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budge. He looked him straight in
the eye. “How’s your wife’s grandfather, anyway?”
    A look of sheer horror traversed Jona’s face
seconds before Ice released talons from his hand and tore his
throat open. He never even screamed.
    Ice nudged his lifeless body with a booted
foot then continued the shift into full hawk form again. Before
anyone saw what happened he’d taken flight. Target number two had
been eliminated and would not likely be discovered before the
restaurant opened.
    He had a long trip back to his woods. Again
he called upon the wind to speed his journey home.
     
    Painted skies of gold, pink, and blue hung
over the glorious redwoods when he arrived at the forest. A setting
sun cast a stunning backdrop against the trees. He detected
movement far below, not of animals but of hunters. Damn
poachers. He knew they were hunting on protected land for the
rare animals living there. With a sudden shift of his wings, he
dived toward them at a rapid speed. All three hunters fired off
shots from their rifles. The first two rounds zinged past but the
third pierced his upper wing and sent him spiraling downward.
    He plummeted to the ground away from them and
flopped his way into the thicket. Searing pain shot through him,
making it difficult to focus. He lay in the brush gasping for air.
Suddenly a rush of dawning washed over him as he understood what
hunted animals must feel like. Loss of blood in his hawk form was
more draining compared to if he’d suffered a gunshot to the
shoulder as a man. His vision blurred. He needed to shift to save
his life.
    Summoning all his strength, he concentrated
on his animal spirit and silently called upon the Shasta Realm—the
place between worlds from where his power came. Slowly, feathers
began to recede and wing bones transformed into arms. The rest of
his body followed course until at last the sharp talons shifted
into human feet. He stretched his neck against the pain, which was
not as intense now. His heart felt heavy over the vulnerable
creatures that perished for the sake of human sport and greed.
    Pushing to his feet, he ignored the pain and
bolted into a run in pursuit of the hunters. The cowards would pay
for their lawlessness. His superior strength and stamina enabled
him to close in on his prey quickly. They did not hear his approach
until he was right on top of them. Panic flooded their eyes when
they turned and saw him barreling down. Dropping their weapons,
they turned to flee.
    “Who’s the hunter now?” he growled upon
catching them and blocking their path. “Trespassing on these lands
is against the law and killing protected animals is cause for
punishment.”
    They glanced at his bleeding wound then at
each other with bewildered expressions. Ice didn’t give them time
to ponder the encounter. He gripped two by the throat with each
hand and leg swept the third then kicked him hard to keep him down.
Fury rose in his soul over what these pricks tried to do.
    The first man never made a sound but the
other two screamed like the cowards they were when Ice tore out
their comrade’s throat. He turned viciously on the two pleading
men. In less than five minutes the trio of hunters had been hunted
and killed by the prey.
    Sudden rustling in the brush caught his
attention. He turned his head sharply to see what lurked. Standing
with wide eyes and on trembling legs was Sasha. Her unexpected
appearance rendered him momentarily speechless.
    “Is-is that what you do to poachers?” Her
voice wavered. “Is that the noise I heard when you took off into
the woods the other night?”
    He gave a short nod, staring back at her with
little emotion. His heart felt suddenly cold again as the invisible
walls sprung up within.
    “What…are…you?” she asked.

Chapter Five
     
     
    Sasha followed him back to the campsite in
silence. Fear threatened to overtake her. She’d accidentally seen
him transform from a hawk to a man, then watched him brutally kill
three men. What