Shadow Wolves: Rise of the Phoenix (Book 7)

Chapter 7 - Taking flight.

Blue smoke started to envelop them, and suddenly they were back in her office. She half expected to be back in her chair being woken up by Moon, but she was standing next to her in the same feathered dress.

“There, safely back where you belong. The second answer is a bit more complicated.” It all came flooding back, and she remembered Moon shooting her, right there in the office!! How could she have felt so calm this entire time!! This woman tried to kill her! She started scanning Moon for the gun and then slowly backed away from her.

“Oh, sweetie. Once was enough to invoke your powers! I’m not going to shoot you again. Sit down, let’s talk.” Moon laughed, taking the one seat in front of Sarah’s desk. Sarah decided she would rather face her and took her seat behind her desk where her gun was. You know, just in case.

“Powers? What powers? I’m human.” She flopped down on her chair, completely forgetting about the gun.

“Tell me something. Do you ever talk to anyone about your childhood? The orphanage where you grew up, or the fact that you didn’t stay with the families they chose for you for very long.” Moon studied Sarah.

“No, and I would prefer not to talk about it now.” No point in asking her how she knew about it because she had already proven her superpower of knowing everything.

“Did you ever feel the need to find your parents?” Moon raised a brow.

“No, not really. They abandoned me on the steps of a church without even so much as a name or a note. Why waste my time?” Sarah sighed and Moon hummed with a kind smile on her face.

“You have always worked alone. You’ve never been comfortable working with a partner or being in a relationship, even one with a friend, right?” Moon looked amused.

“So? Many people are loners.” Sarah started to see the picture Moon was painting, but not what it had to do with superpowers.

“Your mother didn’t abandon you, Sarah. That’s just the way it is with a phoenix if they find themselves pregnant and not mated.” Moon shrugged as though it was nothing.

“A WHAT?!” Sarah frowned. She wasn’t sure if she heard that right.

“That’s why I shot you. You had to die, so you could rise like a phoenix.” Moon grinned and Sarah got up from her chair feeling as if the air had been knocked out of her, unable to take a breath until her lungs started burning and her body forced air into itself.

“Phoenixes are very rare in the supernatural world. Now that you are awake, you will be the target of many hunters should they find out about you.” Moon explained and Sarah turned around and looked at Moon as if she had gone mad.

“Why did you wake me up then?!!” She shouted.

“It was the only way I could get you to see reason and listen to me.” She nodded, knowing Moon was right. She was not planning on listening. She was planning on making a run for it, then Moon shot her.

“Fine, so what now?” Sarah sighed.

“Now, I will teach you how to hide in plain sight. You can’t tell anyone about your awakening. Not even Luc or the girls. It could put all of them in danger.” Moon continued.

“I understand, but wouldn’t it be safer for me to keep moving?” Sarah looked up from the mark on the carpet she had been focusing on. “Surely, if I move constantly like with my current lifestyle, they won’t be in danger, and I can stay out of the hands of those who hunt creatures like me.”

“Creatures like me.” The words rang through her mind. Sarah didn’t even know if there were any others like her, and if there were, what were they?

“No, staying with the wolves is what will save you. The size of the pack and its scent will hide you from prying eyes, ears and noses, and provide you with the necessary protection until I’ve trained you well enough to look after yourself.” Sitting down again, Sarah was speechless. Who would have ever thought that she would be… She looked down at the feathered dress that suddenly made a lot more sense… She was… A phoenix.

“When will I know if it’s safe? How will I know?” Sarah looked panicked.

“We will train you. At night, I will come and take you to the clearing. Ravli and I will train you on how to use your powers. Until then, it will be safer if you stay with the pack.” Moon sighed.

“You mentioned that a phoenix could have a mate.” Sarah remembered Moon saying that when she was explaining her existence.

“Yes. When you don’t have a mate, you don’t know love. You don’t keep your children should they be born. If a phoenix finds a mate, as you have, something that is very rare, even more so than your species. You find love in such a way that you love forever. It is love unknown to anyone or anything. A love so deep it can rip the world to shreds if it is torn apart and recreate it when it is put back together.” What Moon was saying sounded impossible.

“I can do that?” She whispered… Feeling her heart beating incredibly fast.

“Yes, you and all your kind.” Moon smiled.

“What about my mother? Didn’t she love me?” There was just so much to take in that it was all a little overwhelming.

“No. As I explained, I’m sorry, honey. She didn’t know what love was, but she knew at least enough to leave you with good people. Some of you aren’t that lucky.” Moon took a deep breath. Wow… Harsh much?

“Come on, enough of this sadness. It is time you learned how to fly.” Moon smiled, and Sarah thought she was probably joking until the feathers of her skirt started swirling around her, making her feel different. A lot different. She opened the office window and smiled at Sarah. She felt the cold night air and realized it was blowing underneath her wings. SHE HAD WINGS!!!

LUC WOKE UP with a burning sensation across his skin. Looking up at the stars, his heart started racing, and his vision started to blur. Sitting up, he wiped his eyes, finally shaking his head, but he couldn’t seem to clear his vision.

“Luc?” He heard Ant, but everything was turning black, and he shifted in an attempt to clear whatever that was that was damaging his vision.

“LUC! STOP!!” Matt shouted. He stopped, took a deep breath, listened carefully, allowing Rudy to use their other senses to guide them.

“I can’t see guys. My skin feels as if it’s on fire!” He used the pack link.

“Okay, buddy, just take it easy. I’m going to move your back left paw before you step into the fire.” Ant answered him. Oh, that’s why they shouted… He smelled the burning hair. He couldn’t feel the heat from the fire. Blinking his eyes, it started to feel as if he could see lights… Were those lights? Just as fast as it happened, it disappeared. He could see again, and his skin felt normal…

SARAH TOOK FLIGHT, and it was incredible! With the air lifting her wings, she floated, and soon the lights of the city came into view. Following the road to her house, she turned, feeling the air push at her wings. How did she land this thing?

“Think about your passage in front of your flat. See yourself shifting back to your human self and walking to your door.” She heard Moon’s voice from somewhere. Circling the building.

“I can’t, I can’t do this.” She looked at the bars of the banister. “I won’t fit. I’ll break something!”

“You can believe in yourself. Now Sarah! Do it now!!” She closed her eyes and saw herself slipping between the bars, softly landing on the floor, and walking up to her door. Taking one more turn around the building, she took a deep breath and then aimed for the passage.

THEY WALKED INTO HER FLAT, and she couldn’t believe she did it!

“I did it! I landed! Against the door and without shifting, but I still landed.” She probably looked like a one-legged duck sliding on an ice pond smashing into her front door, but Moon helped her to shift back to her human form, so they could get into her flat. She laughed at Sarah’s excitement.

“Tomorrow Meg and Fiona will take you shopping. This place needs cheering up before you and Luc can spend quality time together. Oh, and you will need proper plates and cutlery.” She laughed and disappeared in a puff of blue smoke before Sarah could even ask her anything else. She felt so different. So, light! Swirling around the room, she felt like she was floating and danced in the kitchen, only to remember everything was still in the office…

“What am I going to do now?” She didn’t have her car there… When she returned to the living room, she found all her things neatly put out on her dining room table. They weren’t there a minute ago. When she walked up to the table, a little note appeared.

“I thought you would need this. Love Moon” She giggled and grabbed the milk and coffee. She was definitely not going to sleep for the next two hours, so no use in trying. It was nearly sunrise… Taking her mug to her bedroom, she started paging through her new outfits, and when her mug was empty, she decided to go for a run to work off some of her overflowing energy. She kept running, but her energy didn’t seem to run out. When the sun was up and shining brightly, she decided it was time to head back. Meg and Fiona would be at her place soon, and she still needed to get ready.

She was in her room putting the finishing touches on her outfit when they knocked on her front door.

“It’s open! Come in, I’m almost ready.” She took one last look at herself in the mirror. The summer dress she chose yesterday was completely out of character, but she loved the way the material fell down her body all the way to her toes! A pair of beaded sandals to round off the bright colours of the dress and wooden accessories just for fun… Fun… Something she didn’t think she had actually had in a long time. She giggled and walked out of her room, to the surprise of the girls.

“Hi…” She waved at them, smiling.

“Wait what?” Fiona looked stunned.

“Hi… I see you met, mother Moon.” Meg smiled. Sarah grabbed her bag and hooked her arms in theirs, walking out the door and pulling it shut behind them.

“I sure did. She is amazing. Have you guys met her yet? She is so interesting. At first, I thought she was a crazy woman that was dressed like a fairy godmother.” Before spilling the beans, she remembered what Moon told her.

“Oh, boy, Meg called in the big guns!” Fiona’s eyes grew wide.

“Of course, someone had to fix what I broke. Sooooo, are you staying?” She smiled at them, and she could feel the red burning sensation creeping across her cheeks.

“I’m sorry for how I acted yesterday, Meg.” She stopped and stood in front of her before they climbed into the car, taking Meg’s hands in hers.

“There is no excuse for what I said, but I do hope that you can forgive me. I’ve just had to do things all on my own my entire life.” She couldn’t believe she was going to say this to another person. “Like I told Luc the other night, moving is easier when it’s just one box and a suitcase.” She shrugged.

“Oh, sweetheart, there is nothing to forgive. I’m sorry for being such a bulldozer and making you feel like you had no choice in the matter.”

“Okay, everybody is sorry, but I’m pregnant, hungry, and need to pee again. Can we move this along pleaaaassseee?” Fiona sighed. Sarah giggled and rubbed Fiona’s tummy just for the hell of it. It was supposed to give you good luck or something… She thought.

“Let’s go buy me some furniture!!” They laughed, climbing into the car.

“Those poor movers are going to be swearing at me.” Meg laughed.

“They better not! I’ll kick their a$$e$ in the training if they do.” Fiona commented, starting up an entire conversation about how most of the city was actually part of the wolf pack, and that included the movers.

“This was what I was actually supposed to have explained to you yesterday instead of just bulldozing you. We are all family, and the city is our home. We all work for Shadow International in some way, contributing to our future. When you stay and accept your new job as president of the intelligence department, you can help us better our community.” Meg explained while Sarah sat there gaping at her.

“Close your mouth, honey, you don’t want bugs flying in there.” Meg closed Sarah’s mouth. Fiona sat grinning from ear to ear when she looked at her.

“I’m giving you your own intelligence bureau… Do you want it or not? You pick your cases and who you work with, and you will have all of us assisting when you need us. You will have access to the entire Shadow network, in fact.”