The Hunter

Chapter 11

I sat in one of the couches that Daniel had in his study. I was called in earlier to attend a meeting he was calling between a few of the elite vampire warriors that lead their own unit. It had been a couple of days after Daniel and Malakai had announced their plan. The Alpha and his wolves had left that morning after to speak to his pack. I sat with my arms crossed, looking down at the polished hardwood floor. The door opened and in came the vampires with Owen leading them. They stood there watching Daniel. One of the female vampires, Mia, snickered at me. I rolled my eyes at her. She always had a problem with me since the moment I came into Daniel’s employment. I get that I’m a wolf, but she doesn’t always have to give me looks. She should just ignore me, like most of the vamps do.

“Thank you for coming.” Daniel began. “The Alpha King and I have come to an understanding of where our headquarters will be located.”

“I still cant believe we will be living under the same roof as those things.” The auburn-haired guy said. If I remember correctly, he was originally from France, migrating to the states in the early 1900’s. He was turned by a woman who was said to be lonely at that time, she was known to be the Mother of Vampires in her time.

“Claude, enough.” Owen spoke.

“Where?” I asked, hoping to move this conversation along. Daniel looked at me and nodded.

“Rexford, Montana. The houses and the compound will be modified for us vampires to be able to move freely during the day.” He said. “The winters are long there, so we only have to worry about a few months during the summer. And because the wolves run hotter than usual, they’ll be able to keep warm during the winters.”

“Let them overheat.” Claude said, giving me a quick look. I gave him a low growl. He wasn’t talking about the wolves; he had directed that comment to me.

“I expect you all to control yourselves when we get there. I’m sure the Alpha is giving this same speech to his subordinates. I don’t care what kind of s**t has been ingrained into your skulls, but I am ultimately the King here. If you wish to leave, I’ll have Genevieve hunt you down. Am I understood?” Daniel’s tone was cold and wavering. He very rarely spoke to his underlings in such a tone, but when he did, they all listened to him. I smiled at the vampires. Mia turned away from me quickly.

They all knew what I was capable of, and they knew that I could hunt and kill without remorse. I am not attached to any of them, and that was their downfall. If I had to, I could kill several vampires before being put down, and that was even if they dared to stop me. Daniel rarely used me in a threat, but when he did, it scared the vamps. That only served to inflate my ego. I was a deadly killing machine with speed and strength that rivaled even the best vamps. The vamps standing in this room agreed with Daniel.

“I plan to take the best of my warriors to Rexford. I will leave Owen in charge of the vampires that I decide to leave here.” Daniel looked at Owen before speaking directly to him. “You will be my middleman, I trust no one else to replace me here, as I understand strays come here looking for a purpose.”

The “strays” he talks about are of the occasional vampires that come looking for the King for a place in his army. Very few are allowed into the army, but Daniel does help the few that are not qualified to be placed in other nests that don’t cause trouble. For the first time in history, Daniel was able to help the vampire population drastically. As many hotels he had opened, he also created small communities in the states. The vampires were given jobs with the mortals, with in reason, and provide them with meals. That is why there are far fewer mortal slaughters by vamps since his reign began. He was the first King to reach autonomy within the vampire community. No vampire dared to overthrow Daniel and undo all the good he has done. Everyone benefited by this new way of living, and they didn’t want to threaten the peace.

“Luna will be accompanying me to Montana, but I will not be asking you to protect her there, Genevieve.” Daniel said. I nodded, understanding why I was going. He didn’t have to say why, nor did he offer an explanation to the other vamps. “We leave the day after tomorrow. Prepare your belongings.”

With that, the vamps walked out leaving Owen and I alone with Daniel.

“I guess I won’t be having my little runt around anymore.” Owen joked. I stood from my seat and walked over to him. He pulled me into a bone crushing hug. I laughed while pushing him away.

“You act like I’m leaving forever.” I said, a smile plastered on my face.

“What if you do?” he asked, faking a cry. I just shook my head at his attempt to guilt me into saying a heartfelt goodbye.

“You think I’m going to stay with the wolves after having such a wonderful time bonding with them?” I asked sarcastically.

“I don’t know, maybe.” He said shrugging. “You do have a lot in common.”

“Luna won’t allow that.” Daniel said from his desk while he looked through his papers. I let out a loud laugh.

“Thank the goddess for the Princess.” Owen said, dramatically falling into the chair.

“What do you plan on telling Luna that I won’t be on her protection detail for a while?” I asked Daniel.

“I’m sure she’ll understand that you will be working hard on your assignment.” He said, not looking up from his papers. I nodded, even though he didn’t see it. Luna was always understanding when another vampire took over my job when I was gone or busy, but it was never for an indefinite amount of time. That is probably why Luna was going to be going with us. If it were for a short amount of time, Luna would be staying in Washington for the duration of the summer and moving down to Colorado for the winter with Owen.

Colorado was Daniel’s home state after turning into a vampire, and that is why he chose to settle down there when he became King. That was how Colorado became the ‘Vampire capital of the States.’ There were many small nests of vampires that lived there and has a famous Vampire lodging in the town of Aspen. That was were Luna and I stayed when I wasn’t on assignment, enjoying the slopes and the hunting grounds.

I excused myself from the study to prepare my belongings. While I was grabbing my clothes from the closet and putting them in my bag, Luna barged in.

“Sure, come on in.” I said sarcastically, not looking up from my bag.

“What are you going to be wearing when we get to Montana?” she asked.

“Clothes.” I answered. She gave me a dry laugh.

“Obviously, but like what specifically?” she asked settling in on my bed. It was in these moments I was reminded I was a female in my twenties. Girls my age and younger than me were obsessed with what they wore. I was not one of those girls. Luna knew this, but she always forced me to have conversations like these. I looked up at her and shrugged.

“Probably something comfortable, it will be a long drive.” I said going back to my bag. Luna crawled over to the clothes I had laid out.

“You can be comfortable and cute.” She said while looking at some of the clothes I had. She lifted one of my band t-shirts. “You are not going to be wearing this are you?”

“And what if I am?” I asked, irked at the fact that she made a face at my shirt.

“This shirt is faded, you probably got blood on it, and it is not cute.” She said letting go of it. I snatched it from the bed and threw it on my pile of clothes I chose for the drive.

“Do you expect me to wear a dress?” I asked her. She sneered at me.

“No, but I want you look cute.” She said. I narrowed my eyes at her.

“What’s your play here, Luna.” I asked her.

“I just want you to look pretty. I know there will be several vampires and wolves there. I don’t want you looking like an animal.” She said waving her hand at me. I rolled my eyes. I knew she won’t admit that she is trying to make me look good for Malakai. I was not going to argue with her, because I didn’t have the energy to fight against Luna today. That was how she got away with most things with me. She had these crazy antics, and I just went along with her to keep her sated.

“I want to wear pants, so don’t go too crazy.” I said giving in. She squealed and jumped off the bed to go to my closet. I grabbed the clothes I had laid out already and packed them away. After a few minutes of talking to herself and throwing things out, she came out with some clothes.

“You are going to look like a badass in this.” She said and holding up some pieces of clothes to make sure it matched. I just laughed at her and grabbed my stuff from the bathroom and vanity to put them in my toiletries bag.

“I’m glad you are happy with your choice.” I simply said. That night Luna decided to have a fashion show with the remainder of my clothes that were not suited for the winter months in Montana.