The Rogue and His Hunter Mate

Chapter 12- Jake’s Past Revealed

Khanna POV

I stand there, shocked. I cannot believe what I have just heard from Bradley. I knew he was merciless, but I never thought that he would play with others’ lives the way he is. Hunters are known to be ruthless—hell, it's ingrained in us through training—but we are still human and therefore should still show some form of humanity.

From what I can understand, this man, Jake, has been sent on a mission and when he returns, he will be killed. Why? What did he do? Or what does he know?

I am brought out of my thoughts by the sound of voices getting closer. I look around and realize that I am still in the warehouse. I quickly make my way back the way I came and into the main house. I take the stairs two at a time and make it back to Sam’s room in record time. Instead of letting the thoughts run wild, I decide that I am going to do a bit of investigating around this man Jake and find out what I can.

The Team and the Mission

I take out my phone and call Hajime. He is one of my best friends and he is the best hacker I know. Since moving away from the Hunters’ Organization, I have my own little team that I established about six months ago after quitting my part-time job due to Bradley pressurizing me. My team is made up of Hajime, the hacker; Tohru, the informationist; Kyo, the strategist; and me, the one who tackles everything else. I am the one who goes out and completes the missions, no matter how dangerous. We carry out the work I am given from the hunters, but we also deal with private clients. It is a side business I have that is rapidly growing into my main source of income.

I was surprised at first just how quickly we got a client base, most of them being supernaturals who mainly want our help in living peacefully within the human world. Even when taking on hunter missions, if they conflict with our core beliefs, then we alter the mission and try to stick to our beliefs.

I know that Bradley is suspicious of how I am earning my money, but with those involved being my friends from the outside world, he cannot gain information on me. Mainly because Hajime has helped me to protect myself from being hacked and protecting all of my information, except the red herrings that we set to prevent anyone learning the truth about me.

Just after setting up the business, I called a meeting with Hajime, Tohru, and Kyo and explained to them who I really was. At first, they were shocked about me being a hunter, but after they met Sam and he showed them his skills and I showed them mine, they believed me and were more than happy to protect my secret and identity.

The first month was hard, but then the business flourished, and even now, the business is just going from strength to strength. I am often doing two or three jobs at any one time, not that I mind, as it helps to keep me busy and my mind focused on other things.

Since moving into my own apartment and making friends outside of the Hunters’ Organization, I began to see just how out of touch things are within the organization. But this has helped me to get stronger. I focused on building up not only my body but my mental health as well to become more resilient and not fall back into the hunters, even after all of the attempts Bradley has done over the last two years.

Calling Hajime

Hajime does not answer, so I leave him a message to call me back. I am just making a cup of tea when my phone starts to ring in my pocket.

“Hi Hajime, how are you?”

“Not too bad. You?”

“Not too bad. Could you do me a favor?”

“Of course, what do you need?”

“Please could you look into the Hunters’ Organization, specifically Bradley and a man named Jake? I want to know as much as you can find out on him and their interactions,” I explain.

“May I ask why?”

“I will tell you later, just trust me?”

“Of course I do. I will call you back when I hear something.” Hajime ends the call, and I decide to spend some time doing some research my end.

Hajime calls me back quickly after only two hours. Clearly, the protection Bradley had implemented was not enough to hinder Hajime even a bit.

“What did you find?”

Hajime chuckles, “Straight to the point as always, I see.”

“Always am,” I reply, chuckling.

“Right then, I have found the information you want, but I am not sure how you will take it.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, it’s a confusing one, that’s for sure. This Jake man is both a victim of Bradley but also a conspirator.”

“What?”

“Jake Marigold. He left his pack under a cloud after being banished due to killing his mate, attacking the pack, and turning rogue. He then spent a few years on his own, hiding in various locations, until a while ago when he found a cave and stayed there. Since then, he has been using the local town to get necessities and make a nice little home for himself. Then one day, Bradley and his men came across Jake, they captured him, spoke to him, and he agreed to work for them.”

“When was this?”

“Just over two years ago.” I gasp. Two years ago? Wasn’t that when I first met him?

“What is it?” Hajime asks me.

“Two years ago, a man was brought in and he had a serious head wound. At night, I went to his room in the basement and treated it for a few days. When Bradley found out, I was severely punished. But if what you’re saying is true, then it would mean that the man I helped was Jake.”

“Oh my god! Wait, what punishment were you given for helping someone?” Hajime asks, anger creeping into his voice.

“I ended up spending three weeks in the dungeons and then was a slave for six months, then sent on a suicide mission that I survived, obviously. Then even when I got back, I waited until I was 18 and I moved out into my own home,” I explain.

“You were made into a slave?!?” Hajime shouts, causing me to hold the phone away from my ear.

“Yes, not that it made any difference, really. The only difference was that the other hunters beat me physically. I mean, the verbal and mental abuse they threw at me I had been dealing with since I was a child anyway,” I reply nonchalantly.

“What? And these people are supposed to be the good guys?” Hajime asks rhetorically.

“Anyway, Hajime, what happened then?” I quickly change the subject.

“Oh yeah, that’s right. Well, after that, Jake has been working for the hunters. He brings them the wolves that they have been requesting.”

“Really? That’s really unusual, even for a werewolf.”

“Why?”

“Werewolves are pack animals at heart, so to betray not only his pack but also his kind? Something does not sound right there. Knowing their innate nature, there has to be more to it than we are being told,” I explain.

“It is possible. If what you are saying is true, then maybe Bradley is not aware of Jake’s true nature or Bradley is storing that information somewhere else? Most likely manually, I’d say, as I went all through the hunters’ system and found everything that they have on Jake electronically,” Hajime continues.

“I cannot see him storing it manually. Besides, I may or may not have been in his office recently, and there is so little paper, I don’t know how he writes down quick notes. Everything is so technical in his office; paper stands out a mile,” I counter.

“What did you find?” Hajime asks me, knowing that I had also been doing my own bit of research.

“The Hunters’ Organization seems to be getting funding from somewhere or someone unknown. There are bank transfers, job requests—everything can be traced back to this unknown entity. While the organization is taking on other job requests, this one seems to be giving the main mission requests. But that is as far as I can get, but Bradley is in contact with them,” I say.

“Huh, that explains it then.”

“Explains what?”

“I found messages between Bradley and different numbers, but all on the same topic.”

“What topic?” I ask.

“Jake.”

“What?”