Hunt

EVERETT

The crowd immediately goes silent as we listen to the gunshot ring out through the forest.

A tense murmur spreads through the crowd as they all sit frozen, glued to their seats.

But I don’t allow myself a moment of shock.

“Stay here,” I say to Aurora, getting up from my seat.

“Wait!” she says, grabbing my hand. “If someone’s hurt, I need to heal them.”

I look at my mate. I knew she would ask, and I can’t be mad that she wants to help.

But I have no idea what we’re facing out there.

“Stay here,” I say. “I’ll bring him back for you to heal.”

Before she can protest, I turn and sprint into the woods with Ace and the rest of my Pack Warriors right behind me.

Once I get to the tree line, I let Chaos take over, feeling hair sprout from my skin and my body start to morph.

Without wasting a moment, Chaos lands on all fours and runs deeper into the woods. The trees flash by as we follow the trail that the runners took.

~C’mon, Lucius.~

~Hold on tight.~

Chaos pushes his body to the limit, but as I run, my mind grows anxious, wondering if this was the attack Eden was warning me about.

~Is this the next rogue attack?~

~The one that he said would be the end of the pack?~

I shake my head of my worries, concentrating on one paw after the other.

~Whatever happened, we’ll deal with it.~

I mind-link to my troops, who I can hear darting through the trees behind me.

~“All warriors,”~ I say. ~“Be prepared for rogues.”~

~“Rogues with guns?” Ace mind-links back. ~“That would be a surprise.”

Chaos growls.

~“The rogues have been full of surprises recently,” I say. ~“Stay sharp.”

I stay on the scent of the runners, leading me further away from pack grounds into darker, thicker woods.

The scent is faint, which means we still have a good amount of ground to cover.

~“Lucius,”~ I mind-link to my beta. ~“Lucius, do you copy? Are you alright?”~

I wait nervously for a response, but I don’t get anything.

~Shit.~

~We might not have much time left.~

~***~

RORY

Once Everett and the Warriors leave, the entire stadium erupts in panic.

People race out of their seats, scrambling over each other and hurrying out of the gardens.

“Keep calm, everybody,” I meekly try to shout over the buzzing crowd. “Everett will handle this, I promise.”

But no matter what I say, nobody pays me any attention.

“Rory!” I hear a voice call out to me.

I turn to see Freya, who runs up to me and hugs me. There’s a look of fear on her face.

“It’s okay,” I tell her. “As long as we stay here, we’ll be okay.”

I sound confident, but inside, I’m actually not so sure.

“Ace went with Everett,” Freya says. “Is he in danger?”

I place my hand on her shoulder comfortingly. “They’re both strong. They won’t let anyone hurt our pack.”

Freya starts pacing back and forth anxiously.

“I swear, this place is more dangerous than my street in the city!” she cries out. “Is Lucius going to die?”

I open my mouth to reassure her, but the reality is, I have no idea.

~What if Lucius does die?~

Xander’s angry words fill my head. If he dies, will that be my fault?

His last moments could be happening right now, and I’m not there to help him.

~Is this like the rogue attack that killed Robert all over again?~

~***~

EVERETT

~We’re getting close.~

I know, because the scent of blood is getting stronger on the wind.

I slow down to a run, signaling to my pack warriors to spread out over the area.

The wolves dart through the trees, surrounding the area where Lucius is.

It’s a strange sight—Warriors from both the Red Moon and Shadow Blood Pack working like one organism, coming together to fight against this new threat.

I hate that this is how it had to happen, but I’m glad we could put our differences aside to fight whatever this is ~together.~

Suddenly, I can see Lucius’s wolf lying on the ground, and we move over the mossy ground silently as we approach.

Whoever attacked him could be anywhere.

Lucius’s wolf is whining, barely conscious, and I can see the blood from his wound pooling in the dirt and grass under him.

We tensely scan the area, but there are no rogues in sight.

The only other wolf is Amber, who stands in an aggressive stance, growling toward a dark thicket of bushes.

That’s where they must be.

I approach behind her, the rest of the pack circling around their hiding place.

We have to be careful. Whoever they are, they’re armed.

“We surround them on the count of three,” I mind-link the pack. “Ready?”

“One.”

“Two.”

“Three!”

The entire pack moves in unison, jumping from the shadows and toward the bush.

But instead of finding a rogue, we find three humans, shaking in fear.

When I recognize their faces, I nearly shift back to human form out of surprise.

Eddie—Aurora’s ex—shakily points a rifle at my face. Behind him, Oliver and an older man—maybe his dad—both do the same.

They’re wearing hiking boots and camouflage clothing, meaning they were probably on a hunting trip.

Suddenly, the whole thing dawns on me.

They didn’t mean to shoot Lucius…

This must have all been an accident.

But all the warrior wolves step closer, growling with anger. These humans just shot one of our own, and they’re not happy about it.

The three men look around, shaking in fear. They’re completely outnumbered.

And if I don’t do something quickly, Aurora’s friends are going to go from being the hunters…

…To prey.