Hunted

by DJ DeSmyter

  Erik turned toward me and crossed his arms over his chest. He became as still as a statue.

  The first hunter was busy untying the ropes that bound John to a chair. His wrists and feet had been tied separately, though, so when the hunter pulled John to his feet, he wobbled before finding his balance.

  “Try anything and Erik will shoot him,” he said to John.

  Before the two of them left the room and disappeared into the hallway that undoubtedly led to freedom, John caught my eye with an apologetic look of brokenness and defeat.

  “Do you do most of his dirty work?” I asked Erik, gesturing to the other hunter with a tilt of my head. “Do you not realize you’re killing innocent people? Not all werewolves are bad.” My words had no effect on his partner, but maybe they would seep into Erik’s consciousness and take root.

  Erik laughed and drew a gun from inside his jacket. He toyed with it as he spoke. “I’ve killed thirty two werewolves. Ten in Minnesota, three in Washington, five in Maine, seven here in Michigan, and even a few in Europe. So don’t think you can try and talk me into letting you go. I won’t hesitate to shoot you.”

  “What’s stopping you from doing it right now?”

  “Smith doesn’t want you dead. Not yet, anyway. He wants you to suffer.”

  There, I thought. At least I know their names now. “Who did a wolf kill in your life?”

  “My sister.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said honestly.

  “I’m sure you are.” Erik rolled his eyes and lowered his gaze to his gun.

  Suddenly, a strange clattering sound rang in my ears. Both of us looked toward the door. He took a tentative step toward it, cocking his gun and taking aim. The sound grew louder and closer. I realized it sounded more like scratching, like nails were dragging across the floor.

  Not nails, I thought with a smile. Claws.

  The door burst open in a fury and two large wolves leaped through the air. Erik was forced to the ground before he could even pull the trigger. While Christian dug his teeth and claws into Erik, Dad rushed over to the cage and shifted. Human, he reached to yank the door open.

  “Don’t!” I shouted. “It’s silver.”

  He nodded. “Of course.” Turning on his heels, he studied the room in a hurry and when he found an old rag, he wrapped it around his hand. With his hand protected, he grabbed a hold of one of the bars that made up the door of the cage and ripped it right off, knocking the lock to the floor in the process.

  Careful not to touch the bars, I stumbled out of the cage. The slightest of movements caused pain to shoot through me. Hopefully, I would be bullet free soon.

  “Can’t you shift and step out of the shackles?” Dad asked.

  I held up my wrists so he could see just how tightly they hugged my wrists. “They would dig just as deep if I was a wolf.”

  “There has to be a key here somewhere,” he said.

  A shot exploded in the room followed by a string of profanities from Erik. Christian had dodged the bullet, but the wall behind him hadn’t. Changing, Dad lunged at Erik and knocked the gun out of his hands.

  Swiping the gun off the floor, I fumbled with it before managing to shoot at the chains which were attached to the wall. The bullets severed them, but I was still trapped. After all, it’s not as if I could have shot at my wrists. Behind me, Erik was fighting for his life. His screams became quieter and quieter, though, and soon the room became very still and quiet.

  I turned around and found Erik lying limp on the ground with his blood spilling out from his neck onto the floor. Christian and Dad’s muzzles were painted with their kill and their eyes seemed to glow with an intensity I had never seen before.

  Dad looked at me and the simple gesture expressed the need to leave. Not knowing what else to do with the chains, I quickly wrapped them around my arms and changed. There was no way I was going to run outside naked. I had been humiliated enough.

  45. Lily

  “Someone’s here,” James said, looking away from the T.V. He rose to his feet and in an instant was in the front of the house looking through the window.

  I hurried to catch up, but he held his hand out behind him, signaling me to stop.

  “It’s him,” he said. “What is he doing?”

  Curious, I peered around him. I watched as the hunter pulled out his gun and the next thing I knew, I was thrown to the floor and James was on top of me, covering me with his arms. I heard the others drop before bullets came flying in followed by shards of broken glass. My heart was racing and I was vaguely aware I was shaking.

  Suddenly, the rain of bullets stopped and I heard a car door open, close, open, and close again before the car rattled to life and drove away. Hesitantly, James pushed himself off me and helped me stand. I looked around at the damage and found the walls behind me riddled with bullet holes, knickknacks broken, and the front windows were nothing but jagged pieces of glass.

  But what caused my heart to miss a beat and my eyes widen was the sight of Dad hopping through the snow toward the house.

  “Dad!” I yelled and without thinking, I rushed outside to meet him. “Dad!” Tears streamed down my face and the cold air made them sting.

  “Lils! I’m okay. I’m okay,” he said with a smile. In his excitement, he fell over.

  I quickened my pace and was soon untying the ropes that were wrapped around his wrists and feet like vicious snakes. The ropes cut my fingers and hands, but I didn’t care. All I cared about was freeing Dad. All I cared about was that he was home safe and relatively sound.

  Once he was free, he pulled me into a tight and warm embrace. “I love you so much,” he said, squeezing me tighter.

  “I love you, too.” I buried my face in his shoulder.

  It felt wrong when we finally let go of each other.

  “John?” Amelia asked from behind. “Where’s Alex? And did you happen to see Peter and Christian?” Several emotions wrapped her words, but none of them sounded like good ones.

  Dad peered up at her, but had no answer to give.

  And then I saw the most tragically beautiful sight: three wolves bounding toward us, tearing through the snow like bloody angels.

  46. Alex

  Happiness, excitement, pain, and worry all hit me simultaneously and shocked me enough to force me out of my wolf form and back to my human one. Seeing Lily and my other family members was almost too much for me to handle. I crashed into the snow and stumbled to get back up, but found I didn’t have the strength.

  Before I could do or say anything else, I was carried into the house and wrapped up in several blankets. I felt someone tugging at my burning wrists and voices swirled all around me in a hushed mess. Cold liquid attacked my wounds and I was consumed with a new kind of pain.

  “It’s hydrogen peroxide,” Summer told me. “I’m sorry, Alex. I know it hurts. I’m so, so sorry.”

  But not even the stinging of the antiseptic could keep me from slipping away. No matter how hard I fought to remain in the world of the aware and awake, I was losing consciousness again and my eyelids grew too heavy for me to keep open. The last thing I remember seeing before surrendering was Lily standing behind Mom wearing a worried expression. I wanted nothing more than to tell her I was going to be okay.

  47. Lily

  Don’t die on me, Alexander Moreau, I demanded. If you do, you’ll have to haunt me until I join you.

  He was doing his best not to shout, but it was clear to everyone in the room just how much pain he felt. Amelia was trying her best to wriggle the shackles off his wrist, but was causing more damage. Secretly, I was glad when he sank into a deep, unknowing sleep as I hoped he couldn’t feel the pain as much. It killed me to see him in such a disastrous state, so I went and hid in the kitchen. I felt horrible for leaving the room, for leaving him, but I wasn’t doing any good standing there crying.

  Taking a deep breath, I peered out the window and into the darkening sky. No clouds cluttered the blue space, only a few stars and a dim
crescent moon did. The air stirred with a slight breeze, which sent snowflakes swirling through the air. They landed gracefully on tree branches and the already diamond-covered ground. It seemed so wrong that the night could be so peaceful when there was so much chaos in the other room.

  Not knowing what else I could do, I went into the family room, pulled out the piano bench and sat down knowing exactly which song to play.

  48. Alex

  A familiar and beautiful sound broke through the darkness and brought me back to a conscious state, my whole body pulsed with pain. To my relief, the bullets were no longer eating away my insides and I could already feel my body starting the healing process.

  But I didn’t care about the pain or that Smith was still out there. Those were things I desperately wanted to tuck away and ignore.

  No, all I cared about was listening to the beautiful song that had woken me once before and the girl playing it.

  The girl who reads four hundred page novels in a matter of hours.

  The girl who captured moments perfectly with her camera.

  The girl who created beauty with her music.

  And the girl I loved more than anything. The very thought of her was enough to ease the pain.

  Acknowledgments

  First and foremost, I would like to thank my family for allowing me to chase my dreams and for providing the love and support I need in order to do so. You have all given me so much over the years and I wouldn’t trade any of you for anything. I may be a writer, but words cannot express how blessed I am to have you all in my life. We sure proved those who said I would never read wrong, didn’t we?

  To all my friends, thank you for putting up with my constant chatter about fictional people and for supporting all of my creative endeavors. You give me laughter, smiles, and love, and without you, my life would be less colorful.

  To Mrs. Hazle and Amanda, thank you for everything you have taught me about writing and for helping me find my voice. Brannon and Ariel, thank you for letting me bounce ideas off you and for your constant feedback. You have both saved me from pursuing some really stupid story ideas, haha. I would also like to give a special shout out to Jennifer for introducing me to the world of prologues and epilogues. Thanks to you, my word count will always be a little higher.

  To my friends at Schuler Books, you have all been so kind to me over the years and I cannot thank you enough for your support and friendship.

  To all my fellow bloggers, YATopians, and authors, thank you for helping me journey down this road to publication. You have all done so much for me and I value our friendships more than you may know.

  Last, but certainly not least, I would like to thank Kamilla, Lani, Madelyn, and the rest of the Pendrell Publishing team. You have all put so much time and energy into making my dream a reality and for that I cannot thank you enough.

  About the Author

  DJ DeSmyter has always loved reading and buys books like some people buy shoes. This love for the written word led him to creating stories of his own that he hopes will captivate and entertain others. Hunted is his first book and he cannot wait to see where his writing takes him next.

  For more information on DJ and his writing, please visit djslifeinfiction.blogspot.com.