Fractured Fate

Two: The Solitary Life

Cael blinked, coming to on the small balcony in his aerie home.

The initial unease of finding himself in another location made his gut churn. At least, in this instance, he was in his own home and not somewhere on a mountain or at the top of a tree in a random part of the territory.

The first time he'd woken up without remembering how he'd gotten there, he'd thought he was in a dream. When he realized he was in fact awake and not in a dream, horror ripped through him like a sharp slash of claws.

It had begun.

He had heard stories, knew the signs. He even taught the signs to his people, for them to look out for.

It was just him and his father left in this territory. The attack a decade ago had stolen his brother, and when his mother died shortly after of heartbreak, his father had little emotional capacity. Not enough to share with a young teenager. His father had been drowning in his own grief at the loss of his mate and his son.

The others in the territory were his family, but they also were not his family. Other than donating his time and his strength as a lieutenant, he had little to give to this world and the others.

And this world...it was so loud. Too loud for him.

He had a hard time relating to the other shifters, not because of any lack of experience on his part, but mostly because his hawk side, his animal side, was so much more present than others' animal's sides.

Now his hawk wanted to take over completely.

As far as he knew—as far as all of them knew—once a shifter started warring with their animal side for dominance, there was no stopping the inevitable. Only delaying it.

Cael made himself sit back in the lounge chair. He had put the chair out here along with a small table for those who liked to use his home while he was out. While he spent little time relaxing, he knew the other shifters did, and he had wanted them to feel comfortable in his home when they stopped by.

The sun was setting carefully over the trees in the distance. The balcony on his three floor aerie home gave him a perfect view of the mountains of the inner home along with the wide expanse of trees that covered about 90% of their territory. The same trees his hawk loved to fly over and perch on. This territory was a hawk shifter's dream. Once his animal side took over completely, at least his animal side would enjoy a good life.

While he would just... disappear.

He would not be a problem for those around him. Hawks, although predators, were relatively lone creatures. He lived a solitary lifestyle, so even if he were a danger, he hardly ventured into the inner home, where the core of his people lived and worked and played.

The only one he was a danger to right now was himself.

And he prayed to Galetta that was how it would stay.

***

"I want her gone." Eoran's face turned a mottled red. "She has no business being in this territory or around any of our people. Not after what she has done."

Brynn's fingers twitched at her sides. As much as she wanted to deny it, the head elder had a point. He has to be a wolf shifter, Brynn thought to herself. Wolves were quick to anger and quick to get defensive. The only wolf shifter she knew who was not like that was Daedre.

She missed the hardened leader of the Western Territory. Although rough on the exterior, Daedre protected her people well. She would've had these elders under her claws in a blink.

Daedre made decisions for the Western Territory, only consulting a small mixed group of shifters who served as her advisors. The Southern Shifter Territory operated differently, with a group of elders serving as their council. Though, from what she could gather, unlike Daedre's advisors, Gavriel's council had the power to overrule Gavriel if warranted.