His Dead Mate

Kasey

“There she is.” Nurse Laina smiled.

“Hey.” I chuckled as I sat down on the bed.

“Now tell me.” Laina looked at me with a laugh. “How did you manage to dent your wing dear?”

“I got tackled by a demon.” I said twiddling my thumbs.

“A strong one too.” Kenword laughed. “Should have seen the horns on that sucker.”

“Did you win?” Laina asked with a smile.

I nodded with a wink. “Of course I did.”

“Don’t get too cocky kid.” Kenword smirked. “There are plenty more out there like that one. And some are stronger.”

I groaned.

“That’s what I thought.” Kenword laughed. “Now I need to go talk to Maximus. Take it easy Kase.”

I nodded and watched as he walked out of the room.

“That looked serious.” Laina said worried. “Is everything alright?”

“We faced a demon with wings today.” I explained.

“Wings?” Laina gasped. “­But that’s not possible!”

“I know.” I sighed as I shook my head. “Kenword told me that they don’t normally have wings.”

Laina shook her head. “They don’t. Demon’s bodies are structured differently than ours are.

Their bodies aren’t suppose to hold wings. They aren’t built to have wings. Their center of gravity would be way off if they did.”

“Then how come that one did?” I asked as Laina grabbed some wrap. “He flew like he’s had wings ever since he was born.”

“That’s not right.” Laina said confused. “Now hold still real quick.”

I was about to ask her what she meant, but it was already too late.

“Fuck!” I yelled as she pulled on my wing.

I heard a pop and Laina grabbed the wrap.

“There.” She smiled as she wrapped it up. “All better.”

“Easy for you to say!” I grimaced as I looked at my wing.

A knock on the door captured our attention. “Come in,” Laina called.

“What happened?” Maximus asked worried as he looked at me.

“Laina killed my wing.” I frowned as I stroked the part of my wing that she pulled.

Maximus relaxed but rolled his eyes and laughed. “So dramatic.”

I stuck my tongue out at him and he chuckled to himself.

“I had to pull it so her wing out pop back into place. The demon must have weighed a lot if he dented it that much.” Laina explained as she put the wrap back into the drawer.

“Oh trust me. He did.” I nodded.

Maximus laughed and stood next to me. “Thank you Laina.”

“No problem.” She smiled sweetly and then turned to me. ” Now Kasey. No flying for the rest of the day. But be careful tomorrow. We are lucky that we can heal a lot faster and more easily.”

I nodded and she walked out.

“You okay Kasey?” Maximus asked as he sat down in the chair that was next to the bed.

“Yes. I’m fine.” I smiled.

“Just making sure.” Maximus said a little shakily.

“Are you alright?” I asked confused.

“You’re one of us Kasey. We are going to always worry about you.” Maximus explained. “And especially me because you remind me so much of my daughter.”

“Really?” I asked smiling. That is a huge compliment coming from Maximus.

He nodded. “You are stubborn, smart, kind. You are just like her. You remind me of her and when I see you, I think of you as my own daughter.”

“Thank you, Maximus.” I said as I pulled him into a hug. “It’s nice to know that I have someone like you. You’ve always acted like my dad and it’s nice.”

“Thank you.” He smiled. “And I’m going to always act as your dad.”

“Of course.” I laughed as he gave me a pointed look.

“So that means no boys.” Maximus said strictly.

“And it starts.” I teased as I jumped off the bed.

“I’m just saying!” He commented as he put his hands up. “You don’t need any distractions.”

“Now you sound just like my real dad.” I laughed.

“Good.” Maximus smiled and he stood up proudly.

“So how are the demons with wings going? I asked.

Maximus’ face turned serious. “I don’t know. No one can figure out how they got those wings.”

“Laina told me that their bodies aren’t built for wings.” I said remembering what she told me earlier.

Maximus nodded. “She’s right. Their bodies aren’t proportioned correctly. They are top heavy. So adding wings would only make it worse.”

“Do you think their bodies could be changing?” I asked as I thought about it. “Like to match the balance of having wings?”

“It’s a possibility.” He said thinking out loud. “But you need to rest. We have to talk with God later.”

I nodded and laid back down on the bed.

“I’m glad that you are alright Kasey.” Maximus said as he kissed the top of my head and left the room.

I sighed as I looked up at the ceiling and thought about everything that happened today.

I wish my parents were here.

Zale

“What are you talking about son?” My dad asked as he leaned forward in his chair.

“We ran into some creature.” I said as I looked at everyone. “We don’t know what it is though.”

“It was weirdly shaped.” Harvey spoke up. “Its upper body was bigger.”

“What did it look like?” My mom asked.

“One was black, with red marking all over its chest. It had white eyes and really big black horns.”

Harvey explained. “The other one was the same size. Except he was red with black markings. He too had really big black horns, but this one had wings.”

I heard gasps come from around the room as all my pack members looked at me in fear.

“I’ve never heard of such a thing.” Elder Jonah said. “Have you?”

Elder Ken shook his head. “No I haven’t. This is all new to me.”

‘Great. Even our oldest elders have never heard of it.’ Synder said.

My dad sighed as he rubbed his forehead. “What else happened?”

“They have a great sense of smell just like us. One of them could smell us.” I added. “They are very strong from the way that they look and can obviously fly.”

“They can smell like we can?” Elder Ken asked.

I nodded.

“Where are you going with this?” Elder Jonah asked.

“Do you have an idea on what it can possibly be?” Elder Lois asked quietly.

“I really don’t know.” Elder Ken admitted as he faced her. “But I think I might have heard something about this before.”

“Like what?” Sterling asked confused.

“Back when I was your age, my parents would tell me stories about some mysterious creature.” Elder Ken explained. “No one knew what it was. They never got a chance to get a good look at one or even met one. They would always disappear. And the way you described them, makes me believe that we are talking about the same creature.”

“How do you know if it hasn’t been seen before?” I asked.

“I don’t remember who it was, but someone claimed that they got a glance of it. They described it as big, black with a little red, and what looked like horns on top of its head.”

“They must be powerful if they have been around for that long.” A member said as he cradled his daughter.

“Okay. This is what we are going to do.” I said speaking up. “I want all the elders researching.

Elder Ken, if you remember even the tiniest bit, that will help us in the long run.”

Elder Ken nodded along with the others.

“I want a curfew.” I added. “No going out in the forest after dark. Once it turns dark, everyone is required to stay in the open. Stay by the buildings and lights. I want all the children to return to their houses by eight o’clock. No objections.”

“We are also upping our training.” Sterling added. “I want all the warriors to train harder.”

“I agree.” I replied to Sterling’s comment. “If these creatures have truly been around this long, then they are going to be strong. They looked pretty strong when we saw them. I don’t want to take any chances. I am the alpha. And that means that it’s my job to protect my back no matter the costs and I plan on doing just that.”

My dad smiled proudly at me. “I think that is a good idea son.”

I nodded and looked back out at my members. “Meeting dismissed. I want everyone to stay inside tonight. Lock all the doors and windows. We will talk more about this tomorrow.”

I heard a bunch of ‘yes alpha’s’ as everyone got up to leave.

“I think the curfew was a great idea Zale.” My mom smiled as she walked up to me with dad.

“I just hope it’s enough.” I stated worriedly. “Those things were huge. I don’t want them anywhere near my pack.”

My dad nodded in understanding. “But sometimes you just can’t prevent things from happening.”

“You can only try.” My mom said soothingly.