Sapphire A Huntress no more (Sapphire Book 1)

Stars were forming constellations, dragons roared in battle and princesses danced in colourful dresses. The ceiling was a mural of a time when werewolves and witches were only myths. The room portrayed the history of werewolves, a fitting image for a throne room as some might think. For werewolves, history was an important part of who they were. The same history was about to be written once again as the werewolves were on the edge of another war.

For three days I kept to myself, I only left the room to eat and run and do other basic things. That was why all the eyes in the room were at the moment focused on me. I chose to ignore them, my problem at the moment was Cole. He somehow managed to materialize into my dreams and I had yet to discover how. My train of thought was cut short by Stephan’s arrival.

’Sir, we have a problem. Matt, Joshua and Lucy came from patrol, the hunters breached our territory.′

’How many?′ Tension and uncertainty followed as all began to murmur.

’There are only two of them so far. ′

’More will come, the two are just the trackers.′ I said breaking the silence.

‘How do you know?’ Kuno said.

’How do you not know? You were one of Cole’s footmen.′ I said.

‘I was not one of his footmen, just one of the trainers.’

‘If you say so.’

’What do you mean more will come?′ Charles said, his Alpha voice surfacing.

’The two men that breached your territory are probably Robin and Francis. They are some of the trackers in charge of finding the werewolves in hiding.′

′What makes you so sure it’s the two of them?′ Kuno said.

’They were with me in the forest the first time I met Lucy and the other two. I assume Cole sent them ahead to track me down as punishment for letting me escape. The two reaching this place had to happen at some point.′ Silence fell again. This was one of the reasons I wanted to leave sooner than later.

The room was hot and noisy, they spoke all at once none of them listening to the other. The commotion was too much I had to go breathe some fresh air. This whole business made me sick. It was silly of me to think they would let me go out without an escort though. Stephen was behind me. He said nothing as we crossed the hallways and went outside into the caverns. We went over the bridge and then climbed up the slippery staircase exiting the catacombs. Outside, rain poured with cats and dogs mud splashing everywhere. Any other sound has been enshrouded by thunder while lightning brightened the grey and damp hill. Among the smell of mud and rain something else was mixed in between, a faint niff of blood melded with a smell of sweat. Stephen smelled them as well, Robin and Francis were close by watching us. But even with the enhanced vision of the werewolf powers that I had now I could not pick their exact hiding spot due to the heavy rain.

’Have I smelled like that as well...I wonder.′ By now me and Stephen were as wet as the soil we stood on and when he turned to look at me his wet brown hair fell over his face reminding me of a lone puppy. In this case a lone wolf.

‘Most probably.’ He said turning his attention to the intruders.

’You know, in this kind of situation some would off have denied...′

‘What is there to deny? As a hunter you kill, and when you do so the blood of the one’s whose life you took lingers on for more than a day. If all you do is kill that scent follows you forever.’

‘Do I smell like them now?’

’No, your scent is not the same as theirs. Still, I can distinguish blood mixed in.′ He said annoyed by my question. For a moment his eyes darkened and then he said. ’I spoke with the King. He said to come back inside, we need to plan our next move.′

’I thought he might say that. Go on first I will come after you shortly.′ He gave me a disbelieving look before going back in the tunnel over the bridge and into the fortress.

She looked different, her hair was longer and had a darker shade of amber than before. Her aura had changed too. The man Alice was with went back into the cave they came out from, she watched him go inside before turning her attention back to us. She warped her cloak closer to her body and began to walk in our direction. Francis took out his gun and reloaded it just to be sure, he was ready to attack Alice if the chance occurred. I was on my guard as well, the silver dagger in my hand was a bit slippery from the rain though. We rose from our cover just as Alice was half way from our position. She stood there watching us, not saying a thing as we approached with prudent steps.

‘Alice, just the person we were looking for.’ I said looking straight at her.

’Robin...Francis, you reached here faster than I thought.′ She said. At the same time, lightning struck the space between us. We took a step back while Alice stood still watching our movements, unfazed by the natural phenomenon that almost hit us.

’Well, you covered your steps well but not well enough.′ I said.

‘It was a matter of time before we found you. Why did you leave us Alice?’ Francis said, moving closer to where she was.

’It was never my intention to leave that day, Francis. But some things happened and I knew there was no way to remain where I was anymore.′ Alice said sighing.

′To betray Cole, you had to have a damn good reason.′

’Maybe or maybe not. I might have betrayed him but that is not all there is to it.′ She said.

Werewolves were powerful creatures, so were the witches and warlocks and the other supernatural creatures. But as any other living thing in this world they had weaknesses. A werewolf’s greatest weakness was their mate. For a wolf their mate is the other half of his or her soul, a weakness that the hunters took advantage of.

Finding one’s mate in this world was not easy but when a wolf found their other half everything changed. Fear and joy were mixed together and the colours of the world became brighter. But some wolves never find their mate no matter how far and wide they search, or for some, their other half was killed before the two souls had a chance to meet.

Saul Crawford was one of those who had the misfortune of never finding their mate. He looked far and wide for her and he would have still looked if not for the prediction of a seer witch that made his search end. A long time ago, when the first war against the hunters ended, he came upon a witch who had been injured by a hunter. Even though the war ended and with it the werewolves’ treaty with the witches, he helped the witch heal her wounds. As thanks for his help the witch looked into his future, she had a lot to say about what was about to happen and what was not, but the one thing he did not expect her to say was that he would never meet his mate. She told him that his mate’s family along with her had been annihilated by the hunters at the end of the war. She said no more about how or where it happened, just that he should stop looking.

Saul never trusted the witches, but something in that woman’s voice made him believe her. So, he stopped his search and focused on protecting his King. It was not easy for him to deal with the fact that he would never be whole but with time he learned to accept his faith, if only his wolf would have done the same. Luas, his wolf never acknowledged the fact that his mate was dead and to this very day he stood by his belief.

He did not know what to think anymore after Carme told him he actually had a mate. Luas on the other hand was overjoyed by the fact he was right all along. He insisted we go look for her the minute he found out, if only it was that easy. When not in meetings, Saul spent his time pondering the fact that he now had a soulmate. Truthfully, he wasn’t one hundred percent sure all this was true, not until he had that strange dream a week before. In his dream there was a lot of fog and only shapes could be distinguished, he felt a strong pull towards that human shape. Saul was not sure what all that was, maybe his subconscious made that dream up. All he knew was that a new task was upon him, one that he could not ignore and at the same time pursue due to his duties as Beta King.