Hel's Huntsman

13 - Intruders

Kayson

“Who do you think it could be?”

I shrug my shoulders at Kailus. “I don’t have a clue.” I sigh because I’ve racked my brains trying to work out who Elora’s mate could be, but I keep coming up with nothing.

My siblings and I are sitting by the stream after walking through the woods for the past hour. It’s been nice spending time with them, but all anyone can talk about is Elora.

After I walked her home, she went straight to my dad and hers and told them the truth. Naturally, both of them hit the roof, yelling how they would find Elora’s mate and kill him. Elora broke down, and her mother held her close while yelling at my grandfather to calm down. The last thing Elora needed was her family threatening to kill her mate. Elora needs compassion. She’s pregnant and will need the whole pack on her side to help with the baby. Becoming a single parent isn’t easy, and my grandfather knows that. He raised my dad and Uncle Arrow alone for years after their mother passed away.

Dad and Grandpa calmed down. But they weren’t happy when Elora refused to give them her mate’s name. She was afraid of what they would do if she did.

In the end, Mom told everyone to leave Elora alone. Eventually, my aunt would tell them what they wanted to know. But they couldn’t yell at her and make her feel like shi.t when she already does. What Elora needs is compassion and to know she did nothing wrong. I can’t even begin to imagine what it’s like for Elora right now. She’s pregnant by a man who didn’t want her for anything other than se.x. My aunt had saved herself all these years for her mate. All her life, Elora banged on about how great her mate would be and how she would love him so much.

And what does the motherfucke.r do?

Uses the sweetest woman alive! It’s no wonder my family wants to find and kill him.

‘I feel so sorry for Elora.’ Winter sighs into our sibling link.

Cree wraps his arm around our sister’s shoulder. “We all do, Winter.”

“What was Grandmother Selene thinking? Pairing Elora with a man like that?”

“Selene pairs people; she doesn’t control their minds, Kailus.” I roll my eyes. “How was Selene supposed to know this guy would do what he did?”

“I don’t know! I’m just thinking out loud.” Kailus scrubs his hands over his face in frustration.

With Elora being less than four years older than Kailus, Cree, and Winter, she’s more like a sister to them. She’s more like a sister to me, too. I guess that’s why this hurts so much. We hate seeing Elora in so much pain.

“I get why Winter and Cree didn’t see what was happening with Elora. They don’t live here anymore.” Kailus sighs. “But you and me? What the hell, Kayson?”

I close my eyes and nod. I won’t point out that I was too self-obsessed and thinking about Hel, which is why I didn’t notice anything. Because Kailus is right, we should have noticed something.

‘There’s no point banging on about it, Kayson. Knowing what you should have done and what you didn’t do isn’t going to change anything.’

‘I know that, Adder. It doesn’t stop me from feeling guilty.’

‘Guilt is pointless.’ My Lycan huffs. ‘Nothing can change what’s been and gone. All anyone can do now is show Elora that she’s loved. Be there for her, and don’t let her down again.’

Adder is correct, and we will all be there for Elora. She needs us now more than she ever has.

“I know,” I answer Kailus. “We fucke.d up.”

“Don’t do that.” Cree shakes his head. “Just because Wild Pack is small, it doesn’t mean we don’t have problems. Each person gets lost in their own life, especially when they have a mate. Elora also has the power to hide her feelings from people. You remember when Tara, Elora’s friend, died. She was sad for a few days, and then she walked out of her house like nothing happened.”

I nod because it’s true.

‘Elora aside,’ Winter smirks. ‘What’s it like being mated to my sister-in-law, little brother?’

I smile. “It’s amazing and everything I knew it would be.”

“I’m the odd one out.” Kailus laughs.

“How do you figure that?”

Kailus chuckles at Cree. “Because the three of you are mated to sibling Gods. You’re all each other’s in-laws.”

Cree and Winter laugh.

“You might not be mated to a God or Goddess,” I clasp Kailus’s shoulder. “But Tama is perfect for you, Kailus.”

“Yeah, she is.” He replies instantly. “She’s the best thing that ever happened to me. Besides, I’m glad she’s not a Goddess. I don’t think I could handle all those powers.” His eyes widen, making the rest of us laugh. “I can’t believe you’ll all be gone soon. I know your place is with your mates, but that doesn’t make losing you any easier.”

“You will never lose us, Kailus.” Cree reaches over and takes Kailus’s hand. “If ever you need me, all you have to do is call my name, and I will be here in less than a second. You know that, don’t you?”

Kailus nods just as Winter lets out a low warning growl. My eyes slide to the side, and a rustling penetrates my ears. We all stand, looking in the same direction.

“Intruders.” Kailus mumbles while snarling.

Someone is in trouble; I can hear their breathing from here. They’re close, but not close enough. I draw my bow and arrow and aim to the left.

‘Careful, Kayson. Don’t kill anyone just yet.’

‘Don’t worry, sis,’ I smirk. ‘I never miss my intended target. I know where to hit to incapacitate and not kill. Kailus, Cree, keep your eyes peeled.’

‘On it, little brother.’ Cree replies.

My brothers draw their weapons, a bow and arrow for Cree and a sword for Kailus. I inwardly chuckle when Winter pulls her daggers from his waist. Of course, Winter wouldn’t want to be left out of the action.

“Get back here, you piece of shi.t!” Comes a deep voice a few feet away just as a man runs through the trees.

The man is tall, well-built, and looks like someone of importance. He stops running while looking at my siblings and me. He smirks. “The cavalry.”

“Who are you? What are you doing on our territory?”

The guy looks at Kailus. “I don’t have time to explain. If you haven’t noticed, I’m being chased by men I intend to kill. I lured them away from a village they were about to attack.”

I narrow my eyes.

Why run if he intends to kill whoever is chasing him?

Why not face them and end them?

“Get out of the way.” I hiss between gritted teeth.

“Oh,” The guy waves his hand dismissively. “That won’t be necessary. Watch and learn.” He winks.

I don’t drop my guard; I’m not that stupid. But as ten men rush through the trees, growling and snarling at the fool in a dark blue suit. They’re rogues. It’s easy to see from how filthy they are and the fact they don’t care that they’re on someone else’s territory.

“Why are you running, pretty boy?” The ringleader with dark dreadlocks smirks.

Suit guy shrugs. “What can I say. I love being chased.”

This man is nuts! Facing off against ten rogues who intend to kill him as if he’s not bothered.

‘He doesn’t look bothered.’ Adder scoffs.

“Is there any particular reason you fucker.s are on my land?”

Half of the rogues turn to look at Kailus as he steps to the side of me while the rest of them keep their eyes on suit guy.

The ringleader snarls. “We won’t be here long. We have business with this piece of crap. Once he’s dead, we’ll be out of your hair.”

Kailus chuckles. “I think not. Whatever your problem with this,” Kailus waves his hand toward suit guy. “Person is, you won’t be killing him on my land. Leave now, and you’ll live to see tomorrow.”

“And if we don’t?” The ringleader challenges.

“You don’t wanna find out,” I chuckle.

The ringleader throws his head back and laughs. His men laugh with him, albeit nervously. They know nothing good is coming.

We don’t put up with rogues, though we don’t kill them for no reason as most packs would. Sure, we arrest them, and my father will interrogate them. If they mean no harm and are just passing through, Dad lets them leave with no hard feelings.

However, there are those who wish to attack our pack for no other reason than they think they can. I won’t lie; pack members, including Ciska, have been hurt by rogues in the past. Orion hates rogues because of what those men did to this mother. He’s more than willing to kill any rogue he comes across. But the man has restraint and doesn’t go that far unless they attack first. It’s unavoidable not to end one or two when they have murder in mind.

“We just want him,” The ringleader points to suit guy, who is chuckling to himself like a crazy person. “Then we’ll be gone.”

‘Should I call Fenrir?’ Winter asks through our sibling link.

‘No,’ Kailus answers. ‘We can handle this ourselves, Winter. It’s not like we’re powerless. You, Cree, and Kayson are Gods in your own rights now.’

‘True.’ Cree chuckles.

“We could always take her instead.” Another filthy rogue points to Winter.

My sister laughs in amusement because we all know she’d kill the guy before he got close enough to smell her perfume. Not to mention what Fenrir would do.

“What say you?” The ringleader smiles wide enough to show us his rotten teeth.

Ugh!

Disgusting.

“Okay,” Suit guy sighs. “I’m bored.” He flips his hand, creating a fireball.

I narrow my eyes.

What the fuc.k?

“What the hell are you?” One of the rogues gasps when suit guy’s eyes blacken over.

“Someone you ought not to have messed with.” With a mighty yell, it knocks everyone, including me, off their feet, suit guy pushes his hands out, blows on the fire, and sets every rogue alight.

‘What the hell?’ Winter gasps as we watch the rogues disintegrate in seconds, leaving nothing but ash behind.

“Fuckin.g filthy beasts.” Suit guy runs his hands through his hair and sighs dramatically. “Anyway, where was I? Oh, yes. My name is Draven.”

I help my sister to her feet, staring Draven down.

Who is this guy?

“I don’t care what your name is,” Kailus growls. “Leave our territory.”

Draven chuckles. “Nice. I know who you are, Lycan Prince’s and Princess, great-grandsons, and great-granddaughter of the Moon Goddess.”

“And how is it you just so happen to know this?” I ask. Most don’t recognize us because they’ve never met us before.

“The Moon Goddess is my aunt’s great-great-grandmother. You may have heard of her. Jenna Dalgaard?”

‘This pig is Jenna’s nephew?’ Winter hisses into our sibling link.

‘So, he says.’ I shrug.

We know Jenna because Grandmother Selene brought her to meet us years ago. We don’t see her much at all, nor her kids. We’re not particularly close, but we are family. I’ve never seen this jerkoff before. For all we know, he could be from Jenna’s father’s side of the family.

“You have heard of her!” Draven laughs.

“We would have,” Cree scoffs. “She’s our second cousin.”

“So, you know us. Leave!” Kailus yells. Cree lays his hand on Kailus’s chest. Our brother is getting increasingly angry, and that won’t bode well for Draven.

“What the hell is going on here?” I roll my eyes as Fenrir appears out of nowhere with Viggo. Winter pulls away from me and runs to Fenrir, who pulls her into his arms.

Goddess, he’s pathetic! She’s not a damsel in distress. My sister can take care of herself. Though she clearly called her mate here.

“Fenrir?” Draven asks with a shocked smile. “Damn,”

“I was just warning Draven here to get the hell off our territory!”

“And as I was about to tell you, I’m going nowhere until I’ve seen my mate.”

“Your mate?”

Draven nods at me. “I want to see her right now.”

“Does this mate of yours have a name?”

“Huh.” My mate appears, and I sigh. I didn’t call for Hel, but here she is, looking at Draven. “Fancy seeing you here.”

“Wow,” He chuckles. “I haven’t seen you since I was twelve.”

“What are you doing here, Draven?”

“Wait,” I hold my hand up. “You know this idio.t?”

Hel walks over to me, wrapping her arm around my waist. “We met some years ago, yes.”

“Is this man your mate?”

Hel nods. “Yes, this is my Kayson.”

“Wow. Anyway, I just want to see my mate.”

“You ran onto our territory, bringing ten rogues with you that you disintegrated!” Kailus yells. “What makes you think I’ll let you any further onto my territory?”

“He disintegrated people?”

I nod at Viggo, and his eyebrows raise.

“Because I will not leave until I’ve spoken to her! Don’t test me right now. I don’t care who your granny is; I’m not the man to mess with.”

Kailus and Cree laugh, causing Draven to growl.

“So, you can make a fireball in your hand. Big deal, we’ve all got powers. What makes you so damn special?” Cree asks.

“You don’t know who my grandmother is. Do you?”

“I don’t give a damn who she is!” Cree yells so loudly the ground shakes.

‘Who is his grandmother?’ I ask Hel telepathically.

‘Anja Dalgaard.’

‘Wonderful.’ I huff. One of that mental cases grandkids is all we need! ‘Is he a Supreme?’

‘Yes, and Elora is his mate.’

“What!?”

“What?” Cree clasps my shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

I stare at Draven, gritting my teeth, as he smirks at me. I swear, I’ll wipe the smirk off his fuckin.g face!

“This piece of shi.t is Draven Dalgaard. Elora’s mate.”

A blur flies past me, and Winter screams while Cree yells, “No, Kailus!”