A Beast of Beauty

#1

Nova 'Blue' Wolfe took pride in how her fellow shifters and supernatural creatures cowered away in fear from her.

Why shouldn't they run in fear from her?

She was the best mercenary – although she preferred the term 'assassin' it had certain gravity to it – the supernatural world knew. Her fighting skills were unparalleled and her record, untarnished. Her loyalty remained only to the highest bidder, no matter who or what the target. Nova knew her very presence was enough to send the most hardened of criminals scurrying to their dens.

And if that wasn't enough, she was the most loyal friend to those she considered worthy. Balthazar should be groveling at her feet in joy that she had helped his mucked up relationship along. Her methods may be unorthodox, but she got the work done, by hook or by crook.

Nova took equal pride in her reputation as being the 'bitch of all bitches'.

She was a mutt in a world of creatures wholly obsessed with their pureblood lineage. Mostly the shifters, the vampires couldn't reproduce and the fairies cared for nothing but a warm body, the other hundreds of supernatural creatures kept to the shadows; which suited her. She had enough judgment to deal with anyway. Her lineage was as horrendous as her past, and there was no way she was winning any favours in the high society parties anytime soon. It was a dog eat dog world out there and no one got anywhere by being sweet; a lesson she'd learned as a child.

She had always considered herself to be a sane, rational being. Well, as sane as one could be. Sentiment was something she didn't know how to handle, and had frankly never experienced it to begin with. Hers was a life lived by the moment, with little to no planning for the future. People in her line of work, never lived very long, fulfilling lives.

A lone wolf by nature, she kept to herself and didn't interact with anyone longer than necessary and her work 'assignments' kept her busy shuttling around the globe. Her friends were few and carefully chosen. She didn't trust easy. Nor did she entirely abandon her inhibitions while in their company, it was too dangerous. Her name and identity changed every hundred or so miles and she tried to never settle too long in the same place.

Her current alias was 'Blue Henry', and she had gone by the assumed name for about a decade within this very area. Nova knew it was overkill to go to such an extent, but better a different identity than a bullet to the head. By now she had grown to trust a chosen few in the area, but revealing her true identity was something she was actively avoiding.

People were always so sensitive when it came to minor deceptions.

Snorting, she opened the bottle of soda and took a long, satisfying sip of the cool liquid. The cool wind caressing her face soothed the incessant itch between her shoulders. Nova slipped off her jacket and unleashed her wings. The gossamer black, leathery wings caught the wind and she ran to the edge of the cliff and dove off, her wings tucked in to her body. A heady sense of power flowed through her veins as Nova let her wings open fully and catch the air, turning her steep dive into a steady glide over the trees.

The small town nestled within the endless acres of rolling forest and mountains reaching up for the heavens, seemed to be bustling with life. An unusual feat for an area so isolated from the rest of the world. Cities had too many humans for the supernatural world to settle there, the risk of catastrophe was too great, so they settled for creating small territories for themselves, which the humans were kept out off.

For a long while she simply rose and dipped with the flow of the wind. Her gaze scanning the forest spread out below her, the clear sky and bright sunlight giving it a tranquil feel. Eventually she turned back to her home and landed on the cliff her home sat on.