Rob's P.O.V.
I smiled, looking down at my wrist. I knew two of my soulmates, they were my closest friends and although their lines were cliché I had found them at a pretty young age.
Woah! Your ears are orange! Was Lachlan's line, we had met when I was 7 and he was 4 and apparently my ears, those of a fox, were pretty interesting because he had climbed up on a bench behind me to touch them and I had replied with Oi, that tickles!
When I had met Mitch a few years later with Lachlan clinging to my arm, he had asked Lachlan Can you fly? in regards to his wings and Mitch had said to me, Is he your soulmate? The words ingrained in Mitch's arm were Not yet, but maybe when I'm bigger and Yeah, and I think you're mine too.
And so the three of us stuck together, hiding with our families on the edge of cities for years. Once we turned 18, or at least Lachlan turned 18 because he was a just over a year younger than Mitch and three years younger than me, we set off on our own together.
The other three lines on my wrist read;
Stay still, don't move!
Wait- we- what?
Are you guys okay? I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you.
I didn't particularly like the first line but I knew that Lachlan and Mitch would be with me because they had the same three lines on their wrists too. I didn't doubt that at least one of them were hunters, but I just hoped everything would turn out okay.
In my world, there were hunters and hybrids and then everyone else who ignored our war. I was hybrid, as were Lachlan and Mitch, and those who hunted us were hunters, ironically, so we lived in the shadows because there was no one to protect us.
"Robby?" I looked up to see Lachlan standing beside me, his wings drooping either side of him and his eyes slipping shut every few seconds. I knew how he felt, I was exhausted too.
"Hey Lachy, you tired?" He nodding, allowing me to wrap my arms around my waist and kiss him gently. We hadn't slept in well over 48 hours because we had to move from our last hideout after being spotted, being on the run wasn't the best for our health.
He was a bird hybrid, we didn't know exactly what type of bird it was, probably something long extinct bird that was no longer around, but he picked up traits from the bird he had features of. He had wings, obviously, as well as heightened eyesight and hearing.
"Is there anywhere I can sleep?" He whispered, resting his head on my shoulder. I sighed and closed my eyes, knowing that we had to keep moving despite being absolutely exhausted.
"We have to keep moving Lachy, we can't afford to stop." He whimpered and clung to me, and I knew that all he wanted to do was to go to sleep. I did too.
"Please Rob, please." He begged, his voice muffled by my shoulder. "I can't keep walking any longer."
"I know Lachy." I whispered. "Just- just take a nap until Mitch gets back okay."
He nodded and we slipped down beside a tree, Lachlan falling asleep with his head on my lap within a few minutes. I sighed and carded my hands through his hair, waiting patiently for Mitch to get back from scouting ahead to make sure everything was safe.
As much as I wanted to fall asleep I knew that I couldn't, I had to keep an eye out while Lachlan was so vulnerable because we had to be ready for anything at any time. Lachlan shivered as a rush of cold wind came past us and his wings folded around him for warmth.
