Connor. Virginie T.

pray that I will pass out before my last breath and that my ordeal will end, which happens when armed guards open the door with a crash to rescue me.

      

Connor

      I take my coffee on the terrace of my chalet, like every morning, when I can. I often travel for work and I have made this place my haven of peace. The exterior is all wood, from floor to roof, and arranged to receive the entire pack, with tables and chairs scattered here and there at the front of the building. The place is quiet, in the middle of a wood, ideal for the metaphor cheetah that I am. Impossible to guess, seen from here, the original function of this place. I need greenery and space to feel free and relaxed and congeners for social contact. It is for this last reason that my chalet is not isolated in the middle of nowhere as I sometimes feel the urge, but near other chalets of the same style as mine, without being on top of each other, giving us some privacy.

      I hear activity coming from the surroundings, doors slamming and leaf creaking under the weight of the walkers. My lieutenants, as well as my beta, will soon come to see me for our daily ritual: racing and fighting in our animal form. Sometimes dominant members of the pack join us to keep themselves good form. This is important for team cohesion and essential for strengthening the pack bond. After all, we are an extraordinary clan. The only pack of animorphs of different species. I love these moments of calm when we give free rein to our animal part.

      – The form, Connor?

      – Not bad and you ?

      – Hum, like a morning when I wake up alone in my big bed.

      Phew, Nate is incorrigible. If he sleeps alone, without a woman to warm his sheets, he is in bad mood. However, here, the rules are strict and the same for everyone: no foreigner (man or woman) in this specific case, on our territory. It’s a security matter. This territory is a refuge for many of us and it is impossible to enter it without being authorized. And since we haven't been out for many days, since the end of our last mission in fact, Nate is starting to feel alone.

      – We'll go out tonight, if you want. You can find to yourself a hot bear.

      – Nop, not a bear, they are too insistent. Each time they expect a serious story and it is no way. I prefer to wait for the right one, the only one created for me.I understand Nate's point of view. As shapeshifters, we know that we have a soul mate somewhere on this earth. Unfortunately, few find it and it is not uncommon for a shapeshifter to decide to unite with another who is not intended for him, but who makes him happy. I am like Nate. I'm waiting for the perfect woman for me. I am convinced that if I deserve it, fate will put her in my way. My beta arrives at that time and takes the conversation along the way.

      – Like all of us bro. Right Connor?

      – Exact. Hi Sean. The others arrive?

      – Liam and Owen spent the evening in town. You know them, they surely have a hard time getting out of bed of their conquest of the day. They shouldn't be long.

      Yep, that remains to be seen. They must still sober up.

      – OK, let's start girls.

      I love to tease them, it motivates them. In reality, they are formidable fighters, as seasoned as I and loyal friends. I would put my life in their hands without hesitation. We undress quickly so as not to disintegrate our clothes and take the shape of our animal. My beast is pleased to be on all fours and does not waste time, it leaps on the lion in front of us, which responds with a stroke of the paw much wider than its own. It is much larger than us, but my animal is more agile and faster. Everyone has their assets. Sean and I turn around, mutually seeking a flaw in the defense of the opponent, when Nate's bear charges us and sends us rolling against a tree. His favorite technique: the ball of demolition. Nate is not delicate, but he is effective. Grrr, I'm going to have a bump. He's going to pay me this big oaf. Against a grizzly bear, the smartest thing is to run to get it tired. A mastodon weighing more than three hundred kilos is formidable when it loads, but it certainly does not have the endurance of my feline. My animal is the fastest in the world, I am unbeatable in racing. I still have time to get started. So I go between two trees when the bangs of bone characteristic of a shapeshifter sound. The latecomers have finally had to get out of their ethylic coma and don't waste time getting into the dance. The game will get tough. A huge gray wolf hits me on the right flank just before I pick up speed while a beautiful black panther, as graceful as deceitful, grabs my left hind paw to make me fall to the side. Liam and Owen are used to work in pairs and have their own attack techniques. Fortunately, my buddy is over two meters tall. Nate jumps and drops heavily on Liam who moans under the weight. The bear is really not in finesse, I am pleased not to be its target when I see a gray crepe buried by a hairy mountain of a bright brown. I take this opportunity to grab Owen by the skin of the neck and force him to back away. Sean then launches into the fray, roaring and growling. To all of us, we form a huge ball of yellow, black, brown and gray fur, speckled in places. Difficult to distinguish who claws who or what. We fight, bite and run most of the morning before taking human form in front of my chalet, covered with tufts of hair, blood and saliva. For a stranger, the scene we offer could be alarming. In reality, our injuries are superficial, the goal of the exercise not being to badly injure , but to acquire new techniques and new reflexes as well as to improve our skills in the art of combat. In few hours, nothing will appear there. I grab the jet of water and rinse us unceremoniously. We are not afraid of cold anyway. Our blood is warmer than that of humans, protecting us from temperature variations. We then sit outside with a beer to take stock of the training.

      – Good job guys. Liam, Owen, was the night short?

      – Sorry Connor, but this chick was too sexy and …

      – I don't need details,Owen  thank you. You were less efficient, slower than usual. Force is not everything in the case of an attack. Watch out.

      I sometimes show myself hard, but our survival depends on it. And I care about each of these dumbass, even if I would never confess to them.

      – Relax Connor, we don't have a mission right now.

      Ah, Nate’s optimism. In the group he is the quiet force and the defender of the oppressed. As if these guys need to be defended.

      – I know Nate, but it won't last, it never will.

      Sean doesn't say a word, he knows I'm right. He is my beta, my right arm, and manages the secondary missions when I am not available. He takes even less good time than me and I already take few. And just like for me, this job is his whole life and his reason for existing on this earth. He is the one who brought us together, even though we all have personal reasons for being here. The five of us represent the little Guardian Angels pack. There are other members of course, but we are the most important and the strongest. I'm the chief, the alpha. I am responsible for everyone and I take this role very seriously. The last three present with me are the defenders, the lieutenants. They have a role just as essential as me. Without the five of us, no more packs. It would become vulnerable and quickly disappear. Our work, thanks to substantial subsidies, allows us to support the clan and has given us this territory, an ancient, highly fortified human military base. But this is valid only if we stay alive to do the job. Our job is not without danger. We serve the governor when the human police are overwhelmed by events. Only for witness protection in investigations involving shapeshifters. Humans are no match for an angry and determined animorph. What are fists worth against claws and fangs that can shred you in less than a second? So we’re fighting ours to make justice prevail, replacing the missing fatels. We are the most powerful species on earth and I estimate, like my companions, that this does not put us above the law. Still, the witnesses must be alive to appear in court, and this is where my team comes in. Most of the people we have saved, often from their own pack, some alphas who love excess and oppression, have settled here with us. This is how this pack was born.

      

Connor

      Well, what did I just say to Nate? To believe that I am clairvoyant, or that the governor heard me. I knew it had been too long since my phone rang.

      – Hello Governor. How are you?

      – Good,