Tracked: A Valkyrie Saga Book 2

Chapter 3 - Family Reunion

I was only eighteen when my brother simply disappeared off the face of the Earth. Sam was always larger than life and I grew up securely in his shadow. That shadow didn't disappear when he did, in fact all of the questions and uncertainty around his going missing only made things darker. I never could live up to the memory of him or the expectations that the clan had for him.

Dad was never the same after Sam. He allowed himself to be completely consumed with the investigation and completely forgot that he had other duties as a father and a clan leader. About ten years ago we had held an intervention and on the surface things got better, but Sam's disappearance caused a rot within our clan that I can't seem to get rid of. A year ago I took over as clan leader and I thought that we might finally be making progress.

But yesterday Patrick Walsh came to me with news of a female Valkyrie in California with our family name who claimed that her father was a part of the Rabec Clan. Sam was a hunter within the Rabec Clan and it was the entire Rabec Clan that had gone missing without a trace almost twenty years ago. Dad and I had booked the first flight to San Francisco and today we were finally going to shed some light on what happened to my long lost brother.

--Sean Olsen. Clan Leader of the Olsen Clan

I felt both Elijah and Max at my back as we walked away from the members of the Blade Clan and my stomach twisted in guilt. I had just completely taken over when this was Elijah's territory. He and the Oakland Clan had to deal with the consequences of my actions, and I was screwing things up left and right. I was so used to being alone that I hadn't even considered what the guys would want or what would happen to them before I strong armed the leader of the most powerful hunter clan in the kingdom.

I saw Elijah's sleek town car parked outside of Broad Street Diner and slid into the back seat when I heard the locks click open. Max surprised me by getting into the back with me and after Elijah got into the driver's seat he turned so that he was facing us. The stone of guilt within me got heavier and I found it difficult to meet Elijah's muddy brown eyes.

"Elijah, I am so sorry for all of the trouble that I have caused you and your clan. I had no right to take control of that conversation like I did, let alone volunteer your house and your clan members to aid in my training. I let my emotions get the best of me and -" Elijah cut off the rest of my mumbling rant by reaching out and gently caressing my cheek.

"Ray, you have absolutely nothing to apologize for. You are garnering all of this attention because you nearly sacrificed yourself to save one of my clan members and I am the one that failed to protect you in my own home. What you did just now with Edison was nothing short of amazing, and I am incredibly proud to know such a strong and independent young woman such as yourself," Elijah stated in a clear, determined voice and his eyes told me that he actually believed everything he was saying.

"You are more than welcome at our house at any time, and I hope that you will start to see it as a home for you as well. I know that every single one of us are more than happy to keep you company during your training sessions. Edison was trying to use this training as a way to separate you from us and install you within Blade Clan territory. You did a brilliant job of getting the carrot and avoiding the stick." He paused in his speech to tuck a stray hair behind my ear and then continued in a more serious tone.

"I do want to talk about how you are thinking of leaving the Bay Area and disappearing back into human society." I cocked my head to the side and double checked that the cloak on my mind was still in place because Elijah shouldn't be able to read my thoughts. My cloaking ability allowed me to shield my mind from Telepaths and Empaths.