Pinnacle Page 3

  Kaya shot it up into the air as hard as she mentally could. It disappeared from sight and a short while later, it plopped down on the ground again.

  Kenneth sat on his hind quarters with his head cocked to one side, his yellow eyes full of curiosity. She couldn’t help but laugh; he was adorable, even as massive as he was. The top of his back was well above her head. Kenneth got to his paws and walked over to her. All of the pup-like curiosity gone, he looked regal and fierce. His presence commanded attention. He turned his enormous head to look back at Kaya, then nudged her with his nose. The gesture sent her falling on her butt, again.

  “What was that for?” she asked heatedly.

  He looked from Kaya to his back, returned his gaze to her, and then lay down on his belly. He was clearly happy because he was panting and thumping his tail upon the prairie grass. He really was playing the part. Then exactly what he wanted clicked for Kaya.

  “Oh no. Kenneth, there is no way I am riding you! You’re not a horse!” she said, outraged.

  He yipped at her in earnest and then put his head on his huge paws. It occurred to Kaya that in the short time she had been a timber wolf, he had grown accustomed to being able to communicate with her in his wolf form. His head popped up and he got to his paws. He lowered his nose to Kaya’s stomach and started nudging her into walking backwards. She complied with what she could only assume was what he wanted. He was trying to put distance between them. He yipped at her again and she stopped a good four yards from him. He changed form yet again from totally wolf to part wolf and part human. The blend looked unnatural to Kaya. She was surprised to find that in this form, she found him terrifying.

  In a gravelly, subhuman voice, he spoke. “Don’t show your fear, I can sense it and in this form, it is hard to ignore my hunting instincts.”

  Kaya understood the Hybrid Form was the compromise between human and wolf, and she could understand him when he was like this. He stood as a man would, only without the straightness of posture. Even knowing that, she couldn’t help herself; he looked horrific. His head was all canine. He had an elongated neck and a man’s body, covered in sleek black fur all the way down to his hips. His legs looked exactly like a dogs hind legs but, the feet where like nothing she’d ever seen. Like the neck, they were elongated and looked human, for the most part, except for the toes, those were the same as a dog’s claws and all. He had a mouthful of fangs and switchblade like claws on his gnarled but human looking hands. She tried to gain control over her fight-or-flight reaction. She strived to come to grips with her fear, but her terror got the best of her and the fear became unbridled.

  Flight won out.

  She fled from Kenneth. With incredible speed and strength, he caught up to Kaya and pinned her to the ground. He growled and bared his teeth inches from her face. She closed her eyes as if it would make the sudden nightmare she found herself in disappear. When Kaya felt a sharp hot spike of pain in her chest, she was sure he had laid her open.

  To Kaya’s surprise, she issued a growl of her own. Her eyes flew open in just enough time to see Kenneth’s eyes enlarge to three times their normal size. He stumbled backwards off her. It was then Kaya realized what had happened. She looked down at herself and she had morphed into him…

  Well, almost. She was bigger and obviously female. Now it was Kaya’s turn to feel what he had been talking about. She could sense his fear and, as if driven by another force, Kaya gave chase when he started to retreat at a dead run. He was running scared, and she could not stop herself from chasing him down. Only she didn’t have the urge to actually kill him. She caught up to and tackled him in a few strides. Now it was him pinned to the ground and her growling with teeth bared. He took a deep breath and in seconds had changed back to his Human Form.

  “Kays, please,” he pleaded. His fear was not all gone, but enough that it broke the frenzy Kaya had felt just seconds before. “You don’t want to kill me, Kays,” he said shakily.

  “No, I don’t want to kill you. I want to mate with you.”

  His eyes turned feral yellow and it was not fear she felt radiating from him anymore; it was a primal need to feed the desire she had just spiked in him. His need matched her own growing compulsion to do exactly what she had said. He morphed once again into his Hybrid Form and rolled her onto her back. He caught her bottom jaw in his mouth and bit with a slight pressure. Kaya arched her back as pure, hot passion streaked through her body, or rather this body she’d taken the form of. Her movement stoked the fire burning within him even further because he growled once again and then nipped her ear. The nip hurt and Kaya’s normal presence of mind came rushing back rather than the driving instinct controlling her every action.

  She was starting to understand this form had a mind of its own. It was exceedingly hard to control anything. She retreated from him, sat on the ground, and tried with all she had, to change into anything but what she was in that moment. Kaya needed to get out of this form before it regained control.

  Kaya’s effort paid off when she morphed into a red-tailed hawk and flew strait for a tree she’d not been able to see until she was airborne. It was on the far end of the pasture all by itself. Settling on one of the highest branches to think, Kaya tried to make sense of what just happened. She’d told Kenneth she wanted to mate with him; who even called it that anymore? One thing was for sure, she was not even remotely ready to cross that bridge, especially when something as simple as kissing was so new to her.

  From her perch, Kaya saw Kenneth running toward her in full wolf form. Once again, she took note of how beautiful he was in this form, full of grace and majesty. When he reached the base of the tree, he changed back into his Human Form.

  “Kays, please come down and talk to me.”

  Kaya peered down and squawked at him resentfully.

  “Kays, you know I can’t understand bird squabble. We need to talk about this. Please come down and talk to me when you are ready. I’ll wait as long as it takes,” he said, true worry ringing in his voice.

  Watching him walk about fifteen feet from the trunk of the tree and sit, Kaya remained where she was and regarded him for a while. It was astonishing how out of all the people in the world fate would have her choose another extraordinary person like her. As she thought about the time spent with her father while she was sleeping, she got excited and couldn’t wait to tell him about Kenneth. She wondered what her father would think, but more importantly, if he’d approve.

  The more she thought, the darker her mood became. True, her father could morph into animals like Kenneth could morph into a wolf, but the similarities stopped there. Her father had only taken animal forms, not Hybrid Forms. Kenneth was only able to take the attributes of a wolf while her father had turned into many different animals, though not all. No, they were nothing alike, she realized. She had known her father well and understood if her father was not familiar with what a Lycan was, he would have feared for his daughter’s safety.

  The best she could hope for was that her father’s spirit knew more about what Kenneth was than she did. Because if he didn’t, she might have a battle of wills on her hands, something she always lost when it came to her father.

  She would know for certain by morning light if she would have her father’s approval in this relationship or if he would advise her to keep her distance. Even if that was the case, she was fairly certain keeping her distance would be a lost cause.

  Kenneth sat on the ground, fiddling with the grass beside him. He looked as miserable as she felt. Kaya spread her wings and glided down to where he sat. She landed in his lap and glared up at him with her beady, little eyes. He stroked the top of her head with his index finger.

  “Red-tailed hawk, nice choice,” he said, impressed.

  Kaya hopped off his lap and resumed her Human Form.

  “I didn’t mean what I said while in that form, Kenneth. I am nowhere even close to ready to go there. I don’t know what possessed me to say those things.” Kaya said, still ashamed of her
actions.

  “It wasn’t you talking. It was the nature of the beast. I want you to know I do not expect anything from you in that area. I am just happy you give me the time of day. You can understand me in a way no other girl could. In one way, we are the same, and in another, different. Any other girl would have probably passed out cold at the sight of me changing, but you stood your ground. I never want to scare you, not ever.”

  He got to his feet and held his hand out to her. She accepted it and he pulled her against him.

  “Kenneth, I prefer your wolf form,” she said and he felt the need to correct her.

  “It is called Pure Form, not wolf form, Kays. Not to change the subject, but I need to say this. I am not going to say I am in love with you, because I’m not. But it is something real close to it. I am drawn to you in a way that makes me crazy. It was like that the first time I saw you. I knew I had to meet you, but didn’t know why. It makes a lot more sense now. I just hope tonight didn’t ruin my chances with you.”

  He slid his arms around Kaya’s waist and picked her up until she was eye level with him.

  “Please don’t fly away from me now that you know how much I care about you.”

  She held onto him and kissed him firmly on the lips. This time, he kissed her back with so much relief that it permeated Kaya’s entire body. He tightened his hold on her and really kissed her for the first time. It was with all the heat and passion that had coursed through them in that terrifying form, only more civilized. It left her feeling light-headed and weightless.

  “Kenneth, do you remember how I told you I have two gifts?”

  “Mm-hmm.” He hummed in her ear contently.

  “Well, this is the second one.”

  “What, making me nuts every time I kiss you?”

  “No. Look down but don’t freak out,” Kaya said slowly.

  He looked down and all he managed to say was, “Oh!”

  “This is my gift of levitation. Now I have to figure out how to get us down. This is only the second time I have levitated and we are twice as high as I was the first time,” Kaya said nervously.

  “You truly are amazing, Kays. What can I do to help you?”

  “Nothing, just keep doing what you are doing right now.”

  He ran his hand through her hair and held her close. It comforted Kaya and, slowly, they returned to the ground.

  “That’s all there is to know about my weirdness and you’re still here,” she said in awe.

  “I can say the same about you, Kays.”

  “Technically, we both tried running in fear, but neither of us got far. Thank you for an eventful night, but I have to get going home,” she told him reluctantly.

  “OK, let’s go grab my bike.”

  “Actually, Kenneth, I am going to take myself home.”

  “Are you sure?” he said, a little surprised by her decision.

  “Yes, but thank you, and I won’t be walking. You are going to have to tell me another time how you know about my aunt, OK?”

  She gave him one last kiss and then took to the sky. Kaya left him staring after her in the middle of a pasture marked by a solitary tree. Kaya gave out a call of goodbye in her hawk’s voice and it was answered with a single lonesome howl.

  3

  Handling the Truth

  Many nights had passed since the night in the pasture. Kaya had yet to see her father again while she slept, and she started to worry he wouldn’t visit again. Finally, on the sixth night, he returned with Kaya’s mother in tow. When she said the word “Lycan”, their reaction was unmistakable and completely unexpected. Her parents were completely mortified.

  “Kaya, you need to stay away from that boy. You don’t realize what kind of danger you’re in,” Kaya’s father told her earnestly.

  Kaya thought back to when they had shared their secrets. She remembered how scared she’d been when Kenneth had taken his Hybrid Form. As she stood there revisiting that crazy night, the aggression Kenneth had shown came flooding back. Her cheeks flushed bright pink when she remembered, in vivid detail, just how unpredictable and promiscuous she’d been. She still felt the shame that came in the aftermath.

  “Trust me, Dad, I know all about his potential to be dangerous.”

  “Kaya, you need to listen to your father about this. He knows what is best for you,” her mother said with absolute seriousness.

  Even in death, her mother’s strong belief that parents always knew what was best grated on her nerves. Kaya understood her parents had old fashioned ideals, but her mother had always taken it above and beyond “being traditional”.

  “No Mom, I don’t and for once, he doesn’t. Kenneth is the best thing that has happened to me since I got here. I am not going to shut him out because he was born different than normal people. In case you haven’t noticed, we weren’t born normal either.”

  “What do you mean born different?” Kaya’s father asked.

  “I don’t know how I can make it any clearer. He came out of his mother and into the world as a Lycan, only in Human Form. At least, I think he came out in Human Form. Hmm, I’ll have to ask him about that, but either way, he was born. Why does it even make a difference? You have to be born to exist.”

  “Kaya, it was Afflicted Lycans who killed your mother and I. They are unbelievably powerful creatures. They can overpower most any magical being. They have an ability called wrought. It allows them to redirect and twist magic in such a way that it is useless to its user. It’s a natural trait for them. You know I always hunt in morphed form when prey or danger is near, but my body was not found that way. I was found in Human Form because I was unable to change when we were attacked.”

  Kaya could not believe what she was hearing, and a sense of dread welled up inside of her. She started to shake her head no. Her father hugged her and told her to calm down because he hadn’t finished what he had to say.

  “You say your friend is a Natural Lycan, and that makes a big difference. It is also hard to believe. Naturally occurring Lycans are extremely rare. The Lycans who killed us did so to harvest our magical energy and make themselves stronger. These were the Afflicted versions of your friend and the ones you need to worry about. If your friend is truly a Natural Lycan, he can explain to you better than any other what the nature of the Afflicted Lycan is. Talk to him. The Natural Lycan is an ancient race and not your enemy…most of the time. But like with humans, there are good and bad.”

  Kaya stood there, completely silent, stunned by this new information. She finally knew exactly what had been responsible for her parents’ demise. Her heart filled with a rage she could only associate with the criminally insane. Surely it took being insane to want to kill another living soul. She had come to the conclusion that some part of her must be insane because, she found her current mood was definitely homicidal.

  She was trying to come to grips with the reality of it when her father spoke again.

  “There is more, Kaya. The Afflicted who attacked us were actually tracking you. At least, that is what the she-cat said. They were the minions of a much more powerful Afflicted that means to harvest your core. Now that you have manifested, your scent will be strong because your core is strong. Your life aura burns so bright, it is almost blinding. We knew when we had you, your powers would be strong. We never imagined your core would be as strong as it is though. This alpha Afflicted, Senka, means to kill you. Her minion said as much.”

  Kaya realized her mother had remained uncharacteristically quiet. Kaya’s father never carried the explanations in anything. Her mother was the one who always had something to say.

  “Mom, why are you so quiet?” Kaya asked, suspicious.

  She shifted uncomfortably and Kaya pressed her further.

  “Mom, what are you not telling me?”

  Her mother winced at the sharpness of Kaya’s tone.

  “This Kenneth, he’s Owen’s boy, isn’t he?”

  “Yes, how did you know?” Kaya asked.

  “Owen and
I were friends from a young age. I knew about him and he knew about me.”

  Of course she would know, Kaya realized. They grew up together. They would have been drawn toward each other because of their families' respective lineages, just like her and Kenneth. Kaya was starting to realize that magical blood recognized magical blood in another. Kaya thought on this and decided if she had some crazed Afflicted alpha out to kill her, then she needed to learn everything she possibly could about Afflicted Lycans. She had to be ready because they were coming. Kenneth was the key to her understanding what she was dealing with.

  “Kaya, sweetie, your dad is right about the danger surrounding you, although it isn’t Kenneth who is the threat. But for now, we have to leave you. You are close to waking. I am glad you have gained the gift of testimony. It means we can still talk to you even though we are gone from your plane of existence,” she said, fading from Kaya’s mind.

  Kaya woke with a start.

  “Really, another gift? You have got to be kidding me. That makes four!”

  One look at the clock told Kaya it was 7:32 a.m. Di would be up by now, having her coffee and watching Saturday morning cartoons. Kaya got out of her bed and put on some cut-offs and a yellow tank top. She brushed her hair, took a glimpse in the mirror, and was about to head downstairs when something in her reflection made her do a double take.

  Kaya’s eyes had always been a murky, swamp-water green, but now they were a deep jade green in the mirror’s reflective surface. She had a brief staring contest with herself and nothing changed.

  “All right, I think a conversation with Di may be in order.”

  She ran down the steps, taking them two at a time. She had questions in need of answers and she had a feeling Di knew those answers.

  “Hey Di, we need to talk.”

  “What’s up, Kay?” Di said, not taking her eyes from the TV.