We Become the Night

Prepare for Battle

The next few weeks are spent between training, gathering others to help fight with us, and researching what Garrett’s father could possibly do to win the fight. We know that the fight takes place on the eve of my 18th birthday. What we don’t know is who else, other than the wolves, Garrett’s father could get to fight with him.

The fairies Lin and Misen have called on their faction, so we have them on our side. Joshua and the sheriff got the bears with us, grizzly and polar. Alexis contacted the witches and gathered them to us. Garrett called Persia and Dash who gathered up the tigers and hawks. All-in-all, we have around two hundred different paranormals at Garrett’s townhouse.

Having so many different factions and paras in one place presents problems of its own. There’s been a few disagreements, but thankfully they are all here for one goal and that reasoning has been able to quell the more heated issues.

“Gare, hun, are we any closer to figuring out what exactly your father wants?” I ask Garrett one morning while we take a few moments alone to ourselves. I lay on his bare chest, running my fingers up and down his stomach. His hand lays lightly against my bare back.

“I know what he wants. That’s easy. He wants to rule over every faction as a single king. He also wants the changelings eradicated. The issue is I don’t know how he plans to accomplish this. The prophecy doesn’t give us much to go on.” A bit of a worry line creases his brow between his eyes. I scoot up to kiss him there. As I pull away, I look down at his face. It’s slightly relaxed, now that I got his worry line to go away. His mouth is slack, his fangs peeking out of the corners of his mouth.

“I can hear your heartbeat picking up.” He smiles, flashing his fangs more prominently, his eyes remaining closed. I lean down and kiss each corner of his mouth, my lips rubbing against both fangs, one at a time. My leg resting against his thigh can feel his body tightening.

Before I can respond to his physical reaction, there’s a pounding on the bedroom door. He sighs; so do I.

“I guess there goes fooling around this morning,” he quips. His eyes open as he picks his head up and gives me a quick kiss on the lips. I sigh again and get out of bed. The loud banging sounds again.

“Just a freaking second,” I growl, shoving my legs into my jeans. I walk to the door, turn to check that Garrett is somewhat decent, and, seeing that he has sweats on, yank open the door to see Lin there with Balan. Thoroughly confused, my brows come together. I tilt my head to one side.

“What’s going on?” I ask Lin, placing a hand on Balan’s head and lightly ruffling his hair.

“Sorry to bother you guys so early, but some of the changelings are getting restless and a few of the shifter kids started picking on Bay. I intercepted before it got heated, but I thought you guys should know.”

“Thanks, Lin,” Garrett tells her from behind me. “We’ll take care of it.”

She bows slightly, more in acknowledgement than anything. I nod to her. She turns around and leaves. I usher Balan into the room and sit him down on the edge of the bed. I kneel down in front of him.

“Bay, can you tell me what happened?” He looks at my face for a second then looks away.

“Bay, what’s wrong?” Garrett asks, kneeling down next to me. Balan just shakes his head, though he looks like he’s going to start crying any moment. I stand up and gather him to my chest in a tight hug. I sit down on the bed with Balan on my lap.

“You can talk to us. It’s alright.” I tell him softly, stroking his hair. I feel his little body shake with silent tears. Still, he shakes his head. He’s obviously afraid to say something. I feel big, wet tears fall from his face to my shoulder.

Garrett sits down next to us and lays a comforting hand on Balan’s back.

“Nothing you say will get you in trouble. As for someone else, it depends on what happened, but we can promise you that no one will be in too much trouble. Okay?” I explain to Balan. He lifts his head and looks at me. He hiccups once, wipes his eyes and nods.

“Terry Laborc was saying that changelings aren’t really wolves, and we shouldn’t be allowed to shift. I tried to tell him that we don’t have control over shifting, and he said that’s exactly why. Then he shifted right there and started walking around me showing off and twitching his tail in my face. I swatted his tail away. Then he tried to hit me with his claws, but Faolan saw and stopped him. He scratched Lan before his dad stopped him.”

Garrett and I exchange a look, and I sigh.

“Bay, what do you think we should do?” He looks at me and shrugs.

“Cal, I think we need to talk to the group at large. I understand that everyone is getting restless, but maybe they need to be reminded of why they’re here.” Garrett looks between me and Balan. I nod. Balan sniffs, wipes his nose, and nods.

I get up and set Balan down on his feet.

“Give us a few minutes to finish getting dressed, alright? You can wait right outside the door.”

Balan nods again and leaves the room, shutting the door behind himself. I get a t-shirt on and run a hand through my hair. Garrett switches out his sweatpants for jeans and throws on a t-shirt as well. Garrett follows me out the door where Balan is waiting. The three of us make our way downstairs. At the landing is Max, just about to climb the stairs.

“I heard what happened. Bay, are you alright?” Max worries, scooping up Balan and holding him tight.

“He’s alright. More shaken than hurt. We’re going out right now to address the group at large. Then I plan to talk to Terry’s father.”

“Good.” Max looks like he’s out for blood. I hold back a snicker as the thought of the only human in the town taking on a shifter flits through my mind.

Garrett and I walk out the back door with Max carrying Balan following. Outside, there’s a buzz of conversation, some of it heated. As soon as I step out, however, all conversation ceases. All eyes turn toward me, not just the changelings that are in the yard, but everyone. With so many extra paras showing up, many from out of town, we’ve had to open our door to other factions. Some are still at the townhouse, but there are a few that are bunking down at Garrett’s house.

Some paras, mostly the shifters, have set up camp in the woods between the townhouse and Garrett’s house. Still, some are staying with relatives in town. There’s no way Garrett’s father doesn’t know what we’re up to, but he hasn’t reached out to Garrett at all.

“First, I’d like to start by saying thank you to all of you who have come here to support us. I know many of you have left the comfort and safety of your homes to be here and defend the changeling faction.” I make sure to project my voice so that those in the back of the expansive lawn can hear me.

“That said, there have been an increasing number of incidents lately. I understand that tempers have been running high and patients running low. Please try to remember that we are all here for a single purpose. If someone has a problem with another para, please try to talk it out. If that isn’t a possibility, please seek out Garrett, Max, or myself. We are happy to mediate any issues that arise and help everyone come to a peaceful conclusion.” There is a lot of paras nodding and mumbling their agreement.

“Please go about your business. Faolan and the Laborcs, please come to the gazebo. I’d like to speak with all of you. Thank you again, everyone.”

“Nicely done, sweetie,” Garrett praises me as we make our way through the lawn to the gazebo at the edge of Garrett’s property. Faolan is already there, a fresh white bandage wrapped around his left bicep.

Terry Laborc and his father walk down the hill from the woods. They are one of the paras that are camping in the trees. Nick Laborc, Terry’s father, looks pissed, but not at me. He’s guiding Terry by the scruff of his neck, none too gently.

“Mr. Laborc.” I step up to him and hold my hand out. He grasps my hand and shakes it firmly. He bows slightly, indicating my status as a king.

“Your majesty,” Nick says. “Terry here wishes to apologize to both Balan and Faolan. Don’t you Terry.” With a shove, Nick pushes Terry towards Faolan. Balan is still clinging to Max behind me. Terry must be close to sixteen, judging by his size. Faolan steps up and holds out his uninjured hand for a shake. Terry begrudgingly takes his hand and shakes it.

“On behalf of the panthers, I want to say I am very sorry for Terry’s behavior earlier. Please know that what he said and did does not reflect how the rest of us feel. We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t believe in what we’re fighting for.”

“Kids will be kids,” Faolan tells Nick. “That said,” he directs his comment to Terry, “if I see that behavior again, I won’t bother with being nice about it. Panther form or not, I can and will make sure you aren’t a threat to others here. I will lay my life down for my king and his subjects.”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Nick tells Faolan. I’m surprised Nick doesn’t take more offense to what Faolan tells his son, but then I guess he understands the gravity of the statement.

“Bay, you want to get down and shake Terry’s hand?” Garrett asks him. Balan buries his face in Max’s neck and shakes his head.

“Terry, it looks like Bay isn’t as forgiving as Lan. Hopefully, you guys can put this behind you in the future. For now, I suggest relaxing. Watch some TV. Get some more practice in, if you want. Tomorrow is the first night of the full moon. Which is the night of the battle.”

“Thank you, your majesty.” Nick looks a bit more relaxed, but obviously still upset with his son for causing such trouble. I nod to him as he and his son walk away.

Garrett sighs heavily. ”If it’s not one thing...” he quips shaking his head. I smile at him.

I turn to Faolan.

“Are you alright?” I ask him.

“Kid barely scratched me,” he scoffs. “He’s gonna need a better swing than that if he’s going to fight.”

“All the same. If you need, our healers will look at it.”

“I’m fine, sire, but I appreciate your concern.”

I nod to him and begin to walk away. Garrett and Max, still carrying Balan, follow. Kali comes running up to us as we leave the gazebo.

“Bay?” She calls frantically. Balan lifts his head from Max’s shoulder and sees Kali rushing towards us. He squirms down from Max’s hold. Kali scoops him up into her arms and buries her face in his neck. I notice a tear or two drop from her eyes.

“Bay, are you alright?” She sets him down to examine him closer, making sure there’s no marks on him.

“I’m fine, Kay,” Balan tells her, but doesn’t protest her checking his face and arms. Satisfied that he’s not bleeding anywhere, she stands, holding his hand, and faces Max. Her eyes burning with anger. Max takes a step back at her look, and I can’t say that I blame him.

“What happened? Exactly.” Her tone indicates that she does not want to be placated. I step forward. Surely, she wouldn’t attack her king, right? I gulp.

“Bay had an altercation with one of the panthers. Faolan stepped in before Bay could get hurt. He’s a little shaken and a lot upset with the panther, but he’s unharmed. I’ve already spoken to the panther’s father, and no, I won’t tell you who. It’s been taken care of. With the full moon starting tomorrow, we need to concentrate on getting ready for battle.” Whether it was my intention or not, I seem to have calmed her down. She doesn’t say anything, just nods thoughtfully. She gathers Balan up in her arms and walks off.

Garrett comes up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist. He lays his chin on my shoulder. I fold my arms around his.

“Very diplomatic. The way you handled both the Laborcs and Kali. I’d say you’re becoming the king I knew you could be.” He declares softly in my ear before turning me around in his arms. He kisses me softly once on the lips and backs up. He stares intensely at me for so long, I start to squirm.

“What?” I hiss at him, my brow furrows. He just smiles and shakes his head.

“I guess I should get some shifting practice in. You know, in case the battle goes on longer than the moon’s out.” Though I just told him I need to go, I make no move to remove my arms from his waist, nor does he make any effort to move away. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Max stealthily walk away. For reasons I can’t place, I’m suddenly worried about Garrett. I know he can hold his own, but still, I can’t shake the feeling that we shouldn’t be at that battle tomorrow night.

Begrudgingly, I finally let go of Garrett. He slowly removes his hands from my waist. In one quick move, he grabs my waist again and pulls me tight against himself, planting one hot and heavy kiss against my mouth. Just as suddenly as he grabbed me, he lets me go. I stumble a little, whether from the kiss or the sudden freedom, I don’t know.

I back away a little, wobbling as I do. I check my surroundings to see that the only one near me is Garrett. I silently nod to him as I reach for my pendant. I feel the shimmering around me. I close my eyes. When I open them again, I’m a twenty-foot tall, blue dragon. I spend a few seconds just admiring the sun glistening off my scales.

“Cal, mind giving me a lift?” Garrett calls up to me. I look down at him. I lean down and let him climb onto my hand. I lift him up to my shoulder. He climbs off my hand and settles himself on my back between my shoulder blades.

I stand up and spread my expansive wings. I give them one strong thrust and we’re airborne. I hear Garrett give a whoop behind me and smile my toothy grin. I feel his arms grip lovingly around my neck as he scoots down to lay on my back.

There’s absolutely nothing like flying. I wish there was some way to go into battle like this. I mean, I love my wolf, but my dragon is much more impressive and I’m sure I could kick Cash’s ass in this form much easily than my wolf can.

We glide easily through the clouds, dipping and turning with a grace that I certainly don’t have on the ground. The flight is made all the more special with Garrett holding onto me.

I don’t know how long we we’re up in the air, but sooner than I’d like the light begins to wane.

I fell Garrett tapping on my shoulder.

“We should probably call it a day,” he shouts to be heard over the roar of the wind. I sigh, nod, and begin our descent. On the ground, unknown to us, a crowd had gathered to watch our aerobatics. They are all cheering and whooping as we touch down.

Garrett slides down my back to the ground. I close my eyes and let my human form come forward. When I’m back in my human body, Garrett grabs me up and spins me around, kissing me as he does. This sets off another round of cheers from the gathered crowd. When he sets me down, he’s grinning like a schoolboy.