Hunted

Betrayal

"Hey, babe, where are you?"

“In the woods. How so?”

"Why are you in the woods?" I hear him chuckle on the other end of the phone.

"It doesn't matter. Do you want to go out tonight? "

 "Uhm ... I think I'll be staying home tonight. Yesterday was quite intense. "

 "Yes, about that, where were you all of a sudden? I've been looking for you until the neighbors came by to say you were with them. "

 "Oh, that was nothing. A bit too much to drink. "

“Oh okay. If you still want to come, we’re going to Vipers. "

 "Good, maybe I'll come for a little while, but I'll text you."

 "Okay, then I'll see you then. Love you.”

 "Bye, Love you too."

I sit down against the tree again and look ahead. Downtown. The streets where I roamed around so much. My little moment of nostalgia is disturbed when I see a girl approaching. Her light brown curls reflect the sunlight beautifully. Confidently, she walks over to Jace and gives him a hard slap in the face.

“Are f*****g insane! Dad is worried about you! You've been gone the entire f*****g night. You could have been dead. " Jace looks doubtfully at the floor, clearly searching for the right words.

"I ... I lost control." He stammers softly as he runs his hand through his hair.

"You did what ?!" The girl shouts.

"Damn it, Isa, you heard me right." Says Jace who is irritated.

"But how is it possible that you are human again? Xavier was not that easy to persuade last time. " Jace looks at me and nods. The girl looks at me and then everything falls into place for her.

"No way! Finally. Congratulations J! " She runs to Jace and hugs him. " We have to tell Dad and Kate."

She takes my hand and drags me into the forest.

"Okay stop!" I shout. They both look shocked. "Who are you and what the f**k do you want from me." My voice may sound a little more angry than intended, but it made my point clear. I had no idea who this person was and why I was suddenly dragged into the forest.

“Oh. I forgot to tell you. I'm Isa, Jace’s sister. But since you are his mate, we become sisters-in-law. How amazing!”

"I am what!"

No, that cannot be true. I'm not even a werewolf, let alone a mate of someone. I can't go with Jace, I have Caleb. Panic strikes me slowly and I feel weak on my legs until I feel Jace's hand on my lower back supporting me. He looks very angry and about to explode. His eyes are no longer blue, but gold. Must be a werewolf thing.

"Isabelle. Home. Now! "A male voice screams so loud that the birds fly away from the trees.

"But dad." Isa stammers against it.

"Now!" The man sounds furious. He slowly walked out of the forest. His eyes are just as blue as Jace's and the same strong jawline. Only this man is about 50 years old.

"Jonathan, where were you, what happened, and what's in front of you?" The man talks like I'm not even here. Jace is still behind me with his arm supporting me. I turn around and decide to go home. This is a family thing that I'm not going to get involved in.

The man grabs my wrist and pulls me towards him. He grabs my head with both hands and stares deep into my eyes. The same eyes as Jace, but these don’t look trustworthy at all. I'm scared to death but can't find the strength to resist. From the corner of my eye, I see that Jace is being restrained by another man. He growls and resists fiercely. Then the man, who is still holding me, takes a small knife and cuts my hand. After that everything becomes black.

JaceI'm shocked when I hear Dad yell.

"Jonathan, where were you, what happened, and what’s in front of you?" He never calls me Jonathan unless something bad happened. I look behind me and see Mike, my father's Beta, come running towards me. He looks expectantly at dad, who has now walked towards Kaya. I feel Xavier getting restless inside.

“Jace, I don't want to be annoying, but Dad doesn't have a mate anymore and one of the most powerful wolves now stands before him. Watch out please.”

"Calm down, if he touches her, I will rip his head off his body. I finally found my mate; he doesn't take her that easily from me. "

Then I feel that Mike, my dad’s beta, grabs my hands and before I could respond he has tied silver wire around my wrists. I can feel the silver burning and I can't move my hands anymore. Mike grabs me while I see Dad grabbing Kaya. His eyes go black and hers too. He takes a knife from his pocket and cuts it into her hand. Xavier is going completely crazy, but the silver doesn’t allow him to come out. Kaya turned into her wolf. But not just any wolf, she is well above 6’5 feet high and white with some light gray markings around her snout and feet. My moment of admiration is interrupted when I see my father come running with a silver whip. Kaya's sweet blue eyes change to blood red. Her light fur becomes pitch black and she grows even bigger. It is clear that her wolf is now in full control. She growls at my father, who respectfully shrugs back towards the car. Satisfied, she turns around and growls at Mike and me. Mike has now let go of me and is now also in his wolf form. Almost a full foot smaller, he doesn't stand a chance, but he doesn't seem to care. To my surprise, I see my father coming back. With a self-assured stride, he walks towards Kaya, pulls a gun and shoots a few times. After a few shots, she falls motionless on the ground. Xavier no longer can handle it. Despite the silver, he breaks free and runs to the lifeless body of Kaya and starts licking her wounds. Dad and Mike both watch without saying a word. After a few minutes, Xavier lays down beside Kaya's huge body, guarding her.

I see dad walking to me but Xavier starts growling. He can’t kill him because he is the Alpha, but if he weren’t he would already be dead. He walks away, towards the car, and returns with a blanket. I see Kaya shifting back to her human form, still unconscious. Xavier tries to lay on top of her to cover her up since she is completely naked. Dad wraps the blanket over her and grabs her. Xavier immediately starts growling. Dad gets the hint and places her on my back. Very careful not to drop her I walk towards our cabin. Dad, Mike, and Isa just go in the car. When I arrive they are not there yet. I feel Xavier relaxing a bit so I take the control back. I lie down on the grass as gentle as possible, careful not to drop her. I just leave her on my back because my fur will keep her warm.

After a couple of minutes, I hear a car arriving and I stand up. Isa is carrying a bag and Mike is holding something black in his hand. Dad walks towards me and I feel Xavier getting angry but right now I want to help Kaya and dad knows what to do, so I let him take Kaya of my back and carry her inside the cabin. Mike throws the black thing, which is just some shorts, towards me and I shift back and put them on. I run inside the house, where everyone is. I see dad and Mike standing in the living room but Kaya and Isa are gone.

“Where is she?” I ask, out of breath.

“She’s fine. Isa is just purring some clothes on her. Just calm down” Mike says.

“Calm down?! Mike, after three years I’ve finally found my mate. Then dad comes along, shoots her,  and now she is unconscious in my bedroom. How can I possibly calm down?”

“I didn’t want to shoot her, but she had lost all control and if she would have run into the city things would have gone horribly wrong,” Dad says. I see Isa coming out of my room. I just look at her, waiting for her to give me any information.

“Yes, you can go see her.” She says with a big smile on her face. I walk towards the room and open the door, knowing that behind this door is my mate, and she is here because of my father. I close the door behind me and lean against it, looking at her. Even though I’ve only known her for a couple of hours now, I already feel very protective of her. The mate bond will only grow from now on, but only from my side. I walk towards the bed and sit next to her. The bleeding has already stopped, perks of being a wolf. I grab her hand but as soon as I touch her I feel this weird feeling radiating from her. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not unpleasant or something, it feels calming. I grab her hand with both of my hands, trying to get as much of this calming feeling as possible. Even when she is unconscious she can still affect me, it’s weird but I have to get used to it. It is just our bond growing stronger every second I’m with her. My friends have told me about it but I always thought they were exaggerating, but now that I have my mate everything they said seems true. Even though she may not be conscious right now, she still might feel that I’m with her. Maybe I give her the same feeling she gives me. I just lay next to her. I only know her name, and that she is almost 20, but still I feel safer here then I’ve felt the last couple of years. I pull her a little closer to me, careful not to put pressure on any of her wounds. And then, I fall asleep.

A couple of hours of the best sleep ever later, dad wakes me up.