The Hunt

Chapter 26

Territories owned by werewolves in the modern day are closely maintained and watched. After the last major war in 1852 there was a tentative agreement placed between us and them. Gated communities were created for the packs to live on in peace without interference so long as guidelines were closely followed. This includes but is not limited to minimal contact with humans, maintaining jobs only within their own communities, and blending in with the rest of civilization by following local and state laws. 

Hunter’s Codex, Werewolf lifestyles pg. 393

     I knew I was pushing it, but I needed to get her away from here. “This is a lot, but we really need to leave here.” 
     She was still in my arms and her entire body tensed at my words. “Why?” Her words were cautious, but she didn’t pull away.
     “The hunters. They may come here looking for me, and I don’t want you to be in danger.” I tried to keep my voice even. As urgent as the matter was I couldn’t have her freaking out on me again.
     She pried herself out of my arms. The distance left me feeling empty as my arms hung in the air between us. Her hazel eyes scanned me for any signs that I was out to hurt her. She was shutting me out again. After a moment of unease she gave a slight shake of her head. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
    It hurt, her not trusting me, but I couldn’t blame her. She just went through the shock of almost seeing me die to then being told I’m some creature out of fiction. 
    “We can go anywhere you want. Just not here.” I quickly threw the words out, hoping to ease her worries. 
    “Is your truck here?” 
    I paused for a moment. It didn’t dawn on me that we needed a way to leave. “Can I use your phone? I’ll give Caden a call.”
    “It’s still downstairs.” She didn’t move to go past me, just watched and waited for me to leave first.
    I was defeated, she didn’t trust me, she didn’t want to be alone with me and she almost seemed scared of me. “Michelle.” My shoulders sagged and I didn’t know what to do.
    Almost as though she didn’t realize what she had done, a shocked look crossed her face briefly before she inched her way around me to the door. 
    It took a moment to gather my senses before I followed her lead. She was already in the living room digging for her phone in the couch cushions. “I must have lost it here at some point last night.” 
    When I reached the edge of the couch, her arm shot up with the small device in hand. A smile broke out on her face until she looked up and saw me. It faltered before she caught herself and forced the smile to stay. 
    “Here, I have Alice’s number.” She held it out for me to take.
    “Thank you.” I mumbled out, taking her phone and searching for Alice’s name. It rang once before Caden answered.
    “Hello?” His voice sounded strained.
    “Caden, it’s me.”
    I could hear a sigh of relief on the other end. “Thank goodness. When you didn’t come back last night we got worried they caught you.”
    “They almost did. How is everyone else?” My question was only part way out before I felt the phone being pulled from my grasp.
    Michelle had come up next to me and she took the phone, tapping on the screen and putting it on speaker. She gave me a look and no words were needed for me to understand.
    Caden continued to speak on, the first part of his sentence lost. “No one was hurt in the end, but we made no headway. There were more hunters than we estimated and so it was a fight just for them to get out alive.” 
    “At least no one was hurt.” I watched Michelle’s reaction. Her expression didn’t give much away but her body language spoke words. She was tense. 
    “What about you? You just disappeared and when we caught the scent of your blood it was everything we could do to keep your dad from running off on his own to find you.” Caden questioned. “There was too much going on, there was no way to send out a group to find you without putting them in danger.”
    I still watched as Michelle’s entire stance deflated, giving up on thoughts that this was still some sort of joke. “I’m glad you didn’t. One stayed back and hidden, he managed to shoot me but I was able to get to help in time.”
    Caden was silent on the other end for a moment. “Who did you go to?”
    “Michelle.” We watched each other as Caden processed what I said.
    “How did that go?” He was hesitant to find out.
    I couldn’t help a small smile that played at the corners of my mouth. She handled it better than I could have imagined. “Good, actually, she’s taking it pretty well.” 
    “So she knows? Everything?” 
    “Yeah, and that’s part of why I’m calling you right now.” I cleared my throat, feeling unnerved at Michelle’s constant staring. “We’re still at her place.”
    Alice swore in the background of the phone before we heard their muffled arguing. It wasn’t long before she spoke up clearly in the earpiece. “We’re on our way. It’s not safe there, the woods are crawling with trackers and it’s only a matter of time before they find your trail.” 
    Michelle finally spoke, bringing awareness that she heard our entire conversation. “I want to go somewhere public.” 
    Caden’s voice came through unclear and frantic sounding. “First things first is getting them out of that house, Caden.” Alice answered whatever he was saying. “Is there somewhere you two can get to quickly that won’t cross their paths in the woods?”
    “There’s a park just at the corner of the block. Normally there are a few families there at any given time.” Michelle answered. 
    “Perfect. We’ll see you there as soon as we can.” 
    The phone line went dead. 
    Michelle stuck the phone in her pocket and stuck some hair behind her ear. “Let’s go.”

    We sat on one of the benches at the park waiting. A good thirty minutes had passed since we got off the phone with Alice so that meant they should be here any minute and Michelle still hadn’t said hardly one word to me.
    True to what she said, though, there were a couple families at the park, their kids running and screaming as they climbed the elaborate jungle gym. If it wasn’t for the tension in the air then this would have been a relaxing moment. The snow gently dusting our shoulders and deadening the noises around us. Giving everything a quiet and peaceful atmosphere. 
    We watched as a dad helped his daughter, who couldn’t have been any older than four, roll a giant ball of snow along the ground. On the bench next to them sat his wife, holding a small baby less than a year old. She watched them with pride in her eyes as they made their snowman and searched for sticks for his arms. 
    “We don’t get snow like this back home.” Michelle’s voice was so soft I almost missed it. 
    “Yeah?” My heart raced like the first time I ran into her at the college. I was nervous around her again.
    She continued to watch them roll a smaller snowman up next to the bigger one. “I think I’ve only ever made one snowman my entire life. It was a sad excuse for one.” She gave a short laugh. “We get mostly ice, but that year we actually had snow for more than two days.”
    I got the strongest urge to pull her up and make a snowman together. Just two days ago I would have, but I didn’t want to scare her off as she was trying her best to accept what was happening. 
    “It was gone by the morning. Melted away as the sun came up.” She went silent again as the mom took her phone out and took pictures of the dad and daughter posing with their snowmen.
    “Do you want to make one?” I didn’t know what else to say.
    She looked up at me, finally making eye contact for the first time since we left her apartment. “Maybe another day.”
    Only a few more minutes passed before Caden and Alice pulled up in his silver sports car. Michelle was on her feet as Alice came running up, throwing her arms around her in a giant hug. 
    “I’m sorry you had to find out this way.” She gave Michelle another squeeze before pulling away. 
    Michelle gave her a nervous smile. “So it’s all true?”
    Alice nodded in response. 
    “Y’all all are one?” She looked between the three of us, her face finally giving away how nervous and scared she was. 
    Caden was the one to answer, “Yeah.”
    I walked to stand next to her, to comfort her however she would let me but I wasn’t given the chance. Alice wrapped her arm around her in a protective manner and put herself between us. 
    “If you don’t mind, I need to have a private conversation with Michelle.” She looked up at me. Even though it was a statement she was still asking permission to pull my mate away for a moment. 
    I just gave her a slight nod and watched as they walked off together, out of earshot. 
    “So she seems to be handling this much better than I imagined.” Caden said, watching the two girls have a private conversation.
    At the moment Michelle was rubbing at her eyes and Alice was close to her, concern written on her face. I wanted to grab Michelle and run, take away everything that’s happened the past 24 hours and live our lives together in peace. But I couldn’t bring myself to move. I was part of the reason she was breaking down and the only person to console her being someone she barely met a week ago. 
    “It’s not your fault, you know.” Caden said.
    “But it is. If I hadn’t gone to her house last night this wouldn’t have happened.” I growled out, unable to hold back my emotions anymore. “I could have just as easily ran back to pack lands. Chris was waiting, he knew I would go to her, he was waiting and he shot me.” 
    “That doesn’t mean it’s your fault.”
    “I could have laid there and died and Michelle would have gone on with her life none the wiser.” 
    I watched Michelle, now calm, nodding in response to Alice. Her hands were moving through the air, animating whatever it was she was saying. 
    “They would have left her alone if I did.” I mumbled out. 
    Caden’s hand slapped my back, hard. “Well that didn’t happen. So suck it up and accept the fact that your mate is coming around. The hard part is over, all we need to do now is keep her safe.” 
    He walked in the direction of the girls who had finished their conversation and were heading back to us. 
    I caught up with him and when we were back within earshot Alice called out. “Alright, let’s go guys. She’s coming home with us.”