The man who had lain on the grass, entertaining the children, stayed back.
I had enough patchwork knowledge about these mortals to recognize the she-wolf as the man's sister. That was odd. As siblings, wouldn't they want to share with each other first?
The thought made me chuckle darkly. I knew from experience that wasn't always the case.
As the family gathered like a swarm of insects, my gaze stayed on the lone man. He'd shifted into his animal form—a hare.
Hares were solitary animals, but one's animal form didn't necessarily dictate their human personality. I wondered why this man wasn't as boisterous and outgoing as the rest of them. From my bird's eye perspective, he was truly the odd one out.
My gaze lingered on him for a few beats too long. I wanted to pull away, to cast my focus somewhere else, but it was suddenly difficult. Perhaps the man felt like a mystery I wanted to solve.
Ridiculous.
Mortals were all the same. There was no point in trying to 'solve' any of them. Deep down at their cores, there was only selfishness and greed.
I'd already figured that out the hard way.
I closed my eyes tightly. When I reopened them, I was still staring at the man.
I huffed and tore my gaze from him, looking at the open sky instead. There was a flicker in my chest I chose to ignore.
Remember why you're here,I told myself.
I raised one of my dark palms, slowly curling my claws inward.
I felt the low, steady thrum of magic coursing through my veins. I didn'thaveveins, of course. Not the way mortals did. Immortal spirit bodies were composed differently. I was born of stardust and ancient magic. My flesh didn't contain organs or muscles or blood—though for all intents and purposes, I possessed functions similar to theirs.
The mortals in the pack knew that already. We'd been in... altercations.
My eye twitched as I recalled my first encounter with this pack: the wolf and the orca.
Upon waking from my dazed state, all the awful memories had flooded back to me. I was inconsolable with rage.
And when that alpha and omega interfered, in such a stereotypicallymortalfashion, I lost my cool.
Which led to me being tricked. And getting my arm bitten off by a killer whale.
It grew back. But still, it wasn't my finest moment.
Now this pair of fated mates and their child were utterly content. Their happily-ever-after was complete.
It turned my stomach for reasons I didn't understand.
I placed my claws on the back of my neck. The injury I sustained there no longer hurt, but it was a reminder of one of the few times a mortal had harmed me physically.
I turned to look at the assailant in question, the omega mouse shifter. It was always the same story with the omegas in this pack. I threatened their precious alphas, and they threatened me in return.
Or in Meeko's case, they took a knife and stabbed me in the back.
But I held no animosity towards him. Mortal or not, he was everything I liked to see in an omega. Strong, capable, self-sufficient—and above all, a caring parent.
My gaze drifted to the sword at his side.Mysword.
I might want it back eventually, but for now, I was satisfied knowing he would pass it down to his omega son.
Would the other spirits have done the same thing in my position, I wondered?
Would they have given up a powerful weapon in order to protect a mortal?