“Your son?” Mystic asked, shocked. Mali sighed and sat down, wrapping her tail around her front paws as she glanced over at Kale.
“Yes…my son. I’m afraid it’s not his fault that he is so mean. They’ve made him that way.”
Mystic winced at all of the sore places on her body as she slowly laid down. She hoped she would be less threatening to Kale if she was in a submissive position. The large male was still glaring at her from across the cave and a low growl would come from his corner occasionally.
“They who? Humans?” Mystic was confused. Kale seemed to be a designer dog, but was much bigger than any she had ever met.
“No…Kale has never even seen a human. The Hellhounds…they’ve practically raised him…”
“He was born here?”
“Yes…and they take him out for training. He comes to stay with me to recover…but as soon as he’s strong again, they take him. I’ve tried as much as possible to teach him that violence isn’t the only way to do things…but it’s hard. They are so mean to him. The only person in his world who hasn’t been a threat to him has been me.”
“Do they just…keep you here?”
“No. I am escorted out to exercise and eat. They would let me out if I would agree to stay with them. But I won’t. I refuse. I try to escape any chance I get, which isn’t much.”
“Do they hurt you?”
Mystic felt like she was asking too many questions, but she was curious and she figured her fate would be the same as Mali’s so she might as well know.
“No. Well…if I don’t behave. The only time they’ve hurt me is when I’ve tried to escape.”
“Oh…so…how did you have Kane?”
Mali looked at the floor for a long time before answering. Mystic let her gaze shift to Kale briefly and was relieved to see that his posture had relaxed some. He was still watching her, but his gaze was less angry. She wagged her tail softly at him and then looked back at Mali. Her answer was barely more than a whisper.
“Kane is his father…I’m almost 100% sure.”
Mystic cocked her head sideways in confusion and Mali continued.
“When they first took me…I pretended to want to stay. I pretended to…I made them believe that….I was chosen as Kane’s mate. I was made part of their pack…there is a small chance I was already carrying Kale when they took me, but…I doubt it. You’ve seen how big he his. It was a typical Hellhound litter. Just one pup, about twice as big as a normal wolf or dog at birth. His eyes were black. Solid black, like one big pupil. They are all born that way. Eyes open but solid black.”
“You…mated with Kane?” Mystic silently snarled her lips in disgust.
“I didn’t want to! I figured he would make me anyways. And I just wanted to go back to my pack, so I thought if I acted like I wanted to…I would have more freedom…and I could go home. And I did. I had my chance.”
“What happened?”
“I snuck away at night, carrying Kale with me. But he was so big, and I didn’t get far enough away by daylight and they were able to track me.”
"What did they do?”
“Kane almost killed me…then he drug me back here. I’ve been in this cave ever since and that’s when they started training Kale.”
“Training him for what?”
“Their plan…is to keep taking females. Their pack only has two left and since they can only have one pup at a time, and not all pups survive, they are worried about dying out. So they are going to keep taking dog and wolf females to have puppies. They want a pack of wolves that is bigger, stronger and meaner than anything else. They have no idea of what it is to be a pack. They just
want fearless killing machines.”
Mystic looked at Kale and her heart filled with sadness. It wasn’t fair that he didn’t know what it was like to be part of a pack. To have others that were there for you no matter what, that would hunt beside you and fight beside you because they loved you and you were part of them.
“We have to get you guys out of here. We have to leave. All three of us.”
“I’ve tried…its hopeless.”
“No, it’s not. And besides, now there are two of us. Maybe if Kale decides he can trust me too, he’ll help us. Besides, you said Kane might be his father. That means you have a mate out there. A pack to go home to.”
“Had. I’m sure they wouldn’t want me anymore…not after what I’ve done.”
“Yes you would. They would never turn away a pack member. At least my pack wouldn’t. I haven’t even been with them very long…and I know they’ll do everything they can to save me.”
A quick doubt flashed in Mystic’s mind about her pack essentially giving her up to the Hellhounds. She pushed the thought away. They hadn’t had a choice and now she had to focus on getting herself, Mali and Kale out of the cave and away from the Hellhound pack. She knew she needed Mali and Kale to help her or it would never work. She knew she had to gain their trust.
“You said you had a mate, what was his name?”
Mali slowly smiled and laid down. Mystic could tell she was getting ready to tell a story and from the corner of her eye she saw Kale lay down as well. She settled down to listen but nothing could have prepared her for the shock of Mali’s next sentence.
“His name was Black, and he had the most amazing blue eyes.”
I know its been forever. I'm sorry. Thank you for waiting.
