Today, Adair had slipped away from her guards. She needed some peace and a soothing flight. The weather was perfect for flying, the sky was periwinkle blue, and the air brisk and invigorating.

Adair tested her wings and extended them to full capacity. She had chosen full dove form for today's flight. The Aviante royals had the power to partially shift. They could choose to remain in human form, merely morphing wings, or they could choose full form. This gift was bestowed only on the royals; all others could only fly in fully shifted form.

Adair felt the wind ruffle through her feathers, signaling readiness. She pushed off and cut through the sky.

Prince Royal Dom Weathermead was furious. Two of his guard had taken off into dove territory. He knew that the hawks favored blitz attacks on the doves, but such attacks were not sanctioned by Dom.

Dom Weathermead was Prince Royal of the hawks, and someday he would be king. He would not allow himself or his people to go down in history as those who had made extinct an entire race. He wished peace between the Aviante nations, peace that had existed only before the first Aviante war. If Dom was to succeed with his plan of peace he could not have rogue guards hunting down and killing doves.

Dom was quickly catching up to his two rogue guards. He was the best tracker amongst his people and nothing got past him. The fact that two of his people, his guard no less, had dared to defy him incited rage that could not be quelled. No, these two traitor hawks would be dealt with harshly.

Dom spotted activity up ahead. The distant fluttering of great brown wings alerted him to the presence of hawks. But he was alarmed; something was tumbling out of the sky, falling quickly toward earth.

With a great rush, Dom lunged for the figure. He caught the slight dove in his talons, and gently brought it to solid ground. Within moments he had shifted to human form, standing gloriously naked and frighteningly fierce. The two hawk guards landed several feet away. They, too, shifted into human form and swallowed nervously, for it was obvious that their prince was enraged.

Dom spoke, "You will spend a fortnight in the racking chamber for your actions here this morn. What did you hope to accomplish with this foolishness?"

The first hawk guard swallowed heavily.

"Your highness, we only hoped to rid our land of one more dove. They are useless, they serve no purpose, and they defy us."

"And you defy me," Dom said harshly, "You betray my trust and you betray the royal guard. This is not our land, or have your lost your sight as well as your mind? We are in the dove's territory and we are trespassing." Dom looked down at the unconscious dove. "If this dove dies, your lives will be forfeit."

The second hawk guard protested. "Your Highness that isn't..."

Dom squared his shoulders, "What? It isn't what? Fair? Is that what you were going to say? I am your prince and you will do as I say. Leave now and take yourselves to the racking chamber. I shall arrive shortly."

The two hawk guards nodded. They knew better than to argue with their prince. He was stronger and certainly more powerful than they. If they wished to keep their heads attached to their bodies they would do as he bade them. They shifted into hawk form and pushed off before their prince could change his mind and kill them now where they stood.

Dom knelt down by the fallen dove and checked it for wounds. The dove was bleeding heavily on its right side. There were two large gashes on its body and one wicked-looking tear through its left wing. Dom reached over to move the dove to its other side when it began to shimmer. Knowing exactly what was happening, he moved back. It was not wise to disturb an Aviante shifter when it was transforming. It took less than a minute for the dove to shift into human form. Once the wounded dove shifted, Dom realized two things; she was female and absolutely perfectly formed.

Adair felt pain tearing through her body. God, how could she have been so stupid? She had been so absorbed with the beauty of the day and the pleasure of freedom that she hadn't seen the two hawks who had come crashing through the sky. They were on her before she could even think to defend herself. Their talons had ripped through her soft flesh and damaged her wing. She hadn't been able to remain in the air after her wing was torn and felt herself falling through the sky toward the earth below. She couldn't remember much more.

"By Avar..." Adair muttered, trying to clear her head, she hurt so badly. She tried to move but found that nothing was working as it should. She opened her eyes fully and then wished that she hadn't. Standing in front of her was a giant of a man, and he was naked. The man in front of her stood at least two lengths taller than she at standing height and had tree trunks for legs. He was a combination of smooth bronze skin and tightly corded muscles. In truth, he was quite perfect, though he obviously did not have a drop of dove blood within that beautiful body of his. When her eyes reached his face she blushed furiously, realizing that she had been staring shamelessly. Doves did not stare.

"Do you like what you see, little dove?" Dom was conducting his own slow perusal of the woman in front of him. She was naked as the day she was born, save for the brightly colored ribbons tied around her ankles. His little wounded dove was stunning. She had skin the color of cream, eyes that were a startling shade of silver, hair so blond it appeared white in the streaming sunlight, and a body so luscious he felt himself hardening instantly.

Adair felt fear prickling through her body. Now that she had finished looking at the nude man she knew exactly what he was--hawk. She was wounded, vulnerable, and very naked in front of her mortal enemy. She could almost forget her pain in lieu of the fear that was crawling through her body.

"We must get you some help, little dove."

Adair protested when the giant hawk man lifted her easily within his arms. What would he do with her? Was his claim of help merely a ruse? Once ensconced within hawk territory, would he tear her limb from limb? She knew that he could not know who she truly was; else he would have killed her immediately. It was a blessing that she had taken full dove form this morning or he would have known that she was of royal blood from her half-shifted form.

Adair felt herself slipping into unconsciousness. The pain was so terrible and she couldn't hold out much longer. She did not want to pass out though; she did not want to be murdered in her sleep.

As if reading her mind, Dom ran a large hand over her downy soft hair and murmured into her ear, "Do not worry my little dove, no harm will befall you. I vow it."

Adair knew that there was nothing more that she could do and so she allowed herself to slip slowly into blackness.