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Chapter Twelve (Luke)
It was dark already, and I wondered if Hayley would take a break for the night. It was looking like she would. Just as I expected him to, Buff kept on her, and she was focused on him. She kept tracking back and going around to lose him. I couldn’t tell if she knew it was still Buff or some other wolf on her tail, but she was taking precautions, which meant wherever she was going, she was going to take longer to arrive.
I had picked out about three other hunters in the woods with me, but they were all keeping a distance from her and using Buff as a mask too. I hadn’t thought of that when I set Buff on her tail, but I knew if I wanted her to myself, I was going to have to deal with the other hunters.
For now, I just followed them and watched them all. It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. Because of Bonne, I could mask my scent from the other werewolves and also pick up on their smell easily. So, I am at an advantage.
The other three werewolves were legendary hunters. I have gotten into a fight with one of them before. A tall and dark man called Veron. People say he can turn at will, but I have never seen that happen.
I know hunters spread rumors about themselves to make them appear mysterious and instill fear in people. Veron looks like a person who would employ such tactics, and he was a skilled fighter too. So, a worthy opponent. I will try as much as possibleto stay away from him, but should he get any closer to Hayley and makes any move for her; I might have to fight him.
She’s mine and no one else’s.
The other werewolves, I wasn’t worried about. I hadn’t come up against them before, but they didn’t look challenging.
I shifted my focus back to Hayley. She mostly kept to the edge of the woods, and I think she is trying to get to a road. She wanted to get the wolves off her back first, though.
Does she know she has about five wolves on her heels, each of them taking their time to watch her and learn what they can about her? Or at least four of them. Buff was just doing what he’s been commanded to do. It is getting dangerous for her, and I would love to see how she handles this. But I also think I might have to swoop in and capture her before she gets to a road. Once she gets to a city, it would be hard to keep track of her—the city with all its smells.
I was caught in a dilemma. I needed to close this up, bring her in and go back to Bonne so that I would be there for his kid’s ascension. I had promised to be there. But I was also interested in seeing where Hayley was going. I wanted to see how she would evade the other wolfs. I don’t need smell to keep track of her. I can also sense her inside my mind. It is as though there is a link between the two of us, and I was exploiting that to keep track of her.
I am going to have to make a decision soon. But I was going to enjoy this for as long as possible.
Maybe it is none of my business what she is up to. Maybe as Bonne said, I have no business sticking my head in the pack’sbusiness. I should stop this, and go back to life as I knew it, where it was quiet, without the hunt, and I have people that love and care for me.
The last light of the day packed up and left, and it got dark. I didn’t glow my eyes. It would easily give up my position in the dark. I could still see in the darkness, and I had my other senses to guide me. That is what it means to be a hunter. You must be able to depend on your other senses whenever one of them falls short. My smell, hearing, and feeling will help me keep track of the other three wolves and Buff. I will keep track of Hayley some other way.
I moved through the woods stealthily, jumping from tree to tree. It wasn’t the fastest way to move, and it kept me behind the others, but it provided an awesome vantage point, though. I could sense them all and keep track of them all simultaneously.
A couple of minutes later, when the darkness was well settled and I had gotten familiar with the new appearance of the environment, I noticed a new smell. A fifth person was in the woods with me, and he was behind me, probably tracking me too. I thought of turning back to track the person right back but decided against it. I would let them keep following me, and they would reveal themselves to me in time.
I wondered how they got to me, though. I was supposed to be invisible. My scent was supposed to be gone. I decided not to worry too much about it. They were about a quarter of a mile behind me and on foot, so they probably weren’t tracking me. They probably were tracking the others or Hayley herself.
While I was focused on that new smell, I lost track of the other scents, and for a while, I almost panicked. But then, they cameback to me, and one of them was closer and coming from a higher altitude. One of them was in the trees with me. Just a couple of meters from me. I jumped to the ground immediately, but it wasn’t as quiet as I would have liked. They heard me jump to the forest floor, and they followed.
Soon, Veron was standing right before me, and his eyes were glowing.
“I should have known it was you, lone wolf,” he said. “Nice trick, but you’re not the only one with a trick.”
I couldn’t catch the scent from behind again, and I realized he had thrown that to disorient me.
“Hiding in the trees is pretty smart too. The leaves will hide your scent quite well,” Veron continued and started to circle me. I didn’t move. I kept my eyes on him but didn’t glow them. I kept my claws and fangs in too, but I could see him in the dark. He wanted to fight.
“Do you want me to help you with something?”
“Yes,” he said. “I made a calculation, and it seems you’re one of the people that will actually stand in my way to get the girl. I’d rather you were not in the way.”
“There’s nothing wrong with a little competition, Veron.”
“I prefer no competition,” he said and flew at me.
I moved to the left, stamped my left leg, and used it to keep me anchored to the ground. I used then used the anchored leg to push myself toward Veron. His claws were coming for me, but I blocked them with my left hand and lifted him over my shoulderwith my other hand, using his position and my anchor to the ground as leverage. I slammed him against the ground.
But Veron wasn’t Buff. His back barely hit the ground before he was back up again. He was stronger and faster—a perfect match for me. I didn’t have to wait for him to attack again; I took the fight to him. I attacked with my left leg still stamped to the floor, using the fluidity in my movement to get the better of him and the left leg for stability. I extended my claws and went at him, striking to get a swipe at his face, but he was just as fast as me, and he moved out of the way. He was trying to get an attack in, but I was too fast for him, and all he could do was defend himself. I didn’t want to spend so much time fighting him.
I took a sniff in the air for the other two werewolves, and they were far away. I didn’t want to lose them.
Veron saw the stand I made with my left leg, and he changed his tactics. He let me get two swipes at him, one at the face and the other on the neck, and that distracted me. I wanted to move closer to him to get a more lethal swipe in, and I moved my left leg before I realized my mistake. He came at me. His left swung and hit my right leg. I wanted to move up and get out of the way, but it was too late, and he had me just where he wanted me. I tried to move to the right to evade the attack, but all he had to do was move his body, and he was beside me immediately. There was nothing I could do but take the pummeling that was coming.
