Hunter's Secret

Hunter’s POV

‘HUNTER!!!!!!!!!!! HELP!!!!!!!!!!!’ Emma screams, her voice laced with terror, over mind-link and I try to respond but the connection is cut.

‘Locks! They are in trouble!’ I shout, scrambling to get out of the house.

‘Where are they?’

‘I don’t know! They need help!’

‘Take a breath, Hunter. Where did they go?’ Cameron asks and I can hear the worry in his voice.

I follow his directions and take a deep breath, ‘They went shopping a few hours ago. They are probably on their way home.’

I bolt out of the house and give River complete control. We start racing toward the store and Xavier catches up with us. He easily keeps pace with us this time and River finds Raine’s scent, and we track it down. We get closer to the edge of the pack’s borders and the scene that plays out in front of me will haunt me forever.

I see Emma’s wolf, Amira, laying in the grass, blood pooling around her from her ripped open shoulder. I know Cameron sees her too because Xavier whines in pain. I look over and see a brown wolf knock Raine to the ground. He steps on her arm, and I can hear her bones snap. She cries out in pain and my heart twists. I didn’t get here fast enough. River keeps running and right as the wolf leans his face down toward Raine, River pushes him off of her.

I don’t recognize him, and he has absolutely no scent. I can tell he is a rogue from the way he looks but I can’t smell him. We land on top of him and he locks his teeth around my arm and pulls, tearing the skin. The smell of my own blood wafts toward my nose and River lets out a growl. Xavier joins us and grabs the rogue’s leg, pulling him out from under me.

Blood pours out of his leg but I notice his blood also has no smell. River grabs ahold of his throat and bites down. My ears flicker over to where Raine was, and I can hear her running away. I am glad she is running away. She already has been hurt. She needs to get as far away as possible. A few seconds go by before I hear her cry out in pain as her body hits the ground again. River lowly growls and I can feel the wolf shifting back so I pull back and drop him.

A man in his fifties or so appears and he is obviously malnourished. His face is sunken in and his ribs are visible under his shirt but his eyes are still red. River growls again and the man speaks.

“Master is coming. We will have what is ours,” he devilishly smirks and River swiftly rips his throat out. He starts choking on his own blood and I wait until the life goes out of his eyes before turning away.

‘He is dead now. Go to her, Locks. I am going to Raine.’

Xavier takes off for Amira and River races over to Raine. Raine is lying on her side in the grass, shaking in pain and fear. River slowly walks up to her and lets me take back control. I shift back and gently lift her off the ground. As soon as her head hits my chest, she starts crying. I glance down and her arm is bent in the middle of her forearm, and I can see the bones pushing up from under her skin. She starts crying harder and I tighten my grip around her. Tears fall down my own face. I didn’t get here fast enough. She is hurt because of me.

I didn’t have time to grab shoes before I left the house and I step on a rock, cutting the bottom of my foot. River is trying to heal the gash on my arm but he pauses to take care of my foot before turning back to my arm. I look down at Raine again and her eyes are closed, I think she passed out.

‘Dr. Fisher, be prepared for me and for Cameron. Our mates have been attacked. They both need immediate medical attention.’

‘Right away, Alpha. We will be ready. Where are you?’

‘Two minutes out.’

I reached the infirmary, and the doctors have two beds ready. I gently laid Raine down on the bed and she is so still. Cameron comes in a few seconds after I do, and Emma’s blood has run down his side. He lays her down and quickly covers her bloody and naked body with a sheet.

The doctors start to move Raine’s bed, and I growl. They pause and glance at each other.

“H, they have to take care of her. Please let them. They can’t help Emma either if you don’t move. She is still bleeding. Please let them do their jobs,” Cameron tells me, his voice breaking as he pulls me out of the way.

They whisk Raine and Emma away and we are left alone. My arm is still bleeding, and a nurse notices.

“Alpha, can I take care of your arm?”

I just nod and she gets to work, quickly cleaning the wound and stitching me up. My heart is hurting too much for me to even notice the physical pain.

“Beta, are you injured?”

“This isn’t my blood,” he says, his voice breaking again.

She offers a small sympathetic smile and leads us to a more private waiting area. I mind-link Titus.

‘Titus, Raine has been injured. Bring Ash too.’

‘Alpha!?!’

‘Don’t ask questions. Just get here.’

‘Yes, Alpha.’

I close the mind-link to him and mind-link Amelia.

‘Amelia, Emma has been injured. She is going back to surgery now. I just wanted you to know. There is nothing for you to do here right now so stay with Ezekiel. I will update you as soon as hear anything else.’

‘Oh my god. Okay, Alpha. I will stay here for now.’

‘Good. I will let you know.’

I look over at Cameron and he is holding his head in his hands. I haven’t marked Raine yet and I can feel her pain. I can’t imagine the agony he is feeling right now. Titus and Ash burst into the room, fear on their faces. They look between the two of us and all the blood on us certainly does not help them feel better.

Before they open their mouths, I answer their unspoken questions, “It was a rogue. He attacked Emma first and knocked her unconscious. Then he went after Raine and badly broke her arm before I could get to her. He said something about a “master” coming and getting what belongs to them. We haven’t had a rogue attack since before I was even born. This has to be related to what happened with Mason. Plus, he had no smell. Even his blood was scentless.”

I take a breath and continue, “Emma and Raine are both in surgery right now. The rogue is dead. Before this, I have called every pack I know of, and no one had heard of anything happening like what happened with Mason. And now this has happened. I don’t know who is behind this. I am so sorry, Titus. I promised you I would protect her, and I failed.”

I drop my head, preparing myself for the anger I can feel coming off him. He just silently comes over to me and pulls me to my feet before wrapping me in a hug. He doesn’t say anything, but I can feel that his anger is not directed at me. I pulled back and he let me go. I look up and Ash isn’t here anymore. Titus takes a seat and sighs.

A few minutes later, Ash comes back, her eyes wide, “He was enchanted. That is why he had no scent but when I unenchanted him, he had a vaguely familiar smell around him, but I can’t remember where I have smelled it before. But this was definitely the same magic as what was used with Mason. It is related.”

I shake my head, feeling overwhelmed. This is too much. What thing are they talking about? I haven’t taken anything from anyone. But I did just take someone’s life. I killed someone and I watched them die. I killed someone. His blood is literally on my hands. I didn’t even try to stop River.

I look over at Cameron and he still hasn’t moved. His fingers are wrapped in his hair, and I watch him slowly breathe in and out. I slide over to him and put my arm over the back of his shoulders. My contact causes a silent sob to rack his body. We sit that way for a long time. Not speaking, just relying on each other’s presence for comfort.

The door suddenly opens and I look up.

“Alpha, she is out of surgery and is resting in her room now. You can go sit with her.”

Cameron also looks up, and the doctor shakes his head, “Beta, she is still in surgery. There was a lot of damage to her shoulder. I will come get you as soon as she is out.”

He hangs his head again. I want to go to Raine, but I don’t want to leave Cameron. He senses my internal debate and mind-links me.

‘It’s okay, H. Go to her. I called my parents, and they are coming to sit with me.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Yes. Go.’

I squeeze his shoulder in support and stand up. Titus tells me to go ahead. I followed the doctor to Raine’s room. I open the door and the comforting smell of peaches and cinnamon hits me but my heart hurts when I see her laying on the bed. The doctor tells me that her arm has pins and plates in it to help the bones align correctly as they heal. I walk over to her and lift the bottom of the sheet to check her ankle, and thankfully it is only bruised. That should heal relatively quickly. I put the sheet back down and dragged a chair over to the side of her bed.

I gently placed her left hand in mine. The sparks from her skin instantly help calm me down. I rub my thumb over her knuckles. Her hand is so small compared to mine. I take the time to really study her features while she is sleeping. Her hair is spread over the pillow, and she has a few pieces on her face. She has light freckles on her nose that I never noticed before. I watch as her chest rises and falls with each breath, and I listen to her heartbeat. She is so beautiful, and I am a murderer. I don’t deserve her.