Luna's Outcast

Chapter8

Madeline's POV

I never heard from Hunter again. It's been. Weeks since the moment he kept ringing away.

I have slowly begun to practice with my pack members.

Although I haven't felt my wolf ever since that moment, I shifted into the forest. No matter how hard I try to reach out to her I can't.

“Miss me”

I turned around as fear consumed me. He was back.

“Hunter? What are you doing here?”

“I came to see you.”

Before I could talk a loud growl pierced through the forest ground and within a second Lucas stood in front of me in a partial shift.

His shoulders broadened, his veins popping out along his neck with his sharp claws shimmering underneath the moonlight.

He was angry and he was out for blood. I could smell his hunger.

The low rumble in his chest vibrated through the clearing like distant thunder. The aura from him was very sinister.

Across from him, Hunter stood his blade drawn, looking unfazed at the creature standing a few feet away from him ready to rip him apart.

But I noticed his blade was slightly lowered to show he meant no harm, but he was still ready. I could see it from his stance.

I stood between them, not wanting things to escalate more than they already had.

“Lucas, stop.” I whispered, my hand pressing against his chest. His skin was practically burning hot.

His claws flexed, and his eyes glowed brightly filled with malice as he stared at Hunter, his gaze not leaving him.

“He is a hunter, he deserves to die. Move Madeline,” Lucas growled, his voice layered with wolf.

Behind me, Hunter’s voice came quiet and steady.

“If I wanted you dead, you wouldn’t be breathing.”

There was no arrogance in his tone but something about the way he said those words made even my wolf pause. I

Which made chills run down my spine.

Lucas’s snarl deepened, looking more pissed off as if that were possible.

“Enough!” I snapped, turning halfway between them. I was completely tired of the back and forth between the two men.

“No one is attacking anyone.” I yelled, my heart pounded so hard I thought they could hear it.

Lucas’s eyes shifted to me, confusion and hurt flickering through the fury.

“You are protecting him?” he asked, and I could hear the anger, confusion and disappointment in a bad tone.

“I am trying to prevent bloodshed, ”I said, though I wasn’t sure if I was trying to convince him… or myself.

Hunter sheathed his blade slowly, a deliberate movement meant to show he did not want things to escalate as well, but his gaze never left Lucas.

It was like a predator assessing another predator.

Lucas shifted a fraction back toward human form, though his claws remained. A sign he wasn’t done and was ready to attack anytime if Hunter crossed the line.

Silence stretched between the three of us for a while before Hunter spoke again.

“Your transformation was not normal and… it unsettled me. This is why I am back,” he said, eyes flicking to me.

My stomach tightened.

Lucas scoffed. “You expect us to believe you are frightened of a new wolf?”

Hunter ignored him, his gaze fixed on me.

“You are not ordinary, Madeline.” The way he said my name made something in my chest twist.

“I have hunted wolves for years, I have studied different bloodline patterns and strength levels, but what happened to you…” His gaze sharpened. “That wasn’t just a first shift.” he went on.

My pulse quickened as fear almost consumed me.

“You are tied to something powerful,” he said quietly.

Lucas stepped forward again. “That’s enough.”

But I didn’t tell him to stop this time.

Because part of me needed to hear what Hunter's real intentions were.

Hunter’s jaw tightened slightly before he continued. “I have a mission.”

Lucas barked a bitter laugh. “Of course you do.”

“And I need her help to complete it.”

The clearing fell silent again.

“You must be crazy if you….”

“What kind of help?” I interrupted Lucas before he could complete his statement.

Hunter's eyes met mine again.

“I will continue training you. I will teach you more ways of how to fight hunters and how to out think them and how to survive them.”

Lucas’s body went rigid, looking more furious.

“I will help you become strong enough to get your revenge.” My breath caught.

Revenge, those words meant everything to me.

“And in exchange?” I asked carefully, knowing nothing comes for free.

“You assist me,” he replied. “When I need wolf blood samples. When I need access to territories I cannot enter alone. And you travel with me when required.”

Lucas exploded. “Absolutely not.” His wolf pushed forward again, claws lengthening.

“You think we are stupid?” Lucas snarled. “You want samples? For what? To create more weapons? More poison? You must be out of your goddamn mind.”

Hunter’s gaze flicked to him, “If I intended to wipe you out tonight, I wouldn’t be negotiating.”

“ And you would be dead. It seems like you have no idea who the hell you are talking to, little hunter. And what your entire kind stands for.”

“I am just offering to make her stronger.”

My mind spun with this new information, wondering what Hunter's plan really was. First he did not kill me when he had me in his custody, and now he wants me back.

Could this be a trap?

Why would a man trained to kill my kind choose to sharpen my claws? Why would he arm me?

“Why?” I demanded.

For a moment, something flickered in his eyes. Something almost… conflicted.

“You need to survive what’s coming,” he said instead.

“And what's that?” I inquired.

His jaw tightened. I could feel that he was holding something back. My wolf could feel it.

Lucas stepped closer to me, his presence protective and solid. “Madeline, you don’t owe him anything. The pack can train you.”

The pack meant stability and I knew Lucas would do anything to protect me.

He had been my anchor when everything fell apart. His kindness had stitched pieces of me back together.

But Hunter…

Hunter is like a raging fire against dry leaves.

He screams danger.

“I need to speak to him alone,” I said softly.

Lucas stared at me like I had said something outrageous, which might be true.

“Madeline….”

“Please,” I begged.

His gaze flickered between Hunter and then slowly he stepped back. His claws retracted fully this time, though his eyes stayed vigilant as he watched us.

I moved a few paces away with Hunter. Close enough that Lucas could reach me in seconds. Far enough that our words would be ours.

“You let me go…. Why?”

His gaze darkened slightly. When I asked the question.

There was a long pause and his response shook me.

“You didn’t feel like prey,” he said.

The words hit somewhere deep.

My wolf stirred and, for the first time in weeks, I felt her presence again.

“That’s not a reason, what are you hiding?” I whispered.

Silence stretched between us again.

“Adorni is evolving,” he said suddenly.

My breath hitched.

The Adorni?

“They’re working on something,” he continued. “Wolves aren’t being captured randomly.”

My stomach dropped.

“What are they working on?” I asked.

His eyes shuttered slightly.

“I don’t have all the answers yet,” he replied, but it was a lie.

Not fully. But not the full truth either.

“You are holding something back.”

He didn’t deny it.

“You need skills,” he said instead. “Knowledge beyond pack borders. You need to understand how hunters think. How they move. How they adapt”

He stepped a little closer, not threatening. Just intense.

“Revenge requires strategy, Madeline. Not emotion.”

The words sliced cleanly, because he was right.

This recent shift was different… I felt different ever since then.

There had been a shift but why? Why now?

I could still feel Lucas’s loyal gaze like a weight watching me intently.

He would fight for me. Die for me.

But he had never left pack lands, he was a man with a lot of duties.

I exhaled slowly.

“If I agree to let you train me properly. I want no half-truths about combat.”

“You have my word.”

“And I choose when and how I will assist you.”

A faint curve touched his mouth, it was not amusement but approval.

“Agreed.”

“And if I discover you are using those samples to harm innocent wolves…”

“You won’t,” he said quietly.

There was this certainty in his tone that scared me.

I turned back toward Lucas.

“I am doing this,” I said.

His jaw tightened.

“Do you trust him?”

“No, but I need what he knows,” I answered honestly.

“If you are doing this to prove something, you don't have to. I can protect you from anything and anyone.”

“I know that. But I can't keep depending on you,” I replied.

For a long moment, he searched my face before he finally nodded.

“I will respect your choice,” he said, but I could feel it in his tone that something had shifted.

Hunter stepped forward slightly. Not close enough to challenge. Just enough to grab both our attention.

“ So when do we start?” he asked.

And for the first time since my transformation, I had the sharp, sinking feeling that I wasn’t just choosing a partnership…. I was stepping into the center of something I didn’t fully understand.