Shadow wolves: The Demon Hunter (Book 9)

Chapter 2 - Finally leaving

Skye

Some of what was happening around me felt familiar. I knew I once had something that was better than the demons. I remembered my mother, and my pack, and the day the demons came, but not much else.

There was a neat pile of clothes on the bed when we walked into the room and I rushed over to put them on. I hadn’t had proper clothes in a long time and remember wishing I could get some each time I saw one of our people getting ready for the hunt. Unfortunately, my leg made it difficult to get dressed on my own, and he appeared beside me wearing only a pair of pants.

I slid my hand over his stomach, studying his muscles as they moved, while he helped me get dressed. I growled at the thing he put around my leg once I was dressed, but at least it made my leg feel slightly stronger even if it still hurt when I got up. I watched him carefully as he pulled a shirt over his head and tied his shoes. He got up and handed me two sticks, which just confused me and I tilted my head, blinking my eyes at him.

“Okay, no crutches then.” He made that funny sound and when he aimed to pick me up, I instinctively growled, showing him my sharp teeth. “Okay, okay, but you can’t put weight on your leg yet.” He looked around the cave for a moment before lifting his shoulders and laughing. He held out his hand and I glared at him for a moment. Then he walked to the door and opened it.

“I would like to take you to our room. You should rest before we leave in the morning.” I looked at him and then at the door for a moment before deciding it was safe to follow him, but as soon as I put weight on my leg the pain shot through my leg and I screamed.

He rushed over and this time I didn’t fight him when he picked me up and carried me out of the cave. This was a strange place. It was dark and cold and I shivered slightly.

“Are you cold?” His face scrunched up a little and I nodded. I couldn’t speak human, but I could try to respond in the best way I knew how. When I tried to explain, his face scrunched up even more and I felt like smacking myself, realizing that I was speaking demon, and he probably couldn’t understand a word I was saying.

We walked into a cave and I could smell his scent everywhere. This must be his, and when he put me down, I scurried over to the smaller cave with the doors in front of it. If I remember correctly, this was called a closet and people kept their clothes in there.

I ripped it open as small shards of wood flew past me as it cracked. Inside were more clothes as I suspected, and I ransacked the cupboard until I found what I was looking for. Grabbing it from the shelf, I pulled it over my head. Something covered my head and I growled while trying to shake it off. He made that funny sound again, and I flinched when his hands stretched out towards me, but he held them up in the air for a moment.

“I just want to help you.” He almost looked hurt and I stopped my fussing. His hand slid over my head and I felt it getting slightly lighter, then felt the piece of cloth land softly on my back. I tried to grab the piece behind me, but my arms were too short and when he made that funny sound again, I tried to copy him.

Theodore

Seeing her behaviour made me think of a wild animal and when she copied me laughing, all I wanted to do was protect her even if she looked a little scary barring her teeth like that. What happened in this beautiful creature’s life that she looked so broken?

There was a huge scar on her back that I saw when we were in the shower, and it broke my heart to think what could have caused such a huge scar on a werewolf. She should have healed and there shouldn’t have been a scar. With that awful scent washed away, I could finally tell that she was a werewolf, but she didn’t seem to be a rogue, so she had to have a pack somewhere.

I had no idea how I was going to introduce my wild mate to our pack or how I would even get her out of there and into a car! I started laughing when she lifted my shirt and studied my abs with her hands, tracing the lines between the muscles with her fingers. It was even funnier when she lifted her own shirt and traced the lines on her stomach.

Skye

I studied the muscles in my stomach when it growled and my eyes flew to his.

“Wait here.” He left me alone in this strange room that smelled like him. When it felt as if he was going to be gone forever, I started looking through the drawers for a way out, but it seemed the only way out was where he left, and I had no idea how to move that rock out of the way.

In the caves, the cages had similar rocks in front of them, but I could at least see through them! This one blocked everything outside, and I was just about to start scratching through it when it moved, and I screamed, then growled.

“It’s okay, it’s just me.” His voice flowed through from behind it and I popped my head around the corner to find him with a plate in his hands. I grabbed it quickly and ran to the opposite side of the room before sitting down and stuffing the food in my mouth. “Slow down, wild thing.” He sat down beside me and I turned my back on him. I wasn’t going to share my food with him. It seemed he knew where to get it and until I did, I was reliant on him to bring it to me.

As soon as I emptied the plate, I shoved it back at him before continuing my search through his things. I grabbed a small see-through rock and bit down on it, but it peed in my mouth, making me throw it away as I tried to wipe the pee off my tongue. My mate made that funny sound and walked over, but I growled at him again.

“You need to lie down or your leg is going to start bleeding again.” He pointed at my leg and looked at it and then at him. I still had so much exploring to do, but he pointed in the direction of the big table on the side of the room and I thought it was best to do what he asked. What if he didn’t bring me food again, or decided to whip me as the demons did to the slaves who didn’t listen? So I climbed on the soft table and watched as he sat down next to me.

I blinked at him, waiting for him to tell me what to do next, when he lied down and put his head on one of the rocks at the end. I copied his movements and was surprised to feel the rock was nothing like the ones I had at the camp.

“Pillow.” My eyes widened when I heard my own voice say the word. I remembered! It wasn’t a rock! It was a pillow on a bed! A memory came to mind of me as a young child, jumping on my bed and a woman came into my cave and scolded me. Mom! It was my mom who told me never to jump on the bed.

“Yes, it’s a pillow, now close your eyes.” He smiled, and I looked at him and waited until his eyes were closed before jumping up. Unfortunately, I had forgotten about my leg and the moment it made contact with the bed, I screamed out in pain.

“F@ck!” He shouted and pulled me into his arms, but I scratched him and tried to run to the other side of the room. Something felt sticky down the side of my leg and before long the pain was so excruciating that everything around me went dark.

Theodore

It saddened me to see her in so much pain, but the doctor had already given her the maximum allowed dosage of pain medication. The truth of the matter was that I was actually relieved when she blacked out, and I was able to lay her down on the bed so she could rest. Queen Lucille came in to check on us a little while later, and we stepped out of the room to talk.

“I’m sorry Theodore, but we couldn’t get any information about her.” She looked worried. “But I won’t stop looking. I will find whoever did that to her. I have, however, found out from my border patrols that she didn’t come from my territory. They found her scent when she crossed the border. I’m sending out scouts in the morning to try and find out more.”

“Thank you, your majesty. I will be taking her home in the morning. I would appreciate it if you could let me know when you have any information.” We talked about her state of mind and the more I told her, the more worried she looked, but if she knew anything, she wasn’t saying it.

When I walked back into the room, my little mate was sitting on the bed with the empty plate in front of her. She almost shoved it into my arms as soon as she saw me and I thought that at least she was eating. It was a good sign.

I didn’t want to overwhelm her by taking her down to the kitchen. I brought her another plate of food which she polished as fast as she did with the first two. She finally fell asleep around three in the morning and I started to pack. I mind linked Randy to come and get my things and load them into the car and explaining what happened.

“Are you being serious right now?” He tried to shove past me to look into my room, but I stopped him.

“Completely. She’s like a wild animal and I need your help, brother. I need to get her home where I can take care of her.” He nodded, and I felt safe in the knowledge that he would take care of the necessary arrangements so we could leave. She was clearly running from someone and I wanted her out of the way before they could find her.

Skye

When I woke up, my mate wasn’t in the cave, but I heard him just outside the rock. I sneaked up to the rock as best I could and pressed my ear against it. There was another male voice with him, but it sounded a lot similar. The moment they stopped talking, I stepped back, and my leg caught on something, making me fall backward.

To my surprise, he caught me just before I hit the ground and our eyes made contact. I had never seen such beautiful blue eyes. They were the same colour as the sky.

“Easy there.” He showed me his teeth and I tried to copy him. “Are you ready to go home?”

I wasn’t entirely sure what he was asking me, but I nodded. For now, he was feeding me, and it seemed as if he would take care of me, so, until he hurt me, I would stick around for a little longer. He picked me up, showing me that I had to put my arms around his neck, and we left the cave to walk down another long, dark, and cold cave.

I squinted my eyes the moment we stepped out into the sunlight and screamed. Demons can’t go out into the sunlight!

“It’s okay, you are safe!” I felt him pull the thing over my head and I grabbed hold of the sides, pulling it tightly over my face, but it didn’t burn me. In fact, it felt warm against my skin, almost comforting. When I heard the second male voice from before, I nearly jumped out of my mates’ arms to try and see where it was coming from, but the bright light stung my eyes and I closed my head.

I felt him move and heard some weird noises I hadn’t heard before, and then we started moving again, but I was too scared to look until I felt his hand softly slide over mine before he removed the piece of cloth from my head.

We were inside some strange cave that was moving, and I jumped to see outside! Then another memory from my childhood came back and I remembered what it was.

“Car!” I shouted.