Strong One

Chapter 11 Not The Same

Ryker POV

"You will be able to fly like me" E tells him standing beside me.  "I can hear you still" we hear Fin say.  "Of course, you can.  It's still you.  Can you hear your animals?" E links back.  We feel Fin as he searches "no, they don't talk, as yours do to you.  I can feel their excitement at being out.  But that is all" he tells us.

"I suppose that is understandable, if you think about it.  You weren't born a shifter, but made into a shifter.  They probably couldn't take the magic that makes us, us. Only the genetic traits and that might have only been from actual animals. Not shifters" E guesses reasonably.

"I can hear and smell so much more now.  You two smell wonderful and I can feel our bond stronger in this form.  I like it.  Can I see your animals too?" he asks

We move further away from him.  E much further away from either of us.  We then let our animals take over and shift.  "Griffin, it is wonderful to meet you.  You remind me of the many legends that I've heard of.  Can we call your animal Legend?" Soren asks Griffin.

"Soren, you are magnificent.  Yes, I think Legend is a good name" Fin agrees "Griffin, we will find all those responsible for hurting you. I am Dante, pleased to meet you" my wolf greets him. "Thank you, Dante, you look just as majestic as Soren with your glistening fur" Fin replies.  "For animals you both speak so well" Fin adds

"That is through our magic.  As shifters we have magic also.  As well as the ability to converse with each other.  I think Ethan was correct when he said you were created and given the ability to shift, by humans that want power over others.  I am sorry for what they've made you go through.  But very happy to have you as our mate" Dante says

"Would you like to try and fly?" Soren asks.  We watch as Legend, takes his first steps, he is about 7 foot in body height.  But then his head is another couple of feet taller.  I can look him in the eye just if I hold my head up straight.  Soren stands at about 25 feet tall, if not more.  It's hard to tell for sure.

"How would I even start?" we hear Fin ask. "I just let Soren do his thing" we hear E say. "Why don't you try flapping your wings?" Soren suggests.  We move back allowing him room to spread out his wings.  He flaps them but all he manages to do is stir the air around us.

"Maybe running and flapping" I suggest.  We watch as Legend and Fin try to run while flapping his wings. "No, nothing" we hear Fin complain.

"I have another suggestion, but you'd have to really trust me!" I hear Soren say.  Fin turns and waits for him to continue.  "You could climb onto my back.  I'll take us up in the air and then, you can jump off spreading your wings, so the air catches them.  You can then try and copy me."

I feel Fin's anxiety hearing this suggestion.  But Legends head goes up and he nods agreeing. "What should I do?" I ask "best you stay down here, just in case you need to catch legend or help him out" E replies.  I feel a little apprehensive myself.  Wondering just how I'm meant to catch Legend or Fin.  In either form, I'd find that hard to do.  But I nod and watch as Soren bends his body and head as close to the ground as he can.

Legend walks up his front leg and jumps onto his back. "This feels very odd" Fin says as Soren takes off. "I need to go above the tree's so the air currents aren't interrupted" Soren informs us.  Even above the trees Soren is an impressive sight.  He circles the clearing and then I see Legend spreading his wings and jumping off of Soren's back. He glides catching the wind. Then Soren show's him how he uses his wings to move and glide through the air.

"This takes a lot of brain power" Fin says as he tries to copy him.  "Oh, I see" Fin says as he makes a turn.  "Ryker, I'm feeling very tired" Fin suddenly says as he flies down towards me.  I feel his tiredness and as he comes closer, feel the air stir and see him transform into his human form.  I run shifting on the fly and catch him before he hits the ground.

"Sorry, tired" he says before falling asleep in my arms.  My heart is hammering against my chest. At his sudden shift.  I look up and see Soren coming in to land.  I move to the tree line giving him plenty of room.   As he lands, he allows E to shift and he comes running towards me.  "Is he alright?" he asks concerned.

I don't think he has the magic we do.  That allows us to shift and let our animals take over.  He might have the DNA mix.  But his animals don't talk to him as ours do to us.  Because they aren't really a separate part of him.  Am I making sense?" I ask frowning down at Fin sleeping in my arms.

"Yeah, I understand what you mean.  He'll have to build up his stammer, he's still weak from not having been fed properly.  We should feed him properly and help build up his muscles" E says "Come on, let's head back.  We can think of a plan. While he sleeps" he continues.

I nod and we start to walk back towards the pack house.  We go around to the side, so we can enter through our deck door.  Fin snuggles deeper into my arms and I share a look with E and smile. "I feel complete now. Do you?" I ask him. He nods "very, I'm happy Ry and that scares me" he admits.

I feel a stab of guilt hit me and lower my eyes from his. "Hey, it's not because of you. I think I'm worried about the thought of what we're going to have to do" he explains, rubbing my back.  I lay Fin down in the bed and E cover's him over.  "Let's shower and then we can sit down and think about what to do" I suggest.  E nods and takes my hand as we walk to the bathroom.

"We have mate, that wasn't born naturally. He's also not a wolf shifter, but a mythical creature.  Are the pack going to be able to accept him?" E asks through our link.  I turn the shower on and then take his face between my hands.  "As dad is always saying the Goddess knows what she is doing.  We might be his only hope for a normal life" I say trying to reassure him.  He gives me a smile and nods his head, then leans in and kisses me. "Thanks, I think I'm only just now realising what we, as his mates are going to have to do. So, we can protect him" he says hugging me tight.

I move him into the shower with me, under the warm spray.  "We have each other too, as well as the pack" I comfort him.  He nods and we shower, then change.  Not wanting to leave Fin, we sit on the bedroom floor with E's laptop and look at the map trying to pin point where the base could be.

"Look here, it's marked as ex-military air base" E says pointing and then zooming in on the area. We look closer at the area surrounding it.  "Fin would have run at least 10 miles before intercepting with I10.  If he followed the direction of the sun" I say running my finger along the screen.

"It was here, we found him and the hunters" E says zooming the map out and pointing the place we found them. "Hey, E, do you think they would've gotten our position here before we found the tracker in him?" I ask worried. "I told our parents that we found and removed it. That is why dad has increased security and alerted the pack.  I'm sure both of them are doing their best to find out if there is any threat coming our way.  You know that grandma also have lots of people she can ask for info" E says and ruffles up my hair.

"Hey" I retort knocking his hand away. This makes him laugh as he knows I'm fussy about my hair.  "I'm hungry again" Fin says leaning up in bed and looking at us.  "Then I'll go and throw on some steaks on the BBQ.  E, you can show Fin how to make a salad and garlic bread" I say standing. "I saw you eating, er," Fin says and closes his eyes for a second.

"Fries, I want fries too" he smiles.  "That would be E's job too.  I saw some frozen fries, the air fryer is in the corner cupboard" I answer.  E holds out his hand for me to help him up.  I pull him up and into my arms, hugging him.  I then kiss his forehead before releasing him.  I turn to leave the bedroom and Fin jumps out of bed and hugs me. "I need those too" he pouts.  I hug him and kiss his forehead and get a big smile in return.

I look at E and he's smiling to "we will protect him." He links me as he too joins the hug and kisses each of us.

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