Chapter 82: Our return
Derrick stared at me in utter bewilderment, the moment he saw me.
"Is that really you? Where have you been? We thought something must’ve happened to you."
"It’s good to see you too, Derrick."
Hearing my voice, Derrick smiled and rushed toward me.
"Dammit, man, you’ve got us worried sick," he said as he pulled me in for a hug. "I knew you were alive. You’re a tough bastard to kill. Where have you been?"
"It’s best we talk with everyone else present," I said.
"Who is she?" Kaelen asked as he glared intensely at Selthia. The other werewolves surrounding us looked as if they could attack at any time.
"She is my companion. She isn’t any threat to our pack."
"I won’t take that chance. I won’t let an outsider into our home just because you were the one to bring her here. If you can’t leave her behind, then I suggest both of you should leave."
"Come on, he’s my brother. You can’t possibly turn him away," Derrick came to my defense, but it looked as if Kaelen already had his mind made up.
"What if I told you I had information about your father, would you turn me away then?" I asked, and immediately both of their eyes widened.
"You know something about the alpha?"
"My father... Tell me what you know," Kaelen immediately demanded. This time his eyes were glowing red.
"I’ll only speak if I can get an audience with my mother and the others. Otherwise, I’m leaving."
"You!"
The moment I said that, Kaelen burst towards me with his claws extended. He looked as if he was going to rip my head off, but Derrick intervened and stopped him.
"Control yourself, Kaelen. I know you’re worried about your father, but that’s no reason to act rash." Derrick said, trying to calm him. "What harm could letting them in possibly have? You know Liam, he’s my brother. If you stop trusting family, then who else is there for you to trust?"
Kaelen looked at me, and he was fuming with rage, but slowly it looked as if Derrick’s words were having an effect as he began to calm down a bit.
"...Okay, fine. I’ll let you in," he grumbled before walking off.
"Come with us, Liam," Derrick instructed, and Selthia and I began following behind him.
As we walked towards the village, I noticed there were a lot more werewolves standing at guard, patrolling the village.
"Since Roran’s disappearance, we’ve assigned a lot more werewolves to patrol our territory in case we’re attacked. We’ve also sent out scouts to look for Roran, but so far we’ve turned up nothing," Derrick explained, noticing my curious gaze.
"It looks like you’ve stepped up and are doing a lot to help protect the village," I commented.
"Well, since Roran’s disappearance, Kaelen has been angrier than usual. This isn’t the first time he’s lost control. In fact, it’s been happening a lot recently, and I’m the only one that’s been able to keep him in check."
Thought so. I also noticed how his eyes flashed red right before he attacked me. He has always had anger issues. Especially since he has inherited the Lycann family’s werewolf curse.
"Mom has also been a wreck. Thinking you had died and maybe something similar happened to her brother. She is barely eating, and that girl, Isabella, spends all day and night scouring the forest for you. I’ve barely seen her since you’ve left. I think she is losing her mind, and if she carries on like this, she will die. Not that she seems to care either way."
Isabella... It’s been over a week since she has fed from me. I imagine it must’ve been affecting her mind.
"You should go find her when you’re done. Liora has been trying to get to her, but it hasn’t helped. All she cares about is finding you."
"Tsk! It would be better off for me and my darling if she dies," Selthia suddenly clicked her tongue, then she mumbled something so low that if I didn’t have supernatural hearing, then I wouldn’t have caught it.
For a second, her face looked a little demonic, but when she realized I was looking at her, that all disappeared and a cute smile appeared on her face. She instantly began hugging my arm.
"Darling, I think I’m starting to feel a little hungry. After this, can the two of us go for a little snack? Maybe we can find a monster wandering in the forest."
"Maybe later, I still have something to do after this."
"You mean that girl. It would be better if you just leave her. She sounds pretty incompetent already."
Hearing Selthia’s harsh words, a frown appeared on Derrick’s face. He didn’t say anything, but I could basically feel his anger rising. As for me, I didn’t particularly care if the girls liked each other. As long as they didn’t kill each other, I was fine leaving them to their game.
Besides, which man doesn’t like to be fought over? It may be a bit arrogant of me, but I think it will be fun watching them compete for my love.
"What about Allison? What has our cowardly older sis been up to while I was away?"
Hearing my question, Derrick chuckled.
"Believe it or not, she’s fighting her own battle."
"Really?"
"Yes, the young men in this village have really taken a liking to her. They are trying their best to court her. She receives hundreds of gifts a day. And of course, our cowardly big sis is forced into hiding without her younger brother Liam to save her. Believe it or not, she actually tried to look for you once."
"She did?"
"Yes, she left in the middle of the night. Of course, I watched her leave without saying anything, and just as I expected, the poor thing returned in tears a couple hours later. I saw her enter Mom and Dad’s room after that; she must’ve spent the night crying in Dad’s arms."
"Of course she did. I’ll make sure to tease her about it when I see her."
Derrick and I laughed as we talked about what had happened since I’ve been away. Soon, we arrived at the long house where everyone was gathered. The massive wooden door creaked loudly as it was shoved open.
Inside, I was greeted by a mixture of familiar faces.