Chapter 3
CHAPTER 3
F rederick walked out the front door just as the car parked up.
A large man climbed out and straightened, peering around before turning to look at Frederick. He walked towards him, with a hint of a smile on his face and held his hand out. “I’m Shiloh Sweeney, I’m a new Sentinel.”
Frederick shook his hand. “Frederick Barbuda, head of the Sentinels for the Fortuna pack and in charge of training.”
Frederick was impressed by Shiloh. He had heard Julian and the others talking about their old commander and heard the respect they had for him in their voices. He knew just on this first meeting that they would be able to work together.
“Nice to meet you. I’m surprised that the pack needs sentinels, and new enforcers when I see you have dragons patrolling.”
“Not just dragons, we have gargoyles as well.”
“I’ve been travelling for a while and not kept up with any paranormal news, but isn’t having dragons and gargoyles here a bit over the top?” Shiloh asked, looking confused.
Frederick laughed. “Not for this pack. We have King Puff McDuncan and King Bob of the dragons and all mythical creatures here, as well as King Tudor Brown of the gargoyles and all flying shifters, and then Lord Zeus crowned Blake Hayes, Alpha King of all land-based shifters.”
Shiloh looked a little shocked before recovering. “I probably should have found time to catch up on recent events.”
Frederick laughed again. “Things are happening so fast that sometimes recent events are old news.” The smile fell off his face. “Something else has just happened, but I don’t know all the details yet. Follow me into the kitchen and I can find out and you can meet the two kings that are currently here.”
It didn’t take them long to walk to the kitchen. Frederick saw the others were all still in there talking.
“Everyone, this is Shiloh Sweeny,” Frederick introduced.
Blake stepped forward and smiled at him, holding his hand out. “Welcome to the Fortuna pack. I am Blake Hayes, Alpha of the pack. You’re a gorilla shifter?” he asked in surprise.
Shiloh stepped forward, bowed and shook his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Alpha King, and yes, I am. There are only a few of us left in the world. But Sentinel Barbuda said something has happened. Do you need my help?”
Blake shook his head. “Thank you for the offer, but a rescue party is already on the case.”
“What happened?” Frederick asked, just as Oz and Brook walked in the kitchen.
“Ares is missing. He was pulled away earlier and no one can find or sense him. Zeus is up looking for him, while Hades, Puff, Mateo, Jason, Tatum, Wynter, and Saxon have gone to search the underworld.”
Brook walked over to Demi and placed his hand on Demi's back, offering comfort. Forrest shifted around to give his brother room. Demi smiled and leaned into Brook. He was now surrounded by his new family.
“But the only place Ares could be hidden in the underworld is Tartarus,” Oz said, concern lacing his voice.
Blake walked over to Oz and touched his shoulder. “You need to believe that they’ll be safe and come back to us.”
Oz nodded. “My dad can take care of himself, as can Puff and Bob. But if Ares is in Tartarus, then Hades’ powers might not work. He’ll be in more danger than our pack mates.”
Frederick growled but didn’t say anything. He didn’t like the thought of Hades in danger and powerless. That pulled him up short, why didn’t he like that thought? He didn’t have time to think about that now, so he tuned back into the conversation.
“But we still have things to do while we await their return.” Blake looked back at Shiloh. “Forgive my rudeness, Shiloh, let me introduce you to everyone.”
As introductions were made, Blake watched the new sentinel and, just like Frederick, was impressed with what he saw. Yes, Shiloh would make a good leader of the defence teams. Plus, he was a gorilla shifter. He had heard stories about them growing up, but as they were so rare, never expected to meet one, let alone have one in his pack. He wondered how quickly they could have another pack run, so he could see Shiloh’s shifted form.
“Frederick, why don’t you show Shiloh around and bring him up to speed on everything that has been happening, and the defence teams?” He then turned to look at Shiloh. “When you’ve finished, come and find me and let me know what you think.”
Shiloh nodded and bowed. “Of course, sire.”
Blake groaned. “Just Blake will do.”
“And you must just call me Tudor and you don’t need to bow either we’re just normal people who all live in the same pack.”
Alex touched his arm and Tudor stopped talking.
“Just normal people living in a pack where three of them wear crowns and are the leaders of all the paranormals in the world. But you know, just normal everyday people,” Ash put in.
“Exactly,” Blake said, grinning while the others chuckled.