Hunted

Revelation

Without saying anything, I walk to the kitchen and throw a bag of popcorn in the microwave. Jace looks irritated, but that doesn't interest me that much. I take two beers from the fridge, throw the popcorn in a bowl, and walk back to bed.

"Are you finished?" He asks in a monotonous voice. 

"Yeah," I say as I put my knees under my shirt. Now I saw the fear come to him, eagerly searching for the right words. I put my hand on his and say that he doesn't have to say it if he doesn't want to. 

"You’re right, I shouldn’t say anything”

I look at him in surprise and disappointment. I was really curious about what was going on between Slades and him, I’m not going to push him either.

“It might be better if I show it. "

I look back at him even more surprised. This conversation could go in two directions at the moment and Caleb and I would not be happy with one of those. He takes a coat from the pile of clothes and throws it at me.

"Come." The tone with which he said it sounded very trustworthy. I blindly follow him, not paying attention to the surroundings. Jace had put on the hood of the gray hoodie. His hair still covered most of his forehead and the contours of his face were visible. In the meantime, we had walked for a few minutes in a forest without any of us saying a word.

"Whatever happens, remember, it's me." He says, grabbing me by the shoulders and looking straight into my eyes. I feel myself getting scared by the way he grabs me, but the moment I looked at him, that fear disappeared a little. He lets go of me and takes off the sweater. Since we are in the middle of a forest and he is stronger than I am I see what I was planning. "Smartly played," I say mockingly. He looks at me as if he has no idea what I'm talking about. As he undoes the buttons of his pants, he says: "Oh, now I get it" he starts to laugh softly "Don't worry, I would never do that."  If he didn't bring me here to r*pe me, then why? I sit down against a tree and decide to wait.

"Remember, it's just me," he reassures me again.

"Yes, I know now," I snatch at him impatiently. Even before I could say anything else, Jace falls to his knees. His spine becomes longer and his legs start to deform. The only thing I can hear is the creaking of bones and the moaning of Jace. His face starts to form into a muzzle and a fur begins to grow. At this point, he hardly seems human, more like a big dog. This process only took a few seconds, but it felt like hours. It was magnificent, seeing a human transform into a beast like that. Jace is now a huge wolf, About 5’5 in height with a light brown coat. The beast looks at me with the same eyes as Jace's. The animal stands proudly over me until it turns around with a fright. Behind him are two other wolves, built slightly smaller than Jace.

There is a series of loud growling back and forth and Jace pushes me behind a tree. From that moment everything goes very quickly. The growling and snarling. The first wolf pounces at Jace and the other jumps at him from behind. Jace is taller, but they are with the two of them. A third wolf comes out of the forest. This one is smaller and much slimmer. I think a female. Jace does not realize it, busy fighting only one wolf. The other is lying dead on the ground, his head a few feet away from the rest of his body. After a couple of good hits, he had also killed the other wolf. His beautiful brown fur is now covered with blood, pieces of flesh, and fur. He quickly shakes himself and runs growling to the female, who slowly withdraws. All the time she has been staring at me and not showing any sign of aggression, just curiosity. And then, she leaves. Jace turns to me. He lays down on the floor right next to me and is still out of breath. He gently lays his head down on my lap. I quietly start stroking his head, which feels very strange because this is a human being and not a dog. After a few minutes, I notice that he has fallen asleep and not much later I feel myself lying against him, under his warm blood-soaked fur. I was already covered with blood; it didn't matter anymore.

When I wake up again, Jace sits next to me against the tree, now human and dressed again, staring quietly at the city. The sun shines on his hair which gives it a golden glow.

"Good morning too." I am shocked because I did not realize that he saw me staring at him. I get up and wipe the dirt off me. The forest is so peaceful early in the morning. The birds are slowly waking up and chirping. A squirrel runs from tree to tree over the branches above us. In the distance I see a deer looking up in terror and running away.

"Who was that?" I ask.

'What?'

"The wolf that you let live. Who was that?'

"Oh, that one. That was Isa, my sister. " He answers in the most casual way possible.

"Who were the wolves you killed? Were they also werewolves or regular wolves? "

"Werewolves, packless, or as we like to call them, rogues. They came to this territory; it means the death penalty. Isa came to see if I had everything under control. "

I am bothered by the way he says this. As if it is the most common thing in the world. Yes, werewolves exist, I am one, I just killed two people, I do it all the time. My sister is also one by the way.

"Where are your parents Kaya?" He asks out of the blue. I am shocked by the question. This is not the perfect question to start a nice conversation.

"Away and dead" I answer briefly. It is not a lie. Mom is gone, and nobody knows where my dad is.

"I thought so" he answers thoughtfully. What kind of a s**t answer is that I think to myself.

"And you didn't know anything about the existence of werewolves?"

"Werewolves belong in fairy tales and movies, not here in New York."

"And yet we here we are." He says, chuckling. What am I supposed to do with this? Werewolves. Murderous creatures. Wolves live in packs, so there must be more. And now there's one next to me as if it's the most natural thing in the world.

"Then I'll tell you something nice," he says with a grin on his face. "You have just won the prize for the best liar. I have to say, I almost believed you, but your scent betrays you. "

"I'm not a werewolf at all, how do you even think that? You must have lost too much blood and now you are starting to hallucinate. Come, let’s get some aspirin and you can lie down, rest for a while. " Without saying anything, Jace takes my hand and cuts with his nail.

"What the ... what are you doing ?!"

"Wait a minute," he says in utter concentration. He also cuts himself and puts his blood on my wound. It starts to sizzle, bubble, and burn. I cry out in pain.

"You see," he says with pride on his face. As if he has just made a huge breakthrough. "Alpha blood. Heals every wound. Look ”.

To my great surprise, the wound is closed and there is no scar to be seen.

"Only that bubbling is weird, I've never seen that."

"Okay, now it's enough! What do you want from me and what is all this? "

"I'll explain it in baby language so that even you can understand okay"

"What are you trying to say," I say, crossing my arms.

“Nothing. But I'll tell you what I know. We werewolves live in packs just like normal wolves. Each pack has an Alpha, Luna, and Beta. The Alpha is the boss. Everyone must listen to and respect him. The Luna is the ‘soulmate’ of the Alpha. The Beta is Alpha's best friend and advisor. Every wolf has a soulmate who has been chosen by the moon goddess in advance before we are even born. You can find your mate from the age of 20, your wolf will immediately start screaming in your head and that makes it pretty clear. I won’t go into detail about the mating ritual, the women can do that. "

"Wait, your wolf is in your head," I ask in surprise. I try to remember all this information as well as possible, it sounds important.

"Yes, every werewolf is born with a wolf in him, this usually comes in contact with you around the age of 10. The more powerful the wolf, the later he introduces himself to you. I was about 17 when I had my first contact with mine. Your wolf will, therefore, be extremely strong since you are already 20 "

"Almost" I add.

"Since you are almost 20. Your wolf is in your head and can talk to you. If you are in wolf form you can do this in two ways. The first is that you as a person are completely in control. A guest in the wolf's body. The second only occurs if you are very angry or in a dangerous situation. Your wolf then takes full control of the body. You can't do anything. Only watch the damage the wolf makes. It usually takes a day or two before your wolf is calm again and you can shift back again. If you have a mate that’s nice because usually, you will be able to shift back in a couple of hours. "

"Have you found your mate yet?"

“No, not yet. But wherever she is, I hope she will come soon. I have waited long enough for her." His voice is filled with sorrow. 

"I hope so for you," I say sympathetically. 

The conversation is interrupted by the sound of my phone. It's Caleb.