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out.
    Kean jumped to his feet as a bone-rattling screech pierced
his eardrums. Something large and winged flew right toward Araya. It wasn’t a
bird, that was for damn sure. And it looked mean and hungry. He immediately dove
and knocked Araya to the ground, falling on top of her. He didn’t have time to
wonder about his instinct to protect her.
    In the next moment, he was dragged off her and flipped over.
Orange eyes glared at him from a large, blue-black, furry head. The thick,
elongated snout sniffed him and its mouth opened revealing a full set of pointy
teeth. The thing’s wings spanned four feet. What the fuck?
    “Kiberry, no!” Araya yelled.
    Kiberry?
    The beastly creature gave Kean one last sniff then sauntered
to Araya, wagged its short, furry tail and licked her face. Its wings retracted
into its sides. She giggled and gave it a hug.
    “Where have you been? I haven’t seen you in weeks,” she said
to it. It lay down and rolled onto its back, its tiny legs straight up in the
air. Araya rubbed its belly and the thing made a rumbling noise he assumed was
a sound of approval.
    “What the hell is that ?” Kean asked.
    “This is Kiberry. He’s a baby Tengur . My sister and I
found him hiding in the orchard. We don’t know what happened to his mother but
he took to us. He’s our buddy.”
    “A Teng-what? And that’s a baby ?” he asked.
He’d never seen such a thing.
    She laughed, still rubbing the beast’s belly. “A Tengur .
And yes. He’s only a year and a half old. They usually stay with their mothers
until two years of age. So technically, he’s still a baby.”
    “You have seen its teeth right?” he asked, wondering if she
was oblivious to the danger.
    “Yes. He’s capable of doing damage for sure, but as long as
he likes you, you’re in no danger. He wouldn’t leave my or Valia’s side for the
first few months after taking him in. He saw that we favored kiwi fruit and
blueberries so he ate them too. Hence the name, Kiberry.”
    “Cute. A little too cute. I swear it wanted to eat me.”
    “ He, not it, ” she corrected him . You
might be right. He’s protective of us. When he saw you tackle me, he probably
thought you were trying to hurt me.”
    “Shit. I thought I was protecting you,” Kean
explained. “I’ve never seen anything like him before. Can you blame me?”
    Araya stood and Kiberry followed her lead. “You two should
meet properly,” she said as she led the beast to where he stood. It took all of
his willpower to stand his ground. Kean never shied away from a fight. He was
no pussy but he’d never faced a fucking winged monster demon before.
    “Kiberry, this is Kean. He’s a friend. Shake his hand,”
Araya said.
    Was she serious? Kiberry stood on his four-inch-long back
legs and held out a front paw-claw to Kean. Kean extended his hand so as not to
insult Araya or the beast, but he wasn’t all that crazy about it. Kiberry’s
claws wrapped around Kean’s hand and thankfully didn’t rip the skin from his
bones.
    “Kiberry, can Kean pet your head?” she asked.
    “That’s okay,” Kean said quickly. “A handshake is good.”
    Kiberry dropped to all fours and head-butted Kean’s leg.
Kean looked to Araya and she nodded for him to go ahead. Kean leaned down and
stroked the top of the beast’s head. The softness of the fur surprised him.
    “Okay. Now you don’t have to worry about him eating you,”
she teased. “Now that’s settled, I’m thinking I need to lie down.”
    “Feeling bad?” he asked, truly concerned.
    “Not really bad, a little woozy from the wine and tired.
Maybe I overdid it. This is the most energetic I’ve been in months.”
    She strolled ahead of him, back to the room, the beast
following close behind her. He noticed her sway a little and he chuckled
silently when she held her arms out to steady herself as if she were taking a
drunk test.
    She plopped onto the bed and wrapped the covers around her.
The beast spread his wings and