prophecy be damned

Chapter One Sweet Dreams Love Selena's POV In the pale moonlight, I ran as fast as my weary legs could take me, without a single clue on where I was heading to or the dangerous creatures that lurked inside the dark forest. The only instructions that clung to my brain was to lure the beast into the forbidden forest and not to lose my worthless life in the process. I haven't been in this part of the forest since I was eleven, female Shadow hunters are prohibited from wandering in the forbidden forests at night, especially on a full moon, yet here I am. Yes, I'm a shadow hunter, the only female shadow hunter in the shadow clan and a reckless one at that, I'm what the other hunters, including my jerk of a brother call a failure and a disappointment. Well, Jared certainly couldn't be considered as my brother, he was far from it. We had no blood connection as I was informed several times by him, he was just the son of the man who raised and cared for me like his own daughter. The shadow lord who taught me every little thing I know about hunting the supernatural such as: werewolves, vampires, witches, mermaids, sirens and many more unexplainable things. He also could've taught me more if he wasn't dead, murdered brutally while hunting one of deadliest wolf pack in this part of New Orleans. Their Alpha did the honours in killing him, he wanted his death to serve as a stern warning to those hunting his kind. Jared on a revenge streak saw to the demise of some members of the pack, including their precious Alpha. I could say I was glad when Jared returned home from war with the Alpha's head, the one they called Ryker. It was quite a shame that Jared didn't finish off the rest of the pack, he absconded after he beheading their Alpha, but nevertheless we got our revenge. I got my revenge. I dived deeper into the forest, bumping into trees, rocks and some other things I couldn't see in the dark. I almost halted when I heard a loud frightening growl from behind me. No, I think I heard several growls from behind, I wanted to turn back but I was too scared of a coward to turn back and confirm my suspicions. If there were two wolves chasing me, then I might as well be on the verge of losing my life to them. 'Curse you Jared!' I didn't forget to say inwardly, venting my frustration on the one who sent me on what seemed like a suicide quest. Jared took over as leader of the shadow hunters when our father died. He didn't hesitate to deem himself fit for the title Shadow lord, ruling over the Shadow hunters with great pride and arrogance. Those who were brave enough to rebel against his violent leadership were never seen or heard of ever again, my best guess was that Jared had silenced them permanently. I sprinted into a safer part of the forest, I still could hear several growling from afar. I couldn't help but heave out a sigh of relieve as I hid behind a tree, hoping and praying that Jared got to me before the werewolves rip my heart out. Deep down I knew if Jared had his way he would've fed me to the werewolves a very long time ago to save himself the pains of sharing his father's love with me. Perhaps, this was all his shady plan to get rid of me. My ocean blue eyes widened at the mere thought, then it froze as I heard a stomped over twig c***k into pieces, another twig cried out right after the first. "They're here!" I whispered with utmost certainty, jerking up slowly from my resting position. "How the hell did they find me," I asked myself stupidly, totally forgetting my racing heartbeat and strawberry and vanilla perfume instantly gave my location away. There was no running for me any longer, my leg couldn't go further, it wasn't trained for that. It was up to me to protect myself from those creatures, it was my all or nothing. My gloved fingers tightened around my silver dagger that was dipped in wolfsbane. As young hunters, we all were informed that a silver blade straight to a werewolf's heart or chopping off it's head would end the beast permanently, that's what we were told by our trainers. But what do you do when you're faced against not just one but two vicious werewolves. 'You die a shadow hunter,' a loud voice of negativity said from inside of me. It demanded that I quit the struggle for survival, that I lose my life trying to be something or someone I'm not even sure I am. Instead of listening to the sickening voice of negativity, I let myself up with my dagger on my right hand. I wiped the beads of sweats that trickled down my forehead due to my nervousness. With shivering hands, I removed the red crystal pendant on my neck and shoved it into the back pocket of my black ripped jeans. The pendant meant a lot to me, I remembered vividly the Shadow lord telling me never to take it off my neck or lose it to anyone. Acknowledging his words, I needed to make sure it was safe. After mustering up some courage, I courageously yelled. "Over here dummies, come and get me!" I signaled, my voice shaking slightly. Fear rushed down my spine but I tried not to let it show on my girlish face, although I was certain they could smell my fear, lots of it. They growled as they bounded forward, trying to intimidate me with their canines and paws. "Let's dance!" I say with my child-like voice, pointing and rotating my dagger at both of them, my eyes undistracted by their movement. Their paws stamped firmly on the grass as they circled around me, they had eyes black as night itself. My gaze riveted to the brown wolf that stood like a sentinel, anticipating my next move, pondering on the right time to strike his prey, to strike me. I started backwards not retracting my gaze from them, I'll surely be dead if I do. The biggest and seemingly the strongest started towards me with a predatory calmness, its paws struck terror on the ground and everything underneath it, without a doubt it dominated the mini creatures of the forest. And by the look of confidence it narrowed at me, it perceived me as a weak opponent. I stared at them for a moment before registering that I was sandwiched between the two werewolves, both assessing the neigh time to strike. Unfortunately for me, the neigh time wasn't up to a second. The less biggest jumped on me, pinning me down hard on the forest floor, trying viciously to devour my whole being. I struggled tirelessly for some while under its sharp paws. I had accidentally dropped my dagger due to the shock that embraced me as I was being tackled on the forest floor. One stretching of my arm on the bare grassy floor was all I needed to retrieve my silver blade just in time to slit any part of flesh I could find in its hideous body. It whimpered off me to gain more momentum, I too desperately needed the timeout. The biggest furiously snarled at me-- now rapidly advancing towards my direction. It launched itself at me, its jaws wrapped around my right arm, craving to shred it apart. The excruciating pain of its sharp paws into my shoulder left me paralyzed and almost screaming for help, but I didn't want to give it that satisfaction. One thing was clear to me, I wasn't going to survive this vicious ordeal. Definitely, I was going to die here, all alone in the forest with no one around to save me. Oh God, it sucked to feel this way, vulnerable. "Get the hell away from her!" Yelled someone in the shadows with an angelic voice. His words ignited a spark of hope inside me, hope that I just might see another day. Then I saw a silhouette figure of a wolf much more bigger and fiercer than the ones that tried to rip me apart, it darted to my aid like some fearless hero seeking to rescue a damsel in distress. It fearsome growl struck a little fear in the hearts of the wolves like it meant something to them; authority. They deserted me and darted towards the anonymous wolf who bravely lunged closer to them, obviously it was ready for a fight. Weakly, I tried to steal a few glances at the anonymous black wolf in the shadows but the excruciating pain that rose inside my head ended that possibility. I clutched the left side of my head as it was spinning in an endless circle, I felt dizzy all of the sudden. Then my world turned into black and all the growling around me seized, once again the peace of forest was secured. My consciousness gradually faded into black but before I gave into the darkness that threatened to claim me, I heard a gentle voice in my head, almost identical to the angelic voice I heard earlier, no it was identical. 'Sweet Dreams love, till our paths cross again.'