Chapter 26 - The Demon Dog of Galas

As Kai made his way out of the council room, Nate, who had been outside patiently waiting for him came bounding over.

"Hey Kai!" he smiled cheerily.

"Hey Nate, sorry I can't stay to talk, I'm in a bit of a hurry." As Kai started walking off Nate quickly caught up with him and started walking alongside him again.

"That's okay, I won’t keep you, I was just going to ask if I could fight alongside you at Eclipse Fang."

Kai was slightly caught off guard by Nate's request and looked at him a bit bemused. As a new recruit to the royal guard, he wouldn't typically be thrown in the midst of battle so soon after completing the training and Kai had a preferred team of trusted shifters that he typically did these kinds of operations with.

"Errr… Nate I don't know if you're quite ready for that yet. There's every possibility that these 'rogues' are actually trained Sirran soldiers using this as an opportunity to test us. I think you might need a bit more experience before you..."

“I get that!” Nate cut him of mid-sentence pre-empting the impending rejection that looked to follow. "But I've completed all of my training here. How can I get the experience I need if I'm not allowed to put my skills in to practice?" he continued.

Kai huffed as he continued walking. If it was anybody else, he would have quickly dismissed them without a second thought, but Kai was close with Arrow and as a result had been around Nate since he was a pup, so he didn't want to hurt his pride by dismissing him harshly.

"Look Nate, I appreciate the enthusiasm here, but you know as well as I do that this could easily turn in to a blood bath. One simple mistake could cost you your life out there."

Nate rounded Kai and stood in front of him to stop him from walking causing Kai to stop abruptly in his tracks to avoid colliding in to him. "I know the risks Kai! I'm old enough to understand. I took this position knowing full well what I was signing up for. Look, with my brother not being around you'll need someone to fill his spot in your team, right? I can be your shield in his place! Give me a chance to prove myself! I won’t let you down."

Kai screwed his face up and looked at the young shifter in front of him. If anything, his determination was admirable, and it took guts for him to be so direct in front of him but he still didn’t feel comfortable with it.

“Nate...” Kai spoke hesitantly.

"I promise I won't be a liability and if I slow you down at all, you can leave me behind. Please Kai!" Nate continued again seeing Kai's expression slowly starting to change.

Kai huffed. "Okay...fine."

"Yes!" Nate shouted a bit too excitedly and punched the air. Kai’s expression soured instantly seeing Nate's reaction. He was already regretting it. Nate immediately straightened himself up.

Kai had found himself conceding to a lot of people today which was annoying the hell out of him.

“You need to tell Arrow about this.” Kai continued. He started massaging his temples to try and ease his tension. “I already know he’s going to be pissed about it.”

“Leave him to me!” Nate replied.

Kai walked around him and continued heading toward his quarters and Nate quickly followed behind. "And like you said, if you slow us down, we're leaving you behind, so make sure your ass stays close to me and do exactly as I tell you. Understood?"

"Yes sir!" Nate was struggling to contain his excitement. "This is great! I can't believe I'll get the chance to fight alongside the great Demon Dog of Galas! This is the opportunity of a.. Ow!" Nate palmed his hands over his face as he walked face first in to something hard. Kai had suddenly stopped walking and Nate had crashed into his back.

Kai slowly turned around to face him. His eyes were dark and hooded. "Don't…call me that."

"But everyone knows you as that. The shifter who can crush giant wolves in human form like matchsticks. You're already like a legend in the academy…"

As Kai's eyes got darker Nate finally got the hint and stopped talking.

"Okay. Sorry… I'm shutting up." Nate pretended to button up his lip.

Soldiers in the Sirran army had started calling him that after witnessing his unusual hybrid fighting style. Having being born to royal fated mates, Kai's wolf was more powerful than most and he had to train himself hard to earn Pax's respect, trust and compliance. In an effort to do so, Kai had been trained by his father's former guard Arya who was known for her unusual techniques and practices. He had nearly turned feral in his attempts to gain control over Pax, but after successfully doing so, he found he was able to invoke the power and abilities of his wolf without needing to shift into his wolf form.

When fully invoked, he could partially shift his hands and feet in milliseconds, his healing hyper accelerated and he found he could better anticipate his enemy’s movements, almost like a sixth sense. When activated his eyes would turn from black to red and this had earned him the name Demon Dog when fighting on the front lines.

Kai wasn't keen on this little nickname. Whilst he acknowledged his own strength the nickname had ended up taking on a life of its own and made him the target of many of Sirran's elite soldiers who deliberately sought to kill him to gain notoriety back home, like some kind of war trophy. That along with the fan-boys like Nate only made him feel like he was the centre of attention, which he hated.

Even with his current strength Kai knew he was no match for Matias, who's additional years of battle experience made him a fierce fighter, but he knew he could accelerate past him if he continued to train himself. The council knew this too unfortunately, which ultimately put him in the situation that he was currently in now, with people wishing him dead and having to keep his beautiful mate a secret. He'd trade in his title all in in a heartbeat to have her.

Seeing Nate now silenced, Kai resumed heading toward his quarters. Nate proceeded to follow him, slightly nervous that as soon as Kai left his sight, he might sneak off and leave without him.

"Nate?" Kai said sternly. His annoyance was evident in his tone of voice.

'Yes, Kai, sir?"

"You can stop following me now, just meet me out front with the rest with of the guys as soon as possible."

"Yes sir!" Nate peeled away and prepared to get ready.

As Kai entered in to his quarters his phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out and smiled seeing Adalyn’s name on the screen.

**Adalyn - Have you left yet?**


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Adalyn slumped back in her bed after sending a quick text to Kai. After her little confrontation with Gabriel, she was struggling to go back to sleep. She’d have to remember to call Leona first thing in the morning to align on her cover story.

Adalyn’s phone screen lit up and she rolled over to check it. It was ringing silently. Kai’s name flashed up on the screen.

*’Oh crap’* she thought. She hadn’t expected him to call her back, and so quickly as well.

After pausing for a sec to calm herself she answered.

“Hello?” Adalyn answered.

“Hey...” Kai replied. His voice sounded as smooth as velvet down the phone.

“I wasn’t expecting you to call me back.” she answered apprehensively.

“Oh? Shall I hang up then?” Kai laughed softly down the phone.

“No! It’s nice to hear you…” Adalyn blushed. Even though she couldn’t see him, it felt like he was right there with her.

“Everything okay?” Kai asked curiously.

“Yeah. My aunt grounded me for a week though. She wasn’t impressed with my cover story.”

“You got grounded? Wow that takes me back. I’m sorry you had to lie to her.”

“It’s okay. I don’t think Gabriel bought it though.”

“Gabriel? That’s your brother, right?”

“Yeah, sorta. We’re not blood related but he’s like a big brother.”

“I see.” Kai couldn’t help but feel a bit pensive learning that. As they had the same last name he had just assumed they were related.

There was a knock on Kai’s door.

“Sorry to cut this short. I’m gonna have to go, we’re heading out now. I’ll come and see you as soon as I get back in a couple of days”

“That might be tricky… with me being grounded and all”

“You know that’s not going to stop me from seeing you right?” Kai replied. Adalyn could almost hear his smirk down the phone. “Don’t worry, stealth ops are my specialty,” he added cheekily.

Adalyn giggled down the line.

“God, I seriously love that sound. I wish I was there to witness it.”

Adalyn blushed again down the line.

“Can I hear you licking your lips?” Kai asked darkly, with a new seductive tone in his voice.

Adalyn fell silent as she felt a warm knot in her belly grow. He was a whole different beast when lust started to take over him.

“Don’t make me have to come over there Adalyn.”

Part of her wished he would, so they could continue what they started out in the woods before Arrow caught them.

Someone knocked on the door to Kai’s room again. Whoever it was had some nerve to try and hurry him up.

“Don’t forget to message me or Arrow if you need anything okay?”

“Okay I will..” she replied.

“Bye Adalyn”

“Bye Kai”

Adalyn threw her phone in to bed and then collapsed back on to it with a huge smile on her face. Despite the situation she was in, she was in complete bliss.

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Outside her bedroom door, Gabriel had been leaning against the wall and had listened in on her call. His eyes grew dark hearing her talk on the phone. Whoever it was would eventually come to her, and he'd be waiting.