The Elemental Huntress

Chapter Twenty - The Alpha and His Sister

RHYDIAN POV

It wasn’t long until I was in the dining hall with the girls, hearing about their day. “Going back to school was exactly what I needed. Right now, I would love nothing more than to focus on my schoolwork and gossip about boys… or girls!” Elira said with a wink. I smile at her and appreciate how happy she seems in this moment. Willa chuckles at Elira’s words as she looks over at me. “How was your day Rhyd? Are the boys keeping you on your toes during training? I swallow my food before I answer. “I think I’m doing ok. Alpha Killian seems to think I have promise, so I guess that’s something.” I smile back at the girls and Elira gives me a nudge in the shoulder. “See that’s something, we always knew you were meant for more than books.” Elira said with encouragement in her voice. “Speaking of books, Alpha Killian showed me to the pack library today. There is an entire section for authorised access only which he gave me access to.” My voice was full of excitement and anticipation. “This sounds promising, did you find anything?" Elira looked at me with hopeful eyes as she waited for my answer. I hesitated, wondering if I should tell her about the moon princess. “I found an interesting book that could possibly tell us something. I’ll need to finish translating and interpreting it first, so I’ll keep you in the loop.” I wasn’t exactly lying, which made me feel better.

The conversation soon switched back to school and something about Zura’s boyfriend returning home from Ireland over the weekend. I recognised the name as Liam Weylyn. “Liam is the younger brother of Alpha Killian. Did you know that?” I blurted out my question nonchalantly. The girls frowned and looked at each other before answering. “No, Zura never mentioned it. I didn’t know he had any siblings.” Elira sounded curious as she answered. “He has three younger siblings actually.” The girls’ mouths opened in shock. “WHAT?” they said simultaneously. “Liam has a twin brother, Noah. They’re twenty-five and the youngest is a sister called Nesrin who is studying Law at college somewhere.” The girls continued to shake their heads in shock. “I had no idea.” Elira’s voice was a whisper as she thought about the things she didn’t know. “I hate to point out the obvious here but is it really that surprising that you didn’t know? You haven’t exactly made the effort to get to know him.” Willa appeared to feel bad about her honesty but I know she respected Elira enough to give it to her anyway.

"You are not wrong Willa, I guess I just never really thought about it. I'm curious to know more now though, which makes me a little confused. Artemis on the other hand, is excited to find out more about her mate." Elira spoke with a far-off look in her eyes. It was true that Willa and I both believed that Elira shouldn't deny her connection to her mate, but we also knew what kind of hunter she was, it was going to be hard for her to adjust to her new world of werewolves. Willa gave her best friend a hug and they moved on from chatting about Alpha Killian.

After dinner the three of us decided to head to the outdoor cinema to watch a film. As it was a Saturday night, we didn’t need to get an early start for training the next day. We wanted something light-hearted, so we settled on a romcom. Willa insisted on making us watch Notting Hill.

I wasn’t really phased about what we watched, so I decided to get us snacks for the movie. As I go to leave the kitchen to head back to the outdoor cinema, I catch the same intoxicating smell as earlier. It is mouth-watering and Griffin is going nuts. Everything else around me fades away and seems irrelevant as I seek to find the source of the scent. I put the snacks on the counter in the kitchen and head outside. My heart is racing, and my mind can’t concentrate. I was trying my best to stay in control, but I couldn’t organise my thoughts or my actions. I begin to feel frustrated about my lack of control or rational thought. Griffin is also frustrated at me for not being able to follow the scent. I feel him begin to come forward just enough to take over the actions of my body. My eyes are glowing now, and my chest is rising and falling with the deep breaths we are taking.

We head in the direction of the fire pit. A small brick laid area next to one of the swimming pools which consists of a moderately sized fire pit in the centre and four chairs surrounding it. As we reach the fire pit, we can see that it is lit, a couple of werewolves are chilling at the waterfall that sits at the head of the swimming pool. There is another fire pit on the opposite side of the pool, like mirror images of each other. The other fire pit is full, likely the friends of the ones swimming.

Griffin and I act on pure animal instinct. As we continue to follow the scent further, I notice someone sitting at the fire pit alone. She appears my age, but all I see is mostly the back of her head. As we get closer, I realise that the scent is coming from her. My heart begins to beat faster than I ever thought possible. I begin to feel excitement build as I get closer, I am just five metres away when out of nowhere another werewolf appears. This one is male and as he reaches her, he leans down and they kiss. She stands up to embrace him and all I can think about is ripping his throat out where he stands. I lunged toward them and pull her away from him. His face is an expression of utter surprise while she is yelling at me to let her go. I growl at her before releasing her arm and standing directly between them. “SHE IS MINE!” I growl at him, stepping toward him, daring him to challenge me. He looks confused but understands the seriousness of my words. Without saying a word, he turns around and runs in the opposite direction. I continue to stand there with my back to her, trying to calm myself down before I turn around and acknowledge her.

Before I can do that, she starts to yell at me. “Who the hell do you think you are? I don’t belong to you or anybody for that matter. Lance and I have been dating since we were fifteen.” My body reacts to the sound of her voice and my blood boils at the thought of her being with anyone that isn’t me. “Who are y…” Before she can finish her question, it hits her. My scent was imbedding itself in her nostrils as much as hers had embedded itself in mine. I could hear her heart begin to race faster than before; her breathing becomes erratic. I turn to face her and almost buckle at the knees in awe of her beauty. She was the most magnificent thing I had ever seen. She had long jet black hair that was straight, her body was curvy in all the right places and she was a little shorter than me. Her eyes were glowing yellow and yet I couldn’t materialise any rational thought about why that could be. We embrace each other, her hands on my arms setting me on fire, my hands on her waist cause electricity sparks between us. Our foreheads touch and we close our eyes. The world feels like it’s melting away. It was as though time stood still, our eyes are closed, our foreheads touching. We both stood still for what seemed like an eternity before opening our eyes. “MATE!” We both growl simultaneously to each other.

With both my hands, I grab her face in desperation and kiss her passionately. Breathing her in, my tongue caresses hers. We kiss for a moment and then she breaks away from me.

I felt alive. More alive than I had ever felt in my entire life, and I wanted more. I wanted to take her right there on the chair, I didn’t care who saw us. I didn’t know who she was, and it didn’t matter, she was mine and I was never going to let her go. She stared at me, a look on her face that I couldn’t quite figure out. It felt like she was in awe of finding her mate, frustrated, and likely confused. I straightened up and cleared my throat, she raised an eyebrow at me and folded her arms across her chest. Creepy that she reminded me a little of Elira in this moment. I shook the thought from my mind before I spoke. “I apologise for the uh, the kiss. That wasn’t very gentleman of me to have done that without at least introducing myself or knowing your name. Hi, I’m Rhydian.” I smile a crooked smile and wait for her reaction.

Her cheeks look a little flushed and I notice she is blushing. The sound of my voice was having an effect on her. “Nice to meet you Rhydian. I’m Nesrin Weylyn!” My mind explodes at hearing who she is, but I am determined not to let it show. I take her hand gently and kiss it. “Lovely to meet you.” I say, my voice thick with desire. I hear my phone ping and quickly realise that the girls must be wondering where I am. “Sorry for scaring off your boyfriend.” My voice is mostly sincere, but she calls me out on it anyway. “No, you’re not but I appreciate you saying so.”

She sits back down in one of the chairs and I am left standing. Griffin is begging me to take her as my mate then and there. “Are you going to take a seat and join me or are you just going to stand there and argue with your wolf about the appropriate time to claim your mate?” I chuckle nervously and take a seat next to her, turned on by her ability to understand exactly what was happening for me in this moment. “I am experiencing the same thing.” She says.

Great, now my d**k is even harder knowing she is in turmoil about claiming me as much as I am about claiming her. “Hmm, where does that leave us?” I ask, unsure of where this was going but eager to find out. “Well, the way I see it is, we can act on our wolves and take each other right here, right now. Or we can sit here in turmoil and get to know each other. As much as it literally pains me to say it, I think we should go with the latter.” She smiles at me, and it is as beautiful as a sunrise. “The latter it is.” I say as I grab out my phone and text the girls to let them know they will have to enjoy the film without me. I didn’t mention Nesrin as I wanted to build our connection first.

“The most important thing you should know is that I’m a virgin.” My eyes widen in shock at her words. “Oh, really? I just figured, since you had been with your boyfriend for a while, that…” She cuts me off before I finish my sentence with her wonderful laugh. “Yes, I thought you might assume that. Whilst Lance is a wonderful boyfriend, I decided long ago to wait for my mate. Something we both know we aren’t.” I sat in silence for a moment as I thought about her words.

“So why be together then if you know you belong with someone else?” I ask curiously, wanting to understand her thought process. “He has known me my entire life and makes me feel safe and loved. I guess it’s easier being with someone that knows the baggage already and I don’t have to ever explain or try to understand him.” She half smiles as she looks down at her lap. Uncomfortable about looking me in the eye. “OK, so it’s easy with him. That makes sense and seems like a rational decision.” She looks up at me, feeling better about my response. “Ok, so my turn. The most important thing you should know about me is that I was raised by Moonlight Tech to be the handler of a Werewolf Huntress by the name of Elira but in actual fact, I am the rightful heir to the Red River pack.” I hold my breath as I look down at my hands awaiting her response. She takes a sharp breath in as she stares at me with her mouth open momentarily before recovering. “Wow, ok. I was not expecting that. Sounds like there’s a lot to unpack there.” Her voice was soft with a hint of empathy attached to it. “It’s ok, there is a bit to unpack, and I feel you will desire your arrangement with Lance the more you get to know me, but I advise you speak to your brother. He can fill you in on everything. It’s probably better it comes from him anyway as I am sure he will have thoughts about us being true mates.” I could tell she wasn’t impressed that I brought up her brother, but it had to be done. “I know you’re probably confused about why I mention Killian and I don’t blame you. You’ve been away for a little while and a lot has happened in the last two weeks. His true mate is Elira, the huntress that I mentioned. They’re not exactly together yet as it’s complicated, but I think you both should talk.” She let out a long sigh and nodded in agreement. We sat in silence for a while just watching the flames burn in front of us.

I couldn’t believe my reality. I had found my true mate and she was everything I wanted. I didn’t know her at all and yet I did. I knew her better than anyone somehow. I relished the silence between us, knowing that things were about to become more complicated, and the week ahead was going to be one of the biggest challenges of my life.

I was right where I was supposed to be in this moment. Sitting beside her, looking at her and appreciating her. I was sure I could sit inside the flames, and it wouldn’t make a difference. My body and soul were on fire because of her. It felt like she had breathed life right into me and i was willing to conquer anything that stood in our way.