The Doyennes' Worldly Convergence

Chapter 13 - Hunters

Cordelia

I woke up from whatever nightmare I was living in, but the stars that I saw sparkling down through the large skylights above me made it obvious that I was in an unfamiliar bedroom. Sh.it. Everything I remember really did happen ....

Looking over at the numbers glowing on the clock, I saw that it was just a little before 4 in the morning. It might have been early for most, but it was sleeping in for me. I reached over to turn on the lamp, and a soft amber hue barely illuminated the room.

The bedroom wasn't huge nor extravagant by any means, being just large enough for the queen-sized bed, a couple of dressers, and a love seat that was placed in front of a TV that hung on the wall. Oddly, the only windows were the skylights, but there were three doors and I wondered which one was the exit.

I quietly got out of the comfortable bed and made my way to the door that was located on the longer wall, cracking it open just enough to peak out. All I wanted to do was see if Lorne was around or if I was alone, but a high-pitched whine alerted me to another creature. I glanced down to see a gray dog's nose pressed into the opened crack of the door, inhaling deeply before another whine left the animal.

Letting out a sigh, I opened the door all the way to reach down and pet the sleek gray dog on top of its head.

"His name is Amar," a deep male voice unexpectedly came from across the hall, causing me to gasp and jump in place.

I looked up to see a taller, well-built man with dark coffee-colored skin, his intense brown eyes staring at me with his arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against the wall.

"I'm going to be polite, but only because I have to be. I'm Samuel Sangoma. You can call me Sam. I'm the Beta here," he said coldly. I had a feeling he was trying to intimidate me, but it wasn't working.

"Beta? What the heck is a Beta?" I asked Sam as I made my way out of the bedroom, closing the door behind me.

Sam raised a questioning eyebrow, "I was told you were a hardcore skeptic?"

I sighed as I rubbed my forehead, "After what I saw last night, I don't really think that being skeptical is an option anymore."

Sam smiled as his body language relaxed, "That was Rieka's third form ...."

"I don't understand what that means," I told him as I made sure to give him a look to encourage him to explain himself.

"Seth and Rieka are what they call True Borns. Most of us get our wolves when puberty hits, but those two were born already having their wolves with them, and they actually survived in the womb. They can be human, wolf, or the third form. It's similar looking as a Lycan, but a Lycan doesn't have another soul to fight with. They're simply a human that shifts."

The more we talked, the more curious I became, "Ok, so Lycans and True Borns are kind of like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde .... but what about you?"

"I'm just a simple werewolf that happens to have a little witch doctor blood in me. Being the Beta means that I'm Seth's right-hand man, more or less. In most packs, that would mean that while he's gone or if anything were to ever happen to him, that I would be the one in charge. But then again, most packs are completely run by the Alpha. However, here we all try to have an equal say in things, but we all have our different roles as well. Rory's mate, Falco, is the Gamma. He basically oversees security, and Rory has a job helping to train. Falco's sister, Freya, is the Delta. She oversees the training along with her mates, Kaden and Zane. Rieka, well, she oversees all of us, but we all keep her in check as well ....."

As if Sam knew that I wanted a visual, he moved away from the wall and into the center of the hallway. What happened next was enough to make me want to vomit, as the sound of bones breaking knotted up my stomach. Before I knew it, I was looking at a golden brown and white wolf.

My eyes widened as I stared in disbelief as the wolf walked over to me and nuzzled into the side of my leg, begging for attention. I couldn't help but run my fingers through the hair on his head.

The wolf closed his eyes, laid his ears back against his head, and let out a moan of approval as I scratched his chin.

"I thought that werewolves were supposed to be huge?" I asked, as I continued to give the wolf attention.

The wolf's eyes shot open as he let out a snort, made his way back to the center of the hallway, and shifted back into Sam, who was thankfully fully clothed, "We're werewolves. Not Godzilla-wolfs. There's no difference between Denny and any other regular wolf in the wild. If there was, we'd be hunted into extinction. Or worse, captured and experimented on."

I raised a brow as I thought about what Sam just said, "Is that how rumors get spread about wolves being where the government claims they're not supposed to be?"

"Pretty much. The government knows about us, and they're not ....."

"Sam! There you are! I thought I heard you shift!" a female voice called from the top of the staircase.

A smile formed on Sam's face as he and I turned to see a pretty woman with honey-colored hair and eyes making her way towards us.

"I was just filling Miss Craig in on some things," Sam replied as he wrapped an arm around her waist.

The woman smiled at me as she reached out her hand, "I'm Jolene. Seth's younger sister and one of Sam's mates. But please, just call me Jo."

I quickly shook Jo's hand as I repeated her words, "One of his mates?"

Jo's eyes sparkled as her smile grew, "I'm his fated mate, but we have a chosen mate as well .... you know, your man is downstairs with everyone else drinking up all the coffee. Let's join them and we'll fill you in on everything."

I nodded my head before I followed Sam and Jo down to the kitchen with Amar walking closely to my left side.

--

I collected my thoughts as I swirled the dark beverage in my cup before taking a long sip, "Ok, let me get this straight. Selene is the Moon Goddess. She works with Fenrir, who is the Wolf God, and he is also mated to Rieka's grandma-not-grandma. Together, Selene and Fenrir decide what wolf soul is paired with what human soul. Hecate is the Goddess of witchcraft, and Artemis is the Goddess of the hunt, and those two also work with Selene. Eris is the Goddess of discord and mischief .... Can I just get a list or something? I grew up thinking that all of this was just make-believe. Now you're all telling me that all of these Gods and Goddesses are actually real?"

Sylvia smirked as she held her cup of tea in both hands, "If you think that's a lot to take in, Hecate is my mom and my daughter is mated to Luke .... Dis .... Hades .... whatever you want to call him."

I couldn't help but let out an amused snort, "I guess that's one way to make a deal with the devil ...."

After quickly finishing my coffee, I stood up from the kitchen table where 14 of us were gathered, and made my way to the coffee pot. I tried to continue to listen to their voices as I refilled my cup, picking up whatever information I could that might help point me in the right direction to look for Harlee. Everyone agreed that it had to have something to do with vampires, and Rhi promised to reach out to her friends a little later in the day.

Right after I picked up my full cup, a loud crash and the sound of glass breaking made me spin around quickly, sending my coffee flying everywhere.

"Darcy, Cara?!" Freya yelled out in shock.

Standing by the table was a fair-skinned woman with brown hair that was so dark it was almost black, her brown and gold eyes were glowing with emotion as she was held up by a young teenage girl with tanned skin, brown hair, and gray and gold eyes.

But their sudden appearance wasn't as shocking as the tanned-skinned man who was lying on the kitchen table in front of us. Fresh, deep cuts were on his clean-shaven head and arms, his gray beard covered in the blood that was coming from his mouth, and his body was riddled with gunshot wounds.

"Robert!" Rhi's voice contained fear as she quickly moved to his side with Seth, Sam, and Sylvia doing the same.

"I don't have the strength .... PLEASE ......" the older of the two women begged.

Sam turned to look her in the eyes, "Darcy, his wolf won't make it."

"Do it! I'd rather have my father alive than have both of them dead!" the teenager, who must be Cara, cried out.

"You all need to leave, NOW!" Rhi's voice was loud and powerful, and at that instant I fully understood why she was the one who was in charge.

The rest of us quickly left the kitchen, following Jo to the living room.

"Darcy, what happened? Where's the rest of your pack?" Celeste asked as she helped Darcy lay down on one of the couches.

"Hunters," Darcy choked out, " ..... hunters killed the rest ..."