The Reclamation (Shadowed Wings Book 3) Read online

  I gesture internally at our yelling mates and sigh. “Welcome to the shit show, Pidge.”

  6

  I can feel when the shock ripples through her. She really thought they would accept each other and everything would work out. To Pigeon, the mate call was instinctual and had to be answered. They now belong to her and, in her mind, should happily accept that they now belong to each other too. She doesn’t understand all the other complications and nuances that make all of our connections tenuous and strained. She doesn’t get the human side of things.

  I’ve been mad at her for not explaining our gryphon side and how it all works, but I’ve clearly been doing a piss poor job of explaining the human aspects that layer these relationships too. Things like mortal enemies and war don’t seem to trump things like instincts and mate in Pigeon’s eyes. She clearly thinks we should all be shacking up and getting our orgy on.

  Elation rushes through me, and I study the misplaced emotion for a moment, trying to figure it out. What the hell is she so excited about?

  Before I can so much as question her, we’re jumping out of the cave and out into the night. Panic slams through me as we streak through the air. I don’t know how far away we are from Kestrel City exactly, but from what the guys said earlier, it’s not far enough, and there are definitely patrols out looking for us.

  “Pigeon!” I shriek at her, completely freaked out. We cannot get caught by Lazza. I don’t care how excited she is to be doing whatever the fuck she’s doing right now. “Pigeon, go back right now!” I order, but she completely ignores me.

  I don’t want to force her or fight for control. I think back to the battle we had for control when Pigeon wanted to take out Ryn. It was brutal and did so much damage to our already troubled and wounded relationship. I don’t want to go there again, but I’m not sure what else to do. I want us to figure out how to be together, to listen and trust each other, but we can’t get caught, and she’s not listening.

  My instincts tell me to get rid of this beat up bird cage around me and shove Pigeon out of the way. I can try to help her understand later when we’re safe. But that’s the kind of shit I’ve been pulling with Pigeon from the beginning, and I need to show her that I can change.

  “Pigeon! You have to listen to me right now, or you could hurt not only us, but your mates too!” I shout at her.

  I can feel her focus shift from whatever it is that she’s searching for to me.

  “You have to land now!” I urge her, panic and worry bleeding out of every word. “Please just trust me, land and I will explain everything. If you still think it’s safe to be flying around, that’s fine, I’m not going to fight you. Just give me five minutes now on the ground, preferably somewhere we can’t be spotted from the sky.”

  I’m not going to lie, I’m a little surprised when Pigeon folds our wings and then drops us toward the ground like a missile. I try to listen and feel the currents around us as we shoot down, checking to see if we’ve been spotted or if there is danger nearby. It’s hard to hear over the wind rushing past our ears, but I don’t feel any indication that anything is headed our way.

  That does make me wonder where the hell Zeph, Ryn, and Treno are though. I figured they’d be right on our ass, ready to lay into Pigeon about being so reckless.

  The ground comes screaming up at us in no time, and about fifteen feet away from crashing like a bug on a windshield, she spreads our wings, catches the air, and lands gracefully on the pine needle covered forest floor. I’m once again completely taken with her agility and grace, and I can sense Pigeon preening and feeling smug as fuck at my appreciation.

  I put my knuckles out, expecting a wing five or a talon bump, but Pigeon just eyes the gesture like we’re not there yet.

  Fair enough.

  I quickly explain to her that we can’t fly and all the reasons why it’s a super bad idea, and once again I’m surprised by her ready acceptance. She flashes me an image of her walking through the forest. I’m nervous about that option and feel like we should just head back for the cave, but there’s no mates around us demanding that we need to do that, so I’m torn.

  I take a deep breath and say fuck it. “We can’t get caught though, Pidge. So, whatever it is you feel the need to be out here doing, we need to be very careful,” I warn, and she just flashes the word obviously at me.

  I snort, and Pigeon starts stalking through the trees.

  “What are we looking for?”

  Pigeon harrumphs as if she thinks that’s a dumb question, but I feel anxiety pool in our stomach. Pigeon flashes me what I’m pretty sure is a bird’s nest, and I stare at the image confused and try to sort out what it all means.

  Why would a nest make Pigeon feel anxious?

  She flashes me images of Zeph and Treno snarling at each other and frames it all with the worry she feels, then flashes me the nest again.

  “You think they’re fighting because they want a nest?” I ask her, confused. I’m, like, one hundred percent sure I’m not understanding her correctly, but she nods at me excitedly. Guess I speak better Pigeon than I thought I did.

  It’s cute that she thinks something so simple could help, and I hate to rain on her nest, but this is my chance to help her understand. “Pidge, they’re not fighting because they don’t have a nest. They’re fighting because they hate each other. They’ve been on separate sides of a dominance battle for most of their lives. That’s where the tension is coming from. Unfortunately, there isn’t shit we can do at this point to change that. Maybe if we can end the war, that could pave the way for some common ground, but I don’t know.”

  I pause, hating to explain this part, but she needs to know.

  “Pidge, there’s a chance that nothing we can do will ever bring them together.”

  She seems to consider that for a moment and then flashes me the nest again, like she’s certain it will fix everything.

  I study her, ready to argue my point and try a different tactic for getting her to see what I’m saying, but I shrug instead. What do I know? It makes no sense to me, but that doesn’t mean she’s wrong. At this point, what can it hurt?

  So I get on board. Let’s build a nest.

  “What do you need? Like twigs and things?” I ask, liking the contentment that ripples through us when I don’t fight her on this.

  I look around for some sturdy looking branches, but Pigeon zeroes in on a tree to our left. I gape at it. It’s at least twenty feet tall and has a trunk as thick as our gryphon waist. I open my mouth to argue that a whole tree isn’t some branches, but Pigeon must speak better Falon than I realize, because she sends me an image of all the branches that are on the tree and her ripping them off with her beak.

  I look around us, but there’s no sign of the guys or any patrols, so I once again put my if it makes you happy hat on. If it gets us on the same page, then what does it hurt? Pretty sure she can’t rip a tree from the ground anyway, so it will be a mere gesture of goodwill on my part.

  This is exactly how we start repairing things. By trusting each other and supporting decisions that don’t make the most sense at the time to one side of us. I can give her this, and maybe in return, she’ll do the same when it’s something important to me.

  “Follow your heart,” I concede, and elation floods me.

  I can’t help but smile as Pigeon circles the tree, assessing the best plan of action to take it down.

  “I support that you need to do this, Pidge. I just don’t want you to get bummed if this doesn’t solve the issues between the guys. There’s more to things than just the gryphon side of this,” I remind her, and I wonder if Ryn’s, Treno’s, and Zeph’s gryphons are also battling with them like this inside?

  Pigeon isn’t dumb by any means, but she definitely operates under more instinct-driven guidelines than I do. Are we the only ones? Is this because she was trapped for so long and hasn’t experienced life firsthand and hasn’t been able to learn the way of it all? Or is this just a gryphon thing?


  “Truce?” I ask Pigeon as she traces the height of the tree with her eyes, still sizing it up. “Can we both try harder to listen and trust each other?”

  Pigeon turns from the tree and studies me for a moment. She flashes me an image of her stomping on a cage.

  “I’ll never do that again, I really am sorry. Even if I don’t understand or agree with something, I promise we’ll work it out. No more holding back or shutting each other out. That goes for both of us,” I offer, flashing her images of our mates and her with a closed beak. After a moment, she extends her talon-tipped hand for a fist bump, and I brush my small knuckles against hers and feel a massive weight lifted off my chest.

  “Alright, Pidge, let’s Paul Bunyan the shit out of this tree and get back before we get caught.”

  I shake my head as she excitedly refocuses on what I think is an impossible task. I’m adding that line to the list of shit I’d never thought I’d have to say to someone. These days that list is getting seriously long.

  Pigeon flashes me an image of her handing me a beer can, and I crack up. Well, she’ll probably get me killed, but at least I’ll go down laughing. I guess I should find some comfort in that.

  “What the hell?” Zeph shouts as Pigeon hands over the reins of our body so I can explain why she just shoved a massive tree through the roof hole of our cave.

  Thanks, Pidge.

  I climb down the branches, which is no small feat since I have no fucking clothes on. Again, thank you, Pidge. My feet hit the floor of the cave, and Ryn pulls off his shirt and hands it to me. I don’t have time to thank him or try not to drool over his muscles before Zeph is in my face. I ignore the feel of his body against mine as he invades my personal space with his anger issues.

  Shit, we need to stop surprise shifting, because we are running out of clothes. I get now why all of their clothes have ties holding them together on the sides. It’s so the ties break and not the clothes themselves from a shift, but I’m not seeing any more ties around here. The clothes we have now are thanks to a raid on someone’s laundry line, but surprise shifts have resulted in two pairs of pants and a shirt having been ripped apart, and that leaves us with only three pairs of pants and two shirts.

  “Why is there a tree sticking out of our roof?” Zeph asks, shoving a branch away from his face as he does and pulling my thoughts away from our clothes issues.

  I sigh and pull Ryn’s shirt over my head. “Because Pigeon decided she needed to build a nest.”

  “And you’re just letting her?” Zeph demands, his words oozing all kinds of judgement.

  “Yes, I am. And guess what? So are you, because your snapping at each other is the reason she decided it needed to happen in the first place. Apparently, she thinks a nest will solve all of your issues.”

  He gives an incredulous snort.

  I glare at him.

  “Don’t worry, I tried to explain to her that there is no cure for your dickish personality, but it seems she takes this whole mate thing a hell of a lot more seriously than any of us do.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?” he challenges.

  “It means exactly what I just said.” We stare each other down, and I pour ice water all over the heat that tries to crawl up my thighs and settle low in my belly.

  Yep, Pigeon is back, and she’s returned with a healthy dose of annoying ass hormones. I was really hoping now that we’re all officially mated—ugh—she’d cut that shit out. It seems I’ve seriously underestimated her nympho ways.

  “Where the hell were you guys anyway? What kind of mates let their other half just take off when it’s dangerous?”

  Ryn scoffs. “Oh, we didn’t, we all tried to go after you, which means we all crashed into each other as we tried to fly out at the same time. By the time we stopped fighting long enough to decide who goes first, you were nowhere to be found.”

  I can just picture the Three Stooges scene in my head, but instead of finding amusement in it, I just feel tired. How the hell are we going to win a war when they can’t even work together long enough to fly out of a fucking hole?

  I look around. Well, technically none of us can fly out of the hole now because of the whole tree thing, but hopefully Pigeon can make short work of her nest, and the tree stopper in the roof will be gone in no time.

  I press in closer to Zeph and drop my voice. “Can you rein in your hate long enough for us to do what we need to do, or should I rethink who goes on this trip and who doesn’t?”

  Zeph’s honey eyes flash with rage, but I don’t let it sting me. I’m not trying to embarrass him by calling him out in front of the others, but his attitude needs to be addressed before we start our search for the Ouphe. If it’s not dealt with, we could have serious problems because of it.

  Zeph, Ryn, and Treno can’t spend the whole time bickering. Aside from it grating on my fucking nerves, it makes Pigeon do dumb shit like rip trees from the ground. We can’t afford for them to be too busy arguing to spot a scout or something else dangerous and deadly. I get the impression this place has no shortage of shit we don’t want to run into, and unfortunately, they’re the only ones who know what we are up against. We can’t afford for any of us to be distracted by petty hate.

  The fact that I’m the only one who seems to realize that, speaks volumes. These guys aren’t dumb, they’re the leaders of their people. But right now, they can’t seem to shove the hurt and history away long enough to tap into who they need to be so all of us can get shit done.

  “Are you questioning me?” Zeph growls low and menacingly.

  His tone sends all kinds of pleasurable flashes to my clit, and I roll my eyes. “Pidge, cut that shit out!” She snickers, and I groan internally.

  “You bet your asshole-ish ways, I am. I don’t want to die because you can’t behave,” I snap back.

  Treno makes a noise that’s somewhere between a snort and grunt of agreement. I turn to him.

  “You’re not much better,” I accuse. “You both have issues you need to sit on until we’ve figured out a way to win. Don’t forget you’re in this with us. We don’t have to like each other, but we need to figure out a way to work together, because more lives than just ours are counting on us figuring out a way to end this war. There’s no time for petty bullshit and hurt feelings.”

  Treno stares at me like he’s not sure if he’s impressed or offended by what I’m saying.

  “What about you?” Zeph challenges. “Can we trust that you won’t betray us or use your abilities against us? Will you run the first chance you get or accept your place in this fight and see it through?”

  Anger boils up inside of me, and I can feel my face go red with fury. If he wants to talk about betrayal, we can go there. I’ve got plenty more to say about what he and Ryn did and what they kept from me. Even Pigeon is flashing me images of when he saved Loa and kicked us out of the Eyrie. We got our throats slit because of that, and she’s just as pissed about his tone and the insinuations in it as I am.

  I work to calm myself down. I want to punch the giant fucker in his smug face, but I mean what I say about squashing our issues so we can get to the Ouphe and hopefully get help. Decking Zeph right now, however good it may feel, is not the example that needs to be set in this moment. So I swallow my offence and vitriol down.

  Tastes worse than those damn grot berries, but I do it.

  “Yeah, Zeph. You can count on me to see the freedom of the Gryphons through.”

  He studies my face for a beat and then surprisingly backs off.

  “We should go,” he orders, walking over to his dark corner and picking up a pack. Light is starting to filter in through the branches of the tree Pigeon and I shoved into the roof of the cave, and I realize that it must be dawn already. Well, there goes my plans to go back to sleep.

  Outrage hammers in my chest, and at first I think Pigeon is also pissed that we’re not going to go back to bed, but she flashes me images of her nest and all the work she put into getting that damn tree here
.

  Shit.

  “Pidge, you promised you wouldn’t get mad if they didn’t appreciate your nest gesture,” I argue, but she huffs, clearly not sticking to that agreement. Crap, how the hell can I smooth this over, we just got back on good terms. “We can build a nest when we get to the Ouphe. I’ll help you rip out as many trees as you want.”

  “What’s wrong?” Ryn asks me.

  I look from his concerned face to the tree sticking down into the cave and back. “Um...Pigeon’s not ready to leave; she’s super into wanting to make a nest or something.”

  “Pigeon?” he asks, puzzled.

  “Yeah, that’s what my gryphon likes to be called.”

  Zeph and Treno both grunt in irritation at the same time. For two people that hate each other, they sure do think alike. I’m about to defend Pigeon’s choice in names when Treno speaks up.

  “This isn’t the time for useless female urges. Like you said, lives are counting on us. Save the preening and roosting. This is war, not a mating.”

  Zeph grunts again, his back to us, but it’s clear he’s agreeing in his own fucked up way. I personally don’t care, but Pigeon reacts like what they are saying is a direct attack against her. Hurt and anger clash inside of me, and she stomps off to the dark recesses of my consciousness and lies down, burying her face underneath her onyx wing. I study her reaction and the feelings she sends whirling around inside of us. She feels rejected and hurt, and I hate it.

  My eyes and face harden as I look at Treno. “I get what you’re saying, but we both know there are ways to get your point across without being a piece of shit about it. You want to be mad at me, have at it, but if you think I’m going to stand by and let you hurt her,” I seethe, pressing my palm to my chest, “...then you’re in for a rude awakening. Stay the fuck away from me until you can figure out how to be fucking respectful...both of you,” I growl, catching Zeph’s eyes as well. “She deserves better than that.”