The Elemental Huntress

Chapter 9 - Blood ties & Mate bonds

RHYDIAN'S POV

I stormed outside, not able to face what just happened. Is Willa also a werewolf? How the hell is that even possible? And now she knows my secret, I'm a coward. I couldn't even tell her myself. No thanks to that giant wolf douche back there!

Why is he so big anyway? I've seen more wolves than I can count in my life, but none this size. The only wolves that I know of which match the description, are Lycans and they're extinct! This pack is tied to Alpha Centauri, but the true Alpha Centuari’s have been dead a long time. The Lycans were whipped out over 100 years ago. Surely he’s not a true descendant? There is too much going on here. I need help. I wish Elira was here to help me figure this out.

Fuck!

I was hoping I could handle this situation without having to notify Moonlight Tech too much about what was happening until I had a solution, because I know exactly what they will do when they find out that their best team are all werewolves and know about it. This situation must remain a secret from Moonlight Tech for now. Because I've got questions, which means I need answers, like yesterday!

Here's what I know: Moonlight Tech has the know and the means to hide my wolf deep inside me, so that I never even know he's there. Which means they likely did the same to both Willa and Elira, but why? The girls have no idea about who they really are, and at this point neither do I. My only saving grace for myself is that I know my past. All I want to do, is bury my head in my books and disappear for a while. The girls often tease me about being a book nerd, but they are always grateful when my knowledge prepares them for their next mission.

Reading helps me to forget, it gives me the comfort of having knowledge because knowledge is power. It gives me control over the situation as much as possible. I am fascinated by history, and I truly enjoy searching for answers to the questions we constantly need to answer.

Now is no different. Elira is a werewolf, and from what the doctors say and from what I've read so far, she is powerful. I found mention of an old dark Witch who lives in Canada. She is my first lead into what's really going on here. I need to speak with her, but I cannot do it without Willa.

Oh crap!

Time to grow some balls and get this conversation out of the way. How can she forgive me for lying to her, for all these years?

Before I could walk back into the Cafe to speak with Willa, she walked out the door. I could tell by her clenched fists that she was angry and was trying to calm herself down. She approached me quickly; it was now or never.

"Why did you lie?" It was an honest question and not one I was expecting her to ask me so quickly.

"I was ashamed, and I honestly believed you and Elira would never forgive me. I didn't want to lose you both. So, I lied about what I really am." My head sunk as I spoke. My truth, shame and my own cowardice beginning to take over.

"I don't know what's worse, Rhydian, your lies, or the fact that you are, and always have been, everything we are taught to hate! Elira is going to lose her mind, fucken hell Rhydian, she's going to completely lose it over the fact that she herself is a werewolf, let alone the fact we BOTH are as well. The betrayal being, that you knew exactly what you were, and you kept it from us."

She was small but mighty, that's what I felt. She was in my face now and her eyes were glowing. I imagine her wolf was just as angry at feeling betrayed as Willa was.

What a sight to see. The strangest part was that it didn't seem strange for her to be a werewolf. As I stared back at her dumbfounded and silent, I recognised that Willa seemed more herself in this moment, than I had ever seen her before. I took comfort in that. "I can't lose you... or Elira! I know it was wrong, I should never have kept my secret from you." My eyes were pleading with her, trying to communicate what my words couldn't. "Betrayal, do you know what that feels like? We love you Rhydian, we always have. You didn't even trust that we loved you, you didn't trust us with your own truth. Imagine how betrayed you would feel if Elira or I kept our news from you. Would you feel hurt?" She was calmer now, anger being replaced by hurt and sadness. I could see it in her stance, the way her body was more relaxed, and arms were folded, becoming defensive.

"I would be devastated. I can't change what I've done. I just want you to know that I am sorry. I am ashamed of myself for not trusting you and keeping the truth a secret. Moving forward, I - " before I could finish my sentence, she cut me off. "How did you do it?" I frowned at her in confusion, not understanding her question. "Sorry?"

"How did you hide your wolf for all of your life, who helped you?" Now I understood, and I wasn't looking forward to sharing this part. "Moonlight Tech, Angie and Richard, helped me cover it up. I think they did the same to you and Elira, but I'm not sure why. I chose this, but you didn't and that's worse!" I felt angry now, thinking about what Moonlight had done. Wanting so desperately to have all the answers already. Elira was going to wake up soon, I needed to be able to tell her everything.

Willa was quiet, shock had stricken her, she looked off in the distance, as though she was no longer with me, mentally. I assumed her wolf was communicating with her. I stepped closer to her and took her into my arms. We stood there in an embrace for a moment when she finally spoke.

"This has been the strangest day. I feel betrayed, and I don't know what to do. You, I can forgive, because you are my family, I don't care what anyone says, you are my brother, you're an i***t, but you're my brother. But M.T? Wow, my whole life, I've been lied to. Am I even really an orphan?" I held her while she spoke, soft words now and by the end, she was crying. I look down at her and I wipe away her tears.

"All we have is now Willa, all we can do is investigate the truth, get to the bottom of whatever Is going on and, in the meantime, try to find a new normal."

She looks up at me and steps back, "I will never work for M.T again! But I don't want them to know that yet, not until we've uncovered whatever corrupt bullshit is going on. All I can say is we should trust no one. I'll be staying here. At blue midnight, I found my mate Rhydian, that's what broke through to my wolf."

I stood still, silent, everything went silent, I could hear birds behind me, enjoying their day, chirping and flying among the trees.

It wasn't Willa's news that necessarily took me by surprise, it was the sudden realisation that what was happening was real. I couldn't hide anymore; I couldn't deny who or what I was. I had no idea how much my life was about to change, and I was terrified. "It makes sense now, he's a giant by the way, what kind of werewolf is he anyway?" My sarcastic response to her news, was the most normal thing that was said between us all day. She started smiling and stepped forward to give me another light hug. "I'm not exactly sure he's a werewolf Rhydian." She paused and waited for me to respond. "Meaning? I know I'm a nerd but come on, spell it out for me!" Another smile from Willa as she said, "He's a Lycan! The Golden eyes and the sheer size of him is certainly a dead give away." My eyes go wide, I hitch my breath and now she's laughing.

"I wish you could see your face right now, you will adjust Rhydian. In the meantime, let's go officially meet him, shall we?"

I had one more thing I wanted to say before we moved on from our conversation. "Before we go back inside, I have better news, I found a dark Witch. She's in Canada, she may be able to give us some answers on Elira, and likely you as well. I want to go and see her; I've booked us a flight already for tomorrow morning. We will have a four-hour window to get this meeting done before flying back here. Hopefully, in time before Elira is expected to wake the next day. What do you think?" I said.

"Well Rhydian, that's the best news I've heard all day. Let's do it." She responded with a spark in her eye. A mission was the perfect thing for us to feel semi-normal. Helping Elira was the top priority at this stage.

SLOANE POV

I wasn't expecting to reveal any more secrets today, but I guess I was wrong. As soon as I walked into the Cafe, I could smell his wolf. Liars were the bane of my existence; I lived by a set of rules and honesty was one of them. The top of my list, no matter the consequences. So, if I burned him a little in the process, so be it! Add in the fact he's lying to my mate; you deserve to get burned. He stormed out, not able to take the fact I'd revealed his secret for him. I watched my mate sit in silence, her body tensing as she got angrier and angrier. f**k, she is so hot! I don't want to intervene as it's not my place, but f**k, I need to take her, like now! She catches me staring and gives me a sexy look. Damn! She knows exactly what she's doing to me right now. I don't know whether to take her right here, not caring who sees, or to wait and let them sort themselves out. I voted for the latter; I like my balls where they are. I know she's a strong female. Let's be smart here and not antagonise her.

As she gets up to go outside, I lightly touch her hand, she turns to look at me and I pull her down into my lap. I'm almost cradling her and as she looks right into the depths of my eyes, I kiss her, slow and passionate. My heart is racing so fast, it may beat right out of my chest, but I don't care, everything else disappears as I hold her in my arms, our kiss feeling so natural, as if we had been doing it our entire lives. We pull away simultaneously, she cups my face with her right hand, it is soft and smells like heaven. She looks right into my soul but says nothing. Then she hops off my lap and walks outside. I was hard as a rock and panting. Who is this woman? How is she, my mate? I should pinch myself to make sure I'm awake. Through the window of the Cafe, I could see them. I can see that she is hurt by her childhood friend. After a little while, he hugs her! f**k no, get your hands off her, my wolf is growling deep in my mind, it takes every ounce of muscle I have to stay put. They're just friends, I reassured him. I don't know how I knew, but I did. There was only platonic energy between them. I could see it. By the end of their conversation, things seemed to be back to normal, they were smiling and making sarcastic comments at one another. He was smiling but I could tell he was hurting. I made a mental note to talk to Willa about it later.

Right now, I needed a cold shower, or alone time to finish myself off. I was still turned on and needing a release. I knew it was too early to expect anything from my mate and I wasn't about to pressure her. She had been through enough today.

They both came back inside the Cafe and sat at the table with me. "Rhydian, this is Beta Sloane of the Blue Midnight pack. He's my mate, Sloane. This is Rhydian. He's basically my brother, an expert in all things book related and also a handler at Moonlight Tech for both me and Elira." We both grinned at each other and shook hands. "Welcome to my home, this is where you'll finally get to discover that wolf of yours." I gave him a wink as his eyes went a little wide at what I'd said. To lighten the mood, I leant in and gently said "You had to handle both girls, huh, I bet that was no walk in the park. I don't envy you. They're more badass than any female I've met." He chuckled in my direction, and I felt a sense of ease wash over us all.

I knew that Alpha Killian was worried about Elira as he had sent me to the hospital to organise transferring her to the pack house. Now I had to break the news about these two, this is going to be fun! This was going to be an adventure, and adventure was what I lived for. Now for that cold shower!

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RHYDIAN POV

It was 10am the following day and we had just landed in Ontario, Canada, in the city of Toronto. It had been a while since we had been on a mission in Canada. It would be nice to just travel and visit sometime. Willa and I collected our bags and went through customs. As we were technically part of the military, we didn't have to wait in the long queue like everyone else on our flight. We were set to meet the Dark Witch at 11.30am, at a little fair in Balmy Beach Park. She had a psychic tent there. This way, it would appear to be inconspicuous.

I was anxious about meeting with a Dark Witch named Sapphire. I didn't know what information she had or if it was worth much, but it was our only lead, so we must follow it. "Has she given you any indication as to what she knows?" Willa seemed a little anxious as well. We weren't used to investigating without Elira, she was the leader. Doing this without her felt strange, and I didn't like it one bit. "No, not particularly, but it's the only lead we've got." I gave her a forlorn look as I answered her question.

We were hungry from our early morning flight and decided to stop at a diner for some breakfast, before continuing with the mission. We had some time to kill and couldn't think of anything better than to stuff our faces with pancakes and coffee.

Once we had finished up, we headed to the meeting spot. We pulled up just outside the Witch's tent, noticing that the day was warm and there were people out, all along the beach. We waited outside the tent, giving a yell to Sapphire that we had arrived. She opens the tent door and ushers us inside. "I'm Rhydian, and this is Willa." The Witch gives us a stern look and proceeds to sit down at her table. She looked much younger than I was expecting, late 20s, with jet black hair and dark blue, sapphire-coloured eyes. She was quite pretty, which was a little distracting to be honest. There was also something familiar about her, that I couldn't quite put my finger on. Once Willa and I sat down, she finally spoke. "You wish to discuss an urgent matter with me, what is it you seek?" She held eye contact with me, I couldn't look away. "Moonlight Tech, do you know of them? We have reason to believe that they may have used a dark Witch to perform some kind of magic on werewolves, which they have then raised and trained to become hunters."

I wanted to get straight to the point. I hoped she had something useful to share. "Yes, I have heard of them. I've crossed paths with an agent or two here or there over the years. I know of whispers about these wolves. They were the ones taken in the great attack that happened 18 years ago. I have never worked with Moonlight Tech directly, but I know of a Witch who has. She loved to brag." I looked to Willa as she looked at me, this was way more than we were expecting. "Do you have a name for this Witch?" Willa asks earnestly, eager to gain the next piece to the puzzle. "She goes by the name of Griselda, she will be hard to find as she is much more reclusive than I. She is in Las Vegas, last I heard. She is much more powerful than me, and if she is dark and using magic to securely help your corporation, who knows what she's capable of." The Dark Witch made it very clear. This was more than we had expected, and it was perfect. Following the evidence as we go, "Thank you Sapphire, you've been a huge help to us. Here is your payment." I gave her the reward she had asked for, a pouch of uncut rubies, and nodded to Willa for us to go. We made our way back to the airport to mull over this newfound information and plan our next point of action. "This is great news Rhydian, now we will have something to share with Elira when she, hopefully, wakes up tomorrow. Maybe if she's feeling up to it, she can come with us in a few days to meet the next one?"

My mind was spinning from the goose chase. It felt like I was now on. "I'm going to go into M.T tomorrow, see what information I can dig up. There are some restricted documents that are located in Angie's office cabinet. Maybe they can tell us more about this supposed great attack 18 years ago?" I could tell from the look on Willa’s face that she agreed it was a great idea. I have two purposes right now; investigate the Dark Witch, and snoop around Angie's office. One was going to be more of a challenge than the other. "Let's board this damn plane and get home shall we!" Willa nodded in agreement. “Let’s detour to Ohio on the way, may as well get this investigation out of the way so we have some solid answers for Elira, and ourselves.” Willa did have a point.