The Alpha's Assassin

Oh s**t!

Oh s**t!

As I stepped out onto the training ground I looked around to take in the sight. Some wolves were sparring, some running, I could see weapons training, I think I see a pool with some pack members swimming laps, a building to the right of me looked like a weight room, and it would seem some young wolves were being trained by, what I can only assume is, the head trainer. Assessing the scene I decided to walk over to where some of the pack members were sparing. 

“Are you sure babe?” Hunter's voice sounded a bit concerned.  

“You saw me over at the lake right? You heard me when I told you my secret earlier, correct?” I didn’t want to sound like a jerk, but my words came out a little snidely. 

“You’re right. You want to spar with me?” A grin formed on his lips and he lifted one eyebrow. He could melt my whole world with that look. 

“I don’t want to hurt you Hunter.”

“ You don’t want to hurt anyone else either. You don’t want the pack afraid of their future Luna do you?”

“I am not very good at going easy. Are you sure you won’t get mad if I beat you?” Grinning, he stepped into the sparring ring and stuck his hand out for me to grab. Smiling, I grabbed his hand and stepped in. I didn’t really want to do this, but if he was sure I was too.  

“Okay then. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” 

“Here. Put on some head gear and a mouth guard. I don’t want to hurt you either.” He tossed me the gear. I just kind of looked at it. I had never worn this before. Looking at him I figured out how to put it on. The head gear felt tight on my head. How did they fight with this crap on? Ugh. 

“Let’s do this!” He seemed very sure of himself. Like he didn’t think I could really beat him. Oh boy. Stepping forward I bent my knees slightly, one foot in front of the other and prepared to attack. I didn’t not ever wait for the opponent to make the first move. When I thought he was ready I lunged. Striking fast and sure. Landing blow after blow on my beloved. I could see him stagger back, trying to block my calculated attacks. Stepping back to allow him to regain his stance I shook my arms and shoulders out to maintain my loose posture.

“Holy s**t babe! I’ll have to stop holding back!” He grinned up at me. I could see the pinkness on his teeth where I’m sure his lip was bleeding. Returning to our fighting stances this time he didn’t give me time to completely be in position. He lunged, actually landing blows to my face and torso. Blocking and returning hits our fight becoming pretty brutal. Neither of us relented. I did tell him to be prepared. He wanted to spar with me. Switching it up I kicked him square across the body. He doubled over only for a second before catching my next kick and swinging me to the ground. As he rushed towards me I wrapped my legs around him, knocking him off his feet and attempting a head lock. He is quick. Maybe I wouldn’t have to worry as much about him as I had originally thought. I haven’t had someone match me like this in years. Since I was a child, honestly. Twisting around so he was facing me he started landing body shots. Ugh, I had forgotten how much those hurt. Timing my swing so he was in full swing I landed a shot to his face and he fell backwards. Kicking him away I scrambled to my feet. I never did like fighting from the ground. 

As I was stepping to attack again I thought I heard laughter. I spun around to see we had drawn quite a crowd. They were actually cheering me on. I was distracted for just long enough for him to get the drop on me. Landing a hard blow to my jaw I stumbled. Of course, thinking I am thrown he steps to me to attack again. Upper cutting him in the jaw I rain blows on him. Strike after strike. He stumbles back and throws his arms up. 

“Okay! Okay! You win!” He almost shouts through his laughter. Breathing hard I have to really try to stop. I am not used to the opponent conceding. I have always fought to the death. I don’t want to kill Hunter though. Looking up at him I can see he is bleeding from several places. A large cut across his eye, his nose is bleeding from both sides, his lip is split, and I can see the swelling in his other eye will bruise badly soon. I can’t breathe. What have I done?

“Hunter, what have I done? I tried to tell you. I tried..” Before I could finish my sentence he wrapped me in his arms. 

“Babe, it’s okay. Really, you should see yourself. You look bad too. I’m not hurt. I will be all healed by this evening. Trust me.” I was shaking. I hurt my mate. The man I love more than anything in this world. I shouldn’t have let him talk me into sparring him. 

“Future Alpha, Future Luna, are you two okay? I turned to see the trainer I had seen earlier.

“Yeah, we're good Cole. Just doing a bit of sparring. Nothing to worry about.”

“I can see that bro, but usually sparring doesn’t get that intense between mates. You were really going hard on her.” I couldn’t help the small giggle that escaped my lips.

“I'm sorry, Cole is it?” he nodded. “ I am Kiera. He wasn’t going hard on me. I feel like I was going soft on him because, well, he is my mate. Can’t very well fight him to the death right?” The crowd around us started to laugh a little. 

“Ya’ll get back to training.” Cole barked at the crowd and they dispersed. “Kiera, that was going soft?” I nodded with a smile. “Well if that is the case you picked a good partner to spar with. Other than myself no one else would be able to withstand that. You’re from the Dark Moon pack, right?”

“I am. Hunter said I shouldn’t spar with anyone else, lest I scare them away from liking the future Luna.” 

“Smart choice. He is the future Alpha for a reason. If that was holding back I pity anyone that gets your full force.” Cole seemed like a cool guy. Much different from the gruff soldier-like man I saw yelling at the trainees earlier. “Why are you practising? I almost feel like you should be training.  I saw moves in there I hadn’t ever seen before.”

“I don’t know. I’m not quite ready for that yet.” 

“Well if you change your mind you let me know. You should share those skills. They are very impressive.” With that he turned and started shouting at a trainee across the yard to straighten his back, and put more weight into it. 

Hunter’s POV

I hadn’t had anyone beat me like that since I was a pup. She was lethal. She moved with such grace. It was like watching deadly art. I wasn’t quite prepared for it. I knew she was tough but damn. She was sitting on a bench next to the sparring ring wiping the blood from her face. She was beautiful. Deadly, but beautiful. Mine. I can’t believe she took every hit I threw and just kept coming. A little guilt and shame crept up on me. I had hurt her. My mate. My precious, beautiful, dangerous mate.

“Are you okay babe?” The guilt evident in my voice.

“Absolutely. What about you? That cut looks pretty bad.” I could tell she felt guilty too. Her voice came out quite small.

“I am fine babe. I have had worse injuries.” A small laugh escaped with that. “Did you want to head back to the pack house? You should probably rest after that.”

“No, I would really like to swim a few laps if you don’t mind?” After all that she still wanted to exercise! 

“Yeah, I don’t care babe. I think I  am going to go talk to my mother about the ceremonies though. I want to make sure she doesn’t need any help. There are suits in the pool house and showers if you need them. Meet me in the dining hall for lunch in an hour?” I was hoping she wouldn’t want to train too much.

“Yeah that sounds good to me.” She kissed me on the cheek and strolled off. My goddess, everything she did was pure poetry. She made the simple act of walking away look amazing. I felt a hand slink it’s way across my chest from behind. 

“What the f**k do you want Sheena?” My tone icey and laced with disgust.

“I see you worked hard. Let me help you relax, baby.” Gross.

“I would rather die. Get off of me and crawl back to the cesspool you came from before Kiera sees you and you get hurt.” I smiled at the thought.

“f**k her! Like she could actually hurt me. You would never allow it!” 

“HA! As far as I am concerned she can do whatever the hell she wants. Now, off you f**k! I’ve got s**t to do.” I pushed her out of my way and stomped into the house. I heard her scoff and curse before slamming the door behind me. 

I knew I was pretty bloody from sparing with Kiera so I sauntered up to my room to shower before talking to my mother about the ceremony plans. The heat from the water stung on the cut over my eye. It was healing nicely but it was deep so it was taking a little more time than usual. Most of my bruising was gone already. Shutting the water off and grabbing a towel I stepped out of the shower. Steam had fogged up the bathroom. I could hardly see. I didn't realize I had the water on that hot. After tossing my hair a little with the towel I wrapped it around my waist. Just then I heard loud voices just outside the bathroom door. It sounded like Sam and a woman. f**k. Sheena. Why the f**k did she not get the hint? I waited. Sam could handle it. I heard a small scuffle and then my door slam. Hmm. Slowly I opened the door to peek out. The room was empty so I quickly crossed to my closet and got dressed. A simple white t-shirt and basketball shorts. I slipped on my ankle sock and running shoes and headed to my mothers office. 

The door was open when I arrived so I walked in. She was on the phone so I took a seat in front of her desk and waited. She sat as she hung up the phone and started shuffling around some papers. 

“Mom, I came to see if you needed any help with the ceremonies?” 

“Thank you Hunter, but I am the Luna. This is what I do!” She laughed slightly as she said it. “Everything is already in place. The ceremony will be tomorrow night on the full moon. You will have your Alpha ceremony first and then you will lead the Luna ceremony introducing her to the pack. How is she doing by the way? After our conversation about her past I haven’t seen her. Oh my goddess, Hunter! How did you get that cut on your eye! You boys should know better than to practise that hard! I have told you all…” 

“Mom, mom calm down! Kiera is fine. I am fine. Actually she and I were sparring earlier and she did this to me. In fairness she wanted to spar with another pack member but I thought it wouldn’t be good for her to go beating up the lesser pack members. I want them to like her and not fear her!” My mother looked at me for a second, perplexed.

“She was able to land a blow on you that made that?” I nodded. “Holy s**t, she wasn’t kidding was she! I’ve never seen anyone that was able to best you. Even when you were a child you were the strongest.” The shock was evident on her face. 

“I know right! She is a badass!” I know I had the biggest, dumbest looking grin on my face talking about her but damn, I couldn’t help it. Not only did I have the most beautiful woman in the world as my mate, she was also the deadliest person I knew. Just thinking about it made it hard for me to sit in my mothers office and talk to her. Getting a hard-on in front of my mom didn’t sound like a good idea.  

“As tough as she seems, Hunter, she is still a woman. She still needs you to keep her safe.” 

“I know mom. That is my highest priority. So do I need to do anything before the ceremony tomorrow?”

“Nope. You just better be dressed and ready when the time comes.” with that she dismissed me and went back to her paperwork and phone calls. As I strolled out of her office my stomach growled. s**t, I need to head to the dining room before Kiera thinks I forgot about her. 

Walking down the hall towards the dining hall I thought I saw someone watching me through a crack in one of the doors. When I stopped to get a closer look, nothing. 

“Hmm, must have been my imagination.”

“I dunno, I didn’t think we had one that was that active.” Oz chimed in. I shrugged my shoulders to myself and started down the stairs. I was famished after sparring and ready to eat. 

Walking through the double doors that lead to the dining hall I noticed everyone was seated and eating. Everyone except Kiera. I scanned the room. Nothing. I saw Cole sitting at the table with a few of the warriors so I walked over to ask him.

“Hey Cole, have you seen Kiera? She was supposed to meet me here for lunch?”

“No dude, I haven’t seen her since she kicked your ass in that sparring match.” His laugh was full and boisterous. I laughed a little back at him as I walked towards the door leading to the training ground. Then I heard it. The most beautiful laugh I had ever heard came from the kitchen. I walked through the door to see Kiera sat up on the counter eating some sort of sandwich laughing. Her smile was wide and made her eyes squint when she laughed hard. I don’t think I had ever heard her laugh quite like that. 

“Babe, whatcha up too?” I asked nonchalantly.

“Oh hey babe, you weren’t here yet and I hadn't had a chance to meet the kitchen staff yet. Minerva here was just telling me some stories about when you were little! Like when you and Sam were young you stole all the pies for a dinner party and when you got caught, covered in pie, said that you were trying to save them from the pie bandit and he ended up getting away!!” as she said that she laughed so full and hard. With her whole body. Like she had never laughed like that before. I couldn’t help but laugh with her. She really was the most amazing woman. 

“Here babe, I made you a sandwich too. Ham and cheese. It’s amazing. I have never had cheese before!!” Her eyes lit up and she shoved more food in her mouth. “Yummmmm.” She mumbled with a mouth full of food. 

“Thanks babe.” I smiled as I took the sandwich from her. As we sat there eating lunch Minerva entertained Kiera with more of my childhood shenanigans. I mean, she knew a lot. She had been the cook for the pack for almost 40 years. A plump, short, lovely woman. She often knew I was getting into trouble and would just laugh at me. Her only son had died in a rogue attack before I was born, so she just kinda mothered all the pups in the pack. 

“Hey my moms gonna wanna see you before tomorrow to make sure your dress fits, and that you are ready for the ceremony tomorrow.” 

“Um, okay. Do you think everyone is gonna accept me?” her beautiful smile turned into a look of worry. s**t. 

“Come on. I know you haven’t showered.” I nudged her shoulder and offered her my hand. She reluctantly took it and hopped off the counter. 

“Thank you Minerva, lunch was delicious!” She gave a smile to the cook and we headed out. “You didn’t answer me, Hunter. Do you think they will accept me as their Luna?”

“Babe, you are amazing. I think they will love you and accept you no problem.” Just then there was this wailing scream. Before I could register where the sound was coming from Kiera was out the door. I barreled after her. Once outside I could see what was happening. One of the pups was screaming and running towards the house. Kiera was ahead of me, running full speed. As she reached the pup I couldn’t understand his words through his sobs, but Kiera apparently understood completely. 

“In the woods! He said he and his sister were playing in the woods when a rogue grabbed his sister! You go inside. I’ll go get your sister.” Before I could protest Kiera was off like a shot through the woods. I was right behind her. Mind-linking Cole and Sam about the rogues as we went. 

I can smell them. The rogues. They aren’t far now. They must not have wanted to take her. Maybe just to lure us out? This doesn’t feel right. s**t, there are more than just two. 

“Kiera, this isn’t good.”

“I know Hunter. I know who took her. All they want is me. When they let the pup go, grab her and run back to the pack house so you both don’t get hurt.”

“What? No! I won’t run while my wife fights for my pack.”

“Hunter, pl..”

“NO KEIRA!” My alpha tone came out, though it won’t actually affect my mate, she will know I am serious. Before she could retort a grimey, grungy wolf appeared from behind a tree. 

“Ah, Kiera, now why would you go and bring witnesses. You know we will just have to kill him, right?”

“Now, you know I won’t let you do that. I won’t let you hurt that pup either. Why did Jarod send you? What does he want?” Now this was getting personal. Her previous Alpha was taking my pack members to get to my wife. f**k this!

“Kiera, I am not entertaining this bullshit. Take the pup home. I will sort this out.” My voice came out a deep growl. My whole body was shaking. Who the f**k does this Jarod think he is?! 

“Hunter please, let me just take care of this. I don’t want this to escalate and someone get hurt. Please.” Her eyes pleaded with me. f**k! Saying no to her is damn near impossible.

“Come to an agreement I like or I will rip this mutt to shreds, along with all his friends. War or not.” The look on her face was painful for me to look at but I couldn’t let her put herself in danger.  I know that she can handle herself, but I am the alpha. As tough as she is, it is still my job to take care of her and my pack. 

“I thought I was pretty clear last time that I wasn’t going to work for Jarrod any more. HE sold me! I think that pretty much sums up that he didn’t need me any more.” She had a scary quiet tone to her when she was angry. 

“Oh, you are as dumb as you are prettyyyy. You knowww just because you got lucky and were sold to your precioussss mate, doesn’t mean you are free of ussss.” The rogue really enunciated the T in mate. Wait, how did they know we were actual mates? I don’t remember announcing that.

“What are you talking about? Jarrod arranged this marriage himself.”

“We know everythinggg Kiera. How did you think you would keep that a secret? You can’t hide a mate.”

“Let the pup go. She is innocent.”Kiera isn’t going to deny being my mate? Okay, good. Now what?

“We don’t need the pup, though she would make a fun play thing.”

“Let her go, or I’ll tear you to f*****g pieces!” Kiera is shaking now. 

“ Easy nowww, were just here to deliver a messssage anyway.”

“Then get on with it. I am losing my patients.” This time I couldn’t help but chime in.

“Youuu got a feisty one Kiera. It would be sssuch a shame for him to lose that light in his soullll.”

“What does he WANT!” Kiera was losing it. Her claws were extending. I put my arm out and placed my hand on her shoulder. She retracted her claws  but didn’t stop shaking. 

“Yooou know what he wantssss. He hassss a job for you. You should heed thisss warning and abide or he willll take from yooou what you cherish mossst.” A wicked smile spread across the rogue's disgusting mouth, revealing his rotted teeth. Then with a pop and a flash he was gone. Magick, great. I could see Kiera still shaking but she lunged towards where the pup was lying unconscious. 

“She is still breathing. I think she will be fine. Just a little shaken up. Let’s get her to the infirmary and have the doc take a look at her.” She sounded almost robotic. Like she wasn’t quite herself. I reached down and scooped up the tiny pup. Just then Sam burst through the trees.

“Where the hell have you been?! I have been searching for you. I swear I have been through here at least a dozen times. It was like your scent was everywhere and nowhere at the same time!” He shouted, out of breath and he waved his arms around expressing his worry. 

“The rogue must have a witch friend helping him so we weren’t interrupted.” I think Kiera knows this, but she doesn’t speak. It’s like her spark is gone. What little spark had appeared was now gone. “Sam, will you take the pup to the infirmary? I need a moment with my wife.” He nodded and without another word took the pup and walked away. 

Still standing in the woods where the rogue had left us I watched her. Her face never showed any emotion. Like she had given up already. 

“Kiera, you can’t do it. Whatever it is he wants from you, you can’t do it. I won’t let you.”

“Hunter, it’s not that simple. If I don’t he will kill you.” Her voice came out so small.

“Like hell he will. If you haven’t noticed Kiera, I am not that easy to kill.” My tone was a little condescending. I didn’t mean it to be, I just am tired of this dickhead making her feel like this. 

“Let's go back to the house. We can continue this conversation there.” I took her hand and led her towards the house. She didn’t resist. She didn’t talk either. I really wanted to know what was going on in her head. If only the mind link would let me read her mind too. 

Unknown POV

“I thought you said she would come! I am tired of waiting to be rid of her!” I stomped over to the moth-eaten couch and slumped down. I had thought that b***h Kiera would leave the Blood Moon pack if the threat was harsh enough. Clearly the rogue hadn’t made the threat severe enough. 

“Look, I tookkk the pup like yooou sssaid, and told her someone she loved would get hurtttt. What elssse was I supposed tooo doo?” The rogue’s face was contorted with anger. 

“I said to threaten Hunter! That b***h will do anything to save him!” My voice is screaming with rage. 

“I thought..” 

“Don’t think! I don’t pay you to think!” 

“Will you two stop?!” Jarrod appeared from in the doorway. “I told you both she will only come if I send word. I will just have to do this myself. As far as paying anyone, quit lying. You're not going to pay him! We all know that.” Jarrod snickered as he walked back to his office. 

I turned to the rogue, “so did you go in alone or did you have help to f**k up?”

“You ssssay that like I didn’t do yooou what asked of meee.” his rotten teeth showing when he smiled.

“You didn’t answer me.”

“I know a witcccchhh. She made me smelllll like there were lotssss of rogues with me. Then whennn I wassss ready to leave she just popped meeee out of there.” 

“Can you put me in contact with her? I have a job that sounds like it will need her expertise.”

“I will asssk her if she issss willing to entertain a meetinggg with yooou.”

“Good, how will I know?”

“She willlll find yooou.” and with that he strolled out of the living room like he was important. He better tell the witch I need her. Since my first plan didn’t go as planned I am needing to change course. I will have what I want. No one will stop me. The Blood Moon pack and their Alpha will be mine.