First light seeped through the small slit between the curtains. Azura stared at it for a while before looking at Lucas, who was fast asleep next to her. He lay on his back, hands behind his head, mouth slightly ajar. The blankets only partially covered his body, exposing his chest and one leg while just barely covering his groin. His hair was disheveled and his skin still looked sweaty after round two.

He’d fallen asleep quite fast after their workout, yet she had barely slept at all. Maybe an hour or two max but after she’d woken up, she wasn’t able to catch any sleep again. Azura stared back at the ceiling overthinking what had happened, every moment from the first kiss, to her deciding to sleep with him, and everything that followed. It was driving her mad, her thoughts were driving her crazy, pestering her and keeping her from falling asleep.

With a soft groan, she got out of bed slowly, just as naked herself. Trying not to wake Lucas, she softly tiptoed to the bathroom to relieve herself. Before flushing, she closed the lid so it would make a little less noise hoping it wouldn’t wake up the man asleep two doors away. She quickly washed her hands before gazing up at herself in the mirror. Her eyes were back to their original color and with it, all the feelings of doubt and anxiety.

After the first session, she had gone to the bathroom and Lucas had told her to take a good look at her eyes before she came back. She was shocked at first when a pair of red eyes stared back at her, but it also intrigued her and she even liked it. The Phoenix had spoken to her, telling her it was who she really was. It was quite content with itself as she tried touching the power that resided within.

The confidence she held right then had been shocking. At one point Lucas had shown up behind her, hugging her from behind. It was clear he could and wanted some more action to which she had gladly obliged. But that confidence she held then was gone now and all she could think about was probably the stupidest decision she had made in her recent life.

Azura took a deep breath and leaned on the sink with both hands as her gaze fell from her reflection to the white porcelain. A shimmer of gold caught her attention as she looked at the ring around her finger. It was itching so she shifted it around a bit but it didn’t give her the relief she was looking for. Her chest constricted and breathing was getting harder. A strange uneasiness was growing deep within her as her mind was being flooded with the images and contradicting thoughts of the night before.

She just slept with someone she saw as maybe her closest friend, what would that make them now? Would he regret it? Did she regret it? She sighed and splashed some cold water in her face to help clear her mind, not that it did much to help. Bile rose in her throat as the knot in her stomach tightened even more. Swallowing it down, she sat down on the lid of the toilet, underarms resting on her upper legs as she put her head down and focused on her breathing.

‘I slept with my best friend.’

It was the only thought that kept racing around in her mind. At moments, she felt like laughing about it, then she had to admit she had loved it and wanted more, but now she was feeling more and more anxious about it. Did she even have feelings for him, or was it the rush of the evening? The itching feeling spread from her finger through her hand and she tugged at the ring, rotating it and adjusting it in the hope it would ease the strange feeling. It was getting uncomfortable and more prominent as both her inside beasts were getting restless.

Just take it off.

She shook her head but the idea wedged itself in her brain. Taking the ring off would mean exposing herself, not an option yet she couldn’t dismiss it. Azura noticed her gums starting to throb as her body involuntarily seemed to prepare itself to shift. The urgency to run, to clear her mind and be almost one with nature was something she could not ignore for much longer. Adding the strange sensation that the ring seemed to provoke and her own mind wondering what to do next with the situation at hand, she was one step closer to a mental breakdown.

Azura jumped up and started pacing around, growling at herself for being all over the place. Trying to handle one thing at a time, she focused on herself and Lucas. Two options remained for now, go back to her own room, or go back to Lucas's. With every step, she felt her body reacting more to the ring. The itch had spread on her entire body but around the ring, her finger was starting to burn. It felt like the ring was piercing her skin with a thousand needles. A few curse words left her lips as it was clear she had to focus on that subject first. Not one she wanted to deal with, then again none of them were.

It's no longer of use to you so it's rejecting you.

Voicing its opinions again, the Phoenix made the party in her head complete. Frustrated she decided to answer the voice because it would probably not stop bothering her otherwise.

"I'm not taking off the ring. They can't know what I am. Not yet at least." She spoke to the voice as if it was a person standing right next to her.

It will hurt you more and more. You need to take it off.

Azura leaned on the sink with both hands. "I can't take it off. Lucas will find out. It's not safe."

Maybe it's about time he learns about you. He knows you inside and out by now.

She looked back into the mirror as if addressing herself and hissed through her teeth. "You know they don't take kindly to my kind, especially after what happened with Johnathan."

They have known you for over a year. They know you are not like them.

"Didn't I try to actually kill someone just yesterday? I’m not so different!" She was getting frustrated and the pain in her finger only started to intensify. She gritted her teeth trying not to make too much noise.

He was a threat. You felt and acted on it.

She groaned and put her forehead against the mirror in a sign of defeat. She touched the ring again, but as she did, it burned her fingers straight away. The finger it was on was actually starting to feel numb and lifeless by now but the rest of her hand felt like she had put it in boiling water. She turned on the cold water and let it run over her hand, but it gave no relief at all.

Nothing will help except taking the thing off. You should not be hiding as you have been for so long. It weakens me and yourself.

The urge to hit something in frustration and pain was growing. The pain was creeping up her arm now and was becoming unbearable. It wanted her to expose herself, there was no way that would end well. Yet as the pain and the urge to shift started to cloud her mind, that was the only solution that kept circling around in her head. She also still hadn’t decided which room she would go to after this bullshit was over and that bothered her more than she’d like to admit.

Azura righted herself and headed out of the bathroom and into Lucas's room. If the Phoenix wanted this, it would get it. She quickly grabbed the ring, ignoring the burning pain that seared through her fingers and hand, and pulled it off. Placing the gold object on the bedside table, the pain was subsiding and she gave a breath of relief when she could feel her arm turning back to normal. Her hand followed soon after and in the end her finger which had started turning black slowly regained its normal color. It was as if a heavy burden was just lifted and she could finally breathe and stand up properly. Her mind cleared up allowing for her thoughts and senses to turn back to normal.

The effects of taking the ring off hit her like a tidal wave. The first thing she noticed was the smell of sex combined with hers and Lucas's. He groaned and turned around making her freeze in place in the hopes he wouldn't wake up. He was bound to smell her as well now and she had no idea what would happen. Her eyes grew larger upon realizing what she had just done and panic set in. He would know... He would find out. She couldn’t be here when he did. There was no way she could face him now! Stepping away from the bed, she grasped for the door blindly as her eyes never left the still sleeping man. She needed to run, to hide, to get away from here.

Lucas groaned, his nose scrunched up as a frown formed on his face. He turned onto his side, the covers sliding off him completely. Averting her eyes from the now very naked form, Azura silently opened the door and quickly made her way out. She grabbed her head and gritted her teeth, cursing herself for listening to the Phoenix. Of course, the damned thing was silent now. One thing she did know was that she had to go and she had to go now.

The shift started as she was making her way to the front door. Her bones cracking and realigning themselves as fur sprouted from her skin. Holding it back was painful but opening a locked door fully shifted was next to impossible. The moment the front door opened up, Azura fell to her knees, biting away the pain as the shift fully took over and a white snow leopard took her place.

*

His hand moved next to him and hit the mattress. A little surprised Lucas turned onto his side and opened his eyes to see an empty spot. He softly cursed and sat upright as a strong, unknown scent hit him.

“Dammit! What the hell?!” There was only one explanation as the scent of both of them filled his nostrils and embedded itself in his brain.

It was hard grabbing her full scent but the more he sifted through the assortment of different ones, the more ‘Azura’ formed in his nose. There was no denying he liked what he smelled but underneath the first initial impression, something else lingered. Snow leopard shifters had a distinctive side to their scents, something he had never smelled on anyone else, and yet, she had that very same snippet in hers. It could only mean one thing and suddenly it all made sense as to why she was always adamant about wearing that ring.

He grabbed his pants from the floor and put them on as fast as possible. As he grabbed his t-shirt his eye fell on the golden ring on the bedside table. He grabbed it and put it in his pocket before storming off downstairs, following the invisible trail she left behind. Before he was able to go outside a loud banging on the door confirmed his worst fear. He was not the only one who had noticed. Hopping on one foot while putting his shoe on, he opened the door to see a heated Rose.

"Fuck, Lucas!" She pushed him to the side and stormed in.

"You can say that again." He grunted as he finally got his shoe on. Rose tossed him his coat and watched him put it on, tapping her foot impatiently.

A smug smile spread on her face just before she spoke up. "You actually did it. It’s about damn time! You still smell like sex..."

"If you value your life you will shut up about it! Azura’s gone and probably the whole city knows so we need to find her before things go wrong." He pushed her out of the house as he snarled at her and closed the door behind them.

Rose grabbed her phone and urged him to take a look at his as well. "Might be a little late for that... How long has she been gone for and what happened?"

"I don't know how long she’s been gone, I was still asleep when she left. I also have no clue what happened. She must have panicked or something. The night didn't really go according to plan if you must know."

He cursed even more as he saw the messages and tons of missed calls on his phone. Taking in a big whiff of air, he found her trail. It was faint but somehow stronger and did point him in a general direction. The same direction one of the last texts he got said she was. She had shifted. Lucas closed his eyes as a small grunt escaped his lips. Rose gave him a confused look but seemed impatient.

“We need to go, Lucas! And what’s with the weird look?”

“You don’t smell it, do you? She shifted, Rose! Fuck, she’s as good as dead!” He didn’t wait for her reply but started running in the direction he had often taken Azura.

“Shifted?” Rose panted as she tried keeping up. “What do you mean shifted? She’s hu-”

“She isn’t human!” Lucas interrupted her. “She never was but she blocked her scent so I never figured out what she was. Take a good whiff of the air and let it sink in, will ya!”

As they kept running, Rose did what he told her to do. “I only smell you, sex, loads of it by the way, and… Oh my God! You’re wrong! She ain’t as good as dead, the rest of them are!” She exclaimed loudly.

Hearing her figure it out only made him increase his tempo as they left the streets and headed into the woods and towards the mountains. The smaller paths covered in thick fresh snow made them reduce their speed a little, but it was not that far of a journey. Focusing on following her trail, the two kept quiet for the rest of the way. The last text message Lucas had read worried him and he was afraid they might be too late already. They would kill Azura if she did anything. With or without Lucas there.

The sun was high up already when they reached the cliff. The same cliff he had taken Azura to a few times to watch the sunrise, or just to have a chat. She had always felt at ease here so it didn’t feel strange this was where she had run off to. Waiting at the edge were Mayor Ben and Nathan. Oliver and Nicolai stood a few meters away, softly discussing something. Seeing the bald Vaim calmed him down a little. Nicolai knew about Azura, no doubt and Lucas hoped that he had managed to keep the situation under control for as much as possible. Ben always valued Nicolai’s opinion and Lucas never felt more glad about it.

"It's about damn time you showed up." The mayor turned to Lucas and Rose and pointed down. "We cornered her there. It's a miracle she hasn't killed anyone yet so she's still alive."

Rose ran to the edge and looked down. There were several Snow leopards surrounding and cornering a much smaller one. She was hunched down against the cliff, her tail flicking furiously beside her, warning them to keep their distance. They could hear her hisses even up on the cliff. She wanted to call out to Azura but at the last moment decided against it. She would probably be scared to death and the chance of her reacting in the wrong way was too big.

"A miracle? She has been living in our city for over a year without hurting or killing anyone!" Lucas was getting angry and took a few steps towards the mayor. Nathan immediately stepped between them.

"Mind your words, Lucas. Just take a quick peek down so you know what exactly she is." Lucas turned away from them and headed over to Rose. She jabbed his side and pointed down.

"You nailed a blue one Lucas. Who would've thought." She grinned at him but he just growled at her.

“Shut up, Rose.” He sneered back as he kept his eyes focused on Azura.

“Sorry... “ She replied, anxiously hopping from one foot to another. Hoping to lighten his mood a little, she realized it had the opposite effect. Lucas’s attention was solely on Azura with an extremely worried expression she had rarely seen on him.

Seeing her down there in her shifted animal explained her temper for sure. Lucas stared at the sight beneath him and noticed the other snow leopards slowly coming closer to her. Azura was getting more agitated, baring her teeth to the others much like a wolf would. If they would come even closer, she would attack for sure. She had tried to attack people for less. Lucas had seen enough and turned back to Mayor Reed.

"Ben, call them back! She's agitated and under a lot of pressure. You're provoking her this way! Let me approach her by myself. I can get her to calm down so we can settle this in a normal manner."

Ben shook his head and replied showing no sign of emotion.

"Sorry Lucas, I'm following protocol. I can't let you go down there as you're obviously personally involved. I have to make sure she is no threat to us. Especially after what happened with Johnathan."

All the color drained from Lucas's face as the true meaning of the words from Ben dawned on him.

"You want her to fight..."

Nicolai heard Lucas and walked over to him.

"She'll be fine. She can handle herself."

Lucas clenched his fists together and gritted his teeth to prevent him from striking out at Ben. All hope he had left was gone the moment he realized Ben wanted to make her do the 'welcome' fight. It was an old law that had never even been used. It was implemented after a previous blue-eyed leopard killed people in town after living there. To make sure nothing like that would happen again, the Mayor and council thought it was a good idea to make any newcomer fight to show they had self-control and restraint. Something they believed not a single blue-eye would have. Something Lucas doubted Azura would have enough off as well.

Ben headed over to the edge and looked down. He whistled and motioned to a few cats to move away. Then he turned to Nathan and gave him a nod. Nathan started to grin and walked off, making his way down. Lucas's eyes grew wide as he realized what was going to happen.

"You can't do this Ben! Of all people, you let Nathan do the right of 'welcome'?" He spat out the word welcome. "He hates blue-eyed snow leopards and will try to kill her! And if he won't succeed, she will kill him and thus making everyone attack her and she'll still be killed!" Lucas turned around to follow Nathan, but Oliver grabbed him and pulled him back.

"Don't make this any worse than it already is Lucas. Your smell is all over her, so we know on which side you'll be if you go down right now." He was whispering so Ben and the other would not hear him. "Nathan will indeed go for the kill. But I've talked to Nicolai and he claims she will be able to control herself and not kill him. Maybe it's wise to put your trust in him and your girlfriend down there right now."

"Are you saying she is dangerous?" Ben slowly walked to Lucas making sure his higher-ranking seeped through his words.

"No. If she was I would not be standing here. But if you provoke her, like you’re doing now..."

"So yes, she is dangerous," Ben emphasized every word and it was clear he would not tolerate any other word coming from Lucas’s mouth.

Lucas grunted and just headed over to the edge. Oliver was right, but he would now have to watch how Nathan just wanted to kill Azura and not be able to do anything. Rose joined him and took his hand and gently squeezed it.

"She wouldn't have done this if she wasn't sure of herself. You have to trust her." He looked at her and managed to mouth a little thank you to her. Ben walked down a little and positioned himself at a spot he could easily see Azura and Nathan, who had shifted and walked towards her. He was almost twice as big as she was and kept his head held proudly high. Azura cowered some more, pressing herself into the wall as furthest as possible. Ben's voice boomed over the valley, making them all look up at him.

"As is the custom in our region, a foreign snow leopard is welcome to join after proving his or her dedication. Even though you have been living with us in peace mostly for over a year, I can't overlook the fact you have kept your true identity hidden and with recent developments regarding the blue-eyed leopards around here, I have decided you shall have to prove yourself. You shall fight Nathan and you will have to beat him or you'll most likely be killed. Fleeing is no option as we will hunt you down and will show no mercy."

Azura had slowly gotten up as Ben spoke and stared at him before her eyes moved around the cliff to find Lucas and Rose up there. She finally looked back down at Nathan who was patiently waiting for her to spring into action. She sized him up and slowly walked around him in a big circle.

Lucas never took his eyes off her. He could see she was in a good physical condition and prayed she knew what she was doing. Nathan was one of the most difficult fighters due to his size and weight advantage. If he was able to pin her down, it would be over in no time. He did have one weakness though. He was big, but slow compared to most others.

Nathan looked up at his leader and mayor Ben, who gave him a small nod to indicate he could go ahead with the fight. He turned his attention to Azura and lowered his head before he started to charge straight at her.