Fight By My Side

Austin had to go back this morning and check on his dad to make sure he was doing better. It had been a while since his mom’s death, but his dad was still feeling the after effects. While Aus was out, I stayed watch outside with Alan. We sat on the porch, just watching the clouds roll by.

Kally still was in the house. She hadn’t left, and I didn’t mind. The girl was sweet and quiet. She basically only talked to Mike who had taken her under his wing (No pun intended) and helped her get more comfortable.

“So do you have any siblings?” Alan asked me curiously. I shook my head. Vic and Jack were inside the house, probably chatting in the kitchen or napping in the old sunroom.

“Nah. It was just me, myself, and I! Do you have any siblings?” I asked him. Alan sighed and nodded. His sight glazed over in old memories.

“I have a brother and I had a sister.” He murmured quietly.

“Had?” I asked softly. He nodded and I left it there. If he wanted to tell me he would. After a few long minutes of watching the grass stand straight and tall and the landscape come to a halt, the ginger started to tell me.

“About six years ago or so, my sister was outside playing in the yard. There isn’t much to it other than we couldn’t stop the Rogue that killed my sister. He left her ripped up and torn apart in our own home!” Alan stated furiously. I put a hand on his shoulder and he seemed to relax.

“I’m sorry about that.” I told him. He sighed.

“Now my brother joined the Guardians. He rose up through the ranks pretty quickly. He said his proudest moment was when he killed a pair of ShapeShifters in their own home. Something about major points…” Alan grumbled. I froze solid.

“What was that?” I asked him. Alan gave me a curious look.

“My brother, Wy, he killed a bear and eagle Shifter and got major points because they were on a Wanted list. I was proud of his act before, but now I’m just disgusted with him.” Alan spat.

No. No. No.

Alan’s brother was the person who killed my parents.

I had been hunting the murderer for years and now I had the chance to find his house, sneak in, and slit his throat. But could I really do that to a friend? It would be wrong, so wrong, now that I knew Alan. His family already lost his sister, now they think Alan’s gone for quite a while, and I would be murdering their last son.

I would be the monster now.

Tears stung my eyes, but I pushed them away.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Alan asked softly. I shook the thoughts away. Nope, not getting sad today. I was done with the pain. I just wanted peace.

“The Shifters, the bear and eagle. They were my parents.” I told him. He threw his arms in around me in a tight hug that shocked me a little.

“I’m so sorry, Wyn!” He cried out. I was a little taken back from his outburst.

“It was in the past. You just got to keep moving forward.” I tried to smile. He let me go and went back to the horizon. I stood up and stretched, anxious to banish the bad thoughts in my head. As soon as I stepped a toe out onto the grass, a figure tackled me from behind.

“PIN!” Vic cheered in delight. I growled and struggled. My wounds had healed quicker than expected, which was a pleasant surprise.

“No fair, Viccy!” I whined. Vic laughed as I threw him on and jumped back on top of him and stuck my tongue out, teasing him for more.

“Adorkable.” He chuckled. Suddenly, I was hurled off and caught myself in a neat landing. I turned to bark out my complaints at whoever it was, but I saw Jack and Alex smiling behind me.

“Jack!” I complained. Vic made a leap at me and I dodged it. He grumbled as I nimbly side stepped it. Jack and Alex leapt into the mix and I managed to a flying leap over Jack to tackle Alex. He just chuckled as I pinned him down.

“JACK!” Alex yowled. Of course, Barakat came to his friend’s rescue and helped Alex dislodge his attacker. I rolled to the grass as Alan watched from the porch steps, easily amused. I quickly glanced Jack jump into Alex’s open arms, burying his face into Alex’s neck.

“Victor!” I yelped as two arms picked me up. I squirmed out of his grasp and booked it down the hill, Shifting into a wolf as I went. A tiger was on my tail, trying to keep pace. Our little game zigged over hills towards the side of the dirt road. My brain was too focused on our chase to notice someone galloping beside me.

As I slowed down, the tiger stopped next to me and joined my panting gaze to the white and grey horse that was prancing around. No normal horse would be this close to the predators. It was obviously a Shifter. The person didn’t look hurt or worried, just free.

He was just having fun.

I barked and jumped around with the horse. He whinnied happily and pranced around on his back two legs. I tossed my mane and Shifted back to a human, seeing if the person would Shift with me. Victor stayed as a curious tiger. The horse tilted his head and inspected the striped beast. Vic rubbed against my leg protectively. I scratched behind his ears and his purrs increased in volume.

“So you like to run, huh?” I asked. My lungs begged for breath, but I was excited to meet a new Shifter around here. The horses snorted happily. It had easily kept pace with me when I was being chased by Vic. He danced back on nimble hooves as we chased each other around the meadow.

“Want to change back?” I asked whoever it was as the beast shook out its mane to decline. I rolled my eyes and laughed. It must’ve been a pretty strong Shifter to stay like this for a while and sprint! The tiger rubbed against my leg, telling me we should get back. I patted the orange fur and started to turn away from the horse, who followed me and nosed my back.

“Hey!” I laughed. The horse whinnied happily and trotted in circles around me. The dark mane of the horse whipped around in the breeze. The horse evaded my every movement to corral it.

“So you want to run?” I was still breathing heavily, but smiled. The horse pranced with energy.

“Come on, let’s go!” I let out a wild whoop as the horse came close enough for me to grab onto its neck and swing my legs over the muscled back. The horse mirrored my joy and took off at full throttle, tearing across the grass. I had to lean over and hug the back with my knees as the wild horse ran faster than anything else I had experienced.

Over the hill was the house, I managed to point in the direction of our little abode. Jack, Alex, Alan, and Mike stood on the front porch, watching the horse carry me towards them. The horse didn’t stop there, no, it circled the house once too slowly decrease the speed and came to a halt near Jack. Vic appeared a minute later.

“What do we have here?” Jack chuckled and looked at the horse. I jumped off the back and slid to the ground. The horse nudged my shoulder. I leaned against his side.

“Shifter guy. You’re fast.” I noted. The horse shook his head up and down, making his bangs bounce freely. Alex came up and took one look at the Shifter before hiding behind Jack. What had made Alex hide?

The horse reared and snapped at both boys. Our small little group avoided the flailing hooves as the horse reared and lunged. Jack and Alex dove to the side to avoid being trampled.

“HEY! Easy there!” We all yelled to the enraged equine. He was so full of rage, it seemed like smoke might as well have blasted out of his flared nose. Mike pulled Alex to the side as Jack was held back by Alan. Vic and I attempted to calm the Shifter boy, still in horse form.

The horse once again lunged at Mike and Alex and snapped its teeth. It was clearly upset of the sight of Alex, but I didn’t know why.

Oh wait. Okay, maybe the fact that Alex was a Guardian has something to do with it?

“Mike, get back! Watch out, Alex!” I gasped as I had to roll out of the way of a flailing hoof. As I tried to calm down the Shifter but get Alex out of danger, I noticed a large mark down the spine of the horse that I hadn’t seen before. It looked like one big wound that was ripped from neck to tailbone. There were multiple smaller scars that hadn’t healed all over his legs.

Jack rushed to Alex’s side, but I couldn’t let either get hurt.

“Alan, door!” I pointed to the house. The ginger boy got the idea and opened the door. I managed to push into the equine’s side just enough for it to be off balance for a moment and regain momentum. Alex and Jack took that little escape to run into the house, where the door was shut and locked. Mike, Alan, Vic, and I all stood back as the horse trampled up the front porch and reared in anguish in front of the wooden door, but didn’t proceed. The screams of the beast in roaring anger filled the once calm air.

“Hey! Hey!” I called as it looked like the boy wasn’t going to give up his attack so easily. It almost looked like he was going to buck down the door. The horse snorted in frustration and stamped on the deck. I ran up and pushed into his side. The large white head turned to face me with dark eyes.

“Hey, he’s not going to hurt you. He’s a Shifter like us.” I whispered calmly to him. The horse neighed and stamped his foot again, uneasy to trust. The look in his eyes told me there was something deeper, something that had to do with the scar on his back.

“Look, he won’t turn you in, I promise.” I slung and arm over his thick neck. The boy seemed to calm a little.

“What’s happened?” Austin’s voice floated up behind me. I glanced around to see Aus arrive on the front porch. Alan’s voice quickly retold what had just happened. The horse’s ears flickered nervously and I rubbed the smooth coat of the white and grey creature. My fingers traced a single red line down his side. He seemed to be calming down a little.

Footsteps shuffled nervously behind the door a slight whispers from the two mountain lion Shifter seemed to set the horse off into another scare. The equine planted his feet and screamed in rage, fear, and pain at the closed door.

“Jack, Alex, get downstairs!” Austin asked the two, who quickly turned around and ran to the trapped door. I held onto the horse’s neck until he just calmed down. We all waited in bated breath until I felt the trembles as the man Shifted back into a human, fight worn out of him. He had stormy dark eyes with dark hair that came down to his shoulders. Looking closer, I saw that it head streaks of almost lighter, Carmel colors through it. He had on a grey beanie, dark jeans, and a light blue shirt. The top had holes that had been burned through it.

All he did was sit back on his knees, hands on the ground, with beads of sweat rolling down his forehead. Nobody said anything, nobody moved. I looked back to Austin and the others, quietly mouthing for them to go downstairs and get the boy some extra set of clothes and get Alex and Jack in the bedroom to wait out the storm.

As soon as the others left, I knelt down beside the man. He looked a little older than me, or so. I put a hand on his shoulder. He still trembled from the emotions that his mind and body had just output.

“Hey, I’m Wynter. What’s your name?” I whispered quietly. He broke down, sobbing at the single question I said. All the boy did was sit their quietly and shook as I rubbed his back.

“Kellin Quinn.”

“What happened?” I asked. There must’ve been something more that set him off.

“That man, Alex. He beat me and ordered the men to experiment on me. My parents found out I was a Shifter and sold me to the Guardians. I tried to escape but Alex shot me. I was taken to the labs and he beat me when I tried to run away. Then he made the men experiment on me and the cut open my back to find out what made me special, what gave me the Gift.” He sobbed. I let him gather himself back up as I thought about what he said.

What was this side of Alex that we hadn’t seen?

“Come on, Kellin. Let’s get you inside.” I patted his shoulder as he collected himself and went through the door. Today would be a long day.

Notes

Hey everyone, thanks for keeping up with me! Sorry this chapter is pretty long, but I felt bad for not updating as often as I should. I have two other stories I'm writing at the same time.....so it's pretty busy work!