Absolution

FIVE

Lexie

There are so many eyes. They're all staring at me. Their faces filled with fear. I shut my eyes.

Why are they making me do this? They don't look anything like monsters!

I can hear sobs and children screaming. Mothers and fathers are pleading for their babies to be spared. For their sacrificed lives to be enough. If only they knew they won't stop there. They will all be wiped out.

Sobs started pouring out of me. The heat from the buildings on fire is too much to bear.

I need to get away, but the hand firmly gripping my neck, digging its nails into me won't let me.

"Alexandra Elizabeth Veneur. Open your eyes and look. This is your destiny. Your family legacy. This is what you have been training for your whole life. What is our family creed?"

The voice feels like sandpaper scraping against my senses. It screams at me again, now dripping in anger.

"What is our family creed?!"

"Veneur Always. Werewolves nevermore"

I just barely managed to choke out the words.

I can't. I won't.

The voice moves closer to me, its sour breath burning my nostrils.

"If you look and kill this one. I will spare the children."

My eyes flew open. Now all the eyes look at me expectantly, almost begging me to do this one task.

"Promise?"

I sound like a whimpering child, tears streaming down my face. The voice snickers back at me.

"I Promise"

I slowly lift my trembling hand holding the gun loaded with silver bullets.

Before me is a beautiful woman. Blonde hair, green eyes.

She nods her head like she's giving me permission to take her life from her. How can she be so strong?

The voice grows impatient and grabs my hand and forces me to squeeze the trigger.

Lexie's eyes fly open. She sits up straight. Her heart was racing. It's been months since she had that dream. Months since, she's relived the nightmare. That night her eyes were opened to the truth. It's still dark outside. She glanced over to her side. James. They didn't speak much after they were together. She didn't care, she didn't want to ruin the moment. Last night was perfect but it felt like more, but she couldn't give him more. Can I?

She's a killer, she's taken lives.

She's a Veneur.

Lexie was trained to hunt werewolves. She grew up thinking these monsters would destroy the human race. That night she saw them for the first time. They're not monsters, or vermin, they are people, just like her. The children. They love. They laugh. They cry. They feel. All of a sudden, her heart was a deafening thump in her ears. Her blood ran cold like ice as the realisation dawned on her. She was on a werewolf pack estate.

James Richards, the man she was undeniably drawn to, was the Alpha of this pack, she was sure of it. Her desire for him blinded her to the truth. No! No! No! How could I be so stupid?! The big house she was in was similar to the one in the nightmare she lived in all those years ago. Even the estate layout was similar. If her family were watching her, they would easily find them. Chelsea, Markus and all those beautiful faces she saw last night. Chelsea. Her chest started to ache. James. They'll find him. They'll kill him. It's what they do. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes.

She slipped out of bed as quietly as she could, threw her dress on. f**k the underwear. Grabbed her shoes and headed straight for the elevator. She had to get out of here and away from them. Keep your distance. She desperately wanted to glance back to where James was sleeping, wanted to take the memory and remember every detail of him, but she couldn't. She never thought of herself as weak, but giving into that desire to see him just one more time would stop her dead in her tracks.

Lexie knew if she looked she would turn around and go wake him up in the most delicious way she could imagine. She had to get away. She has to keep them safe. She had to keep him safe.

James

Slowly, the world starts drifting back in as the sun filters into the room. He can't remember the last time he slept so well. Hell did I ever? His hand reached out to his side, wanting to touch Lexie again. He freezes. The sheets are cold. He looks around the room and as he does his heart drops to the pit of his stomach.

"f**k" She's gone. What was I expecting? Her to be sleeping peacefully by his side. He told himself it was just one night. Then why does it hurt so much? For the second time that morning he swore. How on earth was it possible for a woman that he barely knew for twenty-four hours could mean so much to him? Mate.

The sheets still smelt like her. He groans as he wipes his hands over his face. I can still smell her on my fingers. Frustratingly, he stands and makes his way to his bathroom attached to his bedroom. Question after f*****g question races through his mind. He gets into the shower hoping the hot water will wash away the memories and dull the ache that started to form in his heart.

Soon after, he finds himself in the kitchen on the bottom floor of the main house. You'll often find people here. The unofficial community kitchen. Of course, Chelsea is here bouncing around. "Alpha! Good morning!"

Today, James can't even fake pleasantries and can only manage a growl. Chelsea retreats in submission.

Be nice. "Sorry Chelsea. Any coffee left?"

He doesn't apologise. He's the Alpha. It's because of her.

The confused and scared expression on her face reflected the truth of his thoughts. His hand absentmindedly rubs his chest. Chelsea places a mug in front of him and disappears quietly. He grabs the mug and heads to the other side of the building where his office is located. Seclusion. Once there, he slumps into the chair and fires up the computer. At least there is pack business to keep him distracted.

Markus and Dom stroll into his office and take up space in the chairs opposite him. Right on schedule.

"Morning!" Even Markus is annoyingly cheerful today. Chelsea is rubbing off on him.

"Alpha" Dom, a man of few words.

James nods greeting to both men and they spend the next couple of hours going over last night's success and the upcoming weeks' events. They discuss the training schedule Dom has planned and the logistics of the upcoming full moon. They have a couple of sixteen-year-old pups changing for the first time.

Usually, a pup's first transition is painful, violent and loud. Very loud. With time and Markus' help, they will be able to be in complete control of their shift and only change when they want to. The key is finding something to put all your focus and emotion into. Something that will tether you to the present and stop you from yielding to the pull of the full moon.His tether is his the pack. He has to stay in control in order to protect them and keep them safe. It's his reason for being, always has been.

On the far east of the property they have an underground shelter disguised as a storage cellar in which they chain the pups to. The distance and location muffles the sound of their howls. Putting the physical trauma of a first shift aside, a wolf can be extremely dangerous during this time. Any werewolf, no matter how old, out of control is lethal, so they are chained up not just for their own safety but for everybody on the estate and in town. Soon, everything is sorted and Dom leaves. The second the door shuts Markus starts.

"So, you weren't at the party for long last night?"

"You know me, not one for crowds"

James tries his best to remain calm. His eyes don't leave him for a second. This is what makes Markus an excellent Beta, the guy has a serious and scary accurate knack for detecting bullshit. He stares at him for a second before continuing.

"It was good Lexie made it. You know, with her being new to town and all, but I don't think she stayed for too long either."

At the sound of her name, his hand makes its way to his chest again. Fucker is fishing.

"Just ask me, Markus."

"You've been an extra kind of grumpy ass since yesterday morning. More than your usual self. Ever since you met her."

Just breathe.

"I didn't hear a question in there."

"Who is she?"

Mate.

Ah, there's the burning question on both their lips. Who the f**k is this woman? He can keep lying to himself or just accept the facts that he doesn't know. Yet you slept with her. Way to go being a gentleman.

"I don't know". He echoed his thoughts out loud. They both leaned back in their chairs and he appeared to have accepted James' answer. Hell, it's the truth. The key to their bond has always been honesty. He has never lied to him.

"Ever since Joe's I can't get her out of my head. Last night I decided to take her upstairs."

At that his eyebrows lifted. "Upstairs?"

He doesn't take anyone upstairs. Markus knew this. If he does decide to f**k a woman, he uses one of the guest bedrooms on the bottom floor. Last night he didn't f**k. Last night he worshipped her, made love to her, in his bed. Jesus. He was turning into a sap.

"You heard"

He takes a moment before asking.

"Is she still here?"

"No. She was gone when I woke up this morning."

That ache in his chest is getting stronger. Markus sits up straighter.

"Do you want me to find her for you? I can get Dom to help."

Dom is their best tracker. This is the first time this morning he's actually been serious. Does he know something I don't? James took a moment to consider his offer. "No."

If she wanted more she would have stayed. You didn't offer her more.

"Besides, we have business we need to tend to. There's no time for futile distractions, especially this week."

Markus stands up with one of his signature cocky looks on his face and walks out. "Suit yourself, boss."

As he shuts the door, James turns his attention to his emails to distract him from his thoughts. All the Alphas keep in contact, letting the others know of hunter activity. They do it so they can help each other for survival. The packs haven't been at war since The m******e. That's what they call the day where five years ago a small peaceful pack was slaughtered. Every single member. Children. Women. Men. No one was spared. The ground was thick with blood.

The hunters see them as vermin. Creatures that needed to be exterminated. When, in fact, they are simply just a different sort of human. A werewolf in control can go their entire life after their first full moon without shifting, there's no crucial biological necessity for it. While humans worked on redefining their standards of acceptance towards each other, those that know about our existence simply turn a blind eye. Hell, they don't even have the ability to turn a human into a werewolf. Who the f**k knows where they pulled that one from? They've bent and contorted their beliefs and ways of living to nothing short of monstrous. Ignorant asshats.

The bloodbath was led by the hunter family, the Veneurs. They made the rules for all the rest of them. They enforced the 'Hunter Code'. James scoffs at this thought. A code for killing innocents? Ever since then, hunters seem to have come out of the woodwork actively hunting werewolves instead of staying in their allocated sectors.

They've been lucky so far here in Pharos Point. No major hunter activity. Yet. That's why his family chose to settle here generations ago. It's remote and quiet and can easily be defended. It also helps that the pack is discreet, very discreet. James, Dom and a couple of the Gammas have gone out of their territory a few times in the last couple of years to help other packs defend themselves from the hunters. The most trouble they've had has been a few rogue ones overconfidently stepping into their territory, only to never make it past the front gates. Amateurs.

He scrolls through the couple of emails that have come through since yesterday afternoon. Everything seems quiet for now. For some reason, this has Alphas in the west concerned. There are rumours about a Veneur who has broken ranks. A Veneur is dangerous, but what havoc will a rogue Veneur bring? He hopes the bastard heads south away from them. Hell if one of his own broke ranks he would hunt that rogue down and so he could only imagine what the family of a legacy hunter would do. Either way, that can only mean one thing to wolves in their path.

Death.