Anira

"Let me go, Auror!"
My scream is useless; he carries me like a sack of feed, sprinting through the forest with incredible speed, emitting sounds like furious growls.
We arrive at the house on the hill, my stomach churning from the jostling. He scales the house wall, leaping from side to side until we reach a balcony where he enters the room and throws me onto the bed.
"You need to know how annoying you are!"
"I’m not annoying; you’re a brute, rude, and uneducated, and you nearly killed my friend."
"GRRRRRRR!"
The roar is so powerful that I see him open his arms and throw his body back. I cover my ears to muffle the noise.
"I didn’t wish for this!" he roars, almost spitting in fury.
"What are you talking about?"
"I didn’t want a companion like you." He huffs in disgust.
"I’m not your companion, what the hell!" I sit up, and his large hand pushes me back down.
"Yes! And not by my will, but if the great Moon wants it this way, so it shall be," he says, pacing the room.
"Stop walking, you’re making me nauseous."
"Anira Montecião, of all the living beings on this planet, it must be a punishment to have you as a companion—complaining about everything, challenging me, being human, small, and fragile."
"Hey! I’m not complaining that you’re a two-and-a-half-meter-tall creature covered in fur that smells like a wet dog." If he can insult me, so can I. "I didn’t wake up one day and wish to be anything of yours. You better explain this companion thing so I can go back to my home and find out how Arow is." I place my hands on my hips to show how angry I am.
His golden gaze fixes on me, and now I feel afraid.
"Do you want to be his companion?"
"What? No, you big idiot, he’s my friend."
I see him take a deep breath as if seeking control. Auror is a specimen unlike anything I’ve ever seen in my short life, but my body heats up when I’m near him, which irritates me. He’s an animal, and I shouldn’t get involved with him.
"Companions are destined. Even if I wanted to throw you back and return you to your home, I can’t. The heat is coming along with the mating cycle, and we won’t be able to resist each other."
"I’m not mating with you; I don’t feel the damned heat! We’re heading into the coldest winter in years; you must be crazy," I retort. "No, I’m still in my bed. This must be a nightmare. Oh my God! It’s been so long since I smoked pot that I’m hallucinating, and it wasn’t even much, just two puffs. This has to be a nightmare. Wake up, Anira! Wake up!" I slap my face, trying to pull myself from the world of dreams.
"It’s not a dream. You’re a descendant of Cristaly, an angelic who was born specifically to be my companion."
"Well, then she should come here and deal with her own problems; I have nothing to do with this."
"Stop talking; I need you to listen. We don’t have time."
I cross my arms, sitting on the bed angrily. The sooner he finishes, the sooner I can go home, but not my home here—in Toronto. I’m not staying in this place; there must be some kind of hallucinogen in the water.
"For many years, we believed Cristaly had died in an accident, but here you are, her descendant, defying any certainty we had that she was dead. Cristaly went away, but through the ancient magic of the angelic elders, the cycle would never be broken. My destined one would arrive to me, no matter how it happened. I am a Leader, and for every Leader born, an angelic is also born."
This story is confusing, but I mentally note my points of doubt to ask about later.
"She reached the heat phase, and we weren’t together, so your body created another destined one, and when she turned eighteen, Cristaly died."
"How do you know?"
"Because that's how things work. Over the years, angelics have been born, and their mothers died to bring them here."
"This story of yours has many holes, big guy." His look is curious. "First, we were created to serve you. How do you explain that I’m only two percent angelic?"
"Surely at some point, they began mating with human males. Being far away and without making the connection, we don't feel the desire for each other, but an overwhelming urge to mate with anyone who appears. If this doesn’t happen, the body will generate one even without the need for a male."
"Hmm, so you’re telling me that if I don’t mate with you, my body will produce a baby to serve you?"
"Over the years, I don’t believe your body will generate one on its own, but the need to mate will grow, and you’ll need a human male."
"Another point, I’m already 24 years old, and from what I see, I’m very much alive."
"Have you never mated?"
"Isn't it obvious? I’m alive and without children."
Of course, when the desire for sex comes, I take care of myself, and some toys are better than nasty men like Dean. However, it’s not something that throws me off balance; it increases significantly in winter. More than c...
No, this isn’t real, Anira! And aren’t you talking to a férnus, a species that’s never been heard of before?
"Our bodies give signals, Anira: restlessness, irritability, a desire to be close." I don’t admit any of this.
"To me, only my hair."
"Which is more than a signal. Whenever you’re near me, it shines; the white gets much whiter."
"Fine, I get it all, but no thanks, I don’t want this relationship," I say, walking out of the room.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"To my house."
"No!"
"Yes!" I retort. I need to get out of here and once I’m far away, disappear from Forty Mile. "Look, I need to process all of this, and I won’t do it with you so close."
His gaze evaluates me, and he starts sniffing the air.
"I don’t admire lying, Anira."
"I’m not..." He takes a step toward me.
"I smell the lie in the air. Your reactions to everything I say—going from disbelief to fear—you think you’re too clever to lie to me."
What the hell!
"Let’s be honest here, I’m not going to have a relationship with a giant, hairy, and grumpy being like you."
"And you think I’m happy to have an annoying, small, and fragile human like you as my companion for eternity?"
"Hey, hey, hey! Eternity? No, that’s out of the question."
"It isn’t."
"Once again, that doesn’t add up."
"What the hell! Why don’t you stop pointing out things and understand once and for all that we’re companions, even if it’s against our will? But don’t worry, in time we’ll want each other so much that we’ll forget everything else."
"Because your story has several questionable gaps. If I mate with you, I’ll have a férnus baby—oh my God!—and he’ll be a leader, an angelic will be born, and you die, and I’ll go with you, I don’t know."
"I can’t die."
"How can you not die? Everyone dies."
"The férnus aren't just everyone, Anira. Only leaders die, and we don’t even call it death; it's a deep sleep. Even then, after many years, but I've been condemned. As condemned by angelic magic, I can’t die. I’ll be the leader of my clan forever until I choose to pass it on to my son. And no, I won’t condemn my little one to leadership. I’ll live forever bearing the burden I was destined for and give him the chance to live a life free from the weight of leadership."
"So, this death curse on leaders ended when you were condemned?"
"Exactly!"
"I see. Still, eternity is a long time. And besides, I’m human, small, and fragile. Did you forget? Little old me is going to die, pass away, kick the bucket, make the transition—you know." I wave my hand dismissively, trying to appear casual about my death.
His agitation shows as he growls irritably.
"In the same way I was condemned, when you become my companion, you will be condemned as well. It’s the law. We’ll exchange fluids—easier to understand, when I bury myself in you, my fluids will mix with yours. Your DNA will change; you will be the companion of a férnus, obeyed as the leader’s woman, and will have the same power I do."
"That’s humanly impossible."
"I’m not human, Anira!"
"Okay, okay! Look, Auror, it's not that you aren’t a good-looking guy for your species and all, but I don’t believe anything will happen between us. It’s impossible."
"The mating cycle starts soon. For now, your body will keep tingling around me, your hair will shine, and this damned scent that makes me want to cling to you will permeate the city. The males will know, and it could cause a damn war among them. For now, everything is calm, but when their heat reaches its peak, we won’t be able to control them. That’s why many male and female férnus go to other clans to mate."
"So, you’re saying an orgy starts? How long does this last?"
"I must be really high; this can’t be real."
"The heat lasts all winter, but only true companions produce babies."
"So, assuming we end the winter with me pregnant?"
"A beautiful pregnant female."
"I’m not a mare."
"And I’m not a human male."
"Look, I’m going home to think about all this madness, and then we’ll talk."
"Anira, be back here by tonight, or I’ll come get you like I did now," he says, and I don’t respond. "Take the truck key; it’s on the entrance table in the main room."
Without saying anything else, I walk out. No brain in the world can process as much information as this, and damn it, my body always heats up whenever I’m around him.