Phoenix of Dawn

Deliverance

    The ringing in my ears was obnoxious and clanged against the splitting headache slicing its way from the base of my head to the tip of my nose. It felt like a cleaver was trying to hack it's way from inside out. My existence was hazy, the world vague and detached from my body even with the quiet voice in the depths of my misery telling me to wake up. 

    My eyelids were like lead, pulling up to the blurry bright scene around me. Quickly I shut my eyes again, the sunlight burning and only adding new fire to the blooming pain in my head. A groan slipped from my mouth, my jaw stiff as though it had been clenched for hours. 

    "Settle down."

    The voice was masculine and unfamiliar but for some reason it brought comfort to my throbbing body. Without my permission my muscles relaxed, easing myself down again the soft mattress beneath me. 

    "Breathe this in, it'll help with the headache."

    He held something up to my face that smelled of mint, the feel of a cool wet cloth touched my temple before sliding down to the nape of my neck. My eyes fluttered open, the light not as bright and my head significantly better. He was cradling my head at it's base, the cool rag somehow satiating the radiating pain. The small bowl before me held a green paste that was exuding the mint aroma. 

    Above me was a tall figure haloed by the filtered sunlight from the open window. His chestnut hair was a mess atop his head, strands of gold glimmering in the light. From the angle of the light his eyes looked like fresh honey, swirling as they met my gaze. We couldn't be more opposite what with my gray eyes and dark long locks. My own skin was pale like cream while his held a warm brown tone.

    The memories of the night before slowly crept back into my mind. The beast, the car crash, my aunt screaming... and a man wearing the insignia of my enemy. 

    My eyes went wide, my chest tightening just before my instincts took over. Ignoring the stiffness in my muscles or the throb in my head I moved shoving him off me. The bowl clattered to the floor, spilling its contents across the stone. I kicked out at him, bracing myself against the cot as he advanced to restrain me. 

    Getting to my feet I stuck to the wall, keeping my eyes on him as he righted himself. I'd been training to ignore pain, to fight to the death and come out victorious always. That's what Ky had taught me. What he had taught us all. Its what made us dangerous, we'd been taught to enter every fight, even a sparring match as if it were our life or theirs. 

    "Kyra, calm down," He lifted his hands to show he meant no harm.

    My gaze hardened, "Where is my aunt?"

    "I don't want to fight you."

    A growl crawled up my throat, shaking in the air between us to serve as his only warning before I launched myself at him. He seemed shocked at my strength, most wolves were since I hadn't shifted and I was only a small girl. I took him down rather easily in his stunned state but I underestimated his strength as well. 

    Stupid, stupid, stupid!

    He got the upper hand, pinning me down to the ground despite my impressive struggle. 

    "Get off," I shouted, twisting in his hold. 

    I lurched, hooking my foot at his hip and shoving hard. My fist was clenched and ready to fly when the door slammed open and Claira ran in. She took me under the armpits and wrenched me away from the man.

    "Stop," She cried, "Kyra, stop! He's an alley!"

    "Are you insane," I whirled on her, "He was wearing the crest of the Dawn Breakers!"

    "Yes," She nodded, "He's a spy."

    I looked back at him, he was up again and dusting off his clothes.

    "A spy," I asked dubiously.

    "A double agent," He advised, "I've been working behind enemy lines for years now, gaining their trust and learning about their plans."

    "Then what are you doing here," I snapped.

    "I came when I heard they were closing in on you. There's another hunting party on your trail, wolves. The quicker we can get you to the base the better."

    "How did you heal my aunt?"

    "He didn't," Claira answered softly, "He slowed the poison and temporarily closed the wound but it'll only last so long."

    "So we need to get you to the base," The man said again, "We have to move quickly."

    I eyed them both suspiciously, a million questions on my mind but there was no time for an inquisition. My aunt trusted this man and it made me want to trust him too, besides if he wanted to turn me in or kill us then he wouldn't have taken so much time to heal us. 

    "Okay. Where are we now?"

    "Kyra," Claira gripped my shoulders, keeping me from running around trying to get ready to leave.

    I stared at her, "What?"

    "You can't do that again. You can't stay behind for me any more, you understand? If it comes down to it then you go with Axel."

    Axel?

    I tossed a wary glance at the man watching the exchanged between me and my aunt with an unmoved expression. He was nothing more than a statue, his eyes the only moving part as he glanced between me and my aunt awaiting the next response.

    "No," I said firmly, staring into the oceanic eyes of my only family, "I won't leave you ever."

    "Kyra--"

    "You're all I have," I shouted, my eyes pricking with tears, "I won't. If you die then there's no sense in me going on living either. I'll have nothing to live for."

    "You'll have you," She insisted, "You will find reason to keep fighting, Kyra. I forbid you to ever give up. Do you hear me? I will never forgive you if you condemned yourself to lay down and die. Not in this life and not in the next."

    My gut twisted with dread. I didn't like talking about her death. I knew the chances of it in a war were great but that didn't make it any easier a pill to swallow. 

    "No promises," I managed around the lump in my throat, "But I'll try."

    "Cool so lets get going," Axel stood up and shoved my bag into my arms rather roughly. 

    What the f**k is his problem?

    I stomped after him into a smaller room where my aunt must have been and then out to the woods. It was a small hunting shack nestled into some underbrush that made the old wood nearly blend into the surroundings.

    "Where are we?"

    "Virginia."

    "How did we get to Virginia," I looked around the lush greenery in confusion, "We were in South America. How long have we been out?"

    "A few days."

    I looked back at Claira, "How were you up before me?"

    "Your head injury was extensive, not to mention the fact that you exerted yourself quite a bit when you triggered your essence."

    I furrowed my brow at the back of Axel's golden head, "My what?"

    He sent me a belittling look, "Your essence? Are you uneducated."

    "Excuse me?"

    "Stop fighting," Claira warned us both.

    "I'm not uneducated," I snipped, despite Claira's chiding, "I can show you just how educated I am if you'd like."

    "Kyra," Claira growled at me, "Axel, she wasn't taught the same way we were. She was taught to tap into something different than her ancestral line."

    "My what?"

    Axel sounded annoyed when he spoke, "Your essence is the energy that makes up your being. It connects you to your ancestors. We use it in warriors clothing so when we shift we don't have to keep putting on new clothes."

    I tried to imagine a giant ass wolf squeezed into clothes and felt my face screw into a tight grimace as I attempted to keep from laughing. 

    "It's not like that," Claira explained, a matching expression on her face, "Its complicated and we've only begun to tap into the capabilities of it."

    "How do you put it in clothing?"

    "We found a crystal that can be charged with someone's essence and take on it's energy. We can then manipulate the gem and use it in many ways," Claira went on, "When a warrior shifts the clothing becomes a part of their skin."

    "So how do you--"

    "Know that you tapped into it," Axel finished and I wanted to beat his face in, "Because I saw it. Stronger wolves, typically ones from an alpha line, can call on their essence and use it as a weapon. That's what you did."

    I thought back to the night before, the silvery lightning that sparked between my fingers and blasted from my palm. My brows lifted... so that's what that was. Well, it was good to know I wasn't crazy. 

    "I'm gonna shift," Axel warned. 

    I looked to my aunt expectantly but then I recalled the poison still working through her system and realized that she couldn't shift until she was healed completely. My heart hurt for her, I knew how it felt to not be able to shift. I'd spent most of my life anticipating mine but it wouldn't come and I couldn't understand why. 

    Axel yanked down his jacket and all I could do was stare at the toned exposed muscle of his arms. It was significantly cooler up here. The breeze blew across my skin, raising goosebumps over me. I could tolerate the cold more so than a human but it was still uncomfortable. 

    The gold in his eyes burned into me, the shift inches away from taking over and igniting his irises. It was like sunlight and it took my breath away, cheeks burning. 

    He stepped toward me before draping the jacket over my shoulders.

    "Hold onto that for me."

    His tone was gruff but his hands were tender as they lingered on my shoulders. He turned away from me as I threaded my arms into the warmed sleeves and pushed the fabric up my arm to free my hands. When I looked up Axel was shaking his dark fur, his eyes still the color of warmed honey as they turned on me. 

    He was massive, enough to let me know that I should be intimidated but I refused to show it. Kneeling down he gestured to his back with his long snout, ears twitching as I helped Claira up wincing along with her. 

    "You sure you can carry both of us," I asked with my hands buried down into the soft fur beneath the outer layer of coarse hairs. 

    He twisted his massive head back to me and growled at my doubtful words. To my surprise I smirked back at him, enjoying the fact that I seemed to get under his skin as much as he got under mine.

    Hoisting myself up I swung my leg over so I was snug against Claira. She leaned forward, clinging to Axel's fur and for a moment I was disappointed that I was left to cling to her and not him. Rolling my eyes at the stupid thought I wrapped my arms tightly around her waist and clenched my thighs as Axel began to walk. He felt strong beneath me, his weight shifting with every step and it took a moment to find my balance, my hips moving with his gait. 

    He picked up pace, trotting along through the trees before moving at a graceful run. The air whipped by like a freight train, tugging loose tendrils from my already messy pony. I buried my face in Claira's back as the world turned to a blur around me. It was hard not to see where we were going and my stomach churned at the fear that Axel would run into a tree or trip over a rock and send us flying. How much was he invested in our safety? 

    Sure he'd come from Eden to save us and he had saved us but he was also a jackass. 

    It felt like forever that we were running and at first I didn't notice, my body overwhelmed by the rushing wind. Then it became more prominent as we continued. Claira was trembling, not from cold but from pain. I could smell the blood and rot of death wafting off of her. 

    "Axel," I screamed feeling his paws falter at my cry, "I think we should stop for a second."

    We were sticking to the cover of trees as much as we could but it was difficult. 

    "Maybe we should get a car," I suggested, slipping off Axel's back and catching my aunt's weak, paled figure in my arms. 

    Her brow was slick and clammy, drops of sweat dotting her face. I felt overwhelmed with worry, the blue of her eyes seemed to be glassing over as she tried to reassure me. Axel was quick to shift back, which told me just how used to it he was. How old was Axel? He must have been shifting for several years if it came so naturally to him. 

    "She doesn't look good," He noted.

    I shot him a glare, "Thanks jackass. What gave it away?"

    He matched my growl.

    "S-stop," Claira begged in a faint voice. 

    "I think its being jostled on the run," I informed him, deciding it would be easier to work with him than against him.

    Claira gave a weak nod, leaning heavily against me. I grunted at the extra weight but took it on without regardless. She needed me and I'd rather her lean on me then the man standing before me. 

    "Okay, I'll find us a car."

    I was surprised at the flash of concern on his face before he jumped into a shift. Carefully I sat down my aunt, propping her against the base of a tree before digging around my pack for water. I held it to her dry lips and tipped it up slightly so she could drink. 

    "It's going to be okay," I murmured, unsure if it was more for her benefit or mine.

    The sun was still fairly high above the horizon but as we sat there the shadows grew longer as the sun dipped lower and lower. The reassuring words to Claira from before had become a mantra, uttering between my lips over and over. She was looking better, the pain subsiding as she sat there with her head on my shoulder. 

    My eyes were on the trees, it would be getting dark soon and we'd be less safe in the dark. 

    Where the f**k is that jackass?

    Claira was asleep and I was glad for it. I didn't want her to stress out or know just how concerned I was that Axel hadn't come back and the sun was setting. Had he been hurt? Was he lost? Was he captured or maybe ran into the enemy and was coming up with a solid lie for why he was out here?

    Was I meant to go find him? Did he need help?

    Part of me wanted to let him suffer and save ourselves. It was what I was trained to do. People were expendable, don't risk your life for others, if someone falls behind then you leave them behind. Axel literally was no one to me but the guy who had come to save us and had been nothing but a pain since. I'd never enjoyed the fact that we were meant to leave people behind when they fell. If someone was alive then I wanted to save them. 

    I glanced down at Claira. She was resting fitfully but showed no sign of waking. I lay her down carefully, covering her with a few leaves and branches in order to hide her from anyone spotting her there. 

    Tilting my head up I sniffed at the air and caught the scent of oak and baked apple.

    Axel.

    I headed in that direction, my fingers brushing over the knife at my thigh to make sure it had been restocked. Axel's jacket hung off my small frame and after having to push the sleeves up for the billionth time I decided to just roll them up. 

    I was only about a yard into my journey, tracking Axel's scent like a human bloodhound when it hit me like a ton of bricks. His scent was overwhelming as he stepped out of the trees in his human form. 

    I nearly smacked him but settled for a glare.

    "Where the hell have you been," I hissed.

    "It's not that easy to h****k a car without drawing attention," He grumbled back.

    He looked around in confusion, "Where is your aunt?"

    "I buried her," I snapped, rolling my eyes as I back tracked to where I'd left her. 

    She was still there sleeping as I cleared the leaves and branches. Axel ducked down, ready to pick her up when I snarled at him. 

    "I'm not going to hurt her," He assured, tone softer than expected, "You have to trust me."

    I didn't like it. I didn't like the fact that I had to put my aunts care in anyone else's hands than my own but I couldn't carry her all the way to God knows where Axel left the car. Taking a step back I watched him with cold eyes as he lifted her in his arms gingerly and tilted his head for me to follow him.

    He was used to leading.

    That much was clear and it only served to piss me off even more. Even though I wanted to stomp through the leaves under my feet and huff out my irritation I didn't do that. It would draw far too much attention to us. 

    We didn't walk far before coming up to a trail with a station wagon parked on the edge of it. I crawled into the back and helped Axel lay Claira across the seat. I cradled her head in my lap, stroking her hair as Axel got in the front and started the engine. 

    "Do you know where we're going," Axel asked, meeting my gaze in the rearview mirror.

    I stared at him, "You don't know?"

    "It wasn't my job to escort you just keep an eye on things."

    I thought about it for a moment, "Kansas. She said we were going to Kansas."

    "Kansas," His brow furrowed, "I didn't realize there was a base in Kansas."

    I shrugged, focusing on my aunts flushed complexion, "That's all she said to me. That we were going to Kansas."

    "Okay, they usually keep the base location on a need to know... basis."

    I blinked up at his reflection in bewilderment. Had he really just cracked a joke? A horribly punny joke? I would have laughed at the idea if it wouldn't have let him know I found him amusing at all.

    He wasn't amusing.

    He was an asshole.

    "We're going to drive through," He informed me, locking eyes as if to let me know it would be a long drive. 

    I needed to stay awake to make sure Claira wasn't jostled too much and Axel had to stay awake so we didn't drive off a cliff. Not that I thought there were many cliffs between virginia and Kansas. From what I understood the terrain would only get flatter the closer we got. 

    I leaned my head against the seat and thought about the words Claira had said to me in the jeep. She had spoken as though she'd known something like this would happen and I'd need to know where we were headed. 

    The miles blurred, Claira began to sweat under my palms, a fever taking over her body as she tried and failed to burn off the toxin in her veins. I lowered the window to let in the cooling air to try and keep her temp at bay. If it got too high then she could get brain damage and then it wouldn't matter if we got the poison out or not. She would be a vegetable. As good as dead anyways.

    She hadn't dealt with Beastbane poison but I had. Ky was fervent that his higher ranking officers be immune to the effects. He would inject us with it, watch us suffer and then give us an antidote after twenty-four hours. He'd let us go longer and longer. Those who died were burned and forgotten but those who survived advanced up. 

    I wasn't effected like the others. For some reason it was easier on me. By the time I'd receive the antidote I almost didn't need it. 

    He told me it made me promising. That I would go far. 

    I looked up at Axel.

    "Did you have to go through endurance training to get among his ranks?"

    The car was silent other than the rush of air from the open window. He wouldn't meet my gaze which answered my question in and of itself.

    "Yes."

    So then he must have made it higher up then...

    I didn't ask what he was ranked in Ky's army. He couldn't be an advisor but maybe one of his personal warriors?

    My eyes shut for a moment, trying to block out that time in my life. It had nearly driven me insane, nevermind that it was easier for me than for other. Others like Reiker. He'd been my sanity buddy. We'd talk each other through the fever, remind one another of our families and who we really were. 

    There were rougher days. Locked away in the cells and isolated for punishments, beaten bloody before we were returned to the others. We would build each other back up from it. Find the humanity beneath the frozen blockade we'd set up. When I'd left he had been the only thing that made me hesitate. Leaving him there was one of the hardest things I'd ever had to do. I hoped he lived but on the other hand I hoped he didn't live long enough to lose himself. 

    To be my enemy.

    If I had to face him down in war then I wasn't sure I could go through with taking him out. 

    He wouldn't. He was stronger than that.

    I frowned as Claira's words pushed themselves back to the front of my mind. The way she had worded things had been so strange. 

    Misery...

    Quickly I strapped her in, making sure she was secure before shuffling up to the front seat. I looked back at Claira to be sure she was really secure and then popped open the glove box of the stolen car.

    "What are you doing?"

    "I think you're right," I murmured as I found what I was looking for, "She wouldn't have told me where we were going with the enemy so close to us. They would have heard."

    I unfolded the map on the dash, looking over the states. 

    "Mississippi... Minnesota...." My eyes stopped on Kansas and then the state beside it, "Missouri. Misery... Missouri..."

    Axel was glancing over, ears perked at my mumbled words, "What is it?"

    "Missouri," I told him, "We're going to Missouri."

    "Where?"

    ...man made lake...

    "Is there a popular man made lake in Missouri," I asked him, trying to scan the state closer.

    "Umm.... A few I think."

    "Whats the largest?"

    "I wouldn't know that."

    I folded up the map, "We'll need to stop at a visitors station once we get there and grab a map or a tour guide or something. The base is at the largest man made lake in Missouri."

    "It'll need to be a short stop," He warned, looking at my aunt in the back seat, "Her fever's back?"

    I nodded grimly, "Yes. She doesn't have long."

    "Okay then we get in and we get out at the rest stop."

    "No," I quipped, "I was planning on going sight seeing."

    He sighed heavily but didn't respond as his hands tightened on the wheel. I watched him trying to figure out what pack he was from and coming up short. 

    "Stop staring at me."

    I didn't.

    His golden gaze scorched me, "Stop."

    "Why? It's not hurting you."

    "Can you be more immature?"

    "Actually I can."

    He smirked at the windshield, "That's not surprising since you're so young. Just a child, in fact."

    My teeth ground, "I'm not a child."

    "Then stop staring at me."

    "I'm trying to figure you out," I confessed, "What pack are you originally from?"

    "That doesn't matter."

    "It does to me."

    His head snapped in my direction, "Why?"

    I swallowed down the lump sticking in my throat. How could I answer that question when I wasn't even sure why I'd said that to begin with? I wasn't actually interested in anything about Axel and yet I was. I wanted to understand him.

    I held my head high, "Because you're an asshole and I'd like to report you to your alpha."

    He laughed at this, "Good luck with that."

    "What's that supposed to mean?"

    He tapped the steering wheel thoughtfully, "He's my cousin."

    I leaned forward, eyes wide, "You're connected to the alpha line?"

    His eyes narrowed, "You could say that."

    "Which pack?"

    I studied him with new eyes, trying to pick up on his features to identify what stood out about him.     Wolves related to the alpha tended to take on featured of their ancestors whereas the further out you go the more mixed the features were. Not to mention transfers who weren't related at all and were incredibly common any more.

    "Settle down, Kyra," His eyes were hard but his tone was amused.

    "Please tell me."

    I checked on Claira again over my shoulder. 

    "The Golden Pack," He said almost regretfully, "But I've barely been home the last several years. I'd hardly call myself part of it. It feels more like I'm just part of the war."

    "I get that," I leaned back, "I don't even have a pack. Sometimes I can't even remember what my mother looks like."

    His hands loosened on the wheel from their iron grip, "I'm sorry. I can't imagine what that must be like for you."

    Hot damn. Was Axel really being a decent guy?

    "It's okay," I tried to lighten the mood with a verbal jab, "You went willing into the fray. I can't imagine how you made it through that training and kept your sanity."

    "I don't know that I completely did," He admitted, "I didn't have it as bad as you guys though. I had to go through endurance training for the poison but you guys were tormented all day every day and at such young ages."

    I crossed my legs and fixed him with a look, "Is that really praise coming from you? I never thought I'd hear it."

    The corner of his mouth twitched up, "As close as you're going to get little girl."

    I nearly growled, "I'm not little!"

    "You're seven years younger than me," He said, his eyes dropping over me for a split second before he muttered nearly inaudibly, "Too young."

    "Too young for what," I narrowed my eyes at him.

    He shifted in the seat looking straight ahead, "This war."

    "You're only twenty-five," I said back angling myself toward him as my head tilted against the seat, "That's still young too."

    "For a wolf," He agreed, "It is."

    "So I'd say we're still be in the same bracket then," I felt my lips twist in a crooked grin.

    Wolves lived to be well over five hundred years old. We were far from immortal but we still lived longer lives. Age was little to nothing to us so why was it a big deal for him and why was it such big deal to me that it was a big deal to him? I didn't want him to see me as a child. I didn't want him to think of me as a little girl.

    His knuckles tensed again, "Kyra."

    "What?"

    He looked over at me, his eyes lingering for a moment too long on my mouth before he turned away from me and back to the road. 

    "Don't do that."

    "Do what?"

    He sighed, glancing about three times to see if Claira was still out. 

    "You and I shouldn't be friends," He said in a low voice.

    "Why not?"

    The muscle in his jaw twitched in irritation. He didn't say anything or look at me again but instead fixated on the road ahead of us. 

    "Ax--"

    "Don't," He snapped, "We can't be friends."

    My brow furrowed, "If you'd asked like an hour ago I'd have agreed but I don't understand why we can't be friends?"

    "I have to go back."

    "Okay? So?"

    "So its better if I don't know anything about you. The less I know about you the safer you are if they ever discover me."

    For some reason, the thought of Axel being discovered and forced to tell all my secrets hurt me. My heart clenched at the thought of him suffering and my stomach turned at the idea that his pain would be do to his connection to me.

    "You can sleep."

    I refused to look at him.

    "No. I need to be awake for her."

    "Kyra," something in his voice drew my attention to him, "I'm here. You can rest."

    "I'm not tired."

    Even as I said the words I could feel the exhaustion in my bones, weighing on my shoulders and dragging my eyelids down. I didn't want him to know I was tired but I was. Turning my head to the side so he wouldn't have a direct view of my shutting eyes I let myself drift. The touch of what felt like a warm breeze brushed through my hair and lingered on my cheek as I slipped off into dreamless sleep.