Chapter 21: a limit reached
Kiera buried her face within her hands as she sat in one of her room's comfortable lounge chairs. She was mortified with her behavior in front of the prince.
She didn't know what came over her. One moment she was talking to him, and the next she was clutching at the prince's clothes and holding onto him for dear life. When she finally managed to calm herself down and her tears had stopped falling, she peeled herself away from the prince. She was too embarrassed with herself to even look at him.
He was silent as he took her away, leaving behind their unfinished bowls of food.
Another inconspicuous carriage was waiting for them a few streets away and they boarded it without so much as speaking to each other.
Before they parted and went their separate ways, she saw the prince's face. His hood was uncovered, making his resplendent hair the color of gold threads visible to her once more.
He smiled softly at her from across her seat on the carriage. The action she thought was too sweet for the likes of someone like her. His kindness now would only make it harder for her when she rejects him.
"I'll see you soon Kiera." He bid her farewell as she got out of the carriage. She closed the door and the carriage began to roll its wheels, moving away from the main palace's majestic stone entrance.
Kiera let out a groan and she moved her hands to grip at her head as another wave of fresh embarrassment washed over her.
"Why must I be this way?" She asked out into the empty room.
Her heart nearly leapt out of her chest when she heard a short knock at her door. Kiera straightened out, rearranging her facial expression to that of a capable Beast General before she walked the span of her room to open the door.
She was surprised to see a very red-faced Jade at her door.
"What's wrong Captain?" Her eyes traveled the length of her second Captain. Her face was oddly contorted as she heavily breathed, her head leaning against Kiera's door frame. Kiera had an inkling of what Jade was going to say to her.
"I'm sorry General." Jade panted as she meekly hugged her own body tightly. "I didn't shift during the full moon."
"I know this is inappropriate," she blinked her dark eyes, seemingly ashamed with herself, "but could I ask a favor from you? Please? I'm afraid of transforming so far from home. What if I get mistaken for a common animal and get shot down by a Human Hunter?"
Kiera put a hand on her Captain's shoulder. "You don't need to explain any further. I'll accompany you outside and keep an eye out so you can comfortably shift to your other form."
Tears of gratitude welled up inside Jade's eyes. It reminded her of her own self when she had cried on the Third Prince's shoulder. She turned her body away and walked back into her room to gather an extra two sets of clothes, one for herself and one for her second Captain. Just in case something were to happen to their original clothes.
The time it took the both of them to find a suitable place to transform was inscrutably long for her second Captain. Kiera could tell the cool outside air was like poison to the already struggling Captain, but she had Jade wait until they were safely shielded by the trees in the forest behind the main palace. It was the Royal Hunting Grounds, but there was no other place she could think of where they would be able to let their Beasts run free.
Kiera didn't even blink as her second Captain quickly undressed in front of her. In the state she was in she wouldn't have cared if her General saw her naked body. Jade took off the beaded necklace around her bare neck, throwing it onto the forest floor.
Then Kiera stepped back and watched as Jade's pale body transformed. She was worried the woman would push herself to shift quicker, as that would put her at risk of changing into her half-transformed form, but Jade didn't. She let her body slowly transform and soon, the sleek form of a dark colored fox stood where Jade had been standing.
Jade took off into the undergrowth, her fox form grinning as it rushed past Kiera.
Kiera smiled at her adorable second Captain as she pulled at the strings of her pants. She took her time to undress, delicately pushing her dark grey blouse over her head and throwing it off to one side. She then got rid of her undershirt and stepped out of her pants and undergarments.
She felt her dark hair cascade over her shoulders as she rolled her head back, basking as the cool air hit her bare skin. Like Jade, she too had not taken advantage of the full moon and shifted but unlike her Captain, she wasn't in such dire straits. Kiera could go for much longer without the need to shift into her other form.
There was other high ranking Beasts that could as well, but for most Beasts they could only last one complete full moon cycle before they inevitably felt the need to shift. That was one of the conditions set forth by the Giantess Sorceress when she first cursed Kiera's kind to eternal damnation with their Beastly forms.
However, the Giantess never could have expected Kiera's kind to become harmonious with their Beasts. Centuries later they would give rise to their very own Kingdom, successful in both trade and agriculture. The Beast Kingdom became recognized by all the other Kingdoms, reaching far and wide into other regions of the world.
Now, they were recognized as a Kingdom with one of the world's mightiest armies. Even if their population was smaller, they still held their own because of their incredible strength, and under their Lion Lord's rule they became well connected with the outside world. Kiera would have probably spent her entire life within the confines of Wolfcyre Forest were it not for King William. His ascension to the throne ignited her people's desire for advancement, and above all, he was a good and just ruler. A far cry from the tyranny of their last.
Kiera breathed in deeply the forest air around her, and on her exhale, she relaxed her whole body. From her fingertips to her toes, she felt the familiar sensation of her bones cracking. The pain that wrecked through her body was one she had gotten used to. She remembered the first time she shifted after her body reached maturity, the pain had been extraordinary, but with every time she shifted after, the pain became more and more negligible.
Her padded paws felt the cool dampness of the forest floor. As she walked forward, her claws made marks on the clay earth. Kiera stretched out her hind legs and shivers of pleasure raked through her body.
Then she took off in the direction she saw her Captain leave. Kiera bounded through the forest, jumping over fallen logs and uncovered tree roots as they came in her way. As a wolf, her senses were all heightened and it felt incredible.
She panted heavily as she ran through the foliage, whacking through every bush and stepping on top of every branch. She could feel the malleable mud beneath her paws and the sound of the all the forest's creatures blended together in perfect harmony inside her ears.
Kiera went to tracking down Jade, not forgetting the very reason she had accompanied her Captain in the first place.
Her nose sniffed the ground, working through the various different scents to find the specific one she was looking for. In no time at all, she found Jade's scent and followed after it. This was another skill her father had taught her when he was still alive. Her skill flourished at the Academy but she still gave credit to her father for teaching her the basics.
As she neared to where the scent was most concentrated, her triangle ears laid flat against her head, her ears picked up the sound of Human voices. Kiera's heart sank to her stomach as one thought raced through her mind.
Human Hunters.
Her paws pounded the forest ground with more intensity than before as her sleek black body flew through the forest. With every push of her powerful hind legs, she was brought closer and closer in the direction of where the scent of her Captain and the other Humans cumulated.
She lifted up her snout, letting a terrifying howl vibrate through the thick woods. She wanted to let Jade know she was coming but she also wanted to let the Humans know that she was there. Kiera knew they could probably hear her crashing through the thicket, on her way over to them. She could smell their fear.
Her body broke through a line of trees. Her predatory blue eyes regarded the fox's body in a cage and the group of Humans gathered around. She could see the whites of their eyes as they looked at her in utter terror.
Her reaction was swift when she saw one of them point their bow at her.
She bared her fangs, growling as she ran towards them. With one kick of her hind legs, she leapt into the air, barreling onto the frightened Hunter.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone