Pennies For Peace

chapter 16

I stared at the water in shock. Well, more specifically, at my new wings.

They were pure black at the top, and they faded to a soft white at the tips of the feathers. From tip to tip, they had to be at least 15 feet long.

They were beautiful.

The sight of my wings made me forget why I'd jumped, and that was why I flew numbly back to the cliff and landed, keeping my wings spread as I stared at them in shock, as did everyone else on the cliff, except for my parents and Bell. They merely nodded to me and faded away.

The cliff top was silent until Jake cleared his throat and announced,"Well, that was unexpected."

"No shit, Sherlock," I muttered as I fluttered my wings a little, making them catch the sun and shimmer,"I don't think that anyone could have seen that coming."

"I sure didn't," Christina told us quietly as she stepped closer to one of my wings. She stretched out her hand and I flinched involuntarily. She froze and looked at my cautious face, requesting,"Can I touch it?"

I nodded hesitantly and she stretched out her hand, gently running her fingers along one of the primaries. We all gasped when the feather turned red!

"What in the world..." I muttered as we all stared at it. Then I realized something. "Look at the other feathers!" I gasped, and several jaws dropped when everyone realized that red feathers were peeking through all over my wings.

When Maria came closer, I started to wonder, so I brought one of my wings closer to her. She got the message and stroked one of my feathers softly. We all watched in amazement as the feather darkened to a charcoal gray.

We went on like that, with all the people on the cliff gently touching one of my feathers until they were sprinkled through with Christina's red, Marie's gray, Leo's dark green, Jake's brown, and Stefan's royal blue.

We all stared in amazement at my wings, and the colors in them. "Wow," I breathed out. The others nodded in agreement as I looked around and noticed the growing dark. I pulled my wings closer to me, shivering, when a chilly breeze blew over the seaside cliff. To my surprise, my wings folded to my back in a way that could easily be hidden by a shirt.

Since the other people on the cliff could no longer see my wings to ogle at them, they too looked around and saw the sun about to set.

"We should probably get back," I commented, and the others nodded in agreement. As I started to lead the way back to camp, a thought occurred to me and I inquired,"Jake, Leo, Christina, what were you doing here anyway?"

Christina responded first,"I was coming to find you so that I could thank you for saving me from the PFP."

"And I was following her," Leo informed me. I turned to Jake expectantly, and he averted his gaze and scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Jake?" I prompted curiously,"What about you?" He mumbled something that I couldn't hear, so I teased,"Sorry, didn't catch that. Could you speak up?"

"Um, well," he stammered, casting furtive glances at my face. I raised an eyebrow, and Jake sighed. "Fine!" he sighed,"I came to check up on how my little sister was handling being an alpha."

"Oh, really?" I inquired, venom leaking into my voice, and then, completely without warning, I snapped out a wing and smacked Jake upside the head!

We all burst out laughing at the expression on Jake's face! It was HILARIOUS!!!

"You...should see...your face!" I squeezed out between laughs. Christina and Marie nodded, while Stefan and Leo just kept laughing. A blush started to creep up Jake's cheeks, and the rest of us laughed harder.