Chapter 63
Jonas
“Alright, who is ready for a scavenger hunt?” I asked the pups, who were getting bored beyond belief.
They lit up at the suggestion, and I listed off three items I wanted them to find for me. A bug, a stick, and a flower. Not the most interesting hunt, but we were working with what we had while we were still here on the training grounds Kelly and Thorin used. We have been here for three days now. A group of warriors came by on the first day and delivered a massive amount of canned food, blankets, and a slew of other supplies. They said Queen Kelly was actively cleaning house and for us to be patient. Easier said than done under the circumstances.
We had pups that were going stir crazy, mates that were missing, and injured who were aching. We get new faces every so often. Once an area was cleared, Kelly would send the survivors our way if their home was compromised or not in a cleared area yet. We had a few mates reunited, which lifted everyone’s spirits, but there were still so many people missing.
Kelsey was by far the most hysterical. I took her away to the far side of the training grounds a few times now so her pups wouldn’t see her like that. They needed hope right now, and unfortunately Kelsey wasn’t able to provide it. She was convinced something was wrong with her mate, and if I’m being honest, I wouldn’t doubt it. The mate bond was interesting, though I had never experienced it myself, apparently you are able to feel your mate through your bond. So if Kelsey was as hysterical as she was, I can’t imagine Mason was doing very well. Hopefully, Kelly can find him before it’s too late.
“Hey, Kelsey looks like she is about to loose it again.” Emmett said quietly.
“Alright, I’ll go see her.” I nodded.
“I might head to the hospital soon to help with the masses. Thorin just linked me and said that they finished clearing past the hospital and the training grounds, so it should be safe for us to leave, to a certain point anyway.” He shrugged.
“I’ll stay here with those who live in areas that aren’t cleared yet.” I said, agreeing with his decision to go help.
“Thanks.” He nodded and started heading off.
I let him out and then went to go find Kelsey, who looked completely lost, aimlessly wandering the training grounds. Her pups were off playing, thankfully oblivious at the moment to their mother’s angst.
“Hey.” I said, falling in step with her. “Wanna talk about it?”
“I have to go, you have to let me out of here.” She said, abruptly stopping and looking at me with pleading eyes.
“You know I cant do that. Not until Kelly gives me the okay.”
“Please Jonas! He is my mate! What would you do if it were your mate out there?!” She growled.
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“He has been gone for almost a week now!” She spat. “I’m done waiting!” She said, marching over to the gate.
“Kelsey, you can’t leave!” I yelled, chasing after her.
“If you try to stop me, I will cause the biggest scene anyone has ever seen, and then have you detained or you can let me out now and come with me for protection.” She said with her hands on her h**s, a ‘im ready to fight’ look on her face. The same look Kelly had when she was set on something. I could never get her to budge once I saw that face come out.
I let out a long sigh before nodding. “Fine. But you are not allowed out of my sight.” I warned her.
I quickly picked a new, responsible-enough looking person to man the door and told him to link me if anything should go wrong. Kelsey didn’t hesitate to bolt once the gate was opened. It was a bit surprising, but then again, perhaps not given the circumstances. Hopefully, we could find her mate and get back to the training field before Kelly found out we had left before the pack was deemed safe again.
– – – – – – – –
Thorin
Ah, I missed these days. I missed the battlefield. It has been years since I was in any sort of real fight, minus the past month, but that was mostly running. What made this all even better was the fact that I had Kelly, my one and only former student, by my side and she was kicking a*s. I was a proud trainer as I watched her mow through the chupacabras with ease. Her warriors took notice of it as well, it seemed to fuel them to push themselves harder, to fight harder, to be better. It was everything this kingdom needed to see right now given the loss of both the former Alpha and Luna.
“Great job, Solnyshko,” I said as she split another creature in two.
“We need to keep moving,” she said.
She sounded robotic. As I would expect. The past few days have been very taxing on her. Not only losing her parents, but then taking on the responsibility of thousands of others, all while killing an impressive number of enemies on the battlefield. She would crash after this, no doubt.
“I will scout up ahead.” I nodded. The sooner we can secure the pack, the better for her and for everyone.
I broke away from our group and quietly stalked through the forest looking for any sighs of the nasty beasts. I smelled b***d in the air, but that seemed to be the case everywhere we went. I found a few b***d trails and decided to follow them. It led me to yet another dead body. What a shame. It looked like he had been clawed, his guts nearly spilling out. Crouching down, I placed my hand on his neck to verify he was in fact gone. To my utter surprise, I felt a pulse. It was weak, but it was there.
“I found a survivor, but his pulse is weak.” I linked Kelly.
“I found a survivor, but his pulse is weak.” I linked Kelly.
“On our way,” Kelly answered back.
She and the rest of our group made it over to me within a few minutes. Kelly’s face fell when she saw the survivor.
“Oh goddess.” She said, dropping to her knees, checking over the body.
“Mason! Mason?!” A familiar voice yelled.
“Kelsey, wait!” Jonas said, trailing behind her.
“What is she doing out here!?” Kelly hissed, jumping to her feet and blocking Kelsey’s view of the body. “You need to leave.”
“Is that him?” She choked out. “Is he okay?” She said, trying to look past Kelly.
“He is critical. He needs medical attention immediately. Go.” She said darkly, flicking her head towards two of our warriors.
Just when we thought we were gaining more warriors…
“Mason! I’m here, its going to be okay.” Kelsey sobbed as Mason was carefully lifted and carried in the direction of the hospital. His body looked completely limp in the warrior’s arms. He would be lucky to make it back to the hospital alive.
“Kelly, I’m sorry, she wouldn’t listen-” Jonas began.
I put my arm up and stopped him from pursuing her. She stopped dead in her tracks before biting out her next words.
“See that she makes it back to the hospital in one piece. Her death is your death.”
Jonas gulped and quickly scurried off after the small group. Hopefully, he won’t screw up. Kelly has enough losses right now. She didn’t need to lose a sister too.
“Lets move.” She growled.
We continued for another half a day before finally coming to the border of our pack lands. We found one sorry soul an hour earlier and tied it up, dragging it along with us in case it was the last of the chupacabras. Looks like we made the right call, he seemed to be the last one we could find. Now to find their leader.
After a little roughing up, we released the beast and followed closely after it, figuring it would return home for help. Kelly even shifted, letting Keres take the lead, much to my surprise. She must have had a gut feeling that we were close to their dwelling. Hopefully that was the case. Kelly was a bit overdue for some revenge.