But not without shifting first. In a split second, the koi was gone. I was human again. I grabbed the eagle's leg, pulling it down with me. He let out a loud, obnoxious shriek that hurt my ears. Yeah, it turned out that majestic cry bald eagles made in movies weren't actually what bald eagles sounded like.
The eagle shifter had barely taken to the sky before gloating and revealing himself, which ended up being a boon for me. We were still close enough to the water to hit it safely. Water splashed in a huge wave as we crashed into it. I was so angry that I didn't even shake my hair out as I resurfaced, still gripping the eagle's leg in my fist. Unlike him, I at least had the decency to put him on the shore so he wasn't flapping around in the pond.
"Hey!" I snapped. "I'm a shifter, idiot!"
The eagle's feathers fluffed up, startled, except he didn't look as cute as Weston did when his feathers did the same thing.
"Well, how wasIsupposed to know that?" the eagle shot back. "Let go of me, fish!"
I didn't get angry easily but right now my blood boiled. With that single word, he'd reduced me to nothing from his perspective.
I got out of the water and stood over him, my fists at my sides. "I barely shifted a minute ago. If you were paying attention while hunting, you would have noticed. Or do you just not care?"
The eagle shifter didn't even bother shifting to human form to reply, which was rude of him. "Hmph. Maybe you should be careful not to shift with predators around, little fish."
Wow. This guy isn't even looking at me while he's berating me,I thought in disbelief.I guess expecting an apology is out of the question.
Irritated, I followed the eagle's line of sight and realized with a cold fury in my stomach that he was looking at Weston. My poor mate was so distracted by his instinctive urge to build a proper nest that he hadn't noticed the commotion.
For some reason, that angered me even further. I needed to protect Weston at this critical moment, and this eagle shifter had no business staring at my mate that way.
I stood in front of him, blocking his view. "Get up. If you have no apology for me, then get the hell away from my territory."
The eagle scoffed. "Yourterritory?" He finally stood and shifted to human form. He was taller and broader than me, resembling a stereotypical alpha more than I did. "Please. This whole area has been claimed by me, Alexei."
I barked out a laugh. "Excuse me? Since when?" I hadn't even seen a bald eagle in the area, and none of the pack had mentioned one, either. If there was a douchebag eagle shifter in the area, I think they would have warned us.
Alexei thrust out his chin so that he glared down at me. "Since I claim my mate. Besides, this place looks decent enough. Step aside, fish."
Years of experience with assholes like Alexei taught me what was coming next. His hand reached out to shove me aside. He thought I was weak, not even worth a real fight.
I grabbed Alexei's wrist. The sudden, jarring action was enough to make him stop in his tracks and shoot me an incredulous look.
"Yourmate?" I asked venomously. "You'd better explain yourself before youreallymake me mad."
Alexei sneered. He had no qualms using his height advantage to glare down at me, but it didn't intimidate me. It only made him look more like a snobbish idiot.
"You heard me," Alexei said. He turned to stare at Weston in the tree. Weston was fighting with a large branch, attacking it with his beak and claws to carve it into the proper shape. He was so deeply focused that he hadn't noticed Alexei's presence.
An ugly feeling stirred in my gut. My eyes widened slowly. My grip on Alexei's wrist turned to steel, making him yelp in surprise.
"If you're talking about Weston," I said, my voice slow and cold, "then you'd better watch your mouth."
Alexei snorted. "Yeah? And why's that, my little goldfish?"
His stupid comment rolled right off me. There was no insult he could throw at me right now that would hurt me. My mind was laser focused on one thing: protecting Weston.
"Because Weston ismymate," I said.
Alexei's dumb mouth hung open before he barked out an obnoxious laugh. "You? A fish shifter? Please! That's the funniest thing I've ever heard. An osprey with a fish. Ah, you crack me up..."
I wasn't in the mood for jokes. My nails dug into Alexei's skin, which made him whirl towards me with a snarl.
"Hey!" Alexei barked.
I didn't let go of him. "Maybe you shouldn't underestimate me."
"There's no way a pathetic goldfish like you could ever be a bird of prey's mate," Alexei growled. "Look at you! You don't even look like an alpha. Weston deserves a strong, masculine man, like me."
