Ruffled Feathers — Stephanie West

The jungle was lovely. The trees and vining flora had awoken. Their verdant new growth stretching upward to fill in the canopy. Luscious blooms in every shade imaginable seemed to unfurl before her very eyes. It was the season of rebirth, her favorite time of year on Braccio, and yet Cygne felt out of pace with all of nature. She didn't begrudge nature for her beauty. Cygne just wished it had cast a fraction of its bounty her way. But some things weren't meant to be, no matter how much you wished for them.

Cygne knew life had more to offer, so she left her lush valley to find it, rather than burden her flock any longer. That's when she found them, the five vibrant males who looked like her. All her life Cygne thought she was damaged, deformed, only to discover she wasn't Braccio at all. For a brief moment she knew what it felt like to be normal, only to have it snatched away again, when she realized that even among her own kind she was drab and lifeless.

Yet the winged males insisted she was beautiful. Cygne didn't know if it was a cruel joke, and she couldn't figure out what the handsome broodmates wanted with her, as she became wrapped up in their foreign world. But it was so nice to be wanted, even if it was all a pretty dream.

Follow Cygne in this retelling of The Ugly Duckling, as her broodmates ruffle her feathers with heated kisses and tender touches, coaxing her into believing not just how beautiful she is, but that true beauty lies within.