Claws

Pairing

18+ content in this chapter for adults ONLY!

APOLLO

I spent a good four hours napping after-the-fact. Sprawled out lackadaisically on the guest suite's four poster bed, I was finally roused from my slumber by a gentle hand in my hair.
"Time for lunch, Apollo." My Master hummed sweetly.
I sent a petulant growl his way. His only reaction was a little chuckle. Well, that and the click of a leash being attached to my collar.
"Sit up." My Master commanded.
Upon the addition of leash pressure, I begrudgingly did as I was told. Luka lead me out of my depression pit, formally known as a "bed", and back into the estate.
Once in the dining room, I noticed the table was already chock-full of hungry lionhearts and handlers. The other pairs regarded us with curiosity. Birds of all shapes, sizes, and colors inspected me thoroughly as we walked to the dining table.
Mateo waved us down and pointed us to two seats to his left, which Luka then guided me to. We took the seats gracefully, Luka beginning to make small talk with his colleague. I, on the other hand, was transfixed with the bird sitting directly to my left.
Void was multitudes more appealing, sexually, now that we had bred once. The bird sent a shy smile my way, reaching under the table and holding my left hand. I couldn't help but think of Blizzard. A wall of guilt hit me like a train, and I dropped the other bird's hand.
She looked stunned, and inquired, "Are you feeling okay?"
I squirmed uncomfortably in my seat before confessing, "Not really."
"You seemed happy with me this morning." Void hummed, and my heart sank.
"I was drugged out of my mind this morning." I retorted, "I don't even remember what happened."
"I can tell you all about it later." Void purred, still seemingly enamored with me.
Not a moment too soon, lunch was served by a pair of lackeys in navy suits. One by one, plates were placed down, and I found my mouth watering at the sight of downtown-style filet mignon with fried skins on the side. I hadn't eaten since lunch yesterday, and my stomach growled for sustenance.
"My Master said we're getting another claw in before you leave tomorrow." Said Void, and my head cocked.
"What does that mean?" I questioned, and avoid giggled.
"It means we're breeding one more time tomorrow morning." She clarified, "As in, you'll be clawing me again."
"Ohhhh." I murmured, picking at the food on my plate.
Void's voice dropped. "You don't sound excited."
"I'm not." I deadpanned, "I don't want to do it."
"Yeah, you said that this morning, but you were so happy to breed me that I thought you'd changed your mind." Void whispered.
"They gave me a maximum dose of aphrodisiac." I mumbled back, "Of course I was happy to do it."
"Hmph." The bird sounded off. She looked a little downtrodden.
The two of us sat in silence for the rest of our meal, which wasn't very long. I devoured the steak like nobody's business, and sucked up the fried skins like a vacuum cleaner. When I was done, I found myself wanting seconds.
"Do you want my skins?" Void offered upon seeing my cleaned plate.
"Sure." I accepted. "Thank you."
Void picked up her plate, moving it right next to mine, and scraped the skins off with a fork. I gobbled the new additions down without a hint of mercy.
The other bird chuckled. "Hungry?"
     I nodded fervently.
     Soon, I was done again. A glance at my Master told me he was still eating, and I was still tethered to him. It took the human another fifteen minutes to finish his lunch.
     In those fifteen minutes, I contemplated my conundrum.
     I could run. But I was give-or-take eight hours from Blue Moon, and I absolutely wanted to take Blizzard with me. We could go on the lam together— I could hunt for her. I was experienced enough to bring home meat for the both of us. We could maybe even fit in to the human world as I had for a short amount of time as a child. If I could do it then, we could do it now. Only this time I would old enough and an experienced enough hunter that we wouldn't go hungry.
     We could wear oversized hoodies and straight-cut jeans, but we'd still have awkward calves and a hunchback. Surely that wouldn't draw too much attention in the human world.
     Or we could homestead it. But I didn't know anything about that— I'd been domesticated almost my entire life, and my mate had been even longer than me.
     We could kill a pair of humans and take their place. I stuck on this thought for a moment.
     Taking the place of two humans may have been the best option for us. It would have to be in a rural area. Very rural. Rural enough that you may not see your neighbors for months, and wouldn't bat an eye at never seeing them again.
     We could have a family. A family that was never violently torn apart.
     Then there was Aspen. I wanted Aspen back so desperately— I would slaughter countless humans to get her back, and I had no doubt in my mind that Blizzard would too.
     "Apollo?" Luka hummed, and I snapped out of thought. "I lost you there for a second." The human chuckled at my lost-in-thought headspace. "You're going to be spending the day with the pack. Play nice, okay?"
     With that, my Master unlatched me, and I immediately stood up from my seat and made a B-line for the bird box. Over half of the other handler-bird pairs had already left, and I found the animal halves of the pairings in the birds' portion of the estate.
     As soon as I set foot in the bird box, my temporary partner was on me like white on rice. Void stuck to my side like glue. I was absolutely thankful for this when all of the birds of the pack began jogging towards me.
     I was fresh meat.
     The pack's alpha reached my first. He was a black male, standing a few inches taller than even me, with a shiny bald head. Midnight-black wings puffed up and shimmied as he inspected my presence. I felt intimidated by the male, and bared my throat in submission to the new alpha. At the signal, he took a step closer to sniff me. Void let loose a small growl. The alpha bared his teeth to this, and the female silenced herself.
     Still baring my throat and now avoiding eye contact, I mrrrrred "I'm not a threat."
     The alpha seemed to take this well. He laid flat his shiny black feathers and clack clack clacked "Welcome."
     My body relaxed. "Thank you." I replied in English, "My name is Apollo."
     "So I've heard." The alpha's voice was buttery and rich, "My name is Galiga."
     "Nice to meet you, Galiga." I hummed back.
     Noticing a gathering of birds behind the alpha, mg curiosity was piqued. Galiga took a few steps back and addressed his pack.
     "Terra Acres, meet Apollo!" Galiga roared heartily so that each and every bird could hear him. "Be nice!"
A chorus of excited yipyipyipyipyips sounded out, and very quickly, the crowd rushed me and me temporary partner, who still clung to my side.
Soon, birds of all races and ages were picking apart my feathers, inspecting my claws, and marking me.
An albino female bird with thick glasses put a testing hand out, as if unsure of my position. Snow white skin, hair, and feathers with violet eyes made up the bird, and I noticed a hearing aid on each ear. I gently took her hand, and she trilled, coming closer to take in my scent.
An orange-haired bird with freckles and a diminutive stature spread out my wings and rubbed himself on them, marking me with his pack's scent in a very I-Was-Here fashion.
A heavy-set Arabian bird with a thick beard took my right hand in his, pressing on my nail beds one-by-one to reveal my claws.
My head cocked when a bird with forearm crutches pushed her way to the front of the crowd. She had a fuzzy shaved head of stubbly black hair and tan, Mexican skin. Her right crutch was brought forward, landing gently on my toeclaws. It was tapped once, twice, and the bird remarked with a clickclickwrrrrr, "Those're pretty neat."
After about five minutes of around a dozen birds poking and prodding me, Void decided enough was enough.
"Okay, clear out!" She hollered to everyone around us, "I'd like some time with my stud. Alone!"
"You're no, fun, Void." The albino bird chirped.
Void retorted sassily, "I don't have to be fun, Birch. I'm in season."
"I'm your best friend! You could cut me a little bit of slack. We haven't had fresh blood since we got Oreo a year ago!"
"Fine." Void huffed, "But don't get too close, or I'm liable to claw you!"
Void led us off, her left hand holding Birch's and her right hand holding mine. Leading us across the bird box, she slowed down halfway and instructed Birch, "There's a step up here."
"Thanks." The blind bird hummed.
Our road ended at the very far corner of the bird box, where an adorable hide sat. It was in the shape of a very stubby great white shark, plush-ified with cuteness and a super-soft interior. Stepping into the jaw of the shark, the three of us had plenty of room to sprawl out in the plush interior.
"This one is my favorite." Birch hummed, traced the edges of the stuffed teeth with her fingers. "It's so tactilely stimulating!"
"You're such a nerd, Birch." Void chuckled.
"I'm not a nerd," the bird defended herself, "I'm just blind."
"Yeah, but who says "tactilely stimulating"?" Void clarified. "That's nerd talk."
"She's right. Kind nerdy of you." I took my temporary partner's side, then added "Not that there's anything wrong with being nerdy!" to avoid stepping on toes.
"You can have him." The blind bird deadpanned, and I faked offense. Void laughed at our antics.
The mood grew serious when Void said, "I don't know if I'll be a good mom."
"Oh, stop it!" Bitch snapped, "You'll be a great mom. The fact that you're worried about it proves so."
"Wait," I interrupted, "Do you keep your fledglings here?"
"For the first two years." Void answered, and a pang of envy lit up my chest. "I want to be pregnant. I want to be a mom. I just don't think I'd be any good at it."
     I was thrown for a loop at her words. "Didn't you say you didn't want to breed with me?"
     "Yeah." Void said as if I was missing a very obvious point. "I didn't want to be bound and bred, but I do want to be a mom. You were really sweet, though."
     "I don't remember any of it." I reminded my partner.
     "You were very respectful and gentle." Void informed me with a hum, "You even asked before clawing me." At that, she pulled up her shirt to reveal ten claw marks on her waist, half on each side. "I actually can't wait to do it again tomorrow."
     Birch flushed cherry red at her words. "You're crazy, girl." She laughed uncomfortably. "I don't think I could ever do that. It looks like it hurts a lot."
     "You barely even feel it in the moment. Hurts like a bitch afterwards, though." Void informed her.
     "Been there, done that." I laughed through my words.
     Pulling up my shirt a bit and wiggling down my pants a tad, I revealed the ten little scars from where Blizzard sunk her claws into my hips about a year earlier.
     "And that's why females are tied down." Void remarked, before adding solemnly, "Among other reasons."
     "I usually got to her first, but she was quick." I let out a single little laugh. "You know, since we're sharing."
     "What was her name? Do you even remember?" Birch interrogated me.
     "Of course I remember my own mate's name. Blizzard."
     "Your mate?" Void was stunned. "You have a mate?"
     "....Yeah?" I responded, "I have a mate back at Blue Moon."
     "I didn't think stud's were allowed to have mates. Our stud, Honey, isn't." Birch said.
     I shrugged and divulged more info. "I have a mate and a fledgeling."
     "Duh on the fledgeling part." Void retorted before asking, "How does your mate feel about you being a stud?"
     "Uh...." I droned, "She doesn't know yet. This is my first stud service."
     "You didn't, like, talk about it beforehand?" Void questioned incredulously.
     "I didn't get a chance to." I hummed, "My Master bound me in the middle of the night and took me here so I didn't get the chance to say no, no matter how much I wanted to say no."
     The pair of birds went quiet. Eventually, Void scooted closer and set her head on my chest. I appreciated the comfort, and rested my head on top of hers. After a moment's thought, Birch joined in to the snuggle fest. I wrapped my wings around the two females, pulling them close.