The Shadow Howlers
Chapter 23 - Hermes

Andrew went to the dining hall the next morning to tell everyone about Nyx and Hermes. When he arrived, the others were already there. Polly and Trisha were extra careful about who approached Selena, even eyeing him suspiciously.

“Good morning. I have some reinforcements coming to help us. I want to warn you because they’re probably not exactly what you would expect as far as help,” Andrew explained.

“Okay, who are they?” Gunnar asked. He was nervous about anyone new after what happened to Bianca and Alani.

“Nyx is the goddess of night. She’s from the underworld. Hermes is the herald of the gods and travels between all realms. They’re able to come to Earth, unlike those from the realm Selena and I come from. We need the power of the gods to fight the two goddesses. Having Nyx and Hermes here will give us that power, in addition to the power Selena and Zaiden now have.” Andrew explained while everyone looked at him in shock.

“You’re sure they will help us?” Selena asked. She was willing to accept all the help they could get if it meant they would survive.

“I promise they’re not as bad as you would think,” Andrew said. Polly and Trisha looked at him with narrowed eyes.

“What if it’s a trick, and they’re coming here to do something bad to the Queen? We won’t let that happen.” Polly told Andrew. Alani smirked. She really loved those little pups with their firecracker attitudes. They reminded her of when she was a pup.

“There’s a Hermes at the door. He said Andrew is expecting him.” One of the guards mindlinked everyone.

“Well, I guess we’ll see for ourselves how good they are. Hermes just arrived.” Zaiden said as they all stood up. Polly and Trisha stayed in front of Selena with their hands in front of them just in case they needed to attack Hermes with glitter. When the group reached the entry, they saw a handsome man with thick blonde hair, dark green eyes, and lightly tanned skin. The men all moved to stand in front of their mates. Bianca, Alani, and Selena laughed and shoved the men out of the way.

“Dang, you would think we were animals or something,” Alani said to the other two women. Omar growled lightly. He recognized how handsome Hermes was and didn’t want Alani to think about anyone else when they were in bed.

“Hermes, thank you for coming on such short notice. This is King Zaiden and Queen Selena.” Andrew said. Hermes reached out to shake their hands, but Polly and Trisha stood between them to stop him.

“You don’t touch them unless we give you permission,” Trisha said, glaring at Hermes. He looked around at the others in confusion.

“What’s with the attack pups?” He asked. Polly growled at him.

“We are not attack pups. We are the Queen’s guards. If you have a problem with that, there’s the door.” Polly said, pointing at the door behind him. Hermes held his hands up in surrender.

“Please accept my apologies, guards. I promise to behave myself while I’m here.” Hermes never bowed to anyone, not even Satan, but he bowed to the two little pups. Even Andrew was surprised at his kind gesture toward them. Hermes wasn’t used to being talked to like that, especially not by pups. Trisha and Polly tried hard not to giggle.

“You can stay then. Just don’t do anything to make us mad because we have power from the goddess wolf, Leto,” Polly told him. Hermes chuckled and nodded.

“Do you have names, or do I just call you guards?” he asked, squatting down in front of them. He didn’t care about anyone else at that moment. The pups weren’t like anyone else he had ever met, and it was refreshing.

“I’m Polly, and my sister is Trisha. That’s our dad, Alpha Gunnar, and our mom, Luna Bianca. The big man there and the pretty woman are the head warriors, Omar and Alani.” Polly finished the introductions, and Hermes smiled at her.

“It’s nice to meet you, Polly and Trisha. I think you are my two favorite people here. We don’t have many pups like you where I come from. Honestly, we don’t see many pups at all. Hopefully, I’ll have some little ones of my own someday.” Andrew almost fell over. Since when did Hermes want to mate with someone and have kids? Many in the underworld preferred sleeping with whoever they wanted and not tying themselves down.

“You want a mate?” Andrew asked in disbelief. Hermes nodded and frowned as he stood up.

“I want a family. You don’t get much of a family atmosphere doing what I do. That’s one of the reasons I agreed to come here. I want to be in a family environment and allow myself to dream, even if only for a little while.” Hermes answered him.

“Maybe you will find a mate here. You never know.” Bianca said with a smile. Gunnar held her hand tightly. He trusted her but not Hermes.

“One can always hope. It’s nice being out of the darkness, too. People tend to think those of us in the underworld only want darkness and fire. Most of my time is spent there, but I can go anywhere. Sometimes, I just want to enjoy the sunlight like those on Earth. Those of you who live here don’t realize how lucky you have it. Being a god, goddess, or someone who works for them, your future is already written before birth. We spend centuries doing the same things every day. I assume that’s why some of them, like the evil sisters, want to cause havoc every once in a while.” Hermes pulled on one of Trisha’s curls, and she giggled until she caught herself.

“Would you like to eat breakfast with us?” Selena asked him.

“Yes, please. Is there somewhere I can put my things?” He asked. Selena had one of the staff take Hermes’ belongings and put them in one of the guest rooms. Just as they were getting ready to go to the dining hall, they received a mindlink that someone else had arrived.

“That should be Nyx,” Andrew said as the door opened. Everyone turned, and Hermes froze. He wasn’t looking at Nyx. He was looking past her. A young woman was running up the walkway. When her eyes met his she stopped and smiled. Hermes heard her say the word that he’d never thought he’d hear.

“Mate.”

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