Page 76 of Their Promise

“Come on, let’s get home before your dads start worrying,” Mom said.

“Thank you for your help,” Great Uncle Silverowl said.

“Bye!” I said and waved to the two of them before Mom teleported us. I held up my hand as all of my dads and Tony asked questions. “Mom can explain. I’m going for a walk before bed.”

“Stay in the wards,” Mom ordered me.

I waved my hand dismissively at her as I walked away, even though I definitely would stay in the wards. Heading out the back door, I walked through the woods I’d grown up in, woods that were as much my home as the house behind me.

Closing my eyes, I trailed my fingers along the trees, drawing in deep breaths of the delicious forest scents.

My mind drifted to Mason, Trey, and Kayden. They’d spent as much time in these woods as I had and were often on my mind when here. Would their fighting abilities change without the darkness in them? Without that additional bloodlust?

My chest hurt to consider they might no longer feel as strongly as they used to, that those statements of loyalty might be void now.

The necklace warmed on my chest and a portal opened a few feet away from me.

I shifted into a warrior form, crouched down, and waited for whatever was going to come out.

A small hellhound, no larger than a loaf of bread, ran out of the portal whining and yelping, its tail tucked between its legs. It ran towards me, then ducked behind my leg.

Staring in utter disbelief, I realized it was hiding behind me.

Out of the portal, two large hellhounds walked out, snarling and drooling.

The little hellhound whimpered and cowered into a small ball behind my leg.

Clearly, it was scared of these larger hellhounds, and while the trio would likely tell me to just kill the hellhound for being a hellhound, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. The little thing was obviously a baby and didn’t seem to want to hurt me.

“Go back through the portal,” I ordered the big hellhounds.

They continued towards us and snapped their teeth. The pup ran farther away from the portal, hiding behind a tree.

The two hounds tried to run past me and towards the pup.

“Fine, have it your way,” I said and jumped into their path, smacking them away from the pup and back towards the portal with my tail.

After getting back to their feet, they jumped apart, and tried to attack me from different sides.

Tony and Caleb ran forward, each focusing on a different hellhound.

“How many?” Caleb asked.

“Just these two so far,” I said, not wanting to tell them about the pup.

They quickly killed the two hellhounds and stepped back to stand beside me as we all faced the portal, waiting for something else to come out.

“I still smell them,” Tony commented and raised his nose. “Is it just because their bodies are here?”

My eyes darted to the pup who was looking at me with wide, scared eyes. “Y-Yeah, that must be it,” I said quickly and looked away so they wouldn’t look in the direction I was.

Kayden and Mason ran over, eyes wide at the two dead hellhounds.

“Everyone okay?” Mason asked. His eyes skimmed over me, but quickly focused on Caleb.

My heart clenched and I took a step back.

“Yes, we’re fine,” Tony answered.

---