He shouldn't be out here so close to the border alone but Kaenan felt safe as if he was being watched over by someone. Also, the fact that he had been practicing hard with keeping up the pack link over greater distances was something that had steered him out so far. They still treated him as a baby at times, but he was nineteen! He was an adult! In the back of his mind, Kaenan knew he was not like the others though... He didn't understand the mate process at all for example. Plus he was in class with kids much and much younger than him since he wasn't so smart. The Alpha had tried explaining it to him one time. Something with a lack of oxygen during his birth. The Alpha had also told him he was special and that it was something he should cherish and that it was also the reason why he needed more protection just like the younger wolves.

He was special. He was forever young in his mind and he knew in an instant if someone was good or bad.

There was a small stream nearby where during this time of year, some very special flowers bloomed. Nora had taken him to see it years back when she had just bonded with Floyd, his older brother. She had forbidden Floyd to tag along though, claiming she wanted one on one time with him... with Kaenan. He had never felt more special. His brother's mate had deliberately chosen to spend time with him and she had taken him to this exact same spot.

He missed her. Nora was always fun to hang around with. Reyna was nice too, but she was different. She was a Beta and sometimes she could be quite bossy. He knew she meant it well but it was frustrating at times. He was no longer a little kid. He could shift into his wolf and everything! Floyd even brought him along on patrols at times and he was training hard.

Nora was gentler. She didn't care much for status. So when she left for college it was difficult adjusting. She still lived here though, but Kaenan could feel she was getting distracted by something else. She was being torn in two between Floyd and Azura. It would have been so much easier for her if his brother simply would accept Azura. She was nice. He could feel it. She was a good person, just like Nora.

Kaenan shrugged and kneeled down next to the stream and grabbed his camera. There was no point in wondering about it as Nora was dead and Azura had left again as well. The blue flowers had opened up completely. Their yellow cores contrasted against the blue petals and green leaves. Some cores had turned more of a deep orange like color. The flowers were small but there were so many! The plant followed along the edge of the stream and at some places, the plant partly hung over the edge as if wanted to kiss the sweet water which was flowing underneath.

He snapped a couple of pictures. Some from above, some as he laid down on his stomach to catch them on the same height as the lens. When she sun broke through, he tried getting the reflection of them in the water but that proved to be difficult as the stream was moving fast and he was struggling with the exposure.

He sighed and sat down on a moss-covered rock after taking a couple of pictures. Kaenan looked up to the sky and frowned as he was missing something. It was quiet all around him except for the stream which flowed steadily. It was never this silent in the woods. There was always some chirping of birds at the bare minimum but now it was silent.

Silence was bad.

Silence meant something was going to happen.

Silence always happened in the books he read just before a great battle, or just before a big storm would hit.

Silence like this meant there was something off.

Kaenan quickly got to his feet. The safe feeling that had been with him all the time was gone in an instant and he shivered as he realized he was alone and far away from the rest of the pack. He panicked as he tried to connect his link to Floyd. Floyd was the easiest to reach, but now he had trouble establishing the mind link.

Kaenan's eyes darted around the trees around him, trying to establish where it was most dangerous. As his eyes rested on one spot which was closest to the border he heard the noise. Something was approaching and it didn't bother to stay silent.

Floyd?!

He had managed to open the mind-link on his side but he wasn't reaching far enough. Kaenan kept his eyes on the woods in front of him as he slowly backed away. Two shadows leaped through the trees making Kaenan shriek in fear. This was bad. He could feel it. These shadows were bad and he needed help. Pushing away his fear, Kaenan tried to focus on the mind-link again.

He needed Floyd.

'Floyd?! Please... I'm scared, Floyd!' Kaenan was practically screaming through the mind-link hoping he would be able to connect to Floyd.

'Kaenan? where are you?! What's going on?' Hearing Floyd's voice in his head caused for some relief. He had done it and now he could feel the connection growing stronger.

Kaenan watched the trees intensely. The shadows were gone again but he could hear them. It was as if they were playing with him. Sometimes a sound came from his right, making Kaenan jump and turn that way only to see nothing there and straight after he could swear he saw something move on his right.

'I'm at the stream close to the border. Something is here, Floyd... Something bad!'

His heart was racing and he felt on the verge of bursting out into tears. He had to be strong though. He was not a kid, he would not cry.

When two pairs of dark blue eyes appeared out of the woods Kaenan stumbled and fell back against a rock as he twisted his ankle.

'Shit! We're coming, Kaenan. Hold on!'

Kaenan cried out in fear and pain as he reached out to his ankle, momentarily averting his eyes from the blue ones that looked straight at him. When he looked back up, there were two snow leopards standing out in the open.

Kaenan let out a yelp as saw their glistening eyes. The hair on their backs was puffed up, their tails thick and swishing around and they stared at him as if he was prey.

He was the prey...

He was a wolf, he was a hunter, he was supposed to be fearless but he was shaking to his core. Something gripped his heart, tightened around it and it was immobilizing him. Kaenan couldn't look away and he couldn't move. He whined softly trying to reach out to Floyd again only to find out his fear had broken the connection.

These snow leopards were like Azura. Kaenan tried to tell himself that since Azura was a snow leopard, all snow leopards were good. He repeated it several times in his head but deep inside he knew the truth. He could feel it like he always had been able to. These snow leopards were bad and he was the prey.

They approached him head-on after determining he was not a threat. Their bodies parted from each other leaving so now that they were coming at him from two different angles. Kaenan shifted from looking from one to the other while he remained on the ground. His ankle was throbbing and he wasn't healing fast enough to be able to run. He always healed slower than other werewolves. His only hope was that Floyd would be fast enough.

Kaenan whimpered softly as he knew what was going to come. He couldn't speak, couldn't scream he could only watch. When he saw one of the snow leopards prepare to attack he closed his eyes. He could watch, but he didn't want to. As soon as his eyes were closed his other senses seemed to come to life. With a shock, Kaenan realized he had been neglecting them. He was so focused on watching, he forgot to smell and to listen.

He was not alone. He was safe. The feeling that he had felt during the day was back. He was safe, he was being watched. It calmed him, soothed his racing heart and made him breathe calmly again. It even gave him enough courage to open his eyes again.

And yet, he had still forgotten to listen.

When his eyes opened Kaenan found himself staring at a different sight. A third snow leopard with her back to him snarling viciously at the other two who seemed surprised as well. Kaenan felt his heart leap a bit as he recognized Azura straight away. She was back! She was here and she had been watching him all this time!

Azura took a step forward as the other two snow leopards regrouped again turning their attention to her instead of him. It was not long before they attacked.

It happened so fast Kaenan could not comprehend what was happening. One moment, she was being attacked, the next Azura had leaped up so high and flames had engulfed her entire body. Gigantic flaming wings sprouted from her back. He felt the power radiate off her as she landed and smacked the two snow leopards around.

She scared him like this, but she also made him feel safe. She was defending him, fighting for him and she was winning. She moved so fast, her wings gracefully following and guiding her. Kaenan winched as he saw one of the two strangers being flung against a nearby tree, blood covering his dirty white coat. Azura was right up on him, slamming into him and he could hear the bones crack. She wasted no time and Kaenan's eyes widened in shock as he watched her tear open his stomach with her claws and then proceeded to bite down his exposed throat, ripping it apart in the process.

He wanted to look away but found himself mesmerized by Azura as the blood mingled with the flames which were dripping down her muzzle. Her face and paws were smeared with blood but Kaenan knew it wasn't her own. He saw the red eyes turn from the dead body to him and Kaenan made himself even smaller as he whimpered in fear.

She was power, she was fire, she was death itself and she would not hurt him.

He was shaking though. He felt his own body tremble in shock as he stared at the dead body of the snow leopard that lay a couple of meters away. She had mauled him to death. Blood surrounded him as his glassy dead eyes stared up at the sky, his head in an angle that was not normal.

Some high shrieked yelps made Kaenan jerk his head to the fighting snow leopards. Well, it wasn't really a fight anymore. It was one flaming snow leopard with amazing wings taunting another snow leopard which was making sounds in pure terror Kaenan had never heard before. It was the sounds of one facing imminent death and still pleading for his life. He knew those sounds would stay with him forever.

Kaenan watched in shock as Azura finally attacked. She messed with him like he was nothing. Tossed him around like a rag doll, cut through his fur and skin like it was paper and dug her teeth into his body every time she could. She left no room for him to retaliate. Kaenan knew he should be terrified by the sight, should be terrified of her as she seemed to have completely lost control. But Kaenan wasn't scared and it confused him. This was Azura, she was good and yet here she was killing in such a brutal way it could make even the biggest and toughest man sick to his stomach.

But it was still Azura.

Azura who had made him smile so many times, who had been best friends with Nora.

Azura who had just killed the second snow leopard. She stood hunched over his body, or what remained of it. She was panting heavily and she folded her wings in so they rested next to her body. Slowly she stepped away from the body and lowered her head to the ground. Her mouth was a bit open and more blood was dripping down on the ground now.

"Kaenan!" Reyna's voice made him snap his head away from Azura to the other side of the clearing. A big dark brown wolf emerged together with Reyna and behind them, he could even see the Alpha.

Kaenan took a deep breath of relief at seeing his brother with his second mate and the Alpha. The pain in his ankle had subsided and slowly Kaenan pushed himself up with a wide grin on his face. Everything would be fine now. As he wanted to shout out to them, Floyd jumped forwards wanting to run towards him. Before he had even made a few steps, Azura jumped in between himself and them.

She spread her wings out, lowered her head and Kaenan looked shocked as she puffed up her fur again, ready to attack if needed. She growled and snarled so loud it made his own hairs stand up against his skin.

A wave of power hit him. It made him flinch and he knew it was Azura. She was showing dominance. She had her back turned to him and followed every movement of the wolf and two humans.

"Azura! I command you to step down! Kaenan is safe now. We are not a threat to you nor to him." The Alpha's voice was so strong and powerful Kaenan felt himself flinch again. Azura however, did not seem affected in any way.

His voice had the opposite effect as she stepped closer to the three, her tail moving from left to right faster. She was blocking his view of the Alpha and brother with her wings and body so Kaenan had no idea what was going on. Whenever he would move, Azura moved with him, keeping herself right between them without even looking back.

"Azura, listen to me. It's Andreas, you know me, you know us. You did good, you protected Kaenan but now you need to calm down. The danger is gone. We are not your enemy."

Kaenan could only hear the Alpha speak. He had altered his voice so it was more soothing and calming. He was no longer projecting his Alpha vibes as he had done at first.

Azura growled in response. She was still oozing power and it only seemed to increase. It was becoming suffocating. Kaenan wanted this feeling gone, it was like fighting something that forced him down. Forced him to his knees.

Forced him to submission.

He knelt down and faced the ground.

"Azura stop what you're doing!" Kaenan could hear the small hint of panic in his Alpha's voice. "Reyna, Floyd, I can't believe I'm saying this but we have to submit."

Kaenan did not hear Reyna's reply but his brothers' was clear as day. He howled, the sound so deep and strong and so familiar to Kaenan it made him look up again. It was followed by a vicious growl and snarl from the wolf indicating he was challenging her.

Kaenan felt his heart skip a beat as he realized they would fight. Floyd would fight her. Azura would kill him! Panic took hold of his body as he saw the snow leopard lowering her stance to attack. He could not let it happen! He could not lose his brother this!

"No! Azura don't!" Kaenan scrambled up and yelled out to her as he burst into a run, ignoring the ankle which was still stinging. The imposing flame covered snow leopard turned at hearing Kaenan and he flung himself around her neck without hesitation, ignoring the flames which should have burned him.

They didn't burn him. They wrapped around him as if they were hugging him softly.

"Azura!" He was panting as he grabbed the sides of her head and forced her to look at him. "Don't attack them. They are good people. You know them, they would not hurt me. I'm fine, you're fine. You can stop. Please stop... He's my brother. I don't want you to fight him. He protects me all the time, takes care of me just like you have done now. Please stop... Please change..."

He let go of her head and straight after wrapped his arms around her strong neck and drew her in for a hug. He couldn't care less about the blood that she smeared on his body.

The flames disappeared, the wings vanished just as quickly as they had come. A regular blue-eyed snow leopard was what remained before he felt her muscles relax and she shifted back.

He felt her arms hug him back as she leaned on him heavily.

"I'm sorry Kaenan. I was only trying to protect you." Kaenan smiled as she spoke softly.

She was back. Azura was back.

"Azura? Are you alright?" She looked up at Andreas as he slowly approached her. She nodded, still clinging to Kaenan.

He felt a wet snout and fur against his back and slowly Kaenan freed himself from Azura. Her arms dropped to her side as she stared up at Andreas a bit dazed. As Floyd laid down next to Kaenan, resting his big wolf head on his lap, Kaenan stared at the blood-covered naked woman before him. She looked so frail and small now, nothing like the powerful being she had just been.

"Azura, where is Lucas?" Andreas had knelt down next to her and she gulped as she glanced back at the two bodies of the snow leopards.

"They took him... They did something to him..." As the words fleetingly escaped her lips she broke down.