The Rogue and His Hunter Mate

Chapter 19- Finding A Base

Khanna POV

I pull Hajime behind me and run as fast as I can, putting as much distance between us and the portal as possible. If someone does follow us through, I want to make sure that we are out of sight and earshot before they appear. The portal closed behind us, so I know it will take about a minute to reopen. We don't have much time to put as much distance between us and it.

I run quickly, keeping a tight grip on Hajime's hand, but he easily keeps up.

"Why are we running?" He asks me, slightly out of breath.

"I don't want us to be followed, and right now we need to put as much distance between us and that portal as possible," I respond.

"Do you think anyone will follow us?"

"I do not know; that is the problem. I do not even know who our enemy is right now. I know we have Bradley and Luke against us, but I do not know if they have sent anyone here to deal with us," I reply.

Hajime nods, saying no more but keeping up with me still.

Not long after, we come to a road. I stand there in shock.

Why is there a road here? So close to the portal, it does not make sense, I think to myself.

“Should we follow the road or avoid it?” Hajime asks.

“Not sure, something about this feels off,” I reply.

“I have the same feeling; why is there a road here?” Hajime asks, before grabbing my hand and pulling me behind him as he heads back the way we came.

“What? Where are we going?” I ask.

“We are following the road but from a distance,” Hajime says, turning left sharply.

If I narrow my eyes, I can see the road running alongside us a few hundred meters away. From this distance, we can make sure that we are following it, but we are far enough away that we can see if anyone is coming after us on it. It may take us longer to get somewhere we can rest, but for now, it is our safest option.

“Are we really going to go after the emerald wolf and Jake?” Hajime asks me.

“I think we need to do a bit more research on both, to be honest. There is something going on that we don’t know. Too many are after them, but I don’t know why.”

“Could it be the prophecy?”

“Prophecy?” I ask.

“That the emerald wolf will bring an end to the world as we know it, that humans will be eradicated from our realm due to a war in this realm. It's all over the internet in our realm,” Hajime says.

“That’s different from the prophecy in this world,” I mutter.

“Really?”

“Yeah, here the emerald wolf is supposed to be the most powerful wolf to walk the realm and one that will bring about change to whatever side they are on.”

“Ahh. Do you think Ava is a good or bad person?” Hajime asks me.

I look at him and smile. “Trust you to already know who it is. Guessing you got that from when you hacked Bradley’s system?”

Hajime nods, both of us falling into silence as we both keep an eye on the road. After a few moments of silence, Hajime breaks it.

“Why do they want us to go after Jake though? That’s what I cannot work out,” Hajime says.

“I don’t know, there has to be something more than just sibling rivalry going on. It is one thing to hate your brother, but another to actually get the hunters on him. That is so taboo in this world that Luke would be hated and cast out by the werewolf community, hell most likely the supernatural community as a whole,” I respond.

“So why run the risk?”

“That’s what we need to find out. We need to know exactly what is going on behind the scenes before we decide our next move. And right now we are at a major disadvantage.”

“Yeah, but why you though? I feel there is something more between you and Jake.”

“What do you mean? Jake already has a mate, Ava,” I respond.

Hajime nods, but I can see he wants to say something.

“What is it?” I ask curiously.

“Do you think that Ava and Jake are really mates? What if they aren’t? What if she is mates with Luke?” Hajime asks.

“No one would be that unlucky. To be mated to Luke would be punishment no one deserves,” I counter.

“True. But why wait until they are together to make a move? Do you think Luke knows that Ava is the emerald wolf and he wants to use her?”

I think for a few seconds, his words making sense.

“That could explain why he has waited this long, but why go after Jake and not Ava directly? Unless….” I say, a realization hitting me.

Hajime nods. “Unless Luke wants to cause a rift between hunters and wolves to unite the wolves, making his plans easier to execute in silence.”

“He would have planned quite a few murders and events from now until he got his hands on Ava, and use the hunters as the reasons behind them. After all, it would practically be declaring war if anything happened to Jake or Ava.”

“Especially with their reputation right now. Luke played the long waiting game, and we are the final pieces,” Hajime explains.

“Making us scapegoats for both Luke and Bradley.”

“Oh?”

“Bradley would say that I went rogue, cutting off ties with me and brandishing me a traitor. That or he would use my death as a way to declare me a martyr and come after the supernatural realm with everything he has.”

“Either way, our deaths will aid both sides,” Hajime concludes.

“We have to come up with a plan and get out of here,” I say, to which Hajime nods.

The rest of the journey is made with small talk, a few laughs, and both of us monitoring what’s around us to make sure we are not being followed.

Just as the sun goes down and a cold wind sweeps in, we spot a light up ahead. We both quicken our steps but hesitate as we get closer to the light, not knowing what it is that we are heading into. But we both let out a sigh of relief at the sight in front of us.

The town in front of us looks magical; the light from the streetlights is warm and inviting. The stress from the previous few hours of being on high alert and trekking chooses now to make itself known, both of us slowing down out of tiredness.

“Think we need food and a place to crash,” Hajime says.

I just hum in response, letting out a yawn before I can even respond.

Hajime laughs, his grip tightening on my hand, and we both stumble into the town.

We walk through the town, stopping at a convenience store to grab a sandwich and drink which we both stuff into our bags before continuing on our hunt for a safe place to stay for the night.