Silver Moon Huntress

Vesper & Emma

Vesper

“My name is Liana. These are my brothers, Asher and Donovan.” She pointed first at the russet wolf, then the brindled.

The two wolves shifted, pulling on shorts that had been tied to their backs. Both men had the same white blond hair, but Asher was shorter and more muscular while Donovan was tall and slender.

“Here Li”, said Asher, handing her a large t-shirt, which she slipped over her head. “We’re going to get our packs.”

Liana nodded, and they jogged off into the trees.

She turned to me and I shivered at the feeling of her strange eyes on me.

“What is your name? I assume you are both Hunters?”

I gulped, trying to collect my thoughts.

“Ummm, yeah, we are. I’m Laurier, this is Marren”, I said, gesturing to my unconscious partner.

She raised an eyebrow.

“And your first names are..? Surely there’s no need for such formalities.”

Her voice was gentle but commanding.

I thought about resisting, but she had just saved our lives.

“I’m Vesper. He’s Josh.”

“Vesper”, she said slowly, as if sounding out the word. “What a lovely name.”

I didn’t know how to respond, so I smoothed Marren’s hair and felt his pulse. It was still weak.

“What was that monster? How did you know what to do? Will Marren be okay? Why are you out here?”

The questions poured out of me.

Liana waited for me to finish before answering calmly, “I don’t know what it’s called, but my brothers and I have been running into it all over the forest. It steals life force from us and uses it to summon some demonic magic that allows it to take solid form. I only knew what to do because the same thing that happened to your partner happened to Donovan a few months ago.”

She paused, and I sighed in relief.

“So that means Marren will recover?”

“Yes”, she replied. “It takes time though. Donovan didn’t regain consciousness for almost two weeks.”

“Two weeks??”, I shrieked. “We can’t be out here for two weeks!”

“I’m afraid you don’t have a choice. Moving him too much could kill him.”

I stared at her. If we didn’t return when we were expected, everyone would worry. Then I remembered our truck and cellphones. When Asher and Donovan got back I would run to the truck and collect our packs.

“You didn’t tell me why you’re out here”, I prompted.

Liana sighed.

“We’re rogues.”

“What?!”, I yelped, jumping to my feet and backing away.

Rogues were widely mistrusted among packs because of their crimes. In order to be cast from a pack, the individual had to commit a serious offense. Very few wolves left their packs voluntarily, since they would be prohibited from all pack territories indefinitely. That meant their only options would be to brave the wilderness or assimilate with humans.

Liana leaned back against a tree and began to tell her story.

“My brothers and I were once part of the Night Runner pack. When I turned sixteen, I mated to the future Night Runner Alpha.”

She closed her eyes, and I could tell she was recalling painful memories. I sat down, but stayed a safe distance away.

Liana continued, “He was handsome and powerful, but I soon learned that beneath the surface, he was cold hearted and cruel. He beat me and did... unspeakable things to me. I didn’t want to tell anyone. I thought I should be able to handle myself. I discovered I was a healer, and used my own gift to heal myself so no one would see the bruises and broken bones, but the night before my Bond Ceremony, Asher came into my room and saw me healing my broken ribs. When I told him what happened, he flew into a rage. He and Donovan confronted my mate together, and it turned into a fight. Our Alpha intervened but did not believe my brothers when they told him what had happened. He ordered me to continue with the Bond Ceremony as planned, but I knew I had to leave. I packed my essentials and snuck out of the pack house that night. It only took a day for Ash and Donovan to catch up with me.”

I stared at her in stunned silence, and she added, “I never would’ve survived without them.”

***

Emma

I fell into a comfortable routine. Wake up, eat breakfast, train, guard duty, sleep, repeat.

A week passed and I found myself more comfortable with Zander. We laughed and joked, and I learned that he was an excellent cook. On quiet evenings, we’d play card games or watch movies. At the pack house, we’d pick books from the vast library and read side by side. Sometimes I thought I felt his eyes on me, but when I looked up he’d be reading intently.

Caleb and I also hung out at the pack house, but Zander would always find an excuse to slip off whenever Caleb appeared.

Caleb served as a messenger between me and my family, giving me updates about Lily and smuggling me cookies from my mother.

Although I still missed my family, I found that I was actually happier at the compound. I was surrounded by my peers. I didn’t feel like I was stuck on the periphery of a group. Here, we were equals. Vesper was right. We did look after each other.

Massey and Zavalza, two older Hunters, discovered my love of cinnamon rolls on my third day at the compound. The next morning when I went downstairs for breakfast, I found a tray of freshly baked cinnamon rolls in the kitchen.

Elsinore, a Hunter in his mid-thirties, was a talented musician who put on mini concerts for us while his partner, Watson, accompanied him on the tambourine. Ollivette and Chambers, two gruff-looking guys, knew everything there was to know about poker and card tricks.

I still hadn’t met most of the night crew because of their odd sleeping and work hours, but Zander assured me they were the funniest guys on the squad.

As the days passed and we still heard nothing from Vesper and Marren, I could see everyone getting more on-edge. On Wednesday, more than a week after they left, Zander announced that he, Elsinore, and Watson would be going on a recon mission to find them. I would be staying behind because of my inexperience, but I had instructions to stick to my schedule and ask Massey if I had any questions.

I woke early the next morning and decided to go for a pre-dawn run. When I returned to the compound, I realized I might as well get an early start on training. I went to the pillars and began striking. To my satisfaction, I was starting to get bells on more than half of my punches.

The autumn sun started to rise, warming my bare arms. I switched to combination attacks, striking and kicking in patterns, enjoying the chiming sound whenever I landed a particularly powerful blow.

I paused to take a swig of water, looking up at the sky as I did so. Based on the sun’s location, I guessed it was about 10 a.m.

I continued to train on the pillars for another hour or so, and only stopped because I was interrupted. As I landed a solid left punch, I heard the bell, mixed with the sound of applause. I looked around to see a handsome man inside the compound, leaning against the fence, watching me.

“Very impressive”, he called. “You must be Emma.”

He walked toward me and our eyes met, blue on green.

I felt a bolt of electricity run through my body, waking up my senses as I focused on the most beautiful man I had ever seen.