Clipped Wings: A New Orleans Shifters Novel Read online

  Chapter 7

  Cora

  Trying to help Kangee finish packing and get situated was an interesting adventure, to say the least.

  We ended up making out for damn near a half-hour on the patio of the cute little cabin. That man knows how to kiss, that is for damn sure!

  Another thing for sure is that I completely misjudged him a few days ago when I caught him with the poor deer on the side of the road. I feel bad about that and although I have already apologized, a little part of me doesn’t feel like it was quite enough.

  Watching him pace back and forth while trying to get things taken care of was heart-wrenching because there wasn’t much I could do to help. He has seemed to find a place in my heart already and I’m not sure how I feel about it yet. I do know that I need to turn in a notice to the ranger station that I will be leaving for a while and no clue when I will be returning to Flagstaff. On second thought, I think I’ll just tell Edward I’m taking an extended vacation instead. He really doesn’t need to know more since he already took me off the job for three months.

  Glancing at the time on my watch, it reads about six forth-five pm. Edward would still be in the office and I really should tell him this face to face. Peering into the cabin I see Kangee sitting in one of the chairs by the small table in the corner of the room, “Hey hun, I need to run-up to the ranger station and talk to my boss,” he looks up at me from the laptop that he is typing on and gives me a tight smile, “Should we just pack everything up and I’ll ride with you?”

  My eyes light up with a passion for this man, “That actually sounds like a really good idea.” He shuts the laptop, places it in its case and gathers up the rest of his belongings. He doesn’t have much, the laptop bag, a huge duffel bag, and a couple of light jackets.

  Grabbing the key that belonged to the cabin, he motions for me to go first out the door and then closes it gently behind him and locks it.

  I walk down the stairs and to the sidewalk, turning slightly to make sure he was behind me, “You sure you’re ready?” Kangee looks around with a deep sigh, “Yah. Yah, let’s get this show on the road.”

  He walks with me to the Jeep and I unlock it and pop the back door so he can place his luggage inside.

  Walking up to the office, he turned his key in and met me back at the Jeep and plopped his cute ass on the passenger side. I look over at him and his face is very pensive, “Are you ready?” he looks at me like he is shaking off a bad dream, “Yah.”

  I throw the Jeep in gear and pull out of the parking space to the entrance of the lot. Taking a left, I head up the hill to the ski lifts and start the winding road up.

  Kangee is quiet during the climb up the mountain and something tells me that it is not a normal occurrence.

  It only takes about fifteen minutes to reach the ranger station, we pull in and park. “I shouldn’t be long, are you going to stay here or come in?” Kangee looks up from his phone and sighs, “I’ll just stay here.” I reach over and put my hand on his shoulder and give it a little squeeze. “I’m going to help you get through this, promise.”

  Getting out of the Jeep and shutting the door, I have a feeling of someone suddenly behind me. Spinning around surprised at the voice, “Cora. I have been trying to get ahold of you for the past two hours.”

  I’m not able to hide the surprise on my face when I see Colin standing by his truck. Slowly walking over to him and looking over my shoulder to see if Kangee was watching, I see his face is illuminated by his phone screen and he is looking down. As I walk toward where Colin is standing, I decide to keep my distance and stop a good ten feet away from him and cross my arms over my chest in a defensive stance, “What for?”

  Colin steps a few feet closer to me and gestures to the Jeep, “What is he doing here with you?” There was something wrong here; Colin had an energy coming off him that I’ve only ever seen when he’s been drinking. My face gets warm with emotion as I try and figure out why he would even care.

  Taking another peek behind me and speaking in a lower tone so Kangee wouldn’t hear us, “That, is none of your business, Colin.”

  Landing my hands on my hips and scowling, “What is going on with you, go home.” Colin’s face got dark with rage as he stepped closer to me and leaned down into my face using the same low tone I had just used, “It is very much my business if my woman is running off with a hoodlum.”

  Surprise swept over me and was quickly replaced by anger, “Your woman?” my tone started to climb with every syllable that left my mouth, “I haven’t been your woman since you decided that every woman in the tri-county area needed to spend time with you and your tiny cock.”

  Pressing my finger into his chest to emphasize the next few words, “You’re lucky I didn’t kick your fucking ass when I caught that STD from you and even luckier when it was one that was easy to cure, you asshole!”

  Sputtering in anger, Colin grabbed onto my wrist and twisted my arm up behind my back. The idiot must have forgotten that I am trained in not only self-defense but am able to take down someone three times my size. I let him bring me closer to him, to get a better angle so I could drop his ass harder, “Let me go, Colin.”

  Colin started laughing, not a happy one, but a dangerous laugh, “I’m not going to let you go. Ever again.” I’m close enough now to smell the vodka coming off his breath, “I have missed every moment with you and watching you flirt and laugh with this man has taken a toll on me.”

  What in the world does he mean by watching? Has he been spying on us? Acting like I was going to put up a struggle, I start moving the pinned arm around, “Watching me? Have you been spying on me?”

  Now I’m pissed. I’m going to end this right the fuck now. Colin pulls me all the way into his chest, my arm still pinned behind me in a very uncomfortable position, “I want you, Cora and if I can’t have you neither can he.”

  This situation was taking a turn for the worse and it needed to end right now, but I needed that arm for leverage. Knowing that he outweighed me by about fifty pounds, I tried to step back out of the circle of his arm to get some distance in order to check him like a hockey player. He wasn’t going to allow me to do that since he tightened his grip and squeezed harder on my wrist. Deciding that I needed to break free and quickly, it was time to go old school and break his nose.

  I leaned my head back and just had enough time to see his eyes go wide with surprise before I slammed my forehead into his face. I hear the familiar sound of Crack as his nose breaks right before I feel the warm, wet feeling of the blood that is now spurting from him. He yowls in pain and releases my arm, “You bitch! You broke my nose!”

  Using my sleeve, I wipe the blood off my forehead as I take a few steps backward and stand in a defensive pose in case he starts to come back toward me. The commotion must have gotten Kangee’s attention, because next thing I know, he is standing next to me with his hand on my shoulder, “Did I miss something?”

  Relaxing my stance I look up at him, “Not really, I have it handled,” I said looking over at Colin who now has a wadded-up t-shirt against his nose to try and stop the bleeding, “He had that coming.” Colin’s rage had died down with the injury, but his eyes still had murder flashing in them.

  Kangee laughed and nodded in understanding, “Oh, I am positive he did.” Wrapping his arm around my waist, he looks over at Colin, “You may want to go to the ER and have that set, buddy.”

  That must have been the tipping point for Colin because everything that followed happened so fast, it was a blur. He dropped the t-shirt and rushed Kangee and me before I could respond. I swear Kangee shimmered and grew about two inches before he grabbed ahold of Colin’s throat and picked him up in the air like he was a rag doll. Colin’s feet started kicking frantically in the air as Kangee pushed him against his truck, still having his throat in a supernatural hold.

  Colin was a foot off the ground and against the side of the cab, trying desperately to get Kangee’s hand off him by weakly punching Kangee�
�s shoulder, his head, his ribs. Nothing was even affecting him, and he leaned down to Colin’s ear and whispered something that made Colin’s eyes go wide in fear.

  All the commotion has now brought the entire station outside to watch the gun show that was taking place in the parking lot. Noticing everyone standing in a semi-circle around us, Kangee loosened his grip and Colin fell to the ground, gasping for air.

  Just for good measure, Kangee stood over him and gave him a swift kick to his knee “Remember what I said, If I ever see you again, it will be the last time you draw breath.”

  Colin’s eyes are wide in fear as he looks up at Kangee and moves his head up and down in acknowledgment of the threat that just left Kangee’s mouth.

  Finally, able to go inside, I let him know that I’d be right back out and walk into the station and to Edwards’s office.

  Knocking on the door, I hear him give permission to enter before opening it and walking in.

  Edward is sitting at his desk typing away on his pc when I enter. He looks up and sits back in his chair, “Cora, I thought I told you to take a vacation?”

  Smiling over at him, I take a seat across from his desk in one of the plush office chairs, “Actually, Edward, that’s why I’m here.”

  He puts his hands together on top of the desk and looks at me quizzically, “Oh? You’re not here to fight me on this?” Letting out a small laugh I realized that he expected me to fight him tooth and nail about not being able to work.

  Sitting forward some in the chair, “I have questions on why you think I need to be on leave.”

  Edward sighs and sits back in his chair, crossing his arms over his upper chest, “Well, your whole demeanor changed when you were passed over for the promotion. You went from a knowledgeable professional to someone who thought they needed to prove something.”

  Feeling my eyes widen in complete shock, I sputter a little before answering him, “I thought I needed to.

  I busted my ass for a year for that promotion and you just handed to Beverly.” Feeling betrayed and unappreciated was not something you wanted to feel coming into work every day.

  Another deep sigh from my boss, “Cora, I didn’t do this to upset you. I had full intentions of giving you more time on the job before giving you such a responsibility of running your own division as a Chief Ranger. Bev has been here for almost 8 years, she deserved it.”

  Not wanting to get deeper into what was starting to become a full-on confrontation, I leaned forward to rest my arms on the edge of his desk, “This has nothing to do with the unwanted leave you put me on, but, I am leaving town for a while to help a friend with an emergency. So, I’m going to need to have an extension.”

  Edward’s brows went up in surprise and he laughed at my demand despite the situation, “Take as long as you like, all I ask is that you keep me posted on when and if you want to return, your position is not going anywhere and you are welcome back anytime.”

  “I sure will, boss,” I say knowing that due to circumstances and what may be happening with Kangee, that I probably won’t come back here. Getting up and heading toward the door I turn back and say, “Thank you for the wonderful opportunity to work at this station, and with you.” Edward stands up and walks over to the door to shake my hand, “It’s been a pleasure, Cora.

  You take care out there.”

  With that, I leave his office and head over to my desk to grab a couple of things and say goodbye to a few friends that I had made. Leaving the keys to the station and my desk on top of it, figuring that if and when I decide to come back to Flagstaff, the keys and everything that goes along with it would be handed back to me at that time, I wave goodbye and walk back outside to the Jeep where Kangee is supposed to be.

  He is nowhere in sight.

  ∆∆∆

  Chapter 8

  Kangee

  When Cora walked into the station, Colin huffed and puffed for another five minutes before standing up and limping over to his truck. Glancing over at me with a stare that could have killed me on the spot had things worked that way, I could feel my temper rising. Knowing that I needed to release some irritation, I walked into the nearby woods and shifted into my raven.

  Being able to fly, dive and feel the cool breeze run through my wings has always helped calm down the rage that I’ve felt. People always assume that I am happy go lucky, when in fact, I need to let go and vent in the only way that works – the sky.

  The feeling that flying gave me was nothing less than freedom. It felt amazing to be up there, flying against the wind and playing with other birds of prey. Whipping back down to a tree branch and perching to look around, I can see for miles and miles. Even at night. Tilting my head to the side, I sense someone is watching. Scanning the ground around me, I see nothing to be concerned about.

  Changing trees, I fly over to one closer to where the parking lot is located to see if Cora was ready to go. Watching her walk out of the station and over to the Jeep, she looks surprised when she doesn’t see me. Deciding to find out how she reacts to animals, I fly low and sit right above her head on the Jeep roof.

  Cora lets out a little squeal and then starts that high-pitched baby talk that women do, “Oh, look at you. You’re such a handsome guy, aren’t you?” she puckers up her lips and makes kissy noises toward me. I let out a caw, and she squeals like a delighted child and continues to talk to me, “Oh, you’re beautiful and huge, what are you doing out here this time of night, buddy?”

  Chuckling internally, I caw at her again and stretch my wings out to show their length and do a little shake. The love of animals shines brightly in her eyes and she watches me as I take flight back into the wooded area. Landing in a clearing, I shift back into human form and circle around to make it seem like I am coming from the side of the building.

  She is still looking toward where I flew off to as I come up behind her, “Hey, there you are. You ready to get on the road?” I must have startled her, because she spins around with wide eyes, “Oh! You just missed the most amazing Raven I have ever seen out here.”

  I laugh at her excitement, “Oh yeah? Was he big?” She clasped her hands together and then spread them out pretty far to try to emphasize how big something was, “Oh my god, his wings were gorgeous and huge!” Knowing now that it was going to be an easy task when I was finally going to be able to tell her about me, it eased my mind to know that she loves animals of all types.

  Leaning over I press my lips to hers quickly, she touched my face gently and gestured to the Jeep, “Well, let’s get some road food and get going.” I quickly look in the backseat of the Jeep and see a box of her belongings from the station and a huge blue cooler.

  Nodding my head toward the cooler, “What’s in there?” she smiles at me and gives a wink, “nothing yet, but I thought we could fill it with some ice and drinks so we’re not stopping as much.” Oh, smart woman.

  We get into the Jeep and take back off down the gravel road to the main one. It’s a comfortable silence until we hit the bottom of the hill and start making our way back into Flagstaff. We pass two gas stations before she decides to pull into a rather large one on the right-hand side of the road and stops the SUV for gas. Getting out, she leans her head back in the window, “I’ll go grab drinks and ice, what you want?”

  Loving how she tends to take control over situations, it takes a lot of pressure off my shoulders, “Caffeine mostly, soda, energy drinks or anything that will taste good and keep me awake.” Laughing she nods and heads into the gas station. Being the gentleman, I get out of the Jeep and stand by the pump ready to pump the gas for her. I hear the beep of the pump and watch as it goes to all zero’s signaling that I could start filling up the tank.

  Cora walks out with two bags full of drinks and snacks in one hand and a bag of ice in the other. Smiling at me, she opens the backdoor and pulls out the cooler to fill it with the purchased goodies and ice before putting it back into the vehicle.

  Getting back into the SUV, she puts the Jeep
into gear, and we head out. We drive through the main part of Flagstaff and enter onto the main highway.

  We drive for close to thirty minutes before I decide to break the silence, “have you ever been down to New Orleans?”

  Cora looks over at me and smiles, “No, this will be a first for me.” She turns her attention back to the road, “Maybe we can fit in some sightseeing before I head back to Flagstaff.” I hide my disappointment that she won’t be staying in LA.

  “Maybe you won’t have to go back to Flagstaff.” A little gasp of surprise leaves her mouth, she looks over at me for a second and then laughs, “I have a life there, I can’t just up and move.” She reaches over and turns on the radio to a ninety’s rock station just for background noise.

  The weather is cool enough that the windows are halfway down in the Jeep to let in some fresh air, but not warm enough to convert it to a topless ride.

  About three hours into the ride, my stomach feels like it’s going to eat me alive if we don’t pull over and grab some lunch. Reaching over to the radio, I turn the volume down, “I’m starving, want to pull over and eat?” Cora nods rapidly before answering, “Absolutely, I’m starving as well. I was beginning to think you would never ask.” She signals to get into the right lane so we could exit the freeway at the next little town we come across that offered food.