Chapter 81: Our Journey Continues
"Floki, there are some things I will need to take care of, so I’ll leave you and the others to stay here for the time being. There are other skinwalker tribes in this area, are they not?"
"Yes, my lord."
"I want you to conquer them and next time when I return I’ll turn them all. It should be easy for you. You are no ordinary skinwalker anymore, you are stronger."
There was no way I could show up back home with a pack of skinwalkers following behind me. I needed to assess the situation with the pack first. The Nyx pack must’ve been gathering their forces to launch an all-out attack. Which means I don’t have much time left.
"I’ll need your help fighting Danzo, so I’ll also contact you in the near future. For now, I want you to gather up the most capable fighters you have on hand."
"Yes, my lord. Whenever you need me, I’ll come to your aid."
I then turned my attention to the skinwalkers in front of me.
"All of you are now a part of my pack. I know you can feel the changes happening inside of you. You are no regular skinwalkers. You are stronger. More capable. And as long as you remain a part of my pack, that will remain so."
The people looked at me with varying expressions, but I knew they understood. I could feel their loyalty in the way they were looking at me. It was as if they were looking at their god.
After that, Selthia and I spent a few more minutes in the village before we decided to leave. While we were there, the villagers offered us various gifts for the road. They gave us food and some clothes.
Also, some of the young girls took a liking to Selthia. They were enchanted by her alluring beauty. They seemed interested in the color of her hair and the different sea ornaments she used to decorate it. Selthia seemed pleased by their attention. Almost like a queen getting pampered by her subjects. She even allowed them to braid a section of her hair.
By the time we were ready to go, she almost seemed saddened by it.
"Don’t worry, you’ll see them again soon," I said, trying to console her.
She smiled and locked arms with me as we left. Since I decided to take the longer way home, it would be quite a while before we got home. If we continue at this pace, we should get there by morning.
Soon night fell, and it was time for Sylthia and me to make camp. I used my heat manipulation ability to start a fire, and the two of us gathered around it. I then summoned a few of my shadow hounds.
"What is the purpose of you summoning them?" Selthia asked with a confused expression on her face.
"They are to keep watch so we aren’t attacked."
"Attacked?"
She really had no concept of danger. In the ocean, sirens were the apex predator, so the concept of being attacked seemed unfathomable to her.
"If a powerful monster shows up, my hounds will alert us so we aren’t ambushed," I explained.
She nodded along, seemingly understanding what I was saying.
"Are you hungry?" I decided to ask.
"I’m always hungry. But it’s less so now that I ate the wraith’s heart. Now that it’s night, the sun won’t zap most of my energy," she then glanced up at the sky, staring at the beautiful moon hovering in the sky. "I always loved the moon. I remember my sisters and I would swim to shore every night just to have a look at it."
"Hmm? You have sisters?"
"Yes, quintuplets," she grinned. "Though we all look the same, you can distinguish us by our hair color. Plus, we all have different personalities. Not that it matters, I doubt you’ll ever meet them since they are all back home in Atlantis."
"I see. Do you regret running away from home?"
"Now that I met you, I don’t regret anything," she smiled and leaned into my shoulder and slowly began closing her eyes. "Liam, there is something I don’t fully get."
"What is it?"
"This other pack that you say will attack, why haven’t they already? I just think if they were planning to attack and destroy your pack, they should’ve done so already. It seems foolish that they haven’t."
"That’s because they are waiting on something," I answered.
"Waiting on something," Selthia opened her eyes and looked at me questioningly. "What could they be waiting on?"
I leaned back onto the ground and allowed Selthia to fall onto my chest. Now the two of us were staring up at the beautiful night sky.
"The full moon. That’s what they are waiting on. They want to attack when they are at their strongest. They are planning to use the full moon to wipe us out for good."
For some reason, Selthia was smiling and her eyes seemed to be sparkling.
"Wow, you are really smart, aren’t you, Liam? It’s like you can see into the future or something." Her eyes were sparkling as she spoke, and she looked at me in awe. "Like how you planned to use the wraith against the skinwalker village. It seemed you planned that out since we were back at the cave. I also have a sneaky suspicion that you knew that I would be here to help you stop. I also think that you timed it so it all happened perfectly. How are you doing that? I’ve never met anyone like you before."
"I don’t think I’m particularly smart. If anything, I think I just have a good grasp of people, how they think and operate—that kind of stuff. Then I just use what I know to plan ahead. It’s easy considering I’ve been doing it my whole life. No matter how many skills I have, the best ones will always be the ones that enhanced my 5 senses. It’s what allowed me to discern things about people and also my environment."
My whole life, I’ve been unknowingly using my senses to get a read on people. Within just a few seconds of meeting someone, I can figure out things about them that they don’t even know about themselves.
"Well, I think you’re pretty cool to be able to do that."
"Does that mean I’ve passed your test?" I asked. "Am I worthy of the beautiful siren Selthia?"
She giggled at my jest and planted a kiss on my lips.
"You are more than worthy," she whispered.
The two of us spent the whole night cuddling as we slept.
The next morning, it was back to business as we continued our journey. Within seconds of us entering the Lycann pack territory, we were surrounded by wolves who quickly made their presence known as they circled around us. A bit of déjà vu hit at that very moment as I saw Kaelen make an appearance.
Not only that, but my brother Derrick was standing by his side. His jaw opened wide when he saw me.
"Liam? Is that really you?"