Chapter Thirteen: The First Hunt
974 Words
The room held its breath.
No one moved.
The hunters watched Kaelen carefully now, their earlier confidence shifting into something more cautious.
Because this wasn’t just an Alpha protecting territory anymore.
This was personal.
And personal made wolves dangerous.
The lead hunter’s eyes flicked between Kaelen and Sierra again, piecing things together too quickly for her comfort.
“The bond is deeper than we thought,” he said quietly.
Kaelen’s claws remained extended.
Sharp.
Unsteady.
“You talk too much.”
The hunter smirked faintly. “And you’re losing control too fast.”
A low growl vibrated through Kaelen’s chest.
Sierra felt it through the bond instantly.
Anger.
Possession.
Violence.
All barely restrained beneath his skin.
Her heart pounded harder.
Not entirely from fear.
That terrified her more than the hunters did.
The lead hunter slowly unsheathed the silver blade from his back.
The metal caught the dim light instantly.
And the moment Sierra saw it—
Pain shot through the bond.
Kaelen stiffened.
His breathing changed.
The reaction was immediate.
Violent.
“Kaelen…” Sierra whispered.
His eyes never left the hunter.
“Get behind me.”
The command came rougher this time.
More wolf than man.
Sierra stepped back instinctively, her pulse racing as the tension in the room thickened.
The hunter tilted his head slightly.
“You know,” he said calmly, “normally we kill first and ask questions later.”
“That was your first mistake,” Kaelen replied.
“And what was the second?”
Kaelen’s eyes darkened fully gold.
“Coming near her.”
Everything exploded at once.
The hunter moved first—
Fast enough to blur.
But Kaelen met him head-on.
The collision shook the apartment.
Furniture crashed aside as Kaelen slammed the hunter into the wall hard enough to c***k it.
The other hunters attacked immediately.
Sierra barely tracked the movement.
Everything became chaos.
Growls.
Shouts.
Silver flashing through the dark.
Kaelen moved like something unleashed, faster and more brutal than before. One hunter swung the blade toward him—
Kaelen caught his wrist mid-strike.
And snapped it.
The c***k echoed through the room.
Sierra gasped.
The hunter screamed.
Kaelen shoved him backward violently, his control slipping further with every second.
The bond pulsed wildly.
Too wildly.
Sierra staggered slightly as heat rushed through her again.
Stronger.
More painful.
Her vision sharpened unnaturally.
She could hear every movement.
Every heartbeat.
Every breath in the room.
It was too much.
“Kaelen—”
Her voice cut through the chaos instantly.
He turned toward her for one fatal second.
That was enough.
The lead hunter lunged.
The silver blade slashed across Kaelen’s side.
Blood hit the floor.
Kaelen snarled violently.
Sierra’s chest exploded with pain through the bond.
Like the injury had touched her too.
The reaction inside her snapped instantly.
Power surged through her body harder than before.
Different this time.
Less accidental.
More instinctive.
The hunter raised the blade again—
And Sierra moved.
Fast.
Too fast.
One second she was across the room.
The next—
She slammed into the hunter hard enough to send him crashing backward into the wall.
Everyone froze.
Including her.
Sierra stared at her own hands, breathing hard.
What… was happening to her?
The hunter looked up slowly, genuine shock crossing his face.
“She moved like a wolf.”
Kaelen’s expression changed instantly.
Not shock.
Recognition.
“Sierra,” he said carefully.
But she barely heard him.
The heat inside her body was getting worse.
Her pulse roared in her ears.
Her fingers trembled—
And this time the claws came further.
Sharp black tips extending visibly from her nails.
Sierra’s breath caught.
“No…”
The hunters stepped back instinctively now.
Not because of Kaelen.
Because of her.
The lead hunter slowly stood again, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth.
And then—
He smiled.
Not normally.
Knowingly.
“Well now,” he murmured.
Kaelen moved in front of Sierra instantly again.
Protective.
Dangerous.
But the hunter’s gaze stayed locked on her.
“She’s not becoming a wolf,” he said quietly.
Silence hit the room.
Sierra frowned.
“What?”
Kaelen’s jaw tightened.
The hunter looked almost fascinated now.
“That’s why the bond reacted abnormally.”
“Enough,” Kaelen growled.
But the hunter ignored him completely.
His eyes remained fixed on Sierra.
“You don’t know what’s inside you yet,” he said softly. “Do you?”
Sierra’s breathing became uneven again.
The heat beneath her skin pulsed harder.
“What is he talking about?” she asked Kaelen.
Kaelen didn’t answer immediately.
That hesitation terrified her.
The hunter laughed quietly.
“He didn’t tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
Another silence.
Then the hunter finally said it.
“You were never fully human.”
The words shattered through her.
“No.”
But even as she denied it—
Something deep inside her reacted.
Like it recognized the truth before her mind did.
Kaelen stepped closer to her slowly.
“Sierra—”
“Don’t,” she whispered.
Her voice shook.
The bond pulsed painfully.
“You knew?”
Kaelen’s silence answered enough.
Hurt flashed through her chest instantly.
Not because he lied.
Because part of her had started trusting him.
The hunter noticed the shift immediately.
And smiled wider.
“That’s the problem with secrets,” he said softly. “They always break at the worst time.”
Kaelen’s control finally snapped.
The growl that tore from him sounded fully inhuman now.
The windows shook.
The hunters immediately tensed again.
But Sierra—
Could only stare at him.
At the claws.
The glowing eyes.
The blood running down his side.
And the truth she no longer knew how to escape.
Because somewhere deep inside her—
Something was waking up.
And it wasn’t human at all.
- Writer
