Shadow wolves: The Demon Hunter (Book 9)

Chapter 3 - A new home

Skye

The car came to a halt in front of a big bird, and Theodore picked me up, walking toward the big bird. No, no, no! He was going to feed me to the damn bird! I started to claw and scratch him to get out of his grip, but he just ignored me saying words I didn’t care to hear.

I closed my eyes tightly getting ready to be swallowed when I heard more people talking and my eyes popped open. We were inside another cave, but this one had small holes in it so we could look out. Did he chase the bird away?!

He put me down and tied me to the seat, and I growled at the funny piece of rope that held me in place. A female dressed in a funny piece of cloth came closer and talked to me, but I just growled at her, watching as her eyes grew wide, and she quickly retreated. Theodore was talking to some others before he came back and tied himself to the chair opposite me.

Something squawked over my head and I cringed trying to find out where it came from. The strangely dressed girl came back and handed Theodore two small jugs with liquid in them and I grabbed one from him, emptying the contents. It tasted sweet and I wanted more. How did I ask for more?! I twisted my lips to try and form the word and was happy when it finally came out.

“Make.” No, that wasn’t it. I frowned and Theodore smiled at me.

“Do you want some more?” His face was kind. I watched his lips as he spoke and copied what he said.

“More.” There that was the word! He took the jug from me and gave it to the female. I didn’t like my mate smiling at her, but I didn’t know how to say it! The cave started to feel funny and I ducked my head.

“We are taking off, sweetheart, look.” He drew my attention to the hole beside me and I noticed the road moving. As soon as we started lifting off the ground, I screamed and clawed at the surrounding rope. I looked at Theodore, who seemed to be in distress, but everyone else was fine, they were just staring at me!

The squawking above my head made me jump and the next moment, Theodore was in front of me, untying me from my chair. I didn’t like this damn cave! The female came out from somewhere deeper into the cave and handed Theodore a plate which I grabbed from him and started to stuff the food into my mouth.

When I looked up to see if anyone was near and wanted to take my food, I noticed that everyone had their own plate. Theirs were on small tables in front of them, and they were doing something strange to them.

They had shiny things in their hands that they touched the food with to put into their mouths and I suddenly remembered my mother teaching me how to use those. I hadn’t seen things like that since … Since I was taken from my home. Demons didn’t need to eat, and only gave us bowls of food. They never gave us … “Cutlery.” YES! That was the word!

“Do you want some?” Theodore asked me and I sat back down and softly growled. He said something to the female, and she came back with some shiny cutlery for me. After we finished our food, the female took away the plates and brought us some more of that sweet liquid.

Theodore was talking to the others and I felt frustrated that I couldn’t talk to him, so I jumped up and grabbed his arm, dragging him back to his seat. I pushed him to sit down and looked for his rope to tie him down.

He was my mate! MINE! So, to make sure the others understood, I softly glared at them growling. I was surprised when he pulled me onto his lap and held me, putting my leg up on one of his knees to keep it in the air.

“I’m yours, my sweet wild thing. You don’t have to worry about that. I wish I knew your name.” He pointed at himself and said his name and I frowned. I knew what my name was, but nobody had called me by that in such a long time.

He motioned towards himself again, saying his name, and I tried to form my lips to copy what he was saying. He looked so happy when I got it right that I felt I just had to remember.

“Skye.” I smiled.

“Yes, we are flying.” He smiled but he looked a little sad. Wait, what?!!! No, only birds flew! I tried to rush to the hole in the side of the cave, but my leg was in the way and I watched as Theodore opened the cover to the hole.

We were flying! We weren’t inside a cave! We were inside the stomach of the bird, and it was flying away with us, but nobody seemed bothered by it. I shook my head and pointed at myself.

“Skye.” I tried again, feeling frustrated.

“Oh? Is that your name?” He frowned, and I tried to copy his smile, making him laugh. “Hey, everybody, this is Skye.” He talked a little louder and another female got up and walked toward us.

“Hi Skye, I’m Fiona.” She held out her hand and I sniffed it, making her laugh. I remembered that the funny noise Theodore was making earlier was called a laugh, but I wasn’t going to touch her hand. What if she ripped me off his lap and took my place?! I growled softly and she moved away.

Theodore was talking to me when the squawking above us started again, and I jumped to take my seat. Theodore tied me to my seat and I watched through the hole in the bird as he slowly landed. As soon as he stopped, Theodore untied me and picked me up, and carried me out of the bird’s stomach.

I never thought I would be able to fly inside a bird and be able to climb out. There were a few cars waiting for us and Theodore helped me get settled in the back of one before taking a seat beside me. I watched the scenery as we drove, so I would know how to get back to the forest if I needed to run, but the air here smelled different.

Salty and wet. It wasn’t nearly as dry as the demon caves and my skin felt slightly sticky. I didn’t like it. The drive wasn’t long before we pulled up outside strange bars that moved on their own so we could drive past them.

I tried to look for the slaves that opened them, but I couldn’t find any, and we drove past so fast, that I didn’t have much of a view. This place had an open field that soon turned into a bustling hub of life.

There were people everywhere, and strange little caves that looked funny on the outside. The car stopped in front of one of these caves and I remembered what they were! Houses! These were houses! Theodore climbed out of the car and I knew I had to wait for him to come and help me. He opened the door and picked me up again.

“Welcome to your new home, wild thing.” He winked at me and carried me inside where there were so many people talking at once that I couldn’t help but slap my hands over my ears. The demons didn’t allow us to all talk at once! They hardly allowed us to talk at all, but there was no trace of any of the demons around there.

I suspected that Theodore was introducing me to everyone, showing them how to show me what their names were, but I still didn’t want to take the hands they held out for me. I was trying to remember all the names, but there were so many of them when the room went silent.

“Alpha, Luna.” My eyes followed the direction they were all looking in, and I saw the huge Alpha and Luna standing there. I immediately fell to my knees and bowed my head. A flash of a memory rushed to my mind of an Alpha and Luna from my time as a child and I remembered we had to bow before them. I felt a soft hand touch my chin and lift it when I looked into the kindest eyes I had ever seen besides my mother’s.

“There is no need for that little one.” She helped steady me once I was back up on my feet. She was talking slowly, and I looked at her lips. “I am Meg, and this is my husband Ant. We wanted to come and see you for ourselves and find out if you need anything.”

“Theodore.” I looked at Theodore and he smiled.

“It seems she is having some trouble talking, Luna, but she is catching on really fast.” Were they going to chase me away from my mate? I felt anxious for a moment, but then the kind female smiled at me and I breathed a sigh of relief. I would hate to leave my mate, but if I had to I would! Everyone sat down and talked, and I could feel the excitement in the air.

It was the same as the day of the hunt when the young wolves would speculate how they would outrun the demons. I wondered if they were talking about a hunt, but I found a little thingie behind Theo’s neck inside his shirt and started to play with it.

Theodore

After I told everyone how I found my beautiful delicate Skye, they were all silent for a while, until Meg offered to help. She said she would make contact with Queen Lucille, and they would see if they could find out where my little wild thing was from.

“In the meantime, she seems to feel safe with you, Theo, and seeing as you seem to be mates, I don’t see why she can’t stay in your room with you for the time being. Does she need anything?” Our Luna, being her usual self, thought of everything and I told her that Skye had nothing. Only the clothes she was wearing.

We agreed that taking her to the mall might not be the best idea ever, and Fiona offered to go shopping on our behalf. I was relieved when we were finally able to retreat to my room. It had been a long morning for my little wild thing and I could see her scratching the boot.

Wondering if it was safe to take it off, I decided to at least give her a little relief and took it off. To my surprise, her leg was completely healed! According to the doctor, it should have taken at least a couple of days before it healed completely, but then, we didn’t know that much about her.

I took out one of my t-shirts for her to sleep in and helped her change before putting her into bed. I waited until she fell asleep before unpacking my stuff and going downstairs to catch up with what was happening around Shadow grounds.

I was listening to Randolph bragging about his conquests during the mating week when I heard a large growl burst through the house. Skye was standing in the doorway looking furious, and I couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped my mouth.

“Talk about obsessed!” I joked and walked over to take her into my arms. I was relieved when she sniffed my shirt and seemed to calm down instantly and picked her up to sit on my lap while we continued our conversation.

“You are whipped, boy!” Randolph teased me and I smiled.

“I don’t care. I’m in love with my little wild thing.”