The Hunter is a minor god, his exact domains are often debated among the learned and the only one they all agree that he has is patience. He is often considered a deity of the woods and other wild places but not all hunting is done in the wild. Some argue that he is an amalgamation of house gods and doesn’t actually exist.

Kylana

I actually see Analais nervous as Alana guide the two of us into the woods. We walk nearly half an hour away before finding a clearing far enough away that the rite should not affect the rest of the pack.

We stop as Alana says, “this place will work.”

“Are you sure you’re up for this?” I ask, worried that she may not have recovered from her latest child.

“I wouldn’t have dragged the two of you out here otherwise. Now be a good densister and sit” she says while pulling out a wax statue of a wolf.

She sets it down in the middle of the three of us as we all sit. She then bites her thumb and smears the dripping blood on the candle, once she has done so Analais and me do the same leaving three red streaks that all but cover the entire statute.

With a word, Alana lights the wax on fire and the smoke begins to circle around us. The white cloud slowly taking on a silver hue as we all breathe in and out the fumes. The sent of wet earth and crisp night air fills our noses. My heart beats faster as I feel my wolf stir.

Some of the smoke breaks off from its circle and rises above our head, taking the shape of a small silver ball before it begins to glow. I hear my soul sister growl in the back of my mind, upset at being woken up so abruptly.

The world seems to spin and tilt, making me feel sick so I close my eyes waiting for the feeling to stop. I feel my soul sister move somehow and my eyes snap open to a perfectly still world. The smoke circling around the three of us billows and seems to become almost solid as it condenses into three forms. Each a wolf of different sizes next to us.

My own is the largest with her shoulders just shy of where my own would be if I was standing, though Alana’s is close if skinnier than she should be. Analais’s however I a tiny scraggly thing smaller than his human form, barely the size of a dog.

Analais has always been a good friend, we trained together before each of us passed our trials into adulthood, but his wolf was the greatest shame to the pack. A weakling who even with the full moon could not cause a full transformation.

I glance at Analais as he opens his eyes and lowers his head to the other wolf spirits. My own growls at him, ignoring the wolf by his side as insignificant.

It is Alana’s wolf who is the first to speak, “you know why we’re here.”

My soul sister looks at the runt spirit and sneers, “I won’t let a runt have me.”

Analais’s wolf makes no response other than to look at Analais who says, “you do not think I am strong enough.”

“You are weak, your seed only brings dead pups.”

“Yet I am alpha, the other males are your son and your daughter’s mate who says he isn’t ready to be alpha.”

“I will not submit to a weak male.”

“Then submit to the human rather than the wolf” Alana’s wolf says.

“You wouldn’t believe the things he can do” Alana brags with the smirk she always uses. All her stories that I only half believe flash through my mind, upsetting my wolf further.

She growls at Analais but he stares back even as his wolf moves behind him. At first I think his wolf is cowering but no, it moved to get out of the way while still giving what little support it could to Analais.

“Sister, . . .” I start before my wolf cuts me off saying “The pack is too small. His seed grows dead pups.”

I pause, sister is right. The pack is too small, we don’t have enough members. I should be turning humans and testing them to see if they are worthy of the gift, not taking an effectively sterile mate.

I glance at Analais, his face a reflection of the same guilt I feel but stronger. Still, he does not break his eye contact with my soul sister; continuing to challenge her. The same look of determination in his eyes that lead him to be the most skilled Hunter in the pack. The same look that he had when he beat down every other male that challenged him for Alana with only minor help from her.

I look over to my soul sister and say, “sister, at least let him prove his worth. He is needed.”

My wolf glares at me for a moment before nodding. She then turns to Analais and growls, “fight me then. Prove your strength runt.”

Analais does not answer. He stands up and in the curling smoke my wolf lunges at him. He sidesteps, turning just enough to get the space to draw a knife from his belt. The knife sinks into the fur of my soul sister before the blade breaks. My wolf’s fur and hide to strong for the iron blade but still it draws blood and Analias runs his own hand through the cut preventing it from healing as it should.

The injury on the smoke body of my wolf reflects onto my own and my blood begins to spill from a cut on my left side. Analais pulls another blade from his belt and throws it into the billowing smoke, this time the weapon doing nothing but a minor annoyance as my wolf gets into melee distance once more. He dodges a claw swipe by grabbing hold of the claw and swinging himself onto my wolf’s back. I wonder for a moment what he could possibly want to do from there without a weapon before I see his nails extend, piercing through his gloves.

No not nails, claws but they’re also too small. That can’t be a partial transformation, even if he could there is no way that his wolf is strong enough for it nor does he have the magical talents to shapeshift with any sort of spell. . . My thoughts stop as a flare of pain erupts from my back, my scream of pain echoing my wolf’s as his somehow clawed hand tares into the back of the smoky manifestation of my wolf.

“Submit” he growls into her ear as another not quite clawed hand rests on the back of her neck, the points just barely drawing blood. A threat that he can sever the spine from where he now is.

I can feel rage and shame well up within my wolf, but she does stop. Neither of us can figure out how he managed to manifest his claws, but she lowers herself to the ground and shows her belly. She does not break eye contact, she still does not like this, but she does submit to him.

I am not sure if I am happy or upset. I am glad that my wolf has accepted he actually does have some strength but at the same time I am furious with myself that some part of our twin soul lost to half of a runt. Somehow that makes me angrier than losing most of the pack to an Althaen army. Yet at the same time I am proud of my friend, that he can with just his skill take down my raw power.

“I repeat my invitation to share a place in my den and the warmth of my mate” Alana and her wolf both say with a proud smile.

I look at my soul sister, I can feel how she does not think it is a good idea to take a mate that cannot sire new pack members. How she does not like the idea of a mate that is so much weaker and smaller than our last one. I mentally nudge her, reminding her that he I strong enough to beat her and Ragnar was also weaker than us.

She grumbles for a moment before saying, “Analais, my name is Bloodfang.”

He nods and smiles stepping back before saying, “thank you Bloodfang, my wolf’s name is Witheredfang.”

Alana smiles as she walks over to me and begins to chant the words to a healing spell. Her use of magic ending the ritual that allowed our wolves to manifest. The smoke that makes up their form begins to dissipate and rise upwards into the sky as it quickly loses the magic that held it in place.

My wounds close as the odd tingle of healing magic washes over me. A few seconds pass before Alana stops and Analais helps me up. “I’m sorry for hurting you” he says.

Before I can respond, Alana smirks and says, “don’t apologize, kiss her.”

He smiles and stands up straighter, still slightly shorter than be before pulling me to him. His arms wrap around me and our lips touch. He kisses me in a way Ragnar never did, softly, tenderly, a gentle caress with more than just the crude lust that Ragnar never went past.

I struggle to reciprocate, unsure how to show anything but crude physical lust. My heart flutters and I can’t help but take a step forward when he separates from me.

“Enjoying yourself?” Alana asks with the most infuriating smirk.

“You can tease her later” Analais says to Alana and she just smiles before walking up to me and pulling me into a hug.

“He only keeps getting better. Enjoy it” Alana whispers before stepping away and saying, “I’ll leave the two of you alone.”