Auror

Ann is now in the TV room, insisting she doesn’t want to sleep after we ate. She’s wrapped in a wool blanket, watching her series.
“What do you think about this?” Black asks.
Everything has been cleaned up by them; the broken doors will be replaced during the week.
“You know as much as I do—ancient magic,” I point out.
“How?” Arow questions. “This kind of magic can’t be used; we know how it works, which is why the angelics keep this knowledge only in the temple.”
“It narrows down our potential suspects significantly. The feral male had a focus, Anira. Someone wants to take her from me.”
“Do you think the leader of the East would try something again?”
“No, Brionyr knows well that he would face severe consequences from his entire clan if he did.”
“So, the one who sent the male must be someone from within since the Southern and Western clans are our allies and revere your leadership,” Jacob ponders logically.
“I have no idea who it is, but when I find out, I’ll tear off their head along with their spine and send a damn message. No one touches my companion.” The way I speak carries so much fury that the males around me shrink back.
“The Moriah?” Black questions, trying not to be affected by the furious power emanating from me.
“No, Bourn is too angry, but he would never go against his own clan. Despite hating me, he wouldn’t break his loyalty to my father.”
We’re exchanging looks when three angelics appear beside us. Luna looks at me as if searching for something.
“Ancient Magic,” she says.
The ferals present lower their gazes as Luna and the oracles begin to touch everything the feral male touched. This magic prevents their visions from happening, and their presence here indicates they foresaw something, albeit belatedly; that’s the only reason they would leave the temple to come here.
“No odor,” one of them says.
“No elemental traces,” another oracle points out. Elemental traces are what our souls leave behind wherever we go; all our emotions and sensations emanate from us, leaving a kind of signature for the angelics, like a DNA.
“Where is the male’s body?” Luna asks, and it’s Black who responds.
"Outside, elder," Black informs as he heads that way.
I observe everything around, and something that doesn’t escape my notice is Jacob’s gaze at one of the oracles, who doesn’t even look at him. To say they’re not as beautiful as goddesses would be a grand lie, but they are so unattainable to ferals that it would be impossible for them to look at any of us with ulterior motives. As soon as I close my thoughts, I see her smile, and I don’t understand why. I soon breathe out; she read my mind.
I walk towards Luna and Black. She examines the decapitated body, her hands analyzing everything without even touching it, until it simply disappears from our sight.
“As predicted, ancient magic. I’ve sent the body to the temple; it might take some time, but we will find some trace,” she tells me telepathically. “The bond has occurred; your connection is strong and permanent. A feral baby will arrive and bring even more light to your darkness. The culprit will be found, and all this will be behind you.”
I nod as we return inside. After their farewells, they disappear just as they appeared, without us expecting it.
“We’ll have a lot of work now that spring is about to begin,” Kynai warns.
“Find out about the new veterinarians,” I instruct. “I want them here as soon as possible, and if they don’t accept what we offer, triple the amount. I don’t want Anira exposed like this.”
“Yes,” Black agrees, and soon all the ferals position themselves to leave.
“Arow?” Ann’s voice halts the young male.
“Yes?”
“When do we return to work?” she inquires, wrapping her arms around my waist.
“In a week, Ann,” he replies.
“I’ll be waiting for you for breakfast; you’re always welcome too, Jacob.”
“Thank you, ma’am,” Jacob responds, and Ann wrinkles her nose but doesn’t argue.
Just as I don’t rebuke Arow for calling her Ann, my companion has friends, and even though I want to protect her, I would never forbid her from anything.
We wait for everyone to leave, and then it’s just the two of us.
“Why would someone want to see me dead?”
I knew she would hear everything.
“I don’t know yet, but I’ll find out, and when I do, I’ll punish the bastard myself.” I kiss her head. “How about we spend the afternoon watching your series?”
“Our series?”
“Yes, our series.”
And as planned, we spent the rest of the day watching all the episodes of our series. I would live to do everything Ann desires, and if pausing my time to get to know the fictional stories of her favorite characters is what she longs for from me, she will have it.

***

Anira


With the end of the heat, winter also left, bringing spring. A week after its start, we would return to work, and today is the first day. The humans, who are unaware of what happens around here, have resumed their work, and everything seems very normal.
Despite feeling sad about what happened, today the new veterinarians will also arrive, and I will meet them soon. I’m preparing breakfast when I hear Arow greet Auror, who is in the living room.
“I came for the smell, Ann, eggs and bacon are my favorites.” He sits at the table while I finish setting it up. “Good morning.”
“Good morning,” I reply. “Pancakes, eggs, and bacon, nothing better than that,” I say as Auror joins us.
He always has breakfast with me; only lunch and dinner are different since he prefers his juicy, bloody game steaks.
“Do you know if the new veterinarians have arrived yet?” Auror asks while I serve him.
“Yes, Jacob picked them up last night. I believe he is with them now,” I reply, feeling a pang of sadness.
“That doesn’t mean you’ll be assisting them; you’ll be my assistant. Arrange for another male to accompany them,” I instruct, and both smile.
“It’s already been arranged. Jacob will be responsible for one, and Lanuur for the other,” Arow says.
“Are they both men?” I ask.
“Actually, I don’t know. We’ll find out together.”
Auror’s large hand reaches out across the table, and I touch it.
“Don’t be like this, Ann. You’ll still be the head of the clinic,” he says, but it doesn’t comfort me.
“I enjoy the emergency calls and the night outings in the rain that take me to forbidden places,” I say, and Arow smiles.
“I think your adventures ended when you became the leader’s mate,” Arow says. Auror is in a great mood, certainly due to my work hours decreasing drastically.
“I don’t regret it.” I wink.
We finish our breakfast, and as soon as we’re done, we head to the clinic.
"Wait, Arow, let me call Emmy. We haven't spoken in a while, and I want to see what she's been up to," I say before starting the car.
The call rings until it goes to voicemail, so I send her a message asking her to call me back when she can.
"Can we go?"
"Yes," I reply. "And how was your heat season?"
"My first heat was the wildest thing in my life. I never imagined my body would have such endurance." Her excitement makes me smile.
"Trust me, when it happens with your partner, it will be even more intense," I say, because that's what Auror told me.
"Seeing Auror the way I do now doesn’t remind me at all of the leader I feared for years."
"You feared him?"