Shadow wolves: The Demon Hunter (Book 9)

Chapter 4 - Meeting Esmeralda

Skye

Theodore was kind and did his best to help me get my language skills back, but it was frustrating nonetheless. The pack was also kind, and it wasn’t long before everyone knew I was his mate. It felt good to be sitting at a table, having a proper meal with people who weren’t going to steal my food. Fiona bought me some clothes and some personal items and Theodore had his hands full to try and stop me from eating the toothpaste all at once.

Things started to come back slowly, but I remembered how to brush my teeth, and take a shower on my own once he showed me how to work the taps. We spent the first couple of days in his room, and then he took me on a tour of the grounds.

After spending so many years with the demons, it was frightening at first to see so many people walking around freely, but as I got to know everyone, I started to relax more around them and growl less.

“Good morning, wild thing.” Theodore grinned, and I rubbed my eyes and saw him walking into our room. “I thought we would go and see my parents today. Do you feel up to it?” He smiled and put a tray on my lap as soon as I sat up.

“Parents. Luna and Alpha?” I frowned. I thought they were his parents.

“No.” He laughed. “My parents stay in a castle not too far from here, but we will be spending a couple of days there if you feel up to it.”

I nodded, smiling and he looked happy. I practiced smiling in the mirror after seeing people’s reactions to my smile. It was strange to know how to do certain things, but at the same time not really know. I spent the greater part of my life living in demon caves where politeness wasn’t a priority.

After I finished breakfast, I went to the bathroom and changed and when I returned, he had a bag packed for the both of us. I didn’t realize he meant right away, but I was happy to go wherever he went. He slid his arm around me and I nuzzled into his neck, breathing in his scent before we left the pack house.

The drive felt as if it was taking forever, and when it started to get cold, I snuggled up beside him and soon dozed off.

“Hey.” His voice was soft as I felt him shake me a little. “We are here.” I opened my eyes and the world around us was sparkling white. When he opened the door and the cold air hit my face, I jumped back and pulled the blanket over my head. He must have covered me with it while I was asleep, but it was far too cold! I felt his hands softly pull on the blanket, and it fell off my face, revealing the white grass as the wind blew against my face.

“I take it you’ve never seen snow?” He bent down and when he came back, he had a white ball in his hand. He held it toward me and touched it with his other hand.

I sniffed it and it smelled like water! When I touched it, I immediately pulled my hand back, thinking we needed loads of these in the demon caves! Not only would it cool everyone down, but if all this white was water nobody would go thirsty again! I turned my legs to climb out, and he stopped me, changing my sandals to shoes that completely covered my feet and ankles and immediately made me feel warmer.

“OH, WOW! She’s gorgeous, honey!” A female came running closer and hugged her arms around my mate, making me growl softly before she turned her attention toward me and hugged me as well.

“Mom! Don’t!” I heard Theodore try to warn her, but something in the way she hugged me told me that she wasn’t a treat and I didn’t move. For once, I didn’t scratch or growl. I just stared at her when she let me go.

“It’s okay, honey. Skye won’t hurt me.” She smiled and I noticed the strong resemblance. This had to be his mother, and from what I could remember about mine, mothers were loving and protected their children no matter what, so, I swung my arms around her and hugged her.

“MOM!” I shouted and they laughed.

“Skye, this is my mother, Esmeralda. Mom, this is my mate, Skye.” Theodore laughed and I frowned. We already knew who the other one was. Why was he saying it again?

“Well, she looks positively frozen, so let’s get you guys inside!” She put her arm around me and I felt a little warmer as we walked inside the huge castle. It didn’t look much warmer on the inside, but when we sat down in one of the smaller rooms, there was a fire that made me feel nice and warm, and I curled up on Theodore’s lap, quickly falling asleep.

Theodore

There was no information about Skye, and she still hadn’t told me where she was from, which was the reason I brought her to see my mother. I was hoping Esmeralda could coax something out of her that none of us had been able to thus far.

“She is almost like a child, Theo, darling.” My mom looked at the little wild thing that was curled up on my lap, softly snoring away.

“Yeah,” I sighed. “It’s been an adventure, to say the least.”

“And you haven’t been able to find her pack or her family? But she isn’t a rogue so she should have been part of a pack.” I knew my mom was processing everything I had told her up to now. She wasn’t really asking me anything.

“That’s the thing. The only information Queen Lucille could find was that there were huge attacks on werewolf packs years ago, and a huge part of the population was killed. They also found out that there apparently were no bodies of kids at these m******e sites, but nobody ever found out what really happened to the packs or the children. We suspect she might be from one of those packs, but as you say, she’s not a rogue, which kind of makes it difficult to figure out how she survived on her own.” My mom stood up and paced a little before sitting down.

“You say she speaks a strange language. Have you been able to figure out what it is?” I shook my head. Not even our best experts could figure out what the hell she said. “It’s okay son, we will figure this out and help your mate to find her family.” Mom stood up and came to sit down beside us. I knew bringing her there would be the best thing for her.

Skye

I woke up screaming, hearing my own voice echo, and sat upright when I didn’t recognize the room.

“I’m here.” Theodore’s soft voice soothed my senses immediately, and he hunched down in front of me. “We are at my parent’s castle, remember?” I nodded. Everything had been going so well, except for one tiny detail. I had horrific nightmares of being chased! “I wish you could tell me what you dream that upsets you so much.” He looked pained, and I wanted to soothe him, but I didn’t know how.

The only thing I was able to figure out was to put my arms around him and hold him. I didn’t know of another way to … He pulled away from me and looked into my eyes.

“Skye, I will never leave you, you know that, right?” I frowned, not entirely sure what he was saying. I looked at his mouth in the hopes that I could figure it out if I watched his lips, but something deep inside me stirred.

“Come on, let’s get you dressed and ready for lunch.” His facial expression changed to a happy one, and he took my hand and led me to the cupboard where he had already packed my clothes. After we were dressed, we walked through the castle, and he told me all sorts of things, most of which I had trouble understanding, but I just smiled at him and knew he would be satisfied with it.

There were pictures of strange creatures on some of the walls and I wondered if they were also demons. They didn’t have long teeth like demons did, but they sure looked sharp enough to pierce the skin of a wolf.

“Those are my father’s ancestors. My father is a vampire. You will probably meet him at dinner.” I looked at his lips and he smiled, saying the word again. “Vampire.”

I silently copied what he said, and then my eyes grew wide! I remember vampires! My mother told me stories about them when I was small! They punished naughty children that didn’t go to sleep! I pulled his arm, wanting to return to our room, but he just frowned before picking me up and carrying me to a huge room.

Inside the room, there was a beautiful table and the smells floated around the air. It was incredible, making me relax instantly. His mom was there again, and we all sat down to have lunch. They spoke most of the time until she turned her attention toward me.

“Skye, I know you understand most of what I say. I would like us to try something. I am going to ask you a couple of questions then I would like you to answer me in your language. Is that okay?” She spoke slowly and I nodded. I had grown used to answering by nodding or shaking my head most of the time. “Can you tell me where you are from?”

I frowned. Theodore asked me this question over and over and, no matter how many times, I told him, he didn’t understand me!

“The demon realm.” It almost sounded strange to talk in the demon language again, and I wondered if she understood me when she nodded, but she wrote something down before asking me a new question.

“Are you part of a pack?” She frowned.

“No, I was a slave. I escaped on my twenty-first birthday. The day that Theodore found me.” I looked at her, half expecting her not to understand a word I was saying. Blinking my eyes, I turned my attention to Theodore and then looked at his mother again.

“My, darling girl! How long were you a demon slave?!” Her facial expression changed to one of shock in an instant as she spoke to me in the language I understood. SHE COULD SPEAK DEMON! Finally, I was able to speak to someone! I told her what I could remember, and it all bubbled out of me as I rushed through how I remember them capturing me and my friends, all the way to the final hunt.

“Hang on, can you understand her mom?” Theodore interrupted our conversation and I frowned at him.

“Yes, my love. She is speaking in the demon language, and she has quite the story to tell!” His mom took a huge sip of the red stuff she was drinking before she turned her full attention to him. She was talking too fast again, but from the little I could gather and from his facial expression, I suspected she was telling him what I had told her.

“Oh, my goddess!” His face turned pale when she was finished, and he looked at me. “My darling wild thing, did they make that scar on your back?” I had forgotten about that, but I nodded and couldn’t look at him. The memory of that day was still awfully painful. Not so much losing my mother, but what happened after I woke up in the caves. I was too young to have met my wolf, and the demons weren’t heavy on taking care of the injured.

“It took a long time for the wound on my back to heal, and I was expected to work just as hard as everyone else, but it eventually healed, and it made me stronger.” I told his mother and she translated for him. There were tears in both their eyes.

“Well, I think we all deserve some dessert after that story!” His mom broke the tension in the room as she got up to bring over some plates. We finished dessert and I asked her if I could have some more later, to which she laughed and told me I could have as much as I liked.

After lunch, we went back to the room that we sat in before, and she asked me more questions. It felt incredible to be able to talk to someone who understood what I was saying.