Between Two Worlds

Chapter Four

“See? It's just a rabbit being eaten by the bird. Nothing special.”

Seriously?

“No! That's the bird that was by my window! The one that was a squirrel!”

Immediately, Thorn flew down at the three boys, but was interrupted as Ryker swooped down and caught him in mid-flight. They both crashed into a tree, and Nick immediately swung the flashlight at them.

“Three birds?”

Cade let out a high pitched shriek. “They’re Outsiders! They’re Outsiders!” That set the boys loose, and they started swinging their arms as the flashlight glared at us.

Ryker emerged from the tree, and he slashed his wings at Cade, who recovered from his fear and swung a hand at the peregrine. A fire burned in his gaze, and he smiled in shock and triumph as his fist connected with Ryker’s chest.

Brayden and Nick stared in shock at the peregrine as he fell to the ground with a thud.

Thorn had shot from the tree, and Micha had left my side to rush to Ryker. The boys backed away as Thorn turned into his wolf avatar and growled threateningly.

Micah covered Ryker, who was struggling to catch his breath. He glared at Thorn, who must've disobeyed Ryker’s orders.

Thorn had cornered the trio against the fence that surrounded the yard, and he let out a series of ravaged barks. Brayden swung his arms out to protect the other two, and Nick was shining the light in the grey wolf’s eyes.

I watched in horror as Cade swung his leg out to kick Thorn in the back of the head. With a screech cut off by a yelp of pain, I turned into my cheetah and sprinted across the yard. I leaped in front of Thorn right when Cade swung his leg.

He missed.

Cade fell backwards, dragging Brayden with him. Thorn’s eyes widened in surprise as I leaped on the both of them, growling and holding them down with both if my forepaws.

Nick dropped his flashlight, and he held up his hands. Ryker had told me this meant that humans surrendered when they did this.

Brayden and Cade held my gaze as I glared down at them. I had an opportunity to see both of their faces clearly.

Both had brown hair and brown eyes, but Brayden was slightly darker than Cade, who had lighter brown hair and eyes. Cade was shaking, and he struggled to calm his breathing. Brayden, however, was much calmer and held my gaze with such ferocity I had to look away.

Meanwhile, Nick was backing away from Thorn, who was marching toward the boy with his ears pinned forward and his tail sticking out from his body.

“Alrighty, Thorn, give it a rest,” I muttered, releasing my grip on Brayden and Cade, who scrambled to their feet and backed away swiftly.

Reluctantly, Thorn backed away, and Nick let out a huge sigh of relief. He ran his hands through his hair and sat down before collapsing, out of breath.

An awkward silence spread across the yard, and Thorn kept his eyes on all three of the boys.

Cade broke the silence.

“So, ah, hi. We gotta go. We, uh, have a thing this afternoon and it’s kinda important.”

More silence.

Brayden started walking toward the house, but Thorn took a step forward, preventing his escape.

“I didn’t know you guys really existed.”

I turned my head to Nick as he took a short, cautious step forward. He gently picked up the flashlight from the ground and pointed it towards the earth.

As Micah carried Ryker to the bush, Thorn and I stood our ground, facing the trio.

Cade has his back to us, and he was staring into space, obviously lost in thought. Brayden and Nick stood in silence, and I understood why.

We were unusual in their kind of territory. New, technically. They were curious and a bit startled by our presence, but weren’t frightened. However, since they had little information about us, they should’ve known that we’d be here sooner or later.

Once again, we were considered nothing but fairy tales and legends.

Brayden had took a few steps to stand by Nick, and he pointed an accusing finger at Thorn.

“He tried to kill me.”

Then, with a dramatic wave of his hand, he glared at me.

“And you tried to freaking strangle me.”

I narrowed my eyes, and I took a few threatening strides towards them. They were tall, and only stood maybe a foot or two above me, but I wasn’t intimidated. Thorn hesitantly followed my lead.

“What’re you doing?” He whispered, and I ignored him. I’ve never spoken to a human before. I’ve heard from returning packmates that they seem neutral in our presence, but I wanted to see that for myself.

“I’m sorry-“ I began, but Cade’s scream cut me off, and it sent Thorn into an alarmed stance.

Brayden punched him in the shoulder.

“Shut up! You’re so loud.”

Cade covered his mouth, and gave me a startled look. “Sorry,” he choked out.

I closed my eyes and let out a deep breath before starting over. “I’m sorry for startling you. We were sent here from our home to complete a mission here. We never meant to frighten you.”

Nick nodded. He kicked the flashlight away, and apologized for the whole group. He jabbed Cade in the chest, who doubled over and held his stomach, groaning.

“Cade didn’t mean to punch the bird,” Nick explained as he uncomfortably moved away from him, “He was just defending himself-’’

“-and almost killed him! Now we don’t have a proper guide and now we have a burden to carry on our shoulders!” Thorn struggled to contain his anger, and I noticed Brayden clenching a fist.

I shoved Thorn away, shocked at his words. Ryker let out a muffled cry from the bush, and I heard Micha curse under his breath.

As Thorn prowled away to the edge of the yard, I approached Cade cautiously. With a startled cry, he stumbled backwards and tripped over his own self.

I sniffed at the place where Nick hit him, and I sensed the presence of a forming bruise.

‘‘That’s gonna be there a while,’’ I grumbled, “However, I can probably prevent it from spreading.”

Cade gave me a curious glance, and I rolled my eyes and I turned away to find Micah.

The stag was healing Ryker, who’s suffered a broken rib cage. Birds have fragile bones, and their lightweight bodies help them fly. The peregrine was lying painfully on his side, and Micah was summoning different plant species. He was looking for comfrey.

“Micah… can I use some? For the boy, I mean.”

The stag glared at me. “No. He hurt Ryker. That boy needs to stay away from us.”

A lame excuse, but it was true. We had no reason to trust these three boys. However, the boys could be resourceful or helpful. I sensed it.