Chapter 2

AARONNE 

No!! This is a joke!! The moon goddess cannot play with me like that. 

I think this is not true and Anya is just out of breath because she wants to be dramatic. 

I try to lift my hands but rather, wings flap and the droplets of water splash on my face. I bend my head in shame. 

It is true. I AM A SWAN!!

What could have caused this? Did something bite me? Or could it be the cursed cove? Does it turn people into swans and hand them over to the bears as food? 

Horror!!!

I should’ve listened. 

I should not have lured Anya to this place. Why didn’t I stay at home? Why did I enter the water? Why did I defy my father’s orders? 

This is all my fault!

My swan’s feathers glows faintly in the twilight and its neck curves in a perfect way. It's dark eyes, wide with terror, are all that holds a faint reminder of the girl I had been.

I am in far too much pain, trying to understand why I am even a swan in the first place. 

Would Anya run from me? Where would I go? Would I ever transform back?

My bird brain can not fathom all the questions I ask myself. Seeing that my eyes are closed and my neck is bent in regret, Anya is moved.

"Don't worry my lady. I promise, I will never abandon you," Anya swears, jerking forward to wrap her arms around my trembling body. "I will not tell the Alpha either. I must find a way to hide you till we can solve this."

I try to speak, to thank her for her loyalty but instead a soft honk escapes my throat.

'How am I supposed to communicate with Anya? Goddess, would I remain this way forever?'

Diverse thoughts run through my mind but none of them had an answer and it made me madder and even more frenzied.

I feel Anya's hands as they wrap around my swan–me, as she begins the difficult task of hauling me back to shore.

After she is done, we sit on the shore in silence for a while, the only sounds were the crash of the waves against the rock and Anya's ragged breathing. Suddenly, I hear a sound, my neck twists slightly to see what it is.

"What's that?" I want to ask but then again, remembering who I am, I keep quiet.

"Footsteps my lady, someone's coming," Anya announces, staring at me in horror as she leaps to her feet, going into a defensive stance.

Anya moves towards where the sound comes from and I am left alone.

I think of waddling back into the waters to hide behind a rock but I try to move and realise I couldn't.

My feet are tiny--worst of all, webbed, struggling to move. I am still new to this!!

As if reacting to my pathetic attempt, I feel a sharp pain hit me so hard that I feel too paralyzed to even seek help.

It feels like my skin is on fire and while I watch, the feathers and furs pull back to reveal my skin. My webbed feet transform back to my legs and toes. I am human again!!

Anya returned not too long. She turns to look at me and she is as delighted as ever. 

"Anya," I manage to murmur, laying on the ground. I am too excited. I thought I would be condemned to be in the body of that creature forever.

Goddess forbids!

"My lady," she gasps and then presses a hand against her lips to stifle a smile. “Youre whole!!”

Just as we are celebrating the positive transformation, leaves rustle and a young man appears from the shadows.

Anya stares at the young man for a while but he is looking past her, his eyes on me.

"Stop right there, I order you!!” Anya commands.

The young man stops, moves forward again and Anya swerves sharply, turning back to him. Her body positions protectively in front of me as she declares, "This is Blue Night Pack territory. You are trespassing."

The young man shows no fear. Rather, he holds his hands out, as if to show he meant no harm even as his eyes never leaves my face. Anya scrutinizes him, making sure he isn't a spy.

I suddenly become aware of how I look as the happiness dies down, the stinging I feel all over my skin rising. I am naked, my body shining under the stars and my tits are bare–exposed in the open for this young man to see.

My skin prickles and tiny blood droplets are coming out of every pore. The transformation is still having its after effects.

"Anya... bring my clothes," I order as I lay still.

Anya looks at me and the young man as if uncertain whether she could leave me with him.

"Turn your eyes away from the lady!" Anya commands again. The young man takes five steps backwards and turns away, backing me.

"Here my lady," she says, handing it over to me. "You should wash off in the water."

"Hmm," I hum, rolling over. In place of where I had laid, a white woolen-like cloak is there.

"My lady..." Anya points out, whispering, careful enough to not let the stranger hear. "There's a cloak. It seems to have come from you."

I had read somewhere that Swan shifters used cloaks to turn into swans. This is my first turning and the half moon has blessed me with my cloak. I look carefully at it. Surprisingly, my blood didn't get on it. 

"Take it and hide it," I order, scooping a handful of water and splashing it over my skin, washing the blood away.

"My lady, we should leave immediately. I'm quite unsettled," Anya presses, her tone assuming worry as she looks around.

I hum in response, rising to my feet as Anya helps me get into my tunic. Just then, the stranger turns around and both of us snap towards him.

There is this familiarity I feel, staring at him. It is like I have known him before now. My heart burns and a certain scent keeps emanating from him. The scent comes with the voice, the voice that lured me to the woods. 

Only this time, the voice is very low. 

The young man tries to touch me and Anya stops him.

"Stay away from her!!" Anya faces the young man with a rising fierceness in her eyes.

His face is replaced with shock and he continues staring at me, "I heard crying. I only wanted to help."

I take in his looks slowly. He looks to be around my age, maybe a year or two older and he has a petite build, not that of an alpha's son or a warrior. Even more so, he didn't look like he was from the Blue Night Pack else he’d have the crest of the pack as a birthmark. 

"You live here? In the border woods?" Anya asks suspiciously. It is a dangerous, unclaimed strip of land. No one of any importance lived there.

"Yes," he replies with a nod. 

“Quite unsettling. What is your family’s name?”

The young man pauses. It is as if he is memorizing what to say. "We have a small community where we live with a few people. We are farmers. We are very poor and we prefer to keep to ourselves.”

Anya is not convinced. “So you’re rogues?”

“No.”

“How come you have no birthmark? You belong to no pack of importance. Were you banished?”

“No.”

Then he looks at us. "You, you are not from around here either, are you? You look different.”

It suddenly dawns on me that it was about the same time I shifted that he came. Had he seen the creature that I turned into?

"What do you mean?" Anya responds, stepping forward.

The scent is beginning to penetrate me, weakening my knees. I squint my eyes, trying to look around. 

He stares at me like he does not know how to explain--he had a kind of confused gaze. "Your hair and your eyes..." 

“You don't have the right to comment on us. Shut your dirty mouth, rogue!!” Anya is not having it but he will not stop. 

“I have never seen anyone like you. You look exotic. It's almost like you're a royal."

As he continues to admire me, three bright torches point from above the cliff.

"Hey!! What's that noise?!"

"Whose there?!"

Damn! The pack's border control...they found us.

Hurriedly, Anya steps forward with great strength and grabs him by his torn shirt. "Now, listen to me, rogue!! You will tell no one you saw us here or had contact with the princess. Is that understood?"

The young man gulps saliva. He looks humiliated. Anya has already started turning, her eyes are a bright yellow and her wolf's claws are out, revealing sharp nails, drawing close to the boy's throat.

I feel a prick of guilt in my heart. It is as if someone is threatening my other half. Anya lets go of him and he staggers.

She then pulls me along with her, my swan cloak carefully hidden in the banana leaves beneath her arms.

As we leave, the weird sweet scent keeps pulling me towards him. I am tempted to return back to hold the young man in my arms, hug him, kiss him and stay with him forever.

The scent is mixed with notes of elderflower, hibiscus, orange and most especially, LILIES!!

I keep turning to look back at the young man. Who is he? I am intoxicated, yearning for someone I barely know.

My heart keeps asking itself a million questions. 

Could he...could he be my mate?