Unnatural

                  She heard his calls of pain from a distance; the one night she did not stay close by…of course he would anger a nearby pack. Aspen took flight like an angry bee protecting its hive from invaders and followed the howls and snarls to where he was. Surprisingly Grieve was holding his own against the nearby packs alpha and four of his strongest wolves. Three females watched helplessly from the treeline. Aspen stayed a distance away when she seen he was alright for the moment and surveyed their surroundings. She ruffled her feathers, it would sound like a whisper to any other creature, but the wolves heard her loud and clear; only Grieve recognized her. Aspen is a guardian of the forest, only a few of the creatures know this little fact. You would think that being the only phoenix in the area would give away her position; unfortunately most of the creatures here are so caught up in their own worlds, their own wars, they notice very little outside of them. Except Grieve. Perhaps that is why she has developed a soft spot for him.
                   They were fighting in a clearing, one of Aspens least favorite clearings. There was nothing here, just a barren wasteland of dead trees and plants; it’s a wonder anything even grows here with all the negative energies surrounding the circle. She shuddered at the animal bones scattered all over the place, a scavengers dream come true, especially since the sickly creatures come here specifically to die. The females were cowering at the edge of the battle; they must have tried to leave the pack…again. Grieve being a gentleman, was likely caught trying to save them all. One of the alphas pets, a big grey timber with ice blue eyes nipped at Grieve’s already injured shoulder while the others circled around him; they were using the grey one as a distraction so they could move in and attack him from all sides.
                   Aspen watched a little longer, disgusted by their tricks as well as the weakness of the females. ‘Are they really going to sit and watch as they tear him apart?’ she asked herself. She will never understand pack politics, nor does she ever want to. She ruffled her red and orange feathers once again, stretching her wings in the process; she had no intention of sitting here and watching them over power and cheat. She hummed a soft tune; it started off very low and progressively got louder and more haunting. Aspen stood to her full height perched on a branch close to the circle. Her fire colored wings fluttered around her beautifully as shimmers of purple energy danced from her golden beak and surrounded the attacking wolves. This song only seems to work on the lesser sex, the men, besides Grieve. I suppose his isolation from other creatures gives him an advantage, as far as pack magic goes, he has no alpha to answer to, he speaks and acts of his own accord.
                   Aspen met his purple gaze, she always thought he was beautiful with his silver colored fur and odd purple eyes. Grieve gave her a wolfish grin, ‘Hello my little phoenix, what took you so long?’ he whispered into her mind. ‘You looked like you were doing just fine on your own sweet wolf.’ She answered back. She swan dived toward the ground breaking the spell as she pulled herself up on a drift of wind and sunk her talons into the alpha wolf’s muzzle. He yelped loudly, it happened so fast that the others watched in confusion as Aspen healed all of Grieve’s wounds with her magical tears. They snapped out of their confusion as Grieve was speeding to each of them in a wide circle, he bit the hind leg of each of the wolves, injuring them enough to where they had to flee. The females chose that moment to build the courage to run into Grieve’s part of the woods, our part of the woods. They dare not tread there; the scary guardian of that part of the forest resides there.
                   Aspen perched gently on his shoulder and nuzzled his ear with her beak affectionately. He let out a tender growl and flicked his long tongue against her cheek.
“You know I had it under control right?”
“Of course you did, I’m sure you noticed that at the point of my interference they were distracting you with the grey one so they could surround you and attack from all sides as well right?”
“Of course I did!” Aspen noted the slight uncertainty to his response and shook her head slightly.
“Stubborn dog…” she mumbled under her breath. “Hey! I heard that!” he answered back. She smiled as well as any phoenix could and patted his head gently with her wing. For some reason, as unlikely…as unnatural as their union is, she loves this big silver furball, and she is positive he feels the same. They walked in comfortable silence back to his den; they will take the females to another pack in the morning. Until then, they will just enjoy each other’s company.