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It was another beautiful day in Alfea. The Winx had decided to enjoy it outside and Flora was just on her way back from getting some more snacks for everyone. She crossed the open space in front of the school when she noticed a man standing there. He was looking around with a small smile on his lips. Flora frowned.
“Can I help you, sir?”, she asked, smiling warmly at the stranger.
“Hm?”, the man hummed and turned to face her; his eyes widened slightly, “Oh, actually yes, maybe you can.”
Flora felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up when she saw him smile an almost predatory smile. His eyes were of electric yellow colour and only now Flora could sense the magic in the man. She carefully took a step back.
“You wouldn’t coincidentally know four wizards?”, the man continued, still smiling eerily, “They’re brothers. I heard they’re teachers here now.”
“Why would you want to know that?”, Flora asked right back.
“Well, little fairy, let’s just say that I have a score to settle with them.”
Before Flora could completely realise what he had said, she felt herself being lifted off the ground by an invisible force. The bag she had held fell to the floor as she felt pressure built around her neck. It pressed down until she could barely breathe.
“I’m sure that a hurting student will bring them here quickly enough…”, the stranger smirked.
“W-why?”, the nature fairy managed to choke out.
The man laughed loudly and suddenly Flora hit the ground again. She screamed in pain when the man stepped onto her stomach. A crazed gleam had taken over his eyes, and the young fairy silently begged for the others to come to her rescue.
“Yes, scream louder… Scream!”
He kept kicking her until Flora had screamed her throat hoarse, and her vision was swimming front he tears streaming down her face and the pain in her body. But before everything went black, she heard someone yell her name.
Duman shifted restlessly where he was seated. Something was wrong, and his animal side was begging him to follow her, but his human brain assured him that she was strong, and they were in Alfea after all.
“Man, Duman, stop squirming! Next time, just go with Flora if you can’t stand being separated from her!”, Anagan groaned, and Duman glared at him.
He was not in the mood to get teased. Not with every fibre in his being screaming at him that something was wrong. Suddenly, his brothers and he tensed up. Bloom frowned at them.
“What?”
“There is another wizard here. And we know that magic signature…”, Ogron explained darkly.
Then Duman’s superior hearing picked it up. Screaming. Flora screaming.
“Shit!”, he gasped.
He jumped to his feet and ran as fast as he could, not even thinking about transforming. He couldn’t let her get hurt, not her! He heard the others yelling after him, but all he could think about was the Nature fairy and her pain-filled screaming. When he reached the entrance to the school grounds, he froze in place. Flora was lying on her side in a fetal position, curling around her stomach, her hands protecting her head as a man kicked her. Her screams had stopped, and all she let out were pain-filled moans and whimpers.
“Flora!”, he yelled desperately.
The man stopped kicking her, and Flora’s head sluggishly moved into his direction before her eyes slipped shut and her body went lax. Fuck.
“Ah, Duman, how nice to see you again!”, the man grinned and only now did Duman recognise their old classmate.
His mouth curled into a snarl.
“What do you want, Dewin?!”
“You know exactly what I want.”, the man smirked.
“What does she have to do with that?”, the shapeshifter demanded angrily.
“Not much besides getting you here. But say, where are your brothers?”
The man didn’t even look at him while talking, instead, he knelt next to the unconscious fairy. Gently, he pushed a strand of her hair away from her face. The gleam in his eyes was what set Duman’s animal side off. His vision morphed. Everything seemed sharper, more detailed and at the same time, he focused solely on Flora. He didn’t notice his magic acting on its own. He didn’t notice the taste of blood in his mouth. All he could see was Flora’s pale face.
The others arrived to see a rather bizarre picture. Duman was cradling an unconscious Flora to his chest behind a magical barrier. In front of said barrier knelt a man with a hand pressed to a wound on his arm that looked suspiciously like a dog or wolf bite. Probably Duman's work. Ogron and Anagan quickly restrained the man, also having recognised him.
“Dewin.”, the oldest wizard stated sternly.
“Ah, the high and mighty Ogron… Maybe you should train your guard dog not to bite people.”, Dewin hissed.
The three brothers scoffed.
“You brought that upon yourself. You hurt Flora.”, Anagan told their former classmate.
“Just some minor kicks… Really, he makes too big a deal out of it.”
The men glared at the other wizards just like the Winx. Some minor kicks?! As if that was nothing!
“Just gag him.”, Gantlos scoffed in disgust.
He had moved closer to the barrier to get a better look at his youngest brother and the nature fairy. It didn’t look too good. Duman’s eyes were sharp, but the slitted pupils told Gantlos all he needed to know. That wasn’t Duman, that was a very different version of his brother, one he had only seen a few times in their lives. Anagan, who had happily gagged their old classmate, stepped next to him.
“And? Can we get the barrier down?”, he asked.
“No. He isn’t controlling it. He isn’t in his right mind.”
The others now also came over, but Duman’s growl made them all freeze. Ogron groaned and gently pressed the girls backwards.
“Okay… Everyone back up!”
As soon as everyone was about three large steps away from the barrier again, the growling stopped.
“What is going on?”, Layla eventually asked.
“Duman is not himself at the moment.”, Gantlos explained.
“What?”, the girls gasped in unison.
The blond wizard shrugged.
“Whenever he sees someone he cares for get hurt badly, there is the possibility that his animal side takes over. When that happens, his magic does what it thinks is needed to ensure no further harm comes to the person getting hurt. With Flora, it might even be worse as she is his accepted mate.”
“So, how can we get him to calm down?”, Musa inquired seriously.
“We can’t. Only Flora can. The only perk is that his magic is also healing any possible damage inflicted by that rat.”
Gantlos glared at their tied-up enemy.
“Who is he anyway?”, Bloom wondered.
“Dewin was our classmate.”, Anagan explained, “We got along alright, but when he started doing dark magic, we told our headmaster about it, and he was expelled. Never forgave us, I guess.”
“And he hurt Flora to accomplish what?”
“To get us to come here. He should be glad that Duman only bit his arm. He could have done way worse.”
They all glanced over to the shapeshifter. He was still holding Flora close, but the fairy had a way healthier colour again.
“How long do you think it will take for this to end?”, Tecna asked, head tilted slightly.
“Until she wakes up,”, Gantlos sighed and then grimaced, “, or until he exhausts himself enough to drop the barrier. Let’s hope for the former because Duman can be very enduring.”
The first thing Flora noticed when she woke up again was that she was warm and feeling safe. The second thing was that there was no pain anymore. She slowly opened her eyes. The sky was already turning into a deep shade of red, the sun setting in the distance. Glancing around, she saw no one in the courtyard. But then she looked up and right into Duman’s eyes. But instead of his gentle, dark eyes, she was met with sharp, animalistic ones.
“Duman?”, she breathed gently, glad to note that her voice wasn’t as hoarse as she’d feared.
He gently nuzzled her cheek in answer.
“Duman, are you alright?”, she whispered, knowing how sensitive his senses must be.
“Mate safe.”, he rumbled lowly.
Ah… So his animal side had taken over. He told her about the possibility when they had started dating. Well, she just needed to get him to see that she was fine.
“I’m alright now, love.”
He shook his head, his hand moving to her stomach that didn’t hurt anymore.
“Mate hurt.”, he whined.
“No, I’m not. Look.”
She pulled her shirt up a bit to expose her unmarked stomach. No bruises. No pain. His eyes were glued to the skin for a few moments before jumping back to her face.
“Come back to me, love… Please, I really need you now.”, she whispered.
Duman’s arms tightened slightly before they loosened again. Then he buried his face in the crook of her neck with a choked sob. Flora carefully wrapped her arms around him, too.
“Flo…”, he choked out between sobs.
“Shh, it’s alright. I’m okay now.”, she promised softly.
“But you got hurt because of us – because of me! I’m a bad mate letting you get hurt!”, he sobbed, still in a more animalistic mindset.
Flora smiled slightly and grabbed his cheeks to make him look at her.
“I’m alright because you saved me. That’s what counts. Don’t put yourself down for something you had no control over. You are the best mate I could have ever asked for, okay?”
“Love you, flower… I really do.”, he sighed, the tears slowly ebbing away.
She gently wiped the last drops off his cheeks with a smile.
“Love you too. Now, stop being sad. Can you drop the barrier?”
Duman only now seemed to realise that he was still subconsciously holding up the barrier and quickly dropped it. Then he looked at Flora again. She grinned up at him.
“I think the others will be waiting for us in our rooms. We should go and tell them we’re alright before we two go and cuddle a bit.”, she proposed.
“Sounds good. Sorry for losing it, but you looked so-”
She placed a finger on his lips.
“Shh, we’ll talk about it when you’ve settled down a bit more. For now: I’m alright, you’re alright, and we are safe, okay?”
“Okay…”, he agreed with a sigh before smiling slightly, “Let’s go.”
Flora grinned and wanted to stand up when Duman simply picked her up bridal style.
“Duman!”, the young fairy shrieked with a blush colouring her cheeks.
“Let me. Please.”
“Urg… Fine. If it makes you feel better.”
Her boyfriend smiled at her gratefully and made his way to their friends.