My mate's face twisted in fury. His patience with Mistral ran out. Two fiery wings burst from his back, blazing red and gold.
"Don't even start. It won't end well for you," Animus growled.
Mistral shot me a wide-eyed look of terror. "Leveret. Walk towards me slowly."
I stared at him without moving.
"Leveret," Mistral said in a harsher tone. "Come here now."
"I'm not going anywhere with you," I said simply. "Animus is my fated mate. You won't separate us."
"He can't be your fated mate!" Mistral snapped. "He's—he's just using you!"
A deep growl rumbled in Animus’s voice. "If anybody is using Leveret, it's you. I see right through your shit, Mistral. You never spoke to his pack at all. Instead, you intend to ransom Leveret in exchange for their magic, don't you?"
Mistral flinched, but his anger didn't subside. "How is that different from what you've done?"
"I asked their consent," Animus said, glaring at the air spirit. "And more importantly, I actually care about them."
All the feathers on Mistral's body flared, making him look twice as large. For the first time, he actually looked intimidating. Despite his cowardly nature, he was a spirit, too. I was careful not to underestimate him.
"That's all you do, isn't it?" Mistral spat. The wind whipped around him and he levitated off the ground. "Careabout mortals. You just can't leave them alone. Their lives come and go in the blink of an eye, yet you waste your time falling for them. You refuse to see them for what they are—lesser beings!"
A terrifying, piercing roar echoed through the air. It was louder than a boom of thunder.
And it came from my mate.
"Don't you dare speak about him that way," Animus snarled. His moonlight-colored eyes narrowed into slits of rage. His long hair and fiery wings billowed behind him, caught up in the whirlwind. But he stood firm on the ground, his black claws digging into the earth.
Mistral floated higher. The wind increased its turbulence. Flecks of embers blew off of Animus's wings but the wind didn't put them out—it fanned the flames. They burned hotter and brighter. My eyes widened. They were large enough now to envelop him.
Animus furled his wings and I lost sight of him. On the opposite side of the mountaintop, Mistral's own wings flared as the wind streamed through his feathers. The spirits glared at each other furiously. Tension coiled like a spring in my stomach. Were they about to fight?
"You have one final chance to step away from my mate and leave us alone," Animus warned.
Mistral sneered at him. "Go to hell."
But Mistral's confidence seemed to waver when the raging flames surrounded Animus like a cocoon.
I watched in pure awe as the fire turned from red and gold to whitish blue, the same color as his moonlight eyes.
And then, for the first time, I watched my fated mate shift.
His black claws and spiralling horns remained in place as the rest of his body transformed. The massive flaming wings took over where his arms used to be. His beautiful face sharpened into the elegant shape of a bird's head.
As the shift completed, Animus let out a piercing cry.
My fated mate shifted into a phoenix.
The whipping wind and burst of energy from Animus's shift knocked me on my ass. My heart raced as the spirits faced off.
Animus turned his noble head to look at me. Even in a different form, his white eyes were fond as always.
And he was beautiful as ever.
A familiar voice spoke directly into my mind.
Leveret, Animus said.I'll protect you from Mistral. From the whole world. I won't ever let anyone or anything harm you.