Upon Wings Of Change

Chapter 33

I slowly woke up and blinked in confusion. Okay... This has never happened before... Taureen was in bed and had me tucked against his chest under the blankets. His arms loosely circled around my curled-up form. I had to admit that I was nice and warm. Which was a stark difference to when I woke up in my burrow in the park in the morning.

He must be paranoid that the person who broke his gate would come back. I am so glad that he always wears sleeping shorts when he goes to bed or this would be very awkward. I rested my chin on his arm as I listened to the steady sound of his breathing and his heartbeat.

It was surprisingly relaxing. I rested there until I heard his breathing change as he woke up. When he stirred slightly, I nudged his arm with my nose. He lifted up the blankets as he gazed at me with an affectionate expression. I tilted my head and trilled a greeting.

He blinked and started to slowly stroke my neck, as if reassuring himself that I was still alive and here. I yawned and stretched my wings. Taureen took that as a sign to get up. I shook myself out and flew into the living room.

I pushed on my small door flap, but it wouldn't open. Did he lock it? I snorted and waited for Taureen. He emerged from the bedroom and went to the back door that led to the garden. I quickly flew over to land on his shoulder. If he was going out, then I was hitching a ride with him. I noticed that he was once more wearing his shoulder pads.

He unlocked the back door and went into the garden. I flew to a large piece of driftwood to wait for the sun. I watched the sun as it peeked above the horizon while keeping an eye on Taureen as he checked the entire backyard.

He eventually settled in a chair against the house while watching me. He always watched and recorded the Morning Song. I felt the call building and knew the second it was to begin. I jumped into the sky to swoop, dive, and spin while singing for the sheer joy of it.

The Morning Song was as it always had been. The unsettled feeling had left, and I reveled in the joyous song. As the call receded, my song and dance dissolved. I landed on a rock to watch the sun for a bit more before turning back to the house.

Taureen was waiting by the door, holding it open. I flew over and banked gracefully through the doorway. He followed me inside and closed the door. This house had a kitchen, whereas the previous apartment had not. The appliances confused me, being completely different than the human ones. There was something like a fridge, or so I assumed, since it seemed to store food without spoiling.

Moments later, Taureen had a bowl of fruit in his hand, and he took a seat on the couch. Breakfast involved a series of commands, each followed by a piece of fruit. It was still annoying to be handfed, but it was not quite as irritating before. This mind over matter stuff is an evil beast. The second I drop my guard, things don't seem to irritate me as much.

Predictably, after breakfast, there was a cleaning and oiling. Despite waking up barely an hour ago, the massage and the feeling of the oil easing dry itchy skin almost put me to sleep.

I felt a bit of pressure along my flank and heard a faint pop, almost like one of Taureen's nails had caught the edge of a scale. I twisted my head and flattened my ear tufts as I growled at the grey device in Taureen's other hand.

It was the same injector that Alec had used to insert the tracker bead under my skin. Taureen put it to the side and stroked my back. "Relax, it is already done. Your new tracker is nearly undetectable. It is only keyed with my wrist comm, and it would take a high end scanner to find it."

Another tracker? What was that for?! I came back!

Oblivious to my mental tirade, Taureen continued, "If someone does get their hands on you, I won't be far behind. If your tracker gets too far away, it will alert me. This is a much more sophisticated tracker. Almost nothing can block the transmission; it will even tell me things like your heartbeat and body temperature."