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Huffing, she passes me an apple, and I eat it as she cleans up. “How did the meeting go?” she asks. She’s privy to all packinformation, but she doesn’t always come, saying she’s needed here more. Jang is the alpha, but Marjorie is the heart.
“Good, Jang is going to let me deal with the hunter issue.”
“Good, no one is more experienced.” She eyes me. “Please be careful.”
I sigh. “Mum.”
“Please, Quinny,” she says. “We both know all too well that they are not to be messed with. They might only be human, but they are capable of great destruction.” Her hand lingers at her eye.
Hopping down, I cover the distance between us, kissing her eye and wrapping her in my arms. She lost it when she was a child and her pack was attacked. They survived, but she still wears the scars from that day, and before Jang, she believed she would always be seen as unlovable and lacking.
Now, she’s mated and leading the strongest pack.
I’m glad she got her happily ever after. She deserves it. They both do. “I will be, but I need to do this. I cannot avoid hunters because of my past. They are part of the pack’s life, and it will be my duty to protect everyone here from them. I need to be able to do that. Plus, I’m not scared.”
“You never were, and that’s what terrifies me so much,” she comments, holding me tighter. “You are so brave and fearless, even when you were a kid. I still remember that night we found you like it was yesterday.”
They never used to speak of what happened, worried it would fuck me up, but one day, I boldly told them I remembered and they didn’t have to tiptoe around it. I know who I am and where I came from.
“Me too,” I admit.
“Enough of that,” she whispers, wiping her eyes but not before I see her tears. “It all worked out in the end, and if you sayyou are okay, then I believe you, but I will always worry about my baby.”
I kiss her cheek. “I wouldn’t want you any other way, plus the hunters would take one look at you, my fierce mother, and run the other way.”
“You better remember that,” she mutters. “Now get out of here. I’m sure you have things to do.” She leans in. “By the way, I put extra garlic in Tetrim’s meals.”
Laughing, I shake my head. “Terrifying,” I tell her as I steal another kiss and apple before I head out.
Yes, I got lucky, but she’s right—hunters are not to be taken lightly.
Jang is definitely more worried than he lets on, which means it’s time for me to get to work.
CHAPTER SIX
“Let’s set them all over the forest’s edge. Don’t go too deep, they have better ways to escape within the forest. We want to lure them into the clearings where we can see them and ensure they aren’t trying to bait us,” Vale explains as he points to the map spread on the hood of his truck.
He’s hoping to get lucky. The feral’s confirmation that there is a pack around here has him excited. He’s desperate to re-earn his place and prove he’s the best. I have always been more cautious, and the feral’s other warning comes back to me—the pack will not fall easily.
A pack of wolves is usually hundreds strong, and if they all come for us, we are dead. We are resourceful and good hunters, but even the best fall before the monsters. They are stronger, faster, and smarter. It’s a never-ending battle we have no hopes of ever winning. We just simply have to hold back the tide so they cannot consume this world with their wicked darkness.
Like my brothers, Vale was such a shy, kind kid.
I blame myself. I allowed us to be led into this organisation when our parents died. They sheltered us and took us in since they were hunters, but I should have gotten us out when I was old enough. I knew all it would lead to was death and heartache,but by the time I realised that, Vale had changed into this—a hunter.
All he thinks about is the kill, of ridding this world of monsters, and he’s one of the best at it, but no one else sees the toll it takes on his soul but me. I stay to protect my baby brother and shield him as much as I can. I cannot lose anyone else, especially not him.
I don’t know what I believe in, but I know that I believe in him.
If he wants to do this, then I will be at his side until the grave swallows us whole. We will make our parents proud. “Agreed.” I nod. “The forest is too risky. There are too many things that could go wrong. We also need a fallout plan in case they come in groups.”
“Usually, this far out from a pack, it’s just the enforcers or scouts, so we should be okay unless they are on a run,” Vale muses out loud, remembering everything we have learned from our training, which was hard-won by teachers hunting wolves themselves. Wolves are the hardest, after all.
You start way down at pixies and work your way up. Those annoying fucks were the bane of my existence for a year.
“Still, we should have a fallout plan,” I reply.
“Burn it all down with us and them in it,” Jai suggests as he climbs onto the hood, grinning maniacally.
