Prologue
My life was hell. I was the Forbidden Child--not one race, but two. At first my parents loved each other. They believed that even though their major species was the same, their individual species would be enough to prevent a child. So they loved. They mated. They had me. A creature they considered an abomination. Neither one nor the other, but a mixture of both. My mother called me a mutant, a weak thing to be killed. My father considered me a loathful creature, not worthy of even licking the dirt from between his claws.
After I was born, they fought constantly. My father's clan took us in, though grudgingly. My mother was the last of her kind. At least of the pure breeds. When I was five, their verbal fight turned physical. They shifted forms and attacked each other, rattling the small hovel and my cage with their roars. Father was mortally wounded and my mother then turned her fangs to me. But before she could even reach the cold, steel bars of my prison, my father killed her in one swipe of his paw. His vengeance taken, he fell, his cold, golden orbs staring lifelessly into eternal space.
Eleven years passed and I stayed in the clan. Though I was treated as an outcast, I didn't mind. Being alone, I couldn't hurt anyone and no one could hurt me. Nobody bothered me if I kept myself invisible.It was working . . . for a while. I was still looked upon as a cub by both the Tigrion and the Contardi. Even with that fact, I was still considered extremely beautiful, and the females hated me for it. The males hated me because they knew they could never have me. And they had a nasty habit of destroying whatever they couldn't have.
So I was hunted. I ran, they pursued. There was nowhere I could go--I knew it and they knew it. I was dead. Looking up at the sky, I laughed at the irony. For the past three months it had been rainy and cloudy non-stop. Today there was blue sky and bright shafts of sunlight. It was as though the world knew my end was near and was rejoicing. I didn't intend for that to happen. I ran faster as anger built inside me, overpowering the fear that had taken over me when I realized they were going to tear me apart. I ran faster still, smirking at the frustrated growls of my pursuers. There was no way they were going to catch me, I was a beast with no intention of being caught or killed. I would survive.
I masked my scent to make it harder for them to track me. Then I led them everywhere--turning around, backtracking, changing from one form to the other then back again. I changed again and swung from the tree branches, making it even harder for them. They would not get me without a fight, both mental and physical.
Finally, the day ended. I was exhausted. Finding a cave near a pond, I bathed, materialized clothes around my body, and entered. Listening to the sounds of the night, I could here "my clan's" roars and growls of anger, irritation, and frustration. They were still on the first leg of my escape. With luck they would not find this cave until mid-day tomorrow. I was only going to sleep for a few hours to recoup my strength, then continue on. But I slept far longer than I intended. When I awoke, it was already well into the morning and the others were getting close. Too close.
Not taking the time to stretch my sore muscles, I broke away from the trees just as one of them cleared the bushes hiding my little pond and cave. He roared, signaling the others that he had found me. I hissed at him and sprinted away, my clan member close on my heels. I glanced back once. The one had turned to four. I ran faster, my breathing ragged, my lungs begging, burning for more air. I broke the tree line and saw an extraordinary site. There before my lithe, running body was what appeared to be a castle of sorts. Narrowing my sea green eyes, I took in the site of men and women on the battlements. They had seen us and appeared to be raising an alarm.
My relief turned to shock as a few of the onlookers transformed from what looked like ordinary people to sparrows and ravens. They flew straight toward us, landing in the path I was running. Taking a defensive stance, the weapons that they had apparently shrunken in size by some strange magic, elongated and they raised them, ready for battle. I growled warningly at them, thinking they were trying to prohibit my passing. A few of them backed up a bit, but still they held their ground. My legs coiled. If I couldn't run through them, I'd jump over them. But as I got closer, I noticed their eyes were not trained on me, but upon my pursuers. They were going to protect me? But why?
I heard malicious growling behind me, and glanced back once again. They were gaining on me. My strength was waning. Looking ahead again, I willed myself to put on more speed. But it wasn't any use. The leader jumped, sinking his fangs into my neck. I hissed and roared, twisting my body, trying to shake him off. His fangs dug deeper into my tender flesh. I stopped thrashing and threw my body to the ground back first, crushing him beneath my larger form. There were a few advantages to being the offspring of two species.
Exhausted, I turned to the rest of the Tigrions, fully intending to fight till the end. But to my surprise, my "saviors" surrounded me protectively, weapons held at the ready and wings folded at their backs. It was still strange to me to see bird wings on the backs of humans. The Tigrions hesitated a second before charging. The "Bird Men", as I later dubbed them, fought. Finally, after nearly twenty minutes of staffs and swords clashing with claws and fangs, the battle ended with the Bird Men victorious. One of them turned to me and I assumed he was the leader. Shockingly to me, he was very attractive with dark hair that fell to just below his eyebrows; strong, chiseled facial features, and bright, liquid gold eyes. What shocked me even more was that I was attracted to him. He was a completely different species than I was. My life was already screwed over as it was, I didn't need to be falling for some guy with ebony wings and one hell of a body.
He said something to his companions, then turned to me and said something. In all four of my forms I was able to understand the human language, but I couldn't comprehend what he was telling me. I couldn't hear anything. The wounds from my fight with the Tigrion were still bleeding profusely, but that's not what worried me. It was the fact that they were going numb. They weren't supposed to go numb.
Panicked, I growled, causing them to back away from me. I began backing up myself. Before I took five steps, my paws buckled beneath me and I fell to the ground with a loud thump. The Bird Men once again surrounded me, looks of worry and wariness on their faces, though it was hard to see. They tried not to let any of their emotions show. How strange. I hissed at them in warning, but I knew that with the state I was in, there was nothing I could do to stop them. My strength was entirely gone, and they knew it too.
They picked me up--it took three of them, I'm not that heavy--and carried me to the castle I had seen earlier. Their wings were gone, but my attention was pulled away from that mystery when the gate groaned open. My eyes widened. This place was huge! There were birds and snakes everywhere, along with humans--some moving with serpentine grace, others seemed to be walking on their toes--and more of the strange Bird Men. Three people approached us--one man and two women, all had commanding presences. The man was dark--dark hair and red eyes which were filled with worry. The older woman, apparently his mate, had golden hair and eyes. They too showed her anxiety, though she hid it better than the man. The second and youngest of the trio was another woman. She had golden hair and her father's red eyes.
They all began talking to the man who had led the small rally that was my salvation. It was apparent to me that they were all family and the rulers of this "humble" abode. The golden eyed boy motioned to me, and his father studied my scathed body. He said something to those who were carrying me and they took me to an elegantly furnished room. There was a bed on one end of the room that looked like it had come from the Middle East, and the rest of the furniture matched. My carriers lay me down on the bed and left. While I was alone, I allowed my eyes to explore. There were many ways I could escape should they threaten me. Though I didn't like the idea of running from a fight, I was still to weak to do so.
The door opened and I whipped my head around. In entered a short, stocky woman. She moved much like a nervous sparrow would, carrying a clay bowl with a smutty gray liquid inside. I narrowed my eyes once again and growled in warning. I didn't like to be around others. I was solitary, always had been and always would be. She didn't even hesitate, which had me slightly amused. I sniffed the air and smelled the slight stench of her fear. She was masking it wonderfully, but I still had to fight my inner self to quell the beast within. It was in my nature to attack the weak. But these people were being kind enough to bring me here and try to nurse me back to health. I would allow these ministrations for a little while, but when I was well enough to leave, I would.
The woman set the bowl down near enough to me that I merely had to dip my head to lap it up. I sniffed it and gave a hiss. The stuff smelled disgusting! She put her hands on her hips and tapped her foot. I growled at her again, but lapped up the strange substance. I immediately felt the effects of the drug. My limbs and eyes grew heavy and I lay my head on my paws. I could very well use the rest, but I still did not trust them. When I slept or was unconscious in any way, I reverted to my true, half breed guise. But there was nothing I could do. My eyes closed completely and darkness took me. I only hoped they wouldn't try anything once they discovered what I was.
Alrighty people. I would like your opinions on some things. First of all, I wanna know if I should put a few lemons in here. Laney says yes, but what about the rest of you? And if I do, should I make it really lemony or just mild? Also, I put this in the book crossovers cause for one, it kinda is a crossover and two they didn't have the book or author I was looking for. So it got stuck here. Hope you enjoyed it, and please Review. JA MISSAN!