Hunt of Deception
885 Words
The training grounds buzzed with wolfish restlessness—snarling, clashing steel, and pine-scented sweat hanging thick in the air. Young werewolves circled, fangs barely sheathed, all craving the Alpha’s approval. Ella stood at the center, crimson leather clinging to her pure-blooded frame, preening for the council as if the hunt were a stage for her vanity.
I lingered in the shadows, plain gray tunic melting into the trees, fingers brushing the iron dagger strapped to my thigh—Mara’s parting gift, her warning still ringing: “Ella’s plotting to humiliate you.” I’d smiled sweetly, the naive mask I’d worn for years slipping back into place. “I’ll be careful.”
Careful was a lie. This hunt wasn’t about proving my worth—it was about planting doubt, watching, waiting.
The rules were brutal in their simplicity: track a wild boar, retrieve its tusks, return before sundown. A test of strength, speed, instinct—the pack’s holy trinity. For me, it was a chance to outmaneuver the two people who’d destroyed my life.
“Lilian!” Ella’s voice sliced through the chaos, sharp as a silver shard. She sauntered over with two pure-blood cronies, sneers twisting their lips. “You actually showed up? I thought you’d cower in your hole, too weak to face real competition.”
I dipped my head, feigning submission. “I want to earn my place, sister. Same as you.”
“Earn?” She laughed, loud and cruel. “Half-breeds don’t earn—they beg. Remember how father groveled to keep you here after your human mother died?”
Rage coiled hot in my gut. My mother had died protecting this pack, and Ella relished rubbing her “superiority” in my face. Before I could snap, a deep, commanding voice silenced everything.
“Enough.”
Karen stood at the forest’s edge, black cloak billowing, obsidian eyes sweeping the crowd. When his gaze locked on me, something flickered—curiosity, or the fated bond’s faint tug. It made my skin crawl. In my first life, he’d never noticed me until I’d stupidly saved him from a rogue wolf. This time, I’d let him bleed.
“Begin.”
The pack scattered. I hung back, letting Ella and her friends race ahead, then veered off the main path. I knew these woods—where the boar nested, where the rogue’s poison traps lay, where Karen would retreat to escape the noise.
Ten minutes later, I heard it: a low, pained growl. Karen’s wolf. I found him crouched behind a boulder, a gash on his forearm oozing black, poisoned blood. Ella had known. She’d sent him straight into the trap.
In my first life, I’d rushed to heal him, desperate for his approval. Now, I lingered in the shadows, watching him grit his teeth against the pain.
“Help me.” It was a command, not a plea. His wolfish gaze locked onto mine, the bond humming between us—a magnetic pull I couldn’t deny.
I stepped forward, head bowed. “Alpha.”
He grabbed my wrist, his touch searing. For a split second, I was back under the full moon, his fingers twisting my pendant, his voice cold as death. I flinched—a genuine, visceral reaction—and he noticed.
“Afraid of me?” He tilted his head, eyes narrowing. “You weren’t before. When you saved me from the rogue, you didn’t flinch.”
My heart raced. He was testing me. “I… I’m nervous, Alpha. I’ve never seen anyone hurt like this.”
I knelt beside him, fingers hovering over the wound. I could heal it—my faint golden light could counteract the poison. But why would I? Let him suffer. Let Ella’s plan work.
Yet as I stared at his clenched jaw, I thought of the curse, the sacrifice, the truth I’d never known. Before I could hesitate, I pressed my palm to his arm. The light flickered to life, and the poison sizzled. Karen hissed, his grip loosening.
“Your light…” He breathed, eyes wide. “Stronger than the elders claimed.”
I stood, backing away. “I need to find the boar.”
He grabbed me again, pulling me close, his lips brushing my ear. “Why hide from me, Lilian? You’re my fated mate. The Moon Goddess bound us—you can’t run.”
Rage shot through me. Run? No. I was hunting.
I smiled, sweet and innocent. “I’m not running, Alpha. Just learning my place.”
I slipped free and vanished into the trees, his gaze burning into my back.
Ella waited at the boar’s nest, smirking. “He’s weak. The poison will finish him by sundown.”
I nodded, gripping the boar’s tusks until they cut into my palms. “Yes. He’s weak.”
But as I left, I glanced back at the boulder. Weak? No. Karen was a monster, a betrayer. But he was my fated mate.
Ella wanted him dead. The council wanted him strong. Karen wanted power.
And I wanted revenge.
By sundown, the first pawn would fall. And it wouldn’t be me.
- Writer
