The Hunter

Chapter 8

Daniel began the meeting by giving everyone the rundown of what I had discovered in my lone missions. He had the pictures of vamps I had taken out on a screen behind him. He spoke with such candor, that I was finding myself listening in. I don’t know why because I was the one who gave all the details. Daniel just oozed royalty and professionalism that just captivated everyone in the room. Even Luna was listening, which is unusual.

“I understand the severity of this situation, but fairies hardly get in the middle of such affairs.” Titania spoke once Daniel was finished speaking. Daniel nodded.

“I wouldn’t ask for your attendance if I wasn’t worried. I’m aware that fairies live in their own realm, but some of your people do travel into our world from time to time. With such wild fledglings on the loose, I do not want your people being hunted by them. We do not want a repeat of the 80's.” he said. She closed her eyes for a moment. s**t went down back in the day. It was said that a vampire had gotten a taste of fairy blood and decided he was only going to feed on their kind. He went on a rampage, killing more than fifty fairies in a two-month span before he was put down. That was when Daniel had come into power; he was the one that ultimately brought that vamp down. He was respected by the fairies and gaining a following of loyal vampires.

“Our brother and sisters thank you.” She declared. He nodded at her.

“I have a question,” one of the wolves who accompanied the Alpha spoke. “How certain are you that it is the same vampire creating these nests of baby vamps?”

“Extremely.” Daniel claimed. He waved his hand in my direction, making everyone stare at me. “Genevieve has identified the same scent in all the locations. She was the one to terminate these fledglings under my command to do so.”

Oh boy.

The wolf who questioned raised an eyebrow, giving me a once over.

“You trust the word of a traitor?” he accused. I heard Luna give a low growl at his condemnation. Daniel gave me a sharp wave to step forward. I came to stand by his side, at attention. Daniel bent low, placing his hands on the table, and looking the wolf in the eyes with a piercing glare.

“Genevieve is tasked to protect my daughter, even at the cost of her own life. She was deemed a rouge by your people when she went in search of a pack when her family was slaughtered by my kind. She was deemed a traitor when she did everything in her power to stay alive and aligned herself with the mortals. Do not insult her.” He spoke, his voice even and low. The wolf growled.

“Apologize.” Malakai commanded. The wolf sat there staring at Daniel for a few moments before he relaxed.

“I apologize, I spoke out of turn.” He said.

“At Genevieve.” Malakai said, his voice going cold. The wolf froze in his seat and my heart began to race. The last alpha never recognized my presence, let alone made a wolf apologize to me. In fact, the last alpha never used my name if he was forced to speak about me.

“Sir?” the wolf questioned. Malakai placed his hand of the man’s shoulder. If I wasn’t gawking, I would’ve missed the fact that he had squeezed his hand making the wolf whine a little.

“Do not make me repeat myself, Jackson.” Malakai spoke, his voice authoritative. The wolf nodded.

“Genevieve, I apologize for my comment. It was rude and unsolicited.” He said, his voice hard. He dipped his head and exposed his neck. This was a show of respect to a high-ranking wolf, he was submitting. To me? Daniel stood up from his position.

“King Daniel, I apologize for my subordinates’ action.” Malakai announced. “Genevieve, I hope you don’t hold it against him. I will reprimand him later.”

I could not speak. What the hell was happening? Why would the Alpha make such an announcement to me? And why would the wolf put himself in such a compromising position for an apology? I wasn’t a high-ranking warrior in any pack, I was just a contracted killer. This Alpha puzzled me.

The rest of the meeting went smoothly after that. They spoke logistics with one another, in the end agreeing that combining their resources would help in bringing this vampire down. Honestly, I couldn’t concentrate at the topic at hand. I would have to have Owen tell me everything. I was just running the words Malakai spoke to me in my head repeatedly. I went back every detail and every expression, trying to find if the Alpha only meant to insult me further or if he was genuine. This only served to give me a headache. I began to regret my choice of hair style. I couldn’t wait to let my hair down.

Luna cleared her throat, bringing me back to the real world. The meeting seemed to have adjourned and they were talking amongst themselves now. Well, I’m glad nothing happened while I was in my own world. I would have let Daniel down, and let Luna die.

“I need a drink.” I told Luna. She raised her eyebrows at me.

“Are we talking about sip and gossip, or do we need to buy a s**t load of booze?” she asked. I contemplated for a second.

“I think we need to buy a s**t ton of booze.” I declared. Luna whistled.

“Damn, this is going to be interesting.” She said giving me a mischievous look. Now I regretted this, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to get drunk right now. I needed to get out of my own head. Luna went to go excuse herself before coming back and linking her arm in mine. She pulled me in out of the boardroom and grabbing her bag and my keys from where the maid had placed them when we first arrived.

An hour later, we were in my room rearranging the couches and tables for our evening. Luna had requested that her TV was brought into my room so we could watch movies. I had changed into more comfortable clothing, finally removing my hair from my ponytail.

“That feels much better.” I commented as I sat plopped on one of the couches. I threw a fuzzy blanket over my lap. Luna looked up from her phone and handed me my third beer.

“Are we going to talk about what happened earlier?” she asked throwing her phone off to the side. I groaned; I knew this was going to happen. Luna was the only person I was truly close with, in fact, I didn’t have friends outside of her. However, I’m glad I did have her because she was the only person I could speak with about things. Not like I could have any mortal friends and try to converse about things without having to reveal what I am or about the supernatural world. I sighed.

“He puzzles me.” Was all I said. Luna shook her head.

“No, I’m talking about when Malakai entered the room and you looked like you had just seen the love of your life.” She said, sitting up on her knees. I closed my eyes. I knew what happened, but I was just in denial. I never really thought it’d be possible for me to experience this. Being around vampires all the time, the possibility for this to happen was once in a million chance.

“Malakai is my mate.” I announced. Luna slammed her hand down on the arm of the couch and choking on whatever she was sipping on when I spoke.

“You’re kidding me, right? Mates are like a big deal with your kind! Why didn’t you say anything to me earlier?” Luna expressed. “No wonder you froze! Oh, my goddess, I’ve never seen this happen before my eyes. It was spectacular!”

“It’s not a love story. It’s just a chemical thing.” I retorted.

“No, the f*****g moon goddess made this happen.” Luna declared.

“Artemis be dammed.” I murmured. Artemis, goddess of the moon, hunt, and wild animals, was often a deity that our kind would worship. Wolves always had their stories about how she took pity on a man creating him to be a Vampire to be with the woman he loved. Another man, also in love with this woman, begged the goddess with abilities of his own. She gave him the ability to shift. He chose the form of a wolf. In an ironic turn of events, Artemis created a woman as an equal to this wolf, his mate. Artemis did not want this wolf to ruin the Union of the Vampire and the woman, so she created an unbreakable bond that would captivate the wolf and make him forget about the other woman. This wolf went on to have children with his mate, who were also gifted with mates of their own. And thus, creating a species of wolves that always had their equal.

“You’re lucky she has not brought down her wrath upon you.” Luna said. I rose an eyebrow.

“You sure about that? Because last I checked she showed me her wrath when my family was murdered.” I told her.

“What do you mean by that?” Luna questioned. I pinched the bridge of my nose. No use in hiding it now.

“The night my family was killed, I ran into the forest alone because I was angry. Every wolf in my pack had found their mate during the ceremony, I had not. I cursed her and denounced my following in a fit of childish anger. When I came back, my pack was gone.” I recalled. “Artemis punished me.”

“Gen, I didn’t know that.” Luna spoke softly. I downed the rest of my beer and grabbed another.

“It’s not something I like talking about.” I disclosed, my voice small and weak. I drank the beer I had just opened in one go. Moments like these I cursed my fast metabolism; I wanted to feel lightweight after a few drinks. Instead, I crumpled up the empty beer can and grabbed another.

“I don’t think Artemis would have disciplined you that harshly.” Luna said, putting her cold hand on my exposed arm. I shrugged.

“Ever since that day, I’ve been a strong follower of our Goddess, one comment probably won’t anger her. She knows that everything I’ve become, is in her image. I’ve become a fierce hunter and protector of the mortals.” I said with conviction. Luna nodded.

“So, do you think Malakai is aware that you’re his mate?” she asked. I shrugged, downing yet another can.

“Who knows. If he does, highly doubt he’ll accept me.” I replied.

Won’t that cause physical pain when he doesn’t?” she asked.

“Only if he verbally rejects me. Often the female wolf dies when they do. The male is forced to watch, and in the end, they perish as well. It’s part of the curse.” I said.

“I don’t suspect Malakai rejecting you. He did just become Alpha. I know that’s not an easy feat to accomplish.” She said I pointed my finger at her in agreement.

“Exactly.” I stated. “The mate bond will only strengthen once he communicates that he does accept me. Right now, we just know of each other. We still have free will.”

“This is all too complicated.” Luna groaned, rubbing her temples. I chuckled.

“I know. That’s why when we’re younger, the elders of our Pack make sure to engrain this information. You’re right, it is a big deal.”

We sat in silence for a moment while Luna looked deep in thought. I wonder if Malakai will just breeze on by from this and find someone who is accepted by our kind. The Alpha accepting a traitor as his mate, and ultimately having me become queen of the wolves, will be social and political suicide.

“What do you think Malakai will do?” Luna asked. I sat there, not wanting to answer her. I let her question hang in the air. I grabbed the remote and began surfing the various streaming platforms for a good movie.

“You know what I think? We should stop talking about this, drink and watch a damn good movie.” I said, smiling at her. Luna seemed to contemplate pushing me further before she shook her head and smiled at me. She knew I was deflecting, and glad she chose not to annoy me. We spent the rest of the night watching movies, drinking, and enjoying each other’s company. I dozed off on the couch by early morning.