A shift in the air

"I still do not claim to be a great poet, but a great observer of her"

Raven's POV

"Mom? Why... what are you doing here?" I asked
She was here
She was actually here
Shit.

"I've come to get you, seeing as I've woken up dead, thanks to you, to then find out you've ran off to find the mutt" she said, bitterly looking at Micah
I was frozen
I didn't know what to say

It was all my fault she...
Died.

I couldn't even explain what had happened
I had no clue
"It's uh... it's nice to meet you, without you killing me, thanks by the way" Micah said back, causing her brows to furrow further
"Excuse me" she snapped

"I'm just saying" Micah shrugged
"Well don't, this is between me and my daughter" she said
"Mom" I tried
"Let's go, you're wasting your time with this, we should be at home, as a family" she said

"Mom, I need him" I said, feeling Micah's gaze burn into my head
"What?" She laughed
"He's mated to me Mom, we have a bond, if I leave him here then I won't cope well... my wolf won't cope well" I corrected

I was becoming more unsure if that was the real reason anymore.

"Your wolf, you've kept your wolf at bay for many years Raven dear, I don't think losing... that will cause much heartache" she said, referring to Micah once again.

My blood ran hotter
This stupid bond in my head didn't like what she was saying about him.

"It doesn't work like tha-"
"Shut up" she cut him off
"Mom" I tried again
This is why things went wrong the first time
Because she pushed and pushed and she never listened.

"Lucian is already finding a way to help us" she said
"Of course he is" I laughed
I couldn't take it when she did this
When she rambled on tangents about Lucian and how great he was all the fucking time.

"Meaning?" She snapped
I sighed
"Nothing mom" I said simply.
I didn't want to argue with her
I was always enforced not to argue back.

To be quiet and compliant.

"Let's go then, leave him here" she ordered
"No" I said
"No-"
"I told you mom, I need him" I said
"Stop being a fool, you don't need him. The bond will sever itself soon enough, you haven't slept with him have you?" She asked

"Excuse me?"
"No" I said at the same time Micah spoke
"There we are then, so come on" she said
"No" I said
She never listened to me.
Never.
"Raven-"

"We can't leave each other" Micah said
"Oh be quiet, do I need to kill him dear is that it?" She asked, changing her stance
"No" I said immediately
"You don't understand mom, that's not how the bond works" I said

"Oh so you're a wolf expert now huh? Become one of them?" She asked
"No but I-"
"If he's dead you won't be bonded, yes? You can't be bonded to a dead person" she said, conjuring a force within her hand

"Mom" I warned, she didn't listen, firing a force towards Micah that seemed to hurt him pretty badly
"Stop" I said, but she didn't listen. She never. Fucking. Listens

She couldn't hurt him
I need him
We need him.

From there. I remember nothing.

Micah's POV

Her mom was crazy. Absolutely crazy
That's the only conceivable thought I had as I lay here in agony
One shot and she had my body aching, bruising and fighting to heal itself all in one.

She readied another attempt, before something happened
Something earth shattering as I stared in awe
Raven... changed
Her stress and her panic must have triggered her reaction

But there were no horns
No wings
There was... fur
Cracking and crying out in pain that only shattered my own heart as I watched her writhe on the floor.

"Raven" I choked out, trying to get up
She contorted and cried before... a wolf laid before me
Slowly standing up and turning to her mother as she snarled and stepped closer
"Raven" she said warily.

"Raven" she tried again.
But she couldn't hear
I imagine she couldn't think properly
It was her first shift
Her wolf will be completely in control and right now all she saw was a threat
A threat to her mate

Not her mother.
"Raven" I tried again, sitting up.

She bit her teeth at her mom, who began rapidly backing up
"What have you done to her?" She asked
"I didn't do anything, you threatened me" I said, trying to regain regular breathing

"So!" She asked
"So, her wolf doesn't like it" I said
"Raven" I tried louder
She stopped backing her mother up, turning her head towards me briefly, before settling back on her
"I think you should leave" I said

"I'm not leaving her- ah" she said, trying to come closer but quickly realising Raven wasn't going to let that happen.

She sighed
Looking over Raven.
"Fine. I'll go. But I'm coming back. I want to talk to my daughter, without you around" she snapped, continuing to back away, clearly scared to turn her back on Raven.

Then it was just the two of us.
The two of us in silence as I sat against a log holding my ribs. Pain that was quickly healing but it didn't mean it didn't hurt.

Whilst Raven stared after her mother's path briefly, before turning to me, black eyes staring through mine as her small black wolf slowly came over to me
So small and yet it shouldn't have surprised me as she had never let her wolf out before
She hesitantly stood before me, I lifted my arm up, telling her it was okay to come closer

And she did, she slowly stumbled over to me and settled under my arm, brushing herself up into my side as we sat there. Silent.

I had no clue what to do
No clue what to say. If she could even understand me.

So I said nothing. Waiting for my body to heal whilst she sat bedside me content.

•

After a while I was panicked to hear her bones cracking once again
My head shot down as she changed back into her normal self, I looked away, pulling my top off and trying to manoeuvre it over her
She wasn't saying anything
But wasn't asleep
It was like she had fainted
But then I imagine the change must have been hard on her body

To happen for the first time at such an older age
Most wolves changed around 14 or 15
I scooped her up, not knowing what else to do other than walk back in the direction of the cottage.

We clearly weren't getting out of here today
We still didn't have a plan
And she needed rest
A lot of rest.

The couple thankfully let me back in.
And I put her to bed, sitting beside her and stroking her hair from her face.
I hope she's okay.
She better be

She will be. She was just tired
She just needed rest
Yeah... rest.

Raven's POV

My body aches.
My whole body aches
I didn't know where I was
What happened
I didn't care. I just wanted this pain to stop.

I opened my eyes to see Micah sat beside me
I was... in bed
In his shirt
He was staring at the fire as his hand absentmindedly ran through my hair.

And the memories flooded back into my mind
Mom...
I... I shifted.

"I shifted" I blurted out
He looked down at me surprised, his hand stopping
I sat up, immediately regretting it
"Careful" he said.

"I shifted" I said again
"Yeah" he said, a small smile appearing
"What?" I asked
"You just... your wolf, she's beautiful" he said

"I... thank you" I said.
I didn't know what she looked like.
How big she was
I barely remember it, the pain was so unbearable

"Why does everything hurt?" I asked
"Well you... you did shift for the first time ever, it will hurt" he said
"And I'm guessing being out of touch with your wolf is what's slowing down your healing process. I'm not sure what you do and don't have to be honest" he said nervously

"What do you mean?" I asked
"Well you're half demon, do you... feel pain or heal quick?" He asked
I thought about it
I wasn't sure
I didn't feel pain for long
"I wouldn't say I heal as such" I said.

"Right. Did you, feel anything when you were your wolf?" He asked
"Just, this weird overwhelming need to... protect you" I admitted awkwardly
I couldn't believe I shifted
I can't believe it was because of Micah.

And I hated this feeling right now
The one slowly sinking in as my wolf ran much louder in my head
Begging to mark him
To mate him.

She was awake. She was louder than she ever has been
And this overwhelming need to be near Micah got stronger.

So much stronger I couldn't bare it.

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