by Hana Blue
* * *
AINE~
“What’s happening Micheal?”
Micheal looked at me, shaking his head. “It’s some of the Echo pack. They’re looking for who took their Alpha, and they are out for blood.”
I took a ragged breath and let it out with a snarl, clenching my jaw. Of course, it was. It was a trap, and I was too foolish to see it. Struggling to bite back my anger and embarrassment for even trying to trust Dominic, I nodded.
“What’s the last order?” I asked, putting on my strongest face.
“Kill.”
* * *
DOMINIC~
Micheal rallied up his pack efficiently, barking out orders calmly. Much calmer than I would have been, knowing that there was trouble headed my way. He led them efficiently, and they moved like a well-oiled machine. Every one having a place, and a role to serve. Rallying Dylan, Ethan, and their mates, I prepared to go out with them. By the graces of Micheal. If Aine would protect her family, then I would be there by her side as she did so.
“You look nervous, Alpha Echo.” The pure one with bright red hair commented, coming to stand next to me. “Don’t be, love. This should be a fun experience for you. Granted, a little gore doesn’t scare you off.” She added warmly, giving a bright smile.
I nodded slowly at her, pursing my lips. She giggled softly, letting the faint wrinkles around her eyes grow deeper. “I too used to fear the hunters. But after meeting Micheal, I learned who they really were. Now I love watching them in action. Knowing everything they do is backed with such a pure heart and skill, regardless of how vicious it may seem.” She chuckled softly. “They are protectors. And they sure are good at it. My best advice, keep yourself and your pack to the rear. Watch what they do. I guarantee you will fall in love with watching.”
“Thanks.” I muttered at her, accepting her advice.
She reached out and grabbed my arm, giving it a motherly squeeze. “I’m sure you’ve heard them called the demons of the forest. You are about to see the proper reason why.”
She gave one last smile, warm and inviting. With no fear of what was happening. Most likely riding off of the faith that the blood born, or I guess, the hunters would protect her. It was more than obvious this entire pack almost idolized them, trusted them, relied on them. They were the strength of the pack.
In lines, the pack took off. The strongest leading. Micheal, his son, and Aine, running at the head of the pack, rushing them into the forest proudly. Changing as they ran. Their human forms quickly discarded for black masses of fur.
The rest of the pack followed suit, and like they advised me, my pack and I did the same, keeping ourselves to the back. Giving me a perfect view of how they moved. They filled the front of the group with hunters and those who were what I could only assume as hybrids with the blood born, bloodline.
The deeper we ran into the trees, the more they looked like a storm cloud. A ghastly shadow, swooping across the land with ease. Darting around the trees, weaving in and out, covering as much area as they could. It was incredible. They looked like demons, ghosts. Floating across the forest floor, looking like the aftermath of opening Pandora’s box. An almost unholy looking army, fearlessly charging, led by a soft red glow that resonated from their eyes.
As the cloud of power scattered, I got a respectful look at her. Running as I remembered before. Weightless and angelic despite the demonic look. She ran alongside Micheal and his son, right between them, only a fraction smaller. Dwarfing the other wolves in comparison. Behind her, Daniel and another reddish wolf followed closely, like they were her protection. Their whole formation seeming to follow her, not Micheal.
We bolted through the trees for miles before I felt other wolves, and my heart almost stopped. Aine slowed to a stop, and positioned herself, the rest of the hunters crowding behind, right in front of the approaching group.
I already recognized exactly who they were before they came into view. They were part of my pack.
“Aine, it’s ok.” I linked to her. Trying to communicate to her, I knew them. But that quickly fell on deaf ears as almost a dozen of my pack emerged from the trees, led by one elder. A man close to my mother, who had followed her well before my father died.
“You must be our luna” He growled to her, approaching her threateningly. Frantically, I opened my pack link, commanding them to stop, but was met with a most unsettling response.
“We don’t take orders from you anymore, Dominic.”
I pushed myself forward, coming to stand near Aine.
“Get back Echo” Daniel barked to me, positioning himself to block my path to her.
Violently, I rushed into him, pushing him from my way. There was no way he would stand between me and my pack, and definitely not between me and my mate.
Seeing me approach, Micheal’s son stepped to the side, letting me take his position, just behind Aine. I nodded to him in thanks. Appreciating the gesture. At least he understood what I needed to do and had enough respect to act. Making way for me. Sadly, that kind of respect came from a kind I always demonized, not from the kind that I always respected myself.
* * *
AINE~
“You’re a long way from home,” I remarked coldly at the older wolf that stood before me. Making all efforts to intimidate me.
“We’ve come for Dominic’s head, step aside.” He commanded to me.
I couldn’t help but scoff. Dominic indeed brought trouble, but maybe it wasn’t exactly the trouble I had thought. I felt Dominic approach behind me, catching the tail end of a spat between him and Daniel.
“Come up here.” I linked to him. Keeping my eyes locked on the older wolf. “You stand next to me, or you go,” I remarked again.
With a few gigantic steps, Dominic came to stand at my side, helping me build a wall between the intruders and my family.
“Ah, our traitor alpha, and his little bitch. What a treat. Your mother will be pleased when she finds out we were able to take out the both of you.”
“My mother does not lead this pack. I do.” Dominic spat back with authority. His eyes quickly morphing into a soulless black color. Glossed over with rage, making them almost like a mirror.
“Not since you ran off with a damn blood born.” The older man returned, laughing. A haunting sound, posing a challenge.
“Hunter. She’s a hunter, and I stand with her.”
Dominic’s reply hit me hard, taking every bit of my strength not to break down with emotion. He made a choice. He stood by me, not by his own pack. He addressed me as a hunter, not as the hateful term the man referred. Now, standing by his side, without fear of him turning. He won the last shred of respect. The last ounce of trust. For the first time, I stood next to him, and I recognized him as my mate, and now it was time for me to do what I do best, to protect him.
“Dominic.” I linked to him, dragging his attention to me. “Micheal gave orders to kill.” I felt a wave of regret wash over Dominic as he peered into the face of his own pack. All recognition for who they were, gone.
“As do I.” He linked back. Looking at me sternly. “Show me why they call you a hunter.”
* * *
DOMINIC ~
No other words needed to be spoken. A hardening formed in my heart as I asked her to kill them. Her reply being nothing more than a lunge for the man’s throat, shredding it through gnashing teeth, leaving him as a lifeless heap. Blood flying from her jaws like acid rain.
Following in conform, I watched as the inky cloud of wolves crash into what used to be my pack like a wave of death. A wall of blood and gore cascading around us in waves, impossible to stop. The raw power and fury resonating off of them like fog on the mountain tops, suffocating out anything resembling heart or regret.
Wafted up into the bloodthirsty group, I charged forward, joining them in the massacre of what used to be my family. Soullessly ripping the life from those I used to admire. Wolves I called friends. All who turned on me, by the orders of my mother. One by one, I watched
my pack fall, males and females, alike. Dropping to the ground like flies as my mate’s family slaughtered. Defending me. Defending her.
Darkness and treachery filled the land as the threat thinned. Turning to my side, I looked for Aine. But she was nowhere to be seen. I scanned around the wreckage, and war around me, but still, nothing. I called out to her, bounding through the ongoing battle. But received no reply.
“Dom!” Allea cried out to me, releasing the chest cavity of another. Spitting the heart of yet another familiar face onto the ground.
“Your mother. She’s here!” Allea spoke again, panic quacking her voice. “Aine, she went after her!”
Eighteen
Aine & The Baby
AINE~
~
“MOM!” I screamed at the top of my lungs.
Thrashing violently, struggling to break free from the man that was dragging me behind him. My hair wrapped around his fist as he used it like a leash. My eyes darted around me, frantically looking for her. Looking for any sign of my baby sister. The sounds of raging battle filled my ears. Leaving an almost deafening chorus of cries scarred into the back of my mind. Before my eyes were friends, family, and loved ones scattered around the ground like a littering of leaves on the ground in fall.
“Come on! Walk you little bitch!” The man shouted at me, tugging me to the ground, chunks of my hair ripping from my scalp. Causing me to whine out in pain as my slight frame buckled.
“Let go of me!” I shrieked, pulling my head back, trying yet again to break free.
The man stopped walking, turning around to kick at me. The sole of his foot crashing down into my ribcage with such force I felt all the breath in my body shatter. My ribs crushing into my lungs, no doubt piercing them. A moment went by where I laid breathless, my eyes wide and burning. Feeling as though I would never feel my lungs filling again. Finally, my air came back with a coughing fit, spewing blood all over the man’s feet.
He shook his foot, flinging the blood from it in disgust. Snarling down at me. I wretched, pulling myself up. My eyes scanned the scene before me again, my vision blurred. Suddenly, I heard her.
The relieving cries of an infant echoed from behind me. Piercing my ears with its glorious sound, giving me the sign that she was still alive. With what little strength I had left I whipped my head around, spotting her in the arms of another one attacker. A dizzy feeling flooded over me, my eyes starting to burn like they had been lit in flames.
My body convulsed, unlike anything I had ever felt before in my life. My entire body loosing control of itself. A red glow blocked my vision and my throat felt dry. I clawed at it furiously as my eyes bulged. The red light all around me causing my mind to go hazy.
What was happening?
“Stop her!” The man holding my sister called out, pointing at me. His voice sounding like he was far off into the distance as the sound of my heartbeat thudded wildly in my own ears. My breaths became ragged and the excruciating pain of my bones shattering collapsed me back to the ground.
My vision went black for a moment, a welcome sight, blocking out the fiery glow that was there before, my mind loosing all recollection of what was going on around me. Finaly, the pain subsided, and I opened my eyes, all consciousness returning. Upon regaining vision, I looked at the man that was dragging me eye to eye. Standing well over a foot taller than I did normally. I locked eyes with the man, his eyes wide in fear, his complete body looking frozen. Panic filled his expression as he stayed motionless. It was almost like he couldn’t move. Like he was being forcibly held there.
I looked down to find myself bearing enormous claws, covered in my midnight fur, but standing on my hind legs. I shook for a moment, trying to process the overwhelming craving to spill the blood of those around me. The man suddenly moved, grabbing a knife from his side, thrusting it into my stomach. Then it took control.
In one swift movement, my captor laid on the ground, his chest cavity torn open and shredded. Exposing his organs and tissue that was never supposed to be seen by light. Turning on a dime, I faced the man holding my sister and my jaw clenched. The blood thirsty craving hitting my senses again. Darting for him, he bent down placing my baby sister on the ground, taking off towards the blood-soaked battlefield. In an instant, I snatched her from the ground, cradling her in one arm as I charged after him. Gaining on him quickly, moving faster than I had ever in my life. The urge to protect and the bloodlust coursing through my veins driving me furiously.
Every bit of my human consciousness nowhere to be found. Lost in the back behind the beast that now overtook me. Powering every movement I made. Holding complete control over my mind, leaving me to do things that I couldn’t even imagine being able to do before. With my sister held tight to my chest, I lunged forward catching the man’s head between my teeth, crushing his skull almost effortlessly between my jaws. Brain tissue splattering from between my teeth.
The world seemed to move in slow motion around me as both man and wolf came to aid. Throwing themselves into the destructive wake that I had now become. Quickly being sucked into the hellish void around me like a gravitational pull of slaughter.
Shielding the infant in my arms, I felt as the attackers shredded at me, tearing my flesh apart as they attacked, but never being able to touch her. Soon I found myself weak, my fur soaked with my blood, and the blood of the others that laid lifeless at my feet.
The scene was ghastly, and I wanted to cry out from the pain I was enduring, and the realization of what I was doing. Desperately I looked around, finding myself the only one left standing for miles amongst the sea of corpses. The infant tucked to my chest whaling. Shrieking and crying out, her face turning beet red at she cried. Soon, I joined her, fiery tears flowing from my eyes as I spotted the lifeless body of my mother.
Running as fast as I could muster, I went to her side. Finding her broken and marred, breathlessly laying at the base of a tree, my father not too far away. Silently I laid my sister down, forcing myself to change, my body collapsing to the ground on its knees, and screamed. Releasing my rage and broken heart into the sky like a siren.
The sounds of my sisters crying and my shrill screaming bouncing off the trees. Filling the void with the pain and agony that ripped from our chests in unison. Both of us pleading into the sky for our mother, who would never wake again. Who would never hold us in her arms again. Taken away from us, ripped from us violently.
“Over there!” A voice broke me from my tantrum. A group of men joined us in the vast space, followed by a woman with long light brown hair. Bearing white eyes that seemed to pierce into mine from a distance. I kneeled there, frozen in place, amongst the bodies of my parents, my sister wrapped tightly in a blanket at my knees. Frightened and weak, I watched as one man fought with the woman. Trying to use that as a distraction, I hushed at my baby sister and lifted her back into my arms, taking off into the opposite direction as fast as my legs could carry me. The blood oozing my from my wounds soaking her blanket and smearing on her face.
“It’s ok baby, shhhh, it’s ok” I pleaded with her as I ran. Praying she would stop crying so I could hide.
The sounds of many footsteps running behind me hit my ears, and I panicked, darting off to the side where the trees were more dense. “Shhhhh, please.” I pleaded with her again, coving her mouth with my hand. Her small voice now muffled by my palm.
Tucking myself behind a tree, I stopped and waited to see the group of men come into view. Stopping, I watched as they searched around, looking for me. The woman with the white eyes calling out tauntingly to me. Almost cooing her words, her voice vile and sickening. Quickly the woman dropped into the form of a massive white wolf, stalking the area intently.
I swallowed hard and slowly placed my sister at the base of the tree. Preparing myself to fight my way out of here. “Just stay and be quiet.” I muttered to her, kissing her on the forehead leaving a red print behind. With one last push of strength I threw myself from around the tree, charging at the me
n. Then everything went black.
* * *
“Wake up, girl.” An ominous voice woke me.
The trees blurred around me as I cradled my sister again, held in the arms of an incredible beast. Dark grey fur surrounded me as claws dug into my arms, struggling to hold me as he ran at a speed almost quicker than a bolt of lightning lighting up the sky. The beast’s face resembled nothing like any wolf I had ever seen. His nose was much longer, and his teeth ragged. Pitch black eyes that were completely unreadable sat back deep into his skull.
“I need you to hang on.” I heard his voice push into my ears, his mouth never opening.
Before I could even respond, I felt the ground go absent from beneath us. Hurdling us over the edge, the massive beast cradled me to his chest, and I cradled my sister to mine. Holding on for dear life until the inevitable fall at the end.
Present day ~
“YOU!” I hollered out to the massive white wolf that took off into the distance.
Picking up my speed, I nipped at her hind legs, hoping to slow her with no avail. There was no doubt in my mind who this wolf was. The memory of my childhood still so plainly burned into the back of my mind that her image appeared. Using all the force in my back legs, I pushed off of the ground, soaring through the air at her. Catching her tail in my mouth, pulling her down to the ground on her side.
Once she was down, I took no time to lunge for her throat. Quickly she rolled, tucking her hind legs up into my underbelly, kicking wildly, causing me to miss. Instead, my teeth sunk into her shoulder blade, my jaw locking in place, unwilling to let go. She let out a blood curling howl into the sky as she shredded at me. I winced in pain but held on for dear life, pulling my head back to rip her flesh from the bone underneath.