Hunter's Secret

Note From The Author: The next two chapters (Chapter 51 and 52) are intense. They might be triggering for people so this is the warning now. I have included a condensed chapter summary in the chapter notes at the bottom of each of these two chapters if you would prefer to read that version instead. Thank you for reading!

Hunter’s POV

Raine was right. A shower and nap were exactly what I needed. Feeling rested, I decided to put my clean clothes away before I go downstairs to cook with her. I smile as I sense Raine come into the room. And I hear her heart speed up as I feel her eyes on my shirtless back.

“Lovey, have you thought about what you want for dinner tonight? I have some new recipes we could try.”

I am met with silence except for a small sniff. I turn around and Raine’s hazel eyes are filled with terror as a gun is being held to her head by a man with silver hair and purple eyes, obviously a witch. He is tightly gripping her shoulder and he is definitely going to bruise her. Silent tears are running down her face and I can now hear how erratic the beat of her heart is.

I let out a low growl and he clicked his tongue at me, “I wouldn’t do that, Hunter.”

I take a step toward him, and he cocks the gun back. Raine squeezes her eyes shut and sucks in her breath. I raise my hands in surrender and back up, my own heart pounding. This is literally what I was afraid of. Her being taken from me. How did he get in here with absolutely no one seeing him?

‘He has our mate! You have to save her!’ River cries in desperation.

“I sincerely hope you were talking to your wolf. If you eyes even flicker gray again, I will kill her. But be my guest and see if I am telling the truth,” He sneers and Raine shudders, her eyes still closed.

“I will block all incoming links. And I cut my connection to my wolf. Please don’t hurt her. What do you want from me?” I demand, trying to keep the fearful desperation out of my voice.

“Hmmm. It isn’t that simple. I think we need to take a little trip,” he smirks, his voice dripping with disdain.

“I will go with you. Just let her go. She is innocent.”

“Maybe so. But your stupid wolf bond gives me some pretty powerful leverage so I think I will hold onto her for now. Mostly because you just don’t won’t die. We keep trying but you keep living. So, Master had to get creative and that involves her coming with us,” he callously states, releasing her shoulder. He moves his hand so he can tap her forehead with his finger, and she immediately falls to the ground, unconscious. He keeps the gun pointed at her and I stifle a growl. I have no idea who he is, but I don’t doubt that he will kill her if I move. And I can’t link Cameron or River so this is all on me.

“No reaction? Good little wolfie,” he mocks as he sends a swift kick to her back. I ball my hands into fists and take a few deep breaths. I can’t lose control. Not now. She needs me.

“What do you want?” I demand, somehow keeping my voice even.

“You have something that belongs to Master. I am here to help him get it back.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about. I haven’t taken anything from anyone,” I explain.

“Au contraire wolfie. Now, we need to be going. And you need to put on a shirt. So, are you going to come with me?”

“I will come with you. Just leave her here,” I respond, pulling a shirt over my head.

“No can do,” he states and snaps his fingers.

Another man steps out from behind him, and I can tell he is a rogue by his glowing red eyes. He also has no scent just like all of the other rogues who attacked my pack. The rogue roughly picks Raine up by her arm but the gently cradles her in his arms, leaning down to smell her. I stifle another growl and clench my hands so hard that my nails break my skin and I start bleeding. My Alpha aura lets itself out and neither one seems impacted at all. The witch hands the gun to the rogue and he takes it, pointing it at her head again.

“Let’s go. Start walking outside. And remember, I will know if you try something, and I promise I will take great joy in killing your lovey.”

I stiffen but nod my head in agreement. The rogue leaves first and the witch is waiting on me, so I follow the rogue and the witch follows me. We walk downstairs and I squeeze my hands harder, trying to leave a few drops of blood so Cameron can know something is wrong when he comes home. He is doing his 8 p.m. border checks and Emma is still with his parents so there is no one else home right now.

The witch places a firm hand on my shoulder, and I can feel the coolness of his skin seep through my shirt. My aura immediately disappears with the contact, and I suck in my breath as I realize that somehow every single guard and patrolman is not visible from where we are. I try to drip some more blood, but River has already healed my hands and I can’t tell him not to. We walk straight into the woods, crossing the pack border before I am able to make myself bleed again. This witch seems to know quite a lot about wolves, but I don’t know if he knows that when an Alpha crosses the border, the Beta can feel it. I have never left without telling Cameron where I was going.

I can feel a mind-link trying to come in, but I immediately block it. I know it is Cameron. I can feel River pacing and I can hear him whining but I can’t restore the connection right now. We walk for a few more minutes before the wolf in front of me stops. We are in the middle of the forest, and I can’t see anything out of the ordinary. Nothing smells different. The rogue takes a few steps forward and pulls open a door. The slight movement stirs the air and I realize that the entire building is camouflaged with an illusion that matches the forest. This witch must have some serious powers.

He disappears into the building and the witch roughly pushes my shoulder, which is still a little bruised and tender from the earlier attack, and I wince but take the hint and start walking again. I manage to get a few more drops of blood in front of the door before the witch shuts and locks it behind us. I blink a few times as my eyes adjust to the dimly lit room. It looks like a kitchen and there is a living room off to one side. The witch forcefully guides me down the hallway and down a flight of stairs. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, we enter a dingy and putrid smelling basement. There is water dripping down the walls and the smell of mold hangs heavy in the air.

I watch as the rogue carelessly throws Raine into a chair that is bolted to the floor. He pushes her into a sitting position and roughly grabs her hands, chaining them above her head. He cuffs her ankles to the legs of the chair, and he sits down on the concrete floor next to her, keeping the gun trained on her. My heart clenches at the sight of her head hanging low as she sits slumped against the back of the chair.

I look to my right and left and there are more heavy silver chains hanging from the walls. There is also a random table in the middle of the room. The witch pushes me to the right but turns away from me and heads over to Raine. He taps her forehead with his finger, and she starts waking up. She struggles against her restraints as I hear her heart speed up. Her eyes snap open and quickly find mine.

“It’s okay. Remember what I said?” I gently say and she nods her head and takes a deep breath.

The witch glares at me before slapping Raine across the face, the sound echoing around the room. I rush forward and the witch snaps his fingers. The rogue stands up and fires the gun just over her head. She flinches and starts crying, fear flowing off of her.

I immediately stop moving and the witch turns back to me, “I told you not to do that, Hunter. He won’t miss again. This is your last warning. Follow my directions.”

I narrow my eyes at him but take a few steps back. I can’t risk him actually hurting Raine. River is already clawing for control and I am having to use all of my ability to keep him at bay. The witch glances at the wall with a silent instruction that I obediently follow. He wastes no more time attaching the chains to my wrists, securing them behind my back and to the wall. The silver burns as it touches my skin and I hiss out in pain. Raine looks at me and I try to offer her a small smile through the pain.

“Kneel,” the witch commands.

“What?” I ask, taken aback by his command. He snaps his fingers again and the rogue shoots Raine in the foot. My eyes widen in horror as she cries out in pain, her blood dripping down onto the floor.

“I said kneel,” the witch commands again and I quickly drop to my knees. The way that my hands are chained behind my back pulls my shoulders back into an extremely uncomfortable position now that I am not standing. Come on, Cameron, I need you to get here faster. I know he has immediately started looking for me because he keeps trying to mind-link me. I have blocked every single link he has tried to send, and I hope that is making alarm bells go off in his head.

“Stop testing me, wolfie,” the witch sneers.

He crouches down so he is eye level with me, and I can feel the power radiating out of him now. I stare into his angry purple eyes and clench my jaw. He grabs my face, and his skin is so cold it feels hot. He digs his nails into my skin, and I hear Raine gasp as blood springs to the surface. He shoves my head to the side and stands back up.

“We have to wait for Master. I am going to go get a drink. Wolfie, if you are smart, you will not move. Blaine, watch her.”

The witch ascends the stairs and I look up at Raine. Her face is paler, and her foot is still bleeding but not much. With the witch gone, Blaine’s face twists into an evil smile as his eyes darken with lust. He sets the gun down on the table and moves over to Raine. He puts his hands over hers and slowly runs them down her arms.

“No! Stop! Please,” she begs, and he completely ignores her. He runs one hand over her shoulder and down her chest as she tries to move away from him. Her fearful eyes meet mine and I can’t help but feel tears on my own face. Come on, Cameron. Please. I need you.

“Stop! Leave her alone! She is not the one you want. I am,” I plead, and he flips me off without saying anything else.

Leaving one hand on her chest, he forcefully grabs her face with the other. Her heart is racing, and she unsuccessfully chokes back a sob. He smashes his lips against hers and she slinks back as far as she can in the chair. I can’t help the growl that escapes but it seems to fall on deaf ears. I beg for him to stop touching her, but he pays me no attention. My heart can’t take this.

She is sobbing as he leaves sloppy kisses all over her. He slips his hand down her shirt, continuing to grope her. Tightening his grip on her jaw, he pushes her head up, exposing her neck. He looks directly at me and smirks, allowing his canines to extend. I immediately realize he is going to mark her. My pleas for him to stop continue to go unheard. He bends back down and positions his teeth against her neck. Right as he is about to sink his teeth into her skin, the witch comes back down the stairs, and I exhale a sigh of relief as the witch yells.

“Blaine! What the hell are you doing? Master is going to be very angry that you messed with her. Get up,” the witch berated, and Blaine rolled his eyes and unapologetically stood back up.

“Raine?” I softly whisper and she refuses to look at me, her chest heaving with every breath. Fingerprint bruises are forming on her jaw, and she turns her face away from me, but she is still crying.

“Shut up! No more talking!” the witch screams before sneering, “We have visitors.”

The next second, I see Titus’ body land at the bottom of the stairs with a thud. He groans as he tries to push himself off the ground but the witch just steps on his back, pushing him back to the floor. Titus hasn’t seen me or Raine yet.

“Chain him up, boys,” the witch commands as three more rogues enter the basement.