Freedom of Flight

Author's note

: All characters and companies mentioned in this story have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone or anything bearing the same name or names. Events portrayed in this story are pure invention and have not been based on any events that have happen in real life. All the characters involved in any sexual acts if their ages are not mentioned before hand; are over 18 years of age. Enjoy.

Hi everyone

Here it is the long awaited and demanded chatper of Freedome of Flight. Sorry for the delay; for those of you who don't already know my editor has been sitting her mid year exams and only recently finished them freeing up her time to edit.

As always a big thanks to her and to you the reader. Don't forget to vote and comment, all feedback is welcome.

Have fun

Part 4

Alanna shifted uneasily as Tarval joined them during their morning spar the next morning. Sage's comments had kept her up last night, thinking further on what she was going to do about Tarval: let him in or keep him out? He smiled at them, "Morning." He greeted warmly, noticing her slight unease.

"Hey Tarval, what brings you here this morning?" Sage asked, trying not to snicker at her sister's obvious discomfort.

Alanna jumped her sister to keep her from blabbing about what they had discussed after he had left and after their pillow fight. They started to tussle trying to unseat the other but both slammed into the ground as Alanna kicked Sage's legs out from underneath her, making her go down but still she refused to release Alanna, dragging her down with her. Right before landing, Sage twisted and landed on top; she struggled for a moment but managed to get Alanna into a headlock. Alanna growled and as Sage was changing her grip to deal with her struggling body, she bit Sage near her wrist and bit hard but not hard enough to break skin.

"Hey, no biting!" Tarval refereed, trying to keep the tussle from turning into a brawl, sensing that this may not be their normal way of sparring.

Alanna released Sage, "Hello, there are no rules in immortal battle dummy."

Sage smirked and added, "Well, one rule: no pulling feathers!"

"And no pulling punches." Alanna jerked her head back, breaking Sage's nose. Sage released her and was on her feet in an instant. She righted her nose wincing a bit at the pain as she set her nose and glared at Alanna as she wiped blood from her face and flicked it onto the ground.

"Watch it..." She growled warningly.

"Bite me." Alanna dared back as they started to circle. They had gathered a small crowd; their duel less than a week ago had perked the interest of many of the senior warriors. Alanna was the first to attack again as she spun and kicked at Sage's head but Sage ducked while trying to sweep Alanna's legs out from under her. Alanna skipped quickly away before she was struck. When it came to hand fighting Alanna was faster than Sage; when it came to wrestling Sage was stronger and bigger, so when they fought they mixed both styles of fighting to keep things even.

Sage took a stance more akin to a boxer's as Alanna took a stance closer to kick boxing and martial artists. They circled carefully, looking for the opening that would allow them an advantage. Alanna twitched her muscles, faking her attack. Sage took the bait and quickly changed her footing to meet the believed attack she had seen was coming only to have her feet kicked out from under her. Alanna's foot came down and landed on Sage's stomach with a thud which forced the air out of Sage's lungs. Many watching winced as Alanna skipped away and waited for Sage to get up.

Sage glared at her sister as she sucked air back into her body. She flipped onto her feet and charged at her sister. Alanna caught her around the middle and bent back using Sage's speed and weight to slam Sage face first into the training mat, re-breaking her nose. There were collective gasps and murmurs from the watchers. Sage tried to buck and move but Alanna's arms were firm around her arms and torso. She tensed her muscles as Sage tried to break the hold.

There were gentle cracks as several of Sage's ribs broke, "Ah!!!!!!... yield!" She cried.

Alanna smirked and released her sister, letting them both collapse to the ground. "How many times does ma have to tell you, never charge a smaller opponent." she pushed herself up and helped Sage to her feet, wincing when she saw the damage she had inflicted upon her sister's face. Sage went red when she realised her father had seen that fight.

"Amy is right, Sage, never charge a smaller opponent. Go to the healers and let them have a look at you." He told her seriously, he would never let on just how impressed he had become in his daughter's fighting under Amy's tutorage. He knew very well that if he did she would become even more cocky. She nodded and left the training court. Dominic turned to Alanna and reprimanded gently, "You didn't have to be so rough."

"Yeah I did, Sage knows what I can do. If I go easy on her she'll go mental and if she goes easy on me, I'll pummel her. She'll heal and she already forgives me. She would have done the same if our positions were reversed." She explained as she looked around noticing that no one would meet her eyes directly in a sign of respect for a greater warrior. They had seen the way she moved and they knew they had barely seen what she was capable of, not that she was ready to get up and personal with any of these men.

"So... can I help you train?" Tarval asked, hoping to get closer to her so that she would trust him enough

to answer his questions. It slightly amused him that they would have to beat each other up in order for him to get closer to her but he was beginning to see that she was not what he considered normal for a woman. Nor, he suspected, will this be a normal relationship.

She watched him for a moment, trying to decipher his intentions; her wolf, however, was all for the idea as she might get close enough to smell him again! "Okay." Alanna was surprised the word had tumbled from her mouth because it was certainly not in her mind but it was too late to snatch it back, nor did she really want to.

"Good, how about you show me some of those moves you used on Sage? All I know is boxing." He asked as they walked over to an empty training ground.

"Okay."

****

That set the routine for the next several days for Alanna and Tarval. They trained in the morning, her teaching him the finer art of martial arts and him swapping tactics for boxing and wrestling and in the afternoon she taught him to swim. Their relationship was growing slowly as they carefully tried to learn about the other, Alanna out of nervousness and Tarval out of a need... simply to be with her. Slowly she was learning to trust him as she learnt about him, like although physically he was stronger than her, he never displayed that strength, realising that he was doing his best not to scare her.

It was the middle of the afternoon so Dominic knew he would find them at the lake. Alanna was showing Tarval how to side stroke to conserve energy if he was forced to do a long swim. She stayed close to him to help him if he floundered or to correct his strokes, their bodies accidentally touching, sending conflicting emotions through her body, of desire and fear. Often when she was drying off after a lesson, she would wonder which emotion would ultimately win; the desire or the fear. She would then brust it off, knowing that eventually she would know the answer.

Dominic watched them for several moments before he cupped a hand around his mouth and called them in.

"Sage said she was beginning to itch." He told them as Alanna patted herself down and they waited for Sage to finally join them.

She frowned as she was wondered why Sage had even told her father. It seemed like an odd thing as she never talked about getting itchy with their parents. She saw the questioning look in his eyes, wanting to know if she was getting the need to immerse herself in her beast. "I don't itch. My wolf is content just not being in a cage or chained up."

Dominic frowned thinking that that was the curse of her childhood: she was content with small things that people in her society often took for granted. Tarval listened carefully, hoping that more would be said as he still had not learnt about what Sage had meant. Dominic shrugged it away, knowing that Sage had told him about her past so that he could help with her recovery. He also knew that she just wanted to get on with her life and for him not make a fuss over it. "Anyway, I've been talking to Mather and as long as you stay this side of the lake, you can run in his forest... although he might move his herd closer to what was Markus's land."

Her head tilted to the side as her eyebrows shot up, she was used to terms like Pack: Pride, Ambush, Clown, Flock, Strike, Coven, Drove, Pod, Skulk, Kennel, Tribe and Flight but she had never heard of Herd before. "Herd?"

"Yes, Santaurs." Dominic answered, not understanding her question.

She sighed at herself for her ignorance. She was often so concerned with getting back to her physical peak that she had completely neglected to learn about the new world she was in. "Okay, assume I know nothing about this world and explain what a Santaur is."

Tarval chuckled, the rich sound made her body tingle and desire raced through her, which was quickly chased away by fear. "Forgive him. He forgets you are new to this world since you have been here so long. Santaurs are like relatives of Centaurs. The only difference between a Santaur and a Centaur is that Santaurs have antlers and are bigger. They are more like half man half deer, instead of half man half horse."

"And they own the forests." She asked slowly, trying to understand while fighting not to feel those strong opposing emotions.

Tarval nodded, "Yes. We own the sky, they own the forests and plains; it has always been that way. But we organise treaties so we can hunt in their forests and they want treaties from us because we keep the galphons away."

"Galphons?" She asked, her eyes going wide now, distracted enough to have succeeded in fighting her emotions back.

Dominic chuckled at her face. "Sand monsters. They own the deserts and every now and again they try to conquer the forests and plains. We protect the land temporarily for them then because if we are in a treaty with the Santaurs, their land is a good source of food for us."

"But there can be misunderstandings. Sage's ma almost caused a war when she went for a run and mistakenly tried to kill a Santaur, not knowing that Santaurs are not food sources." Tarval added but suddenly he remembered that this memory might be painful for Dominic but Dominic didn't seem too distressed by his reference.

Sage joined them, having taking longer to get to shore as she had been dive bombing off the wall. Sensing the slight unease, she tried to steer the conversation back to Santaurs, having heard most of what was being said with her sensitive ears. "They look like deer until you get to where the neck should be. They also smell like deer, which is why da has to warn the Santaurs when we go for a run. They put limitations on where we can go, keeping us from the herd. We will also be watched by guards just in case."

Alanna frowned, she had never had to guard herself when she went for a run. "All that for a run?" She asked, incredulous.

"What do you like to do when you run?" Tarval asked.

Alanna thought about it and shrugged. "I like to explore, smell, scratch, dig and run. Sometimes I hunt, others I just chase because I can."

Tarval was suddenly intrigued, he wondered what it was like to be Were, to be able to let go of everything that made them sentient and immerse themselves in their primal minds. "What is it like?" He asked curiously hoping to get another understand of the woman before him, of what was in her mind.

"What do you mean?" Alanna questioned back.

"To shift, to immerse yourself in your beast." He elaborated.

She thought about it for a moment, "It's freedom." She answered simply, not understanding what he wanted from her.

"I get that but why is it freedom?" He pressed on.

Alanna smirked, "What's it like to fly?" She countered. "Wouldn't you call flying freedom?"

As one, both Alanna and Tarval turned to Sage as she was the only person they knew who could experience both so she would be the best person to get their answer from.

Sage glanced between them, startled that she was being dragged into this. "What?" She demanded not getting why they had suddenly turned to her, Alanna and Tarval rolled their eyes in unison causing Dominic to smirk as they both had the same annoyed look on their faces.

"Since you have wings and can shift... explain." Dominic interceded before an argument started.

Sage thought for long moments, "It's hard to put into words, it's not like they are the same things or have the same things in common." She argued to the people who were waiting for her answer, she could tell by their looks that they weren't going to let her get out of this so easily. "Okay..." she thought for several moments, there was no point in trying to explain, as she couldn't, but maybe she could get away with reminding them of a memory and comparing those feelings to their argument. "Alanna, remember that day when the triplets were still really little and us girls went out with ma and some of her friends and we just ran around acting like fools, we raced through the forest running as fast as we could dodging and weaving, feeling the air rush through our coats."

Alanna nodded, it was perhaps one of her fondest of memories.

Sage turned to Tarval, "remember when we went so high up it was almost as if we were touching the stars, then we free fell and pulled out at the last possible moment." He nodded, following her.

"The freedom of flight we experience when we do a freefall is like running at break neck speeds in an endless forest for no other reason then because you can. That sheer joy is what it is like to be Were and vice versa." She glanced at them hoping that they would accept that answer, she quickly changed her mind as she wasn't going to try to explain this again. "It's the best I can do, there is nothing common between them."

Dominic smiled, suddenly remembering to give Sage the news that she longed for. "Mather has agreed to three runs: one tomorrow, another after your birthdays and another a month later."

Tarval smiled, strangely pleased that Alanna's birthday was soon that she would have reason to celebrate and that he would hopefully get a chance to see a different side of her. "So what do you want to do for your birthdays?" he asked, hoping that whatever they would dream up involved him somehow

Alanna and Sage shrugged, they didn't really care. They were used to having a combined birthday because their birthdays were only a day apart. Their ma, however, always made a fuss about birthdays and they felt a little sad that they weren't going to be able to spend time with the woman who had come to mean so much to them.

****

Amy frowned after she returned from dropping off the information Electra needed on missing pack members. It was going to be a strange couple of weeks for her as she always made a big fuss over her adopted daughter's birthdays and this year she would not be able to fuss over the girls. Since Electra and Alanna had never had birthdays growing up, she had made it a point to cause the biggest fuss she could. The delight in their faces as they experienced events they hadn't been able to made it more important for her to continue that fuss but now she fussed over all her children's birthdays.

Wolfgang wrapped her up in his arms and nibbled at her ear. "Maybe we should have a holiday and go somewhere." He suggested gently, he could feel her sadness about not being with her daughters. She had only just gotten used to Electra's busy life that kept her from her family but Electra always tried to make up for it by stopping by for dinner or breakfast as often as possible.

"Where to?" She asked as she rubbed her nose against his chest, in search of comfort.

He growled gently as his blood sung and the careful control he had been forced to learn, to keep control of his lust for his mate crumbled. It hadn't been easy for him to learn control, the long hours away from his mate as she worked, it made him long for her badly when she was near him, he had to have her, to touch her, to love her. It had led to some embarrassing encounters for the humans around her, when he couldn't control it and was so tightly strung that he ended up pressing her to the nearest wall and taking advantage of her, not that she would ever deny him. He knew that here at home he could let go of his control and do whatever he wanted but he was trying to learn further control, to learn not to jump her bones the moment they were alone or that she was in the house.

"To visit our daughters. Vivian explained that we could go there and come back, we just can't bring them back with us," his voice muffled because he was nuzzling her neck before gently taking her skin between his teeth.

She thought about it, recalling that Rhiannon made the same suggestion. They could go there and come back by creating their own portal but the girls couldn't return to earth because they had been dragged through a natural portal that left markers so they could only return the way they had been taken. Since the portal that had taken them had been forced, the magic which allowed a portal in the first place basically sealed the world off. No one except a special few creatures could come and go as they pleased.

"We can surprise them." she said mischievously, warming up to the idea and to the desire coursing through her from her mate.

He chuckled and moved his lips and teeth to nibble on her ear, feeling her desire rise to match his.

"There's no surprise about what you want." Amy added drawlingly.

He chuckled again, making no excuses for his libido and tightened his arms preventing her from escaping his lips. As he moved in for the kill, a high-pitched scream made him groan, and not the pleasurable kind he had been going for and released his mate,

Temperance.

Maybe we should continue this once the cubs are in bed for the night.She suggested, placating him.

He smiled in helpless surrender, knowing there's no way around this. Their cubs came first but he knew that once the cubs were asleep he would get his wicked way with her, and leant down to brush her lips. Another high pitched scream and something crashing and breaking brought them apart.

"Bastion is going to kill her." She mumbled while she pressed her face to his chest and took another deep breath bracing herself for what ever her daughter had gotten up to this time.

He laughed and together they hunted down the oldest of the triplets. They found her outside of Keira's room surrounded by a broken pottery. Keira was on her knees, gathering the pieces carefully, with tears falling from her eyes as she cradled the precious pieces. Her mother, her biological mother, had given it to her shortly before her death. She had been an artist and was becoming quiet well-known before her death, but this plate had been the last one she made, and she gave it to Keira to celebrate her birthday. It was the one thing she had left from her mother.

Sienna knelt and helped her gather the last few pieces. Wolfgang picked up Temperance and handed her to Anna who quickly took Temperance and put her in the naughty spot in the kitchen and went back to work on dinner, ignoring her.

Sienna gently wrapped an arm around Keira, she knew how much that plate had meant to the young woman. Keira sobbed in Sienna's neck. She closed her eyes, trying to keep her own tears away. She couldn't stand to see her daughter so upset, after loosing her last two pregnancies through still-birth and miscarriage; she had poured all her love into Keira. Wolfgang went to make several phone calls.