Secret Shifter

Part 11

I flew until my wings could no longer carry me. The long crops that surrounded me would provide me with cover. Somewhere along the way i lost track of how many days I had been flying, and my wings ached to be retracted. So I lay on my back staring at the clouds that floated by.

I'd fallen asleep and awoke when I heard a rustle in the crops beside me. Fully alert I jolted upright and pounced at the intruder. Feathers filled my vision as I landed and claws hooked into my arm. It was the Eagle I had asked to keep an eye out on the boundary of the crops.

'Sorry little guy,' I spoke quietly as he ruffled his feathers, obviously not impressed. But I was soon forgiven when I produced a large rat that I had caught earlier. Greedily the Eagle snatched the rat and begun pulling at it's flesh. I didn't mind, after all I had seen worse. After it had finished its meal it told me all was clear.

With that knowledge, I decided it was time to find out where I was. I picked my bag up, thanked the Eagle for his hard work, and headed toward town. It was dead this time of night but it was also a small country town, so I expected it wasn't bustling during the day either.

I reached an information centre which read, 'High Falls.' Grabbing an information brochure I left for the 24hr gas station.

Once inside I saw a burly man with a large beard behind the counter, 'Good evenin' M'am.' He had a thick accent and I nodded in response. I walked over to the fast food and got a small pizza to tide me over. Once I reached the counter I finally noticed the guy was staring at me.

'What?' I didn't ask snarky like but I wasnt exactly polite about it either.

'Sorry M'am, Tis nothin. Just the pizza then?' He seemed on edge, but maybe I looked like crap and that's why he kept staring.

Pizza and brochure in hand I decided to check out the waterfalls. Turns out the town had an original name, High Falls, cause they indeed had high waterfalls. It was nice to breathe the fresh mountain air and watch the moonlight cascade off the water as it fell. I decided to make camp here for the night. As I lay listening to the water, my mind couldn't help but wander back to Derek. Was he happy now that I had left? Did he feel as heart broken as I did to be apart from him?

These past few days that I have spent away from him I have almost given up and gone back. My conscious kept me going though, I couldn't endanger him or his pack, I did the right thing. But try telling my heart that. When ever I closed my eyes I could see his lopsided smile, his deep brown eyes and tears would prick my own. It finally dawned in me, it wasn't just the Bond that made me miss him.

I had realised that in the days that we've been apart, I had fallen for Derek. My speech about loving him for who he really was, was to keep my feelings at bay. But once I realised that I woke each morning, excited to see his tussled morning hair I knew I was in too deep.

Now it was too late. I would never be able to tell him how much I liked that he was passionate about being Alpha. That he made butterflies in my stomach when ever I caught him staring at me.I wanted to tell him that I didn't care that he spoke excitedly about our future, even though he would flush from embarrassment. Derek, in the short time that I had spent with him, had grown on me.

All his imperfections had been the things that made me think he was perfect. I liked that he was tough, strong and powerful when he was around his pack. But I liked it even more that he was tender, sweet and caring when he was around me.

I looked up into the stars wishing that I could have told him before I left without a word. What was he doing now? 'I guess I'll never know,' I sighed in defeat.