of a community where all of the others in our small rural town were Owl shifters. We even had our pecking order.
Then I’d gotten tapped to join the Protector’s training academy. Two months of intense training to blend into society and move between different shifter groups without causing a shifter war to start.
From birth, I’d known that I was going to shift at some point during my teens. Each person’s experience with shifting was different, but mine had been fairly early compared to many others. I had been only about ten when the signs that my first shift was about to happen.
I stood on the edge of the school's grounds, where the magic could detect when one of us shifted. Unlike many myths, when a shift took place our clothes remained intact as part of our human form. We didn’t have to walk around naked if we suddenly needed to shift. It was certainly helpful when trying to keep those in the real world from learning about us.
A quick look around assured me that I was in the clear to make the change.
Quite different from when I’d first shifted, this was a painless process. I suppose there was a bit of magic involved. I’d honestly never given it much thought before, but today was a bit unusual even for me.
My shifting days were about to be over for a while if I got what I was looking for at the shop.
With a deep breath, I closed my eyes and let myself think about being a bird. The next moment I was soaring in the sky above it all for those few seconds.
As an owl, I could still think and form thoughts much as I did when I was a human. It was one of the few traits that carried over between the two parts of who I was.
It was only a couple of miles to the shop, but I had to make sure that no one saw me shift from owl to human. While in training we weren’t allowed to shift without permission so it was even more important that I didn’t get caught.
There was a barn just outside of town that provided good cover since there were already a few owls taking up residence in the building. Flying inside the open doors to the barn wasn’t that difficult to do, it was walking out as if I belonged there after I shifted back that was harder.
Until I’d gone to the Protector Academy, I’d never had to sneak around to keep from being spotted. Our small village had known who we were because they were related to a shifter themselves.
The need for secrecy had grown the longer I was in training with the Protectors. I couldn’t be what they wanted me to be or rather become. A pawn in their little game.
The Witch’s Brew was popular with those at the academy and with the locals as well. A little bell jingled as the door opened to announce my arrival.
“What can we do for you, my dear?” The older woman behind the counter chirped cheerfully.
“Um, I was told that you had a visiting friend in from out of town.” I nervously twisted the small token in my pocket that would be my ticket into the back room.
“Now, honey. I might be a witch, but I’m not a mind reader. You’re going to have to be more specific than that for me to point you in the right direction.” Her nose crinkled up as if it was her favorite joke.
I looked around the shop to make sure that I wasn’t going to be overheard. My other senses didn’t think anyone else was there, but if there was nothing else I’d learned over the past few weeks it was to use all of my gifts.
“She said to mention it was the black rose special.”
The face in front of me lit up with understanding. “Ah, then you’ll be wanting to use the back room while I ring her.”
She snapped her fingers and motioned me toward the back room.
A small disturbance in the air was the only reason that I knew the doorway into the back was spelled. The privacy a ward gave off was only as good as the witch that cast it. Some were much better than others and couldn’t be broken while this one was simply meant to keep things from reaching the normal ears.
Beads shimmered as I pushed them aside to enter the small well-kept back room. A table with cups waiting for tea to be poured made it all seem so common place.
Unsure if I was supposed to sit or stand, I chose to walk around and look at the multi-colored sand timer.
“I heard that you’re here for an appointment.” A woman with long blond hair stood in the doorway I’d just come through.
The token with a black rose painted on it seemed to burn against my hand.
Her appraisal of me must have shown her something because the wards went back up enclosing us in the room.
“Do you have the token?” She tried again holding her hand out to me.
“Yes,” I whispered as the magnitude of what I was about to do filled me with dread.
My hand came out of my pocket with the token as if it was drawn to this woman in front of me.
“You know what this means if you go through with it don’t you?” Her gaze remained focused on my face.
“I do. Once you do the spell, I won’t be able to shift without losing some of the magic that helps keep me hidden. If I decide to do this, it means that I might not be able to shift for years if I’m going to keep my cover.”
“Exactly. Is this something that you think is important enough to give up part of who you are?” She’d only rephrased the question, but I knew that she was simply trying to keep me from making a big mistake.
With the information I’d overheard only days ago, I didn’t have a choice. My expiration date was almost here and there wasn’t a choice.
“I do.” As I spoke the words some kind of magic rippled through the air and rushed around me.
“Was that it? The whole spell?” I tried not to move as it brushed against my skin in a gentle motion.
“You have twenty-four hours before it’s fully in place. I gave it a little extra time so that you’d be able to leave a trail behind before you vanish completely.” Her smile felt more like a blessing than an answer really.
“Thank you. Is there anything I can do to pay you?” I hadn’t been told if there was anything required for this service which to me was priceless.
“Pay it forward when you can to someone less fortunate than you.” My frown must have alerted her that it wasn’t
“He’s already paid for it which is why you had a token. I traveled here simply for you. A lot of love and thought went into this, but it was his sacrifice that made the payment worthy enough for me to give you this gift.” She held the beaded curtain to the side, “You must leave now so that they don’t discover your intentions.”
Being respectful of any wisdom that a witch might offer, I nodded and hurried out. The feeling of magic surrounding me as the effects of the spell took hold.
I hadn’t come planning to receive the spell today, but it simply meant that I would have to leave tonight.
The walk back to the academy took much longer than I’d anticipated, but I had a few moments before my next class. Not wanting to arouse suspicion I needed to go to class and do things the same way I had been for the last few weeks.
Killian caught up to me just as I reached the building where our classes were held. Since each training group was only there for eight weeks, they brought everyone together for the classes.
“Did you get a chance to check out that special deal on those boots you wanted?” He asked loudly, but I knew that he was hoping I’d be able to tell him what had happened at the Witch’s Brew.
“Um, it wasn’t quite ready yet.” I put a smile on my face and looked up at him.
“No,” Killian glanced at me, “That sucks. Will it be ready before we graduate?”
“That’s what the saleslady said.” I shrugged. “Not sure if she was just trying to get me to place a pre-order or she can get them here in time.”
I hated lying to him. He couldn’t know that I was leaving today. His expression had to be genuine when the Protectors found out that I was gone.
The instructor came into the room just then and we both had to focus our attention on what he was saying.
“Our main mission has been drilled into you night and day, but until it becomes etched into your brains then we’ll keep repeating it.” He only paused for a second, “To serve and protect those Otherworlders who need our help by whatever means necessary.”
What no one had bothered to tell me when I’d first joined, was that we weren’t just there to serve or protect, but to hunt down those in the service of the OOD- Omens of Death. We were to take out the enemy before they could take us out.
There was an extra catch to the deal, they were training me to become the wife and bodyguard to the future Alpha of our group.
I didn’t want to kill anyone but would if it meant helping others. What I wasn’t planning to do was become a pawn in some sort of trade-off for my family to become more powerful. I was not a pawn to be used by others.
All this flashed through my head as the instructor began to tell us the finer points of how to navigate a meeting between two Alphas. Most of this was shifter 101, but I’d learned a few things over the past few weeks.
The ninja training as I called it was going to be the most helpful in the coming months. I just had to make it through the rest of the day without alerting anyone to my plans.
Darkness fell and we were all supposed to be in our dorm rooms after dark unless it was night training. We’d done that the first week so there shouldn’t have been anyone outside to see me sneak off.
The spell from earlier had settled onto my skin and I was fairly certain that I didn’t register as more than a human. There was only one way to find out.
I slung my duffle bag over my shoulder with a last glance at the dorm building before walking confidently to the gate.
Every night at eight o’clock sharp the crew from the kitchen drove out and back to their homes in the village. That was the moment I was waiting for.
The gate would be open and so many humans and shifters alike would be leaving that it wouldn’t trigger the alarms if I went through at the same time.
No one jumped on me as I snuck through and I breathed a sigh of relief when the gate closed after the last vehicle had moved through. I didn’t want to start walking on the roadside until all of the cars were long gone.
Ignoring my instincts to shift and move faster, I arrived in town just as the bus pulled into the one-stop in the village. This bus would take me directly to Dublin and from there I’d be able to find one of the kids who made fake ids. I would only need one for a few weeks until I could get some real credentials that would let me travel to America.
Anyone looking for me would start in one of the big cities, but they wouldn’t expect me to travel so far from home. Shifters tended to stay near their home group or find another one whenever they needed to move or travel. Most of us knew where the other local shifters were located and whenever someone traveled, they would check in with the local parliament which is what a group of owls were called.
Some things simply transferred over from the animal world into our culture. It was how we knew what kind of bird or shifter gathering was taking place. I knew of all the ones located here on Ireland’s grand shores, but I was hoping to stay as far away from any of the shifter groups as possible.
This spell was supposed to work, but just on the off chance that it didn’t, I didn’t want to make matters worse.
Best to avoid any place that even held a hint that a shifter might be present.
A bus pulled up and I handed the driver the bus ticket that I’d purchased with my phone earlier that day. It could be traced and most probably would, but it would just lead them to one of the largest cities in the world.
Once there, I would ditch the phone and anything that held a link to my identity. I’d left a few important things with Killian in a small bag for him to keep for me until I came back in the future.
The bus was probably the safest place for me to get some sleep in the foreseeable future, so I closed my eyes hoping that this worked out for the best.
Chapter 2
Killian
The shit hit the fan around lunchtime. Rollcall had only been a thing the first week to help us get into the swing of things. After that, they had trusted us to make sure that we arrived on time.
One of the instructors from that morning must have noticed that Fiona was missing. We’d all been told to assemble in the dining room and we’d be brief shortly.
Sean stood by one of the windows and gave everyone an update as things happened out on the lawn.
He had the best hearing and while most shifters could hear better than the average human, Sean had been blessed with hearing that rivaled that of the bat. For a dog, he sure didn’t have a very good sense of loyalty.
“They’re bringing in a few shifters that are known for their qualities to find people. It appears that something has got them all headed to the dorm.” Sean stepped down from the chair he’d been standing on, “Who’s missing from our group?”
Everyone looked around them before finally one of the more timid girls, a rat shifter I believe held up her hand.
“That owl girl, Fiona wasn’t here today. Did anyone else see her in class?”
There were only twenty of us in this training class, but it wasn’t unusual for someone to not be present for every session. Regularly, the instructors would pull one of us aside for extra help on a special skill that they thought would be beneficial to our training.
It wouldn’t be long before they started questioning us to see what we knew about her disappearance.
This wasn’t going to be the kind of interrogations they’d warned us about. It was real. Someone’s life was hanging in the balance. If they caught Fiona, her punishment wouldn’t be a simple reprimand, it could come with a death sentence. Which was something I was going to avoid if at all possible.
I wasn't sure what I was going to say to the Protectors when they took me into the interrogation room. If I hadn't already known that Fiona was gone, then I'd have thought this was another test, so that was how I was going to treat it. A test. One that I needed to pass to become a Protector.
I'd only known Fiona since birth, but I had developed a crush on her sometime in middle school. It wasn't unusual for two recruits to be invited to join the Protector program from the same village or group since it helped to foster an immediate trust with one's companion. Most of the time, it was a pair, but on occasion, only one made it through training, and the remaining person was left with no one to lean on when the chips were down.
