Chapter7
1170 Words
Madeline’s POV
Hunter stared at me like I had just shattered everything he believed.
“You lied to me.” His voice was dangerously low.
I forced myself to sit up despite how weak my body was.
“I didn’t lie,” I said hoarsely, barely able to hear myself.
His eyes darkened with anger and disgust.
“You told me you were human.”
“No,” I replied quietly. “You assumed I was.”
That seemed to anger him even more and his grip tightened around the sword in his hand.
I flinched slightly as I noticed that action.
“Do you know what happens to werewolves when hunters find them?” he asked and my heart sank.
“Yes.” I breathe out.
The answer was obvious. Death.
It was always death.
A bitter laugh escaped my lips as I tried to cover my naked body with my hands.
Shifting was one of the most powerful and vulnerable moments of a wolf and here I was asked on the cold forest floor awaiting judgment from a werewolf hunter. In my past life, I would have ripped Hunter's throat out. He stood no chance against me.
Maybe this was a way of the moon goddess punishing me for all the things I did in my past life.
“So this is how it ends…” I murmured.
Hunter frowned.
“What are you talking about?”
I looked down at the ground.
“This was supposed to be my second chance.” My voice trembled slightly.
Different emotions washed over me.
“I didn’t even know I was a werewolf, not until now. I swear I have never transformed before. I woke up a few weeks ago with no memory of my past, the fact that two people I trusted more than anything killed me or, should I say, tried to kill me, and I need to get revenge,” I said quietly.
Silence stretched between us for a while. Hunter looked at me like he was studying me.
After a while, he raised his sword and the blade reflected the pale moonlight.
My chest tightened as the realization that I was going to die hit me.
I wanted to fight but I was too weak. The man in front of me was taller than me, bigger than me and very much faster than me.
I was too weak.
I slowly lowered my head and thought about Ezekiel , Joselyn and the fact that I might never be able to get my revenge.
I had sworn revenge.
But I had failed before I even began.
Tears burned behind my eyes. “Please,” I whispered.
I hated begging, but I wasn’t ready to die again. “I didn’t lie to you. I didn’t even know what I was. ”
Hunter didn’t respond, his sword remained raised.
Feeling defeated, I closed my eyes and waited for my end.
Then… a loud whistle pierced through the forest.
Hunter’s head snapped toward the sound and another whistle followed.
It was his fellow hunters.
My blood ran cold. If they found me…
Death would be the kindest fate, the thought of that made me shiver.
“Just do it,” I said quietly.
Hunter looked back at me like I had said something outrageous.
“Kill me now and get it over with.”
His eyes narrowed.
“You would rather die?” he asked.
“Yes.” I replied with a firm tone, hiding my fears away.
“Because if your people see me… they won’t just kill me and you know it.”
With the hatred most werewolf hunters had for werewolves, it was not a secret as to how they treat the wolves they capture.
If I was to be captured by them, they would torture me, experiment on me and worse, sexually assault me.
The stories about most werewolf hunters were horrifying.
Hunter remained silent for a moment.
Then suddenly, he lowered his sword.
“Run.”
My eyes flew open, as I feared my ears were playing tricks on me because of how scared I was.
“What?”
“I said run,” he repeated sharply.
Another whistle echoed closer as my brain struggled to process his words.
“You are… letting me go?”
“Do you want me to change my mind?” he asked, looking irritated.
Those words snapped me out of my shock.
I scrambled to my feet despite my trembling legs and, without another word, I turned and ran.
I ran as fast as I could through the forest.
Although branches whipped past my face and my body ached from the shift, I did not stop and I did not dare look back.
But even though he had let me go I could not help but wonder why he did it.
The question echoed in my mind again and again. I could not find a reason for him to have spared my life.
It didn’t make sense.
A werewolf hunter sparing a wolf? That was unheard of.
Eventually my strength began to fade.
The forest started spinning around me.
Then I ran straight into someone.
Strong arms caught me before I fell and a familiar scent engulfed my nose. At first I thought it was Hunter.
“Madeline?!” a voice whispered.
A very familiar voice. My eyes snapped open to see him. It was Lucas.
Relief flooded my chest.
“You… found me…” I whispered weakly, exhausted from running tirelessly.
Suddenly everything went dark.
When I woke up again, the smell of herbs filled my nose.
I opened my eyes slowly, noticing the white walls and the white bedding, and immediately recognized I was back at the pack and in the hospital.
Lucas sat beside the bed, watching me closely. The moment he saw my eyes open, relief flooded his face.
“Madeline,” he breathed. “You are safe.”
Safe. For the first time in days, my body finally relaxed.
“What happened?” he asked gently.
I swallowed before answering.
“I went for a walk,” I said slowly. “But the Adorni hunters captured me.”
Lucas’s expression darkened instantly.
“But one of them… he was strange,” I continued.
Lucas frowned, waiting for me to explain further.
“He called himself Hunter,” saying his name out loud felt strange on my tongue.
“He kept me prisoner… but I escaped.”
Lucas leaned forward slightly.
“And he let you go?” he asked.
I nodded slowly.
But deep inside, one thought kept repeating in my mind.
Why? Why would a werewolf hunter spare my life?
“I promise you Madeline no one is going to hurt you anymore.” Lucas reassured me but something told me that Hunter had not let me go out of kindness.
There was something else behind his decision and I had a terrible feeling that sooner or later…
Hunter and I would meet again.
- Writer
