Chapter 37: Chapter Thirty-Seven: Targeted

Akira woke to the sound of voices arguing. She could make out her Wolfie and the captain’s voice, but the third voice was unfamiliar.

“They’ve already killed one of the crew! We should drop them off at the nearest port.”

“I am the captain of this bloody ship. I say who stays and who goes. Mr. Selinofoto killed Scottsdale in defense of his Havent.”

“Wolfric,” Wolfric told the captain.

Akira moved to roll out of bed and squealed when large hands pulled her back down onto the bed. She turned and giggled when she came face to face with Malique.

“Don’t distract Wolfric,” Malique whispered.

He pulled her against him and held her as they listened to the voices outside their cabin.

“How do we know she’s a Havent and not some girl they picked up on their travels? She has no soul….”

Akira sucked in a breath, and Malique held her closer. They both knew Wolfric had his hand around the man’s throat.

“Why won’t anyone believe us?” Akira whispered, a tear sliding down her cheek.

“Because people refuse to believe what they cannot see,” Darius said, sitting up on the other side of Malique.

Akira looked at her Pegasus and sniffled. “But you guys believe it.”

Darius smiled as he leaned over Malique and pulled her over the Vampire’s body, then settled her in his lap, her head on his chest, his back against the headboard.

“We can see your soul in your eyes, little one,” Darius whispered.

“Why did the Gods curse me?” Akira asked.

Malique and Darius looked at each other, then at Akira.

“We don’t believe they cursed you,” Darius said, then kissed her forehead.

Malique sat up and leaned his back against the headboard. He looked up at the ceiling, then at his Psychi.

“Akira, the Gods—we think they’re protecting you.”

Akira blinked. “Protecting me how?”

Malique looked at Darius, then at Akira again.

“You’re a powerful Havent,” Darius said. “We think they know who and what you are. They made it so only your Warriors can see what is inside of you. Because if others saw it, they would use you. And….”

“Your Warriors protect you. We would never use or abuse you,” Malique finished for Darius.

Darius nodded. “Who knows what anyone else would do if they saw the power we see in your eyes. You have the strongest soul we have ever seen.”

Akira smiled. “They’re protecting me?” she asked, then frowned. “But my father abused my mother….”

Malique pulled her off Darius’s lap and onto his own. They both rubbed her back as Malique rocked her.

“Apollo Hendrix is an evil man. And he will get his—one day,” Malique said with a growl.

Darius nodded. “I have never met your father. But anyone who could hurt someone as sweet and pure as you; deserves an agonizing death.”

Akira giggled as she held onto her Vampire Warrior.

Malique kissed the top of her head, and they went back to listening to the voices outside their door. Wolfric had apparently let the other man go because he was talking, though softer.

“Why don’t they prove she’s a Havent if only they can see her soul?”

Akira whimpered, and her Warriors growled.

“Give me your fucking hand,” Wolfric snarled.

They heard a squeal of pain, and the captain bark profanities Akira had never heard before.

“You can’t go around cutting my crew!” the captain shouted.

Wolfric growled, “he’s insulting my fucking Havent. He wants proof—I will give him proof!”

Akira squealed when the door flew open. Luckily, they were still in their clothes.

Wolfric smiled when he saw his Psychi awake and held by her Warriors. He knows if she has heard any of that, she has been hurt by it.

“Akira, love,” Wolfric said, holding his hand out to her.

Malique helped Akira to her feet, then he and Darius rolled out of bed. They stood on either side of her and glared at the man who was holding his bleeding hand.

“Would you be so kind as to heal this man’s hand?” Wolfric asked, his hand still held out to her.

Akira smiled and nodded, then took a step forward. The crewman stared at the small girl, his eyes following her every move. She held her hand out to him, and he pulled away from her. The captain cleared his throat, and the man grumbled as he held his hand out to Akira.

Blood was dripping to the floor, but no one seemed to care. Akira smiled and took his hand into both of hers, then closed her eyes. A soft amber glow spread from her hands over his, then slowly up his arm. His eyes bugged out of his head when the pain subsided, and the glow continued up to his throat.

“She’s going to kill me!” the crewman said with a squeal as he tried to pull away from her.

Akira growled and yanked the man closer, concentrating on his throat. Wolfric had bruised his throat, and he would have had a rough time speaking for a while. Nothing was damaged, but she healed it anyway.

The crewman cleared his throat and felt no more pain from the man’s hand. When she let him go, he looked at his hand, which was perfectly healed. You would never know the beast had sliced his palm open.

“If anyone calls our Havent a liar again, I will do more than break his neck,” Wolfric said, pulling Akira into his arms.

Captain White was convinced. Not that he needed any convincing. But the dull-eyed girl is a healer. And a powerful one at that. Looking into her eyes, you would never know that she is a Havent.

“Now, if you will excuse us. We need to get sleep before we have to continue our search for our Havent’s fourth Warrior,” Wolfric said, giving them a pointed stare.

The captain nodded and pulled the dumbstruck crewman out of their room.

Akira sighed and almost fell to the floor.

Wolfric caught her and lifted her into his arms. “You didn’t have to heal beyond his palm,” he said with a chuckle.

She sighed, “I heard in his voice that he was in pain from you strangling him. I wanted to help.”

Wolfric smiled. “He deserved to hurt.”

Akira sighed, “maybe. But I could not help myself,” she said with a yawn.

Wolfric looked at his fellow Warriors. Their Psychi is the purest and most beautiful creature they have ever come in contact with. And she is theirs, for now, and all eternity.

~⚔~

“How long does it take to find a Warrior?” Captain White asked.

The captain was standing on the deck of his ship with the leader of the Havent’s Warriors, Wolfric Selinofoto—Direwolf.

“There is no time length or limit. Just whenever we find them,” Wolfric grumbled.

It has been twenty-four hours since they started this journey. And Akira has not felt a thing. Maybe they are in the wrong realm.

“Maybe we should return to port,” the captain suggested.

“Already?” Akira asked, walking up to them.

“It’s been twenty-four hours, little one,” Wolfric said as he pulled her into his arms.

Akira sighed, “you’re right. But what if he is hiding? Or hurt? Or….”

Wolfric chuckled and lifted her chin so she looked up at him.

“If you cannot feel him, he is not here, love. He can’t hide from his Havent,” he said the last part with a wink.

Akira giggled. She knows how much power she has over her Warriors. Wolfric is right. If she has not felt him yet, then he is not here. They have covered so much ocean; there is no way she would not have felt him by now.

“Okay,” she whispered, “let us go back to port.”

Wolfric smiled and kissed her forehead. It will be nice to make love to her again. They have not done anything on this ship. Too many men to hear them and think about their Havent naked.

Wolfric shivered. ‘Nope, not going there.’

“Hey, princess! I bet you can’t hit that target!” a crew member shouted.

Akira pulled out of Wolfric’s arms and grinned at the man who challenged her.

Wolfric smiled and let her go. All-day the crewmen have been challenging her. When they had discovered she was excellent with a bow and arrow, they had set targets up all over the ship.

She has not missed a single shot.

‘What the fuck did Brynhildr teach her while she was lost in the forest?’ Wolfric wondered, for not the first or last time.

Akira took the bow from the man who had called out to her, and the man grinned as he handed her an arrow. She only gets one shot.

Wolfric looked up and whistled. They had placed a target so high up he could barely see it.

When the arrow left the bow, everyone held their breath and watched the arrow wiz through the air. When it hit the target, Wolfric and the other Warriors roared with pride. The Trolls shouted from their hiding place, and Jules and Levi flew down from their perch. They popped in front of Akira, and Jules hugged her.

Wolfric watched the two Fairies with his Psychi. Akira has become fast friends with Julianne. A lifelong friendship that in no doubt was going to have Jules following Akira wherever she goes.

“Did you see that?!” Akira asked, jumping at Wolfric.

Wolfric laughed as he lifted her off her feet and swung her around. “I sure did, little one.”

Akira sighed and held onto him. When he set her on her feet, she looked giddy and excited. She held the bow out to him, and he looked at it, then at her.

“Your turn,” she whispered.

Wolfric stared at her for a moment, then grinned and took the bow from her. He walked over to where the crewman was standing and took the arrow from him. Wolfric aimed high and squinted his eyes. He judged the winds, then let the arrow fly. The arrow hit the bullseye next to Akira’s, not through it. He would never do that to her.

The arrow stuck out of the target, right next to hers, where he belongs.

Akira jumped up and down with excitement.

Wolfric handed the crewman the bow, then pulled Akira into his arms and kissed her. She moaned against him, and he had to let her go before he stripped her of her clothes, right here on deck, for all to see, then had his way with her.

And he would NEVER do that.

“May I have a word with you?” the captain asked as he walked up to Wolfric and Akira.

Wolfric looked at the captain.

“There’s a point on the map we haven’t looked, and I have heard stories,” the captain informed Wolfric.

Wolfric nodded, then kissed Akira on the cheek and followed the captain to his cabin. Malique and Darius looked at Akira, then followed Wolfric.

“Want to try another target?” the crewman asked.

Akira nodded. “Oh, yes, please.”

She took the bow from him and looked around the ship for a difficult target. She grinned when she found one.

“Off that post, around that can, and bullseye,” Akira smirked and pointed to the spot she would be aiming for.

The crewman scoffed, “okay, princess.”

She grinned, took aim, and shot.

The arrow hit exactly where she said it would, and when it hit the target, she jumped for joy, then fell when the ship tilted. The crewman caught her and held onto her as they slid down the deck toward the water.

Akira screamed as the ship righted itself.

“What the fuck!” Wolfric bellowed as he stormed back onto the deck.

He looked at Akira still in the crewman’s arms and stormed over to them.

Akira shrieked when Wolfric yanked her out of the man’s arms.

“Wolfric!” Akira shouted, using her Havent voice.

Wolfric stopped scowling at the crewman and looked at her.

Akira smiled and placed her hand to his cheek. “He saved me,” she whispered, then told him what had happened.

Wolfric looked at the crewman and held his hand out to him. “Thank you.”

The crewman nodded and shook his hand.

“What is your name?” Akira asked the man.

She could not believe she had been talking to the man most of the day and had never asked him his name.

The man smiled. “Quartermaster Davey Jonus.”

Akira stared at him wide-eyed. She has been playing target practice with the second in command of the ship.

‘Holy shit.’

Then his name struck her, and she snickered.

Davey chuckled, “yeah, my mother thought it would be funny.”

Akira nodded. “Sounds like your mother has a sense of humor.”

Davey nodded. “It’s funny, except when you’re in school, and people put bones in your locker.”

“Davy Jones’ locker!” Akira shouted with delight.

Davey chuckled, “yeah.”

“Anyone see what tipped us?” the captain asked as he stepped onto the deck.

Malique and Darius stepped out behind the captain and looked at Akira. Akira nodded to them, letting them know she was okay.

“It was a large rock, Captain,” a crewman said as he approached them.

“Why are we so close to the rocks?!” the captain shouted.

“We’re not sure, sir,” the crewman controlling the wheel said as he yanked on the wheel.

A song penetrated their minds, and everyone froze.

“That voice,” a crewman whispered.

“What’s going on?” Akira asked, looking around at the men.

Every man, except for her Warriors, was walking toward the edge of the ship, including the captain and quartermaster.

“Sirens,” Wolfric growled.

“Grab them before they go overboard!” Jules shouted as she and Levi grabbed a long piece of rope.

The six of them rounded up the crew and tied them to the posts. Out of the water came three beautiful women with blue scales and silver hair. They sang to the crew and Akira’s Warriors. When the Warriors did not budge from their Havent’s side, the Sirens sang louder and motioned with their hands for them to follow.

Wolfric took a step away from Akira, and her heart skipped a beat when he walked toward the three women.

“Wolfie,” Akira cried as she watched her wolf approach the Sirens.