Wind Runner

Thirty-Three; Infinity

It had been almost four days. Four days of smelling her everywhere.

I was losing it.
.
.
.
I am on a run, loping along the trail. Hoping to clear my head.

I was missing Ryder horribly. My chest aching with every hoofbeat.

Suddenly a winged something darts overhead. I slow, wary.

I come to large clearing near a cliff, and stop. Shifting to my human form and watching the sky.

A shape shoots by. I catch a glimpse.

It's large creature with black wings.

Suddenly I hear a sound behind me.

I wheel. Then find I can't breathe.

Ryder stands before me. Her figure clad in a black shirt and jeans, her eyes hopeful, and her head bowed. But what really draws my attention is the large inky black wings that sit folded at her back. They curl around her, the feathers stirring lightly in the breeze.

"Ryder?"

My voice cracks and she nods. Her eyes worried.

"A-are you really here? Alive?"

Another nod. Her wings twitch lightly.

"How?"

She looks away, her eyes sad. She steps to the edge of the cliff, looking out over it.

"It is possible for an angel to fade away. It's incredibly rare, but I was fading. Basically the angel way of dying. You just become nothing. The theory was that I had not lived the life destined for me, and I was fading. Then I was sent back. Living again. But since I can no longer shift, I was given these."

She spreads her wings, and I catch my breath. They are massive, almost ten feet across from wingtip to wingtip. The inky feathers gleam and catch the light in breathtaking ways.

I am silent, choked up with emotion. Ryder closes her eyes and speaks, the pain in her voice makes me flinch.

"Do you still love me Adam? Have I been gone so long?"

I lunge for her, pulling her into my arms and hugging her tightly to me. I let myself slowly sink to the ground until I am sitting with her in my lap. Every one of my senses are filled with her.

"Ryder you are everything to me. If you ever say such a thing again I will kiss you until you can't even remember your own name."

"Alright Adam. I won't....well..."

"Ryder."

"Okay okay."

She laughs slightly and I just roll my eyes at her. Then I bury my face in her brown hair, inhaling her scent.

My eyes tear up, but I don't wipe them. Unmanly, but to hell with being manly. My mate, the one person I consider my infinity, has come back from the dead. I think I have a right to cry.

Her arms wrap around me, hugging me tightly. Her wings wrap around us, encasing us in our own world.

I kiss her. On her face, her neck, her throat, and her collarbone. I thought I'd never be able to do this again.

I kiss her, letting my emotions out through it. She kisses me back, arms wrapped around my neck. I pull away reluctantly.

"Ryder I can't ever be able to tell you how much I've missed you. It hurt like hell each day to wake up without you. And now I have you back. I'm never letting you go. I will super glue you to my side. I love you so much Ryder. You are my infinity and I'm never losing you again."