Children of the Goddesses (completed)

Bounty Hunters

Laila’s POV

            We were halfway through our journey and excitement was building up in my heart. Every mile we covered brought me one mile closer to my family and friends. I couldn’t wait to see Father and Lovis again, and the witches and werewolves from the Tahoe Coven and Gold Moon Pack, who were like a second family to me. Even though Lovis had managed to let me know that he had found Father alive and well right before I “died” at the Battle of Wallace Bay, I wanted to see Father with my own eyes and be in his arms again, just like when I was little. I was also especially anxious to see Brenna because of what I had discovered in the past few days. 

            Since the second day of our journey, I had been sneaking out of my tent or motel room during daylight hours to experiment how long I could last under the sun without getting burned. The first attempt didn’t last very long as I was afraid of getting caught, but with time, I figured out the security rotation and I’d sneak out when the warriors were changing shifts. After my fifth attempt, I was more or less certain that not only was I invulnerable to sunlight, the sun had become some kind of charger for me. The more time I spent under the sun, the more acute my senses would become. I could hear better and see better, and I could even smell the emotions of the werewolves around me. At first I wasn’t sure, especially when I recalled smelling the Gamma’s emotions once, when I first woke up and caught him off guard. I thought perhaps I was imagining things, but as time went by, I couldn’t ignore the joy that I was catching from Dillon when we were joking around. Neither could I ignore the conflicted emotions from the Gamma when I was near him. 

            Other than enhanced hearing, sight, strength and agility, vampires were not known to have other supernatural abilities. The only exceptions were the daywalkers who were invulnerable to sunlight. I was puzzled about my newfound abilities and the possibility that the sun was the source of those abilities. It was an incredible theory, and the irony of the sun being a source of magic for vampires didn’t escape me, but the more I thought about it, the more I became certain of it. And the best person to help me figure this out was just about another 3 days drive away! I beamed happily as the thought of reaching the Tahoe Coven soon flashed across my mind. 

            Pop! Pop, pop, pop!

            “Silver bullets!” Dillon’s frantic roar was quickly followed by the sound of objects whizzing towards us. The moonlight bounced off the cold metal and I recognized the silver bullets whizzing towards us in the air. We were just about to set up camp before sunrise in the Kianuko Provincial Park when the attack came out of nowhere. Suddenly, a heavy body crashed into mine, pinning me face first to the ground. Fear overcame me as I tried desperately to shrug the dead weight off me. Before I could scream or cry, a comforting minty smell filled my lungs and my body calmed down immediately on its own. 

            “It’s ok, Laila, it’s me. I need you to crawl to that large boulder 10 feet to your left and stay down,” whispered the Gamma firmly but gently in my ear. 

            “No! I won’t hide while the rest of you fight! Besides, I’m not afraid of silver bullets!” My wobbly voice betrayed the crippling fear that I was trying to hide. The enemies were in the dark and we were still unsure about what we were up against. This very scene reminded me of the Battle at Wallace Bay, where I saw my friends fall in front of my very eyes and I refused to let the same scene play out in front of me again. Using all my strength, I shifted my weight to my left and freed myself enough from the man on top of me to turn and look him in the eyes. 

            In his honey brown eyes, I saw fear but it wasn’t fear of our attackers or fear for his life. “Do as I say, Laila, please,” he pleaded desperately before a pair of warm lips gently grazed my forehead. A jolt of electricity surged through my body from the spot where his lips had touched me and before I could make sense of what had just happened, the sound of bones snapping had my full attention. All of my travelling companions were now in their wolf forms and hunting down the snipers attacking us from the shadows of the forest. The Gamma’s voice echoed in my head and every fibre in my body wanted to obey him but I pushed them all to the back of my head as I focused on the sounds around me. 

            Thanks to the two hours that I managed to spend under the sun yesterday, the amount of energy that I felt within me was incredible. Concentrating on my surroundings, I filtered out the rustling of the leaves and the howls of the werewolves until the whizzing of the bullets was all that I could hear. Allowing my instincts to guide me, I followed the sound trail of a bullet, sprinting so quickly that I was moving like a flash of lightning. At the end of the sound trail was a man lying belly down on a thick tree branch with a rifle. Without hesitation, I shook the tree violently with one solid kick. The man landed on the ground with a loud thud and I wasted no time in twisting the long barrel of his rifle to form a U, rendering him useless. The man was human. 

            I was about to drag him back into the open field when I heard a loud, painful howl. My heart hammered as I sprinted towards the sound of the howl and saw a large grey wolf trying to get up on his paws. One of his front paws was bleeding, staining the ground below him red. His glowing honey brown eyes found mine in a heart stopping moment as realization dawned on me who the wolf was. Something snapped in my mind and rage overwhelmed me. My blood was boiling, heating up my body and I let out a strangled cry as the ball of energy within me became unbearable. 

            The smell of the humans, the whistling of the bullets, the breathing of the human snipers, the beating of hearts; every sound became amplified and so crystal clear that I could see the position of each and every sniper in my mind. Letting my instincts take over, I sprinted towards my targets, knocking each and every one of them down with a punch between their eyes before hurling their unconscious bodies out into the open field. Everywhere I turned, I saw red and I couldn’t slow down. My body was pushing me to eliminate every single threat in sight and everything else was drowned out, until a familiar ferocious roar rang into the air.

            The redness that tinted my vision subsided and everything else faded until the only sounds I could hear was the pounding of the Gamma’s heart as I sprinted back into the field to search for him. A sudden sharp pain seared into my right calf, catching me completely off guard as I tumbled down onto the ground. 

            “Get her!” Yells rang in my ears even as a searing pain spread across my entire right leg and to the rest of my body. The pain was overwhelming and I screamed in agony, before realizing the danger that was coming at me. Perspiration trickled down my face as I forced myself to get up onto my feet to run. I hissed as sharp pain pierced through my right leg each time I put my weight on it in an attempt to run. The pain was slowing me down but I was still faster than the humans. I helped to take down Lady Lae! There was no way that I was going to let a lousy gunshot and some humans bring me down! 

            A few large wolves dashed past me as I reached the edge of the open field. Fierce growls and the snapping of bones followed by agonizing screams and victorious howls let me know that the danger had passed. We were safe again. The surge of energy that had powered me through the fight was running low and the pain in my right leg intensified. Silver was poisonous for werewolves but they did nothing to vampires. Yet, the pain was becoming unbearable, perhaps because vampires were not gifted with the ability to heal rapidly the way werewolves did. I slowed down to a hobble as my vision blurred slightly, before my right leg gave way. 

Ethan’s POV

            Noooooo! 

            I shouted desperately as Gower sprinted towards our mate. The sight of a rifle barrel taking aim at Laila made my blood run cold. That silly girl had ignored my pleas to hide herself and I cursed at Gower for howling like a baby because a bullet had grazed his paw. We saw how our mate went on a rampage after seeing our blood on the ground and for the first time in my life, I was paralyzed with fear, fear of losing my mate. To our horror, the yells of the snipers confirmed our worst nightmare. They were here for her. 

            Leave one alive for information, Corin.

            I mind-linked Corin as Gower ran towards our mate. We were no longer outnumbered after Laila had taken down most of the snipers and I let the other warriors finish off the rest of them. I could see that Laila’s strength was waning and I urged Gower to go faster despite the numbing sensation spreading throughout our body. Even though the bullet had just grazed us, it was enough for the poison from the silver to enter our bloodstream and every exertion was making the poison spread faster, but that was the last of my concerns now. 

            Howls filled the air as Laila slowed down. Desperate to reach our mate, Gower made one large leap and we made it just in time to be a fluffy cushion to break our mate’s fall. The smell of metal and fresh citrus hit my nose and put my dangling heart back into place. Shifting quickly back into my human form, I cradled my mate in my arms, my hands roaming all over her body, checking for injuries. Laila’s eyes were closed but her steady heart beat assured me that she was fine, except for the bullet wound on her leg. I knew that we needed to get the bullet out and the wound cleaned up as soon as possible because vampires were not able to heal fast like us. It shattered my heart to see my mate in pain but I felt a strange sense of pride at the same time, knowing that she was the one who had saved us all from the snipers. 

            “Is she ok?” Betti asked as she ran over with some clothes for me in her arms. I nodded awkwardly and thanked her for the clothes. Doubt and hurt clouded her eyes and I felt like a jerk for not making things clear to her when I had the chance during the day, but letting go of Laila now was impossible. Even if I had wanted to, there was no way in hell that Gower would allow it. Our mate was hurt because of us. 

            “We need to get medical help. My cousin’s pack is not too far away from here but it’s across the border. They’re an ally of ours and I need you to go to them to ask for help. We’ll meet at this motel in the next town,” I instructed Betti as calmly as I could while passing her an address. Guilt wrecked my heart but now was no time to talk. It would have to wait until Laila had the medical attention that she needed. Thankfully, Betti was understanding and shifted into her wolf before taking off to seek help from my cousin’s pack. 

            “Gamma, you should hear this yourself,” Corin bellowed as he threw a sniper onto the ground in front of me. “Say what you just told me, you scum!” 

            The man’s breathing was labored but his voice was filled with mockery. “Kill me and you’re breaking the law. You can’t kill humans, dirty dogs! Even if you do, more bounty hunters will come for this sweet lass. Do you have any idea how much female vampires can fetch on the market?” 

            My grip on my mate tightened as I held her closer to my chest and turned to go back to our SUV. If not for the condition that Laila was in, I would have snapped the neck of that nasty piece of work in a heartbeat. 

            “Kill them all and bury them discreetly, Corin. I’m bringing Laila to the next town with Dillon. Join us with the rest when you’re done here,” I commanded before getting into the car with my barely conscious mate in my arms.