His Huntress Mate

The Intruders

Under the intimidation of the man's clutch, Jane yielded as she was too vulnerable to fight against his hands' pressure on her arms which he twisted behind her back. Along with her wince at the unbearable pain, her knees cowardly bent and docked to the floor.

One of Andrew's hands grabbed her backpack off her shoulders and rummaged through its contents. To make sure that there was nothing left, Andrew spilled the bag that even a tiny object plopped on the floor.

Of the objects dispersing on the ground, Andrew picked a personal identification card of hers which he loudly read in front of her who just kneeled with her face down. In her silence, she bit her lips in submission as he revealed who she was.

"Jane Brown, 25 years old, a student of Lincoln College," Jane's friend's shout paused him from further announcing the identity of the suspect he had conquered.

"Jane…."That husky voice of her powerless friend assisted her nothing for he was soon vanquished by a bunch of sturdy bodyguards. They pulled his wrists back and tied them above his butt before sealing his mouth with a pitch-black cloth, disallowing him to make any noise.

"Let my friend go." She wriggled, trying to stand up while imploring in a curt tone that his ears interpreted as an order, not an appeal.

The knot of his palms on hers tightened that a scream for help nearly flew out of her mouth yet her shame covered it for her. Her lips curled, enduring the aches all over her body.

"No one can run away from this place alive after murdering one of us." Andrew spat the venomous threat at the girl. It kindled more fire in her chest instead of disheartening her.

"It is all my fault; my friend had nothing to do with the demise of the werewolves. I killed them with my own hands." She made an honest confession to save her companion; his visage blushed in outrage at her provocation.

"You should not worry for I will kill neither of you. It is my father who owns the right to do so." He yanked her hands so that her torso gave up on him. "Take them to my father."

The bodyguards dragged them to the chamber to receive their chastisement which did not discourage the girl at all. She was aware of the consequence of getting herself involved in the werewolf hunt; it would risk her life.

To her, the room where she was brought to, looked more like a court with the executioners whose expression only asserted savagery, standing in each corner of it. This place contained the cruel people whose glare had stabbed her body and heart since she and her friend were herded into it.

Nevertheless, she showed no regret in her expression upon the murder she committed toward the beast who looted her father's life dozens of years ago. It was even an evil smirk painted on her face when those monsters looked down at her from their seats in the courtroom of the mansion.

"Here, I bring you the culprit behind the death of our people." Andrew, with the harsh push his hands could make, passed the hostages to the authority of his pack.

A disdainful sneer emerged on the face of the old man sitting at the highest seat who seemed to be the most revered person among them. "Is it a girl who dares confront me? Never did I expect that a weak girl could cause two of my people to lose their life."

Jane's lips raised into a mocking smile at his contempt of her power for her status as a girl which they thought of as fragile in her physics. However, none of his utterances could intimidate her despite her situation of being caged in their den with no one willing to give her assistance.

"We should punish these frail creatures by imprisoning them in the dungeon as only in the detention, they would repent their sin," Andrew spoke up; in his heart, he felt sympathy for those two human beings in front of them but as an alpha, he should not show mercy to his enemies.

"I disagree with you, Andrew. They should reap what they sow. The best punishment they deserve is demise." It was his uncle, Colin Douglas, who voiced against Andrew's idea. He turned to Jane with a smirk on his lips which described how loathed he was toward them.

"Uncle, it is the right time to prove to them that we are not the killers as their accusation. I suggest setting them free this time." Aeron, still on his spot, interrupted and argued his uncle's statement

As a kind-hearted person amongst those in the room, Aeron was the only one who blatantly cared for the suffering of the prisoners. Despite his physical ugliness, he possessed a handsome forgiving heart, the reason none of the pack members allowed him to face their rivals.

"What? Are you out of your mind, Aeron?"

His sudden interruption received disagreement from his uncle and the rest of the people in the chamber including his father who soon decided to bring them to prison.

"Take them to the dungeon anda let them stay there until the time of their execution comes."

In response to the sentence, Jane muttered no words as a defense for whatever she did, their fate was clear that they would end up, either being killed or tortured. A friend of hers nudged her elbow in reaction to his fear of being towed to the dark tiny chamber of jail. His gesture and pale bare cheeks signaled how worried he was about what he would encounter down there.

It was through the long dark alley they were going through to get to the prison. And along the journey, Jane's friend kept his torso close to Jane. His heart throbbed in fright passing through the eerie serene corridor which echoed the sounds of their own footwears.

Jane ogled at him and sensed the fear in his eyes. To soothe him, she assured him their safety with her life as a guarantee. She could not blame him for his cowardice as he sneaked here at her persuasion.

"We will surely find a way to escape." She convinced him but no comment she gained as his response until the warden welcomed them at the door of the dungeon with rudeness of their action.

They harshly untied the rope on Jane's and her friend's hands, obeying Aeron's words before taking them here.

"Get in!" A stoic bodyguard pushed Jane into the prison before another man did the same thing to her friend.

The freezing cement floor welcomed their torsos as soon as the hands of the bodyguards let them fall to their bad luck. It was his bad day; if only he did not eat her blandishment, he would never be detained in this dark out-of-nowhere place.

"I'm sorry, Nick for dragging you here." Succeeding in getting up to her buttock and resting on the tiles, Jane muttered an apology to her friend. Her eyes beamed with guilt, her head leaning against the wall in resignation.

Nick took a long sigh while standing up from the cold ground. "You need not say that as now all is too late. We will probably die tomorrow."

"No, I won't let that happen. There must be a way out of here." For that excitement of her belief that they would manage to go out of the prison, Jane jumped to her feet.

Although her conviction would not work out for her friend, Jane did not ignore the worry her friend reflected through his eyes and the tone of his complaints. To rescue him from here, she would willingly do anything.

Two wardens attracted her; through them, she might be able to give her friend access to run out of this dungeon. In silence, her brain wrecked to think of any possible way to accomplish her mission of saving her friend until her smile bloomed with an idea in her mind.

"I have an idea of how to flee from this place but it will only succeed with your help. What you need to do is only to hit the shoulders of one of them, while I will take care of the rest." In whispers, Jane told him her plan; that friend of hers nodded in understanding. "Now, lie on the floor and shut your eyes in the pretense of faint." Without query, Nick did what he was required to. And in a second, Jane practiced her acting skills. "Nick…Nick…please…my friend is fainting." Luna was attempting to steal the bodyguard's attention and those two men, in a hurry out of panic, approached their ward for if something bad occurred to the prisoners, they would get into trouble.

"What's wrong?" One of them checked through the gap of the iron bars.

"My friend is unconscious, I bet he is starving because he has not had his meals since morning. Could you provide him something to eat?" In tears, Jane continued her play.

As she predicted, one of them, without further thought, immediately sprinted through the corridor to find food for Nick while the other man was still lingering by the iron bars of the jail.

Jane with her hand gesture gave her friend, whose eyes were half open, a sign to get ready for her next plan; Jane tapped the back of the man. Once that man turned his face to her, she directed him to the imaginary object ahead of them.

"What's that, Sir, over there? It looks like an insect." As soon as the warden diverted his gaze to the direction her finger pointed to, Nick jumped to his feet and smashed the man's shoulders with all his power. Jane took the key from his pocket after he fell into unconsciousness.

Upon the door unlocking, Jane and Nick barged out and used that opportunity to escape through the long tunnel-like corridor which led to the dark jungle they were not familiar with.

"Where are we?"

They glanced around, collecting their audacity to face any dangers lurking behind the shadow of darkness or the evils they might encounter. The horror of the dark towering trees in their surroundings sent a goose bump down Nick's spine yet he managed to press the anxiety in his heart by closing the distance to Jane. For Jane herself, the atmosphere around her did not unnerve her.

Not far from them, walked a tall figure of a man in a mask; his steps brought him closer and closer to them.