Heart of the Auburn Wolf

The Hunter

POV: Nicholas

I like to start my day by drinking coffee at the Sunrise Café. Not only is their coffee delicious, but so is their waitress. Her shoulder length rust-colored hair waving through the air while she moves around taking orders only serves to bring out those green eyes of hers which attracted me the moment I saw her. Sometimes I consider skipping my job and just sit there to admire her tiny and fragile frame. However, my dad would kill me for missing out on the job, especially now when we heard a rumor about the yearly Alpha reunion being hosted by the local pack. The rumor actually came from a captured rogue werewolf who didn't know the details concerning the exact time when the meeting would take place, but he knew for sure it would be hosted by the Raven Moon Pack. My dad sent me out here to scout the area and keep an eye out for outsiders. During the Alpha reunion, the ten Alphas in the country gather in the same place to talk politics, territories and money, with a strict "no fighting" rule. It would be a great opportunity for us to have them all in the same place and get rid of them all at once. Other Alphas will emerge, of course, but it would mean a great hit for them and bring out a huge advantage to us, hunters.

I personally don't believe a disgusting rogue's words. If I hadn't met Freya, I would have ignored the rumor and called it quits weeks ago, but now I'm just postponing so that I can enjoy these fleeting moments with her. Besides, I think she's starting to fall for me, too. Right now, I was admiring the way her curves looked in those skinny leather black pants, and her colleague definitely noticed me and ratted me out. But my girl only blushed.

As I was thinking about my next step to charm her, three men walked in, chattering. By the looks of them, they must be werewolves. High-ranked ones at that. Only high-ranked werewolves go out the pack in suits, as they must attend meetings concerning their businesses. This is interesting... I don't recognize them to be part of the Raven Moon Pack.

I watch them closely as Freya approaches the three men with the intent to get their orders. They all go quiet before one of them suddenly gets up and grabs Freya's wrist roughly. She's definitely confused as she tries to free herself:

"Dear customer, please let my arm go." She says with her always-so-kind voice.

"Wha-... What are you? Why do you look... so dazzling?" Responds the werewolf and visibly strengthens his hold on Freya's arm.

"Sh*t, it would be really bad for my identity to be revealed" I think as I instinctively reach for the silver knife hidden in my boot and prepare to intervene.

Then the sharp sound of a slap fills the tense air.

"You are no longer welcome in this space. Please leave or I'll call the police." Says Freya to a very confused high-ranked werewolf who actually did not seem remotely affected by her slap, besides the normal reaction of surprise.

"Who are you? What's your name? Tell me NOW." The werewolf insists, still holding on to his grip.

"This absurd demanding behavior… he must be an Alpha. Spoiled SOBs." My hunter senses flare up at the conclusion and my nerves itch to just grab the knife and stab his heart. I don't even want to begin to imagine the reason for his interest in her, though there's only one disgusting motive behind a werewolf's curiosity in a human.

However, I am not the son of the Leader of Hunters Association for nothing. I calmly take out my phone and say as loud as I can, pretending:

"Hello, is this the local police? I'd like to report a man causing a scene and assaulting a female employee at the Sunrise Café. Please come as soon as possible, they seem violent."

Everyone’s attention suddenly shifts on me. Not optimal, but at least the werewolf lets go of her hand in frustration. I know better than anyone that they cannot afford to cause a ruckus in a city, especially if it's not theirs. The one that seems to be the Alpha stares me down for a few seconds and he almost seems like he's about to jump me. Luckily for him, his companions have more than one brain cell and try to calm him down:

"Elijah", says one of them, probably his Beta, "Let's leave for now."

"Elijah… I've heard this name before…" the thought haunts me, but I shake it away and approach Freya, whose face suddenly went pale white. Poor girl, she probably got a taste of their aura. The Alpha's companions get up and almost forcefully pull their toddler away.

"I apologize for my friend here. We shall take our leave now." The other werewolf says as he takes a bow, after which they all leave the premises. It disgusts me witnessing their pitiful attempt to act normal.

Lindsey hurries to Freya and hugs her. I also make my way towards her and inspect her arm for wounds or bruises, but I see none. Weird, I could have sworn he was holding it very tight.

"Are you alright, Freya?" asks Lindsey. "Why did you hurry to take their order? You should have just let me, an old lady, do it." Then she grabs her face between her palms: "Oh dear, you're so pale. Let me bring you some water."

I take advantage of her absence and ask:

"Freya, did you know them?"

"No. Never met them." She responds shakily, clearly in distress.

"I think you should take a day off. I'll walk you home."

Freya looked at me instantly with her mesmerizing green eyes and for a second, I thought I could read fear on her face.

"No, no, that won't be necessary, Nicholas. Thank you for offering. I need a minute and I'll be fine."

I nod in agreement, even if I don't truly agree. If what I think is actually going on and that Alpha even remotely believes that Freya is his mate, he's going to be back. Even so, if she had been, he would have been able to tell. I decide to take my leave and secretly stake out the café. After waiting for a while across the street in an alley, I decide to call my father and report:

"Hi, Dad. Something interesting just happened. A high-ranked wolf, probably an Alpha, and two others showed their face in the city."

"Hi, Nick. Ooh, that's indeed interesting. That rumor could be true after all. Hmm... we should definitely continue to investigate this. Just stay out of sight, son, some of them might know your face by now."

"Alright. Oh, another thing, dad, this Alpha's name is Elijah. Do you happen to know anything of him? He sounds familiar."

"Elijah? As in the Lycan King Elijah Chogan of the Lunar Walkers Pack?!" and my father’s voice began trembling. Of excitement. "Oh my... if that's the case, this is serious. I'll call our local nocturnal contacts to be ready in case of a confrontation."

Sigh... I don’t like those fangy pale bastards either, but at least they don’t walk in packs of hundreds. And they're easier to kill.

My father goes on an unstoppable rush of adrenaline: "I'll also gather up our people and be on our way as soon as possible. Do you know how long I've been looking for him? His head will be one hell of a trophy! Just think about it! He may be the youngest Lycan King, at only 24 years old, but he's reached that milestone stepping on corpses." and I can hear him chuckling under his mustache.

Suddenly, I notice Freya leaving the store, after merely three hours of work. I hang up on my father. He wasn't going to stop fantasizing about himself anytime soon anyway.

"Good job convincing her to take the day off, Lindsey." I think to myself while preparing to follow Freya and make sure she gets home safe. I don't know where that is, but it doesn't matter. Her safety is the most important right now.

We go on for about 20 minutes, during which she's walking slowly and with her back slumped. I've never seen her like this and it pains my heart not to be able to just go to her and raise her morals. I think she decides to take a shortcut of some sorts because she makes a right which leads in the woods. But this road leads to nowhere... "What is she doing? I hope she's not doing anything reckless..."

My chaotic thoughts calm down after about 10 minutes of walking when Freya finds a river and sits down next to it. She stares at the running water and carefully chooses a few stones from nearby. Then she goes on to throw them strategically across the river, skipping stones by herself. I was about to convince myself that I could come up with a logical reason for me to be there and join her when two teenage girls appeared from behind the trees on Freya's right side, clearly surprising her:

"Haha, Clare, look at who's here, all by herself."

"Pitiful little Freya, were you skipping stones?" one of the girls said, getting closer and touching Freya's forearm. "Can you even make them bounce once with these flimsy arms?" And both girls laughed, as the girl let go of her arm.

"What is it with people touching Freya today?" The anger I feel makes my fingers sink deeper into the bark of the tree against which I'm hiding.

That Clare girl then went ahead and picked up a random stone. She smiled at Freya and then she threw the stone across the river, bouncing four times. Clare turned around all smug: “Let’s see what you can do.” Highlighting the “you” with contempt.

Without any word, Freya crouched and carefully chose a stone, checking for it to be flat on one side but still round. It was obvious that she did this often, knowing exactly the kind of stone which would bounce the most. Freya then took the proper position, taking a step back with her right foot, and threw it. The stone bounced nine times before sinking into the water. Freya watched it proudly until the end. Just like me.

"What?!" Clare said surprised. "That cannot be! You're just a... aargh" and in a split second, the girl grew claws and fangs. The other girl took the hint and grabbed Freya by her shoulders, in an attempt to hold her still. Clare then lunged at her. Despite trying to avoid her thrust, Freya still ended up getting scratched on the cheek. However, my girl used the close distance to kick Clare in the stomach and push her away, while she bit on the other girl's right hand so hard that she let go.

It was two werewolves against a human. However, the fact that these two female werewolves knew Freya made me halt for a moment and just watch. Freya definitely held her ground pretty well, not only avoiding their attacks but also fighting back sometimes. Even so, her body was reaching its physical limit as she was panting while the other girls were only getting warmed up.

"Maybe it's time for you to finally learn your place!" Clare said, lunging for the 6th time at Freya. This time though, the other girl caught Freya by surprise and tripped her legs, making her fall in the water. Clare used it to her advantage to pin Freya down and used the power of her claws to hold her head underwater.

The girls were laughing like psychos, too busy in their own disillusion to notice that Freya was no longer struggling. At this point, I was jumping from leg to leg, itching to go there and help her.

"F*ck this." Came out like a whisper to myself. I pulled out my emergency revolver with silver bullets from the secret pocket inside my coat as I stepped out from my hiding spot. I was pretty far away, so I sprinted towards them, breaking some branches in the process. Clare was still laughing and staring at Freya, so the other girl was the first to notice me. But it was too late. One of my silver bullets already put a hole in the middle of her forehead, her limp body hitting the ground soon after. Clare noticed her friend and she immediately shifted into an average sized black wolf, typical for the Raven Moon Pack. She was growling at me, which only made me chuckle:

"I've had to deal with much larger wolves, b*tch."

To my surprise, the wolf took a look at her friend and whined for a second before sprinting across the river deeper into the woods. I could potentially follow her but Freya came first. I swiftly pulled her from the water and checked her vitals. They were fine, thankfully, but she was still unconscious. Since I didn't know where she lived, I decided to take her to my house until she woke up and recovered.