The Hunt Begins
1184 Words
They came for me.
The words slammed into my chest harder than any claw.
Outside the cave, horns blared again deep, ancient, cruel. Torchlight flickered across stone walls as shadows moved beyond the hanging roots.
Blood Hunters.
Real.
Not myth.
Not old stories whispered to frighten young wolves.
Kael stood in front of me like a wall of violence.
His body was tense, bare chest streaked with blood and half-healed wounds. Black fire curled around the sword in his grip, illuminating hard muscle, old scars, and eyes that had gone silver-bright with lethal intent.
“They tracked your mark,” he said.
My fingers lifted instinctively to the crescent scar below my collarbone.
The scar I had carried my whole life.
The scar my mother had never explained.
“That’s impossible.”
Kael didn’t look at me.
“Nothing about you is ordinary.”
Before I could snap back
A blade tore through the cave entrance.
Silver.
It sliced through hanging roots and struck the stone wall beside me.
Sparks flew.
A low hiss left Kael.
Silver hurt wolves.
Even royal wolves.
Then voices echoed outside.
“Bring out the Vaelor girl.”
My blood turned cold.
They knew my name.
No.
Worse.
They knew my bloodline.
Kael’s jaw hardened.
“They should not know this.”
The leader spoke again.
Deep. Controlled.
Merciless.
“Surrender her, Alpha King, and your pack lives.”
I moved before I thought.
Stepping beside Kael.
Not behind him.
His eyes flashed with irritation.
“Get back.”
“No.”
The word came sharper than expected.
“I am tired of hiding behind stronger people.”
His expression darkened.
Protective. Furious.
Possessive.
And strangely… proud.
Outside, boots crunched over stone.
Kael lowered his voice.
“There are too many.”
“How many?”
“At least thirty.”
My pulse kicked hard.
Thirty trained hunters armed with silver.
Wonderful.
I looked around the cave.
One narrow entrance.
No visible escape.
Then I noticed cold wind brushing my neck.
From behind.
A crack in the rear wall.
Thin.
Jagged.
Barely large enough for a person.
Kael followed my gaze.
“No.”
I stared at him.
“There’s another exit.”
“You’re leaving.”
“I’m what?”
His voice dropped into a growl.
“They want you. If they capture you, the Gate, the prophecy, and your bloodline are lost.”
“So your plan is to throw me into the dark mountains alone?”
“My plan,” he snapped, “is to keep you breathing.”
That stupid ache twisted in my chest again.
Because I knew he meant it.
Outside, a heavy ram struck the cave entrance.
Stone cracked.
Another hit.
Dust rained from above.
No time.
Kael stepped closer.
Towering.
Fierce.
His silver eyes locked onto mine.
“You go through the rear passage.”
“And you?”
“I hold them.”
My stomach dropped.
Against thirty?
Even he might not survive.
“No.”
His hand wrapped around my wrist.
Warm.
Iron-hard.
Possessive.
“You listen to me, little wolf.”
The title should have annoyed me.
Instead heat stirred low in my chest.
His thumb brushed my pulse.
“I have protected kingdoms.”
His voice roughened.
“I have fought wars.”
His gaze dropped briefly to my crescent mark.
“But right now, I protect you.”
Emotion hit me so unexpectedly it hurt.
No one had said that to me before.
Not without wanting something in return.
I forced steel into my voice.
“I won’t run while you die.”
His jaw flexed.
Then
The cave wall exploded inward.
Stone shattered.
Men poured in.
Black armor.
Silver-edged spears.
Masks carved like snarling wolves.
Blood Hunters.
Kael moved.
Violence incarnate.
Black fire erupted from his blade.
The first hunter screamed as flames tore through armor.
The second lost his head.
The third drove silver toward Kael’s ribs.
Kael twisted, but the blade still cut.
He hissed.
I saw it.
Pain.
Real pain.
No time to think.
A hunter lunged for me.
I ducked.
Grabbed his wrist.
Twisted hard.
Bone cracked.
He cursed.
I ripped the silver dagger free and drove it into his thigh.
He collapsed.
Another rushed me.
Too fast.
He slammed me into stone.
Air burst from my lungs.
His gauntleted hand locked around my throat.
“Alive,” he snarled. “Take her alive.”
His grip tightened.
Black spots danced across my vision.
Panic.
Rage.
Something ancient stirred inside me.
Moonfire.
Silver light exploded from my palms.
Wild.
Blazing.
The hunter screamed.
His armor melted.
His body collapsed into ash.
Silence.
Even the Blood Hunters froze.
Their leader stepped into the cave.
Tall.
Broad.
Cloaked in crimson-black leather.
A silver mask covered half his face.
Cold gray eyes studied me.
Recognition.
Hunger.
Victory.
“Well,” he said softly. “At last.”
Kael growled.
A sound deep enough to shake stone.
The leader smiled.
“Still possessive, Alpha King.”
My pulse jumped.
They knew each other.
Kael’s voice turned deadly quiet.
“Lucien.”
The name hit like a blade.
The hunter leader tilted his head.
“Still alive. Disappointing, I know.”
Kael moved slightly in front of me.
Shielding me.
Lucien’s eyes dropped to my mark.
Then widened.
Reverent.
Terrifying.
“The Blood-Born Daughter.”
My breath caught.
What?
He removed one glove.
His hand bore a matching crescent scar.
Burned into flesh.
My stomach twisted.
No.
Impossible.
He saw my reaction.
Smiled.
“You truly know nothing.”
Kael’s sword flared black.
“Say another word and I’ll cut your throat.”
Lucien ignored him.
His gaze never left me.
“Your mother ran before the ritual was completed.”
My blood froze.
My mother.
“You lie.”
“Do I?”
He took one step forward.
Hunters lifted weapons.
Kael bared his teeth.
Lucien’s voice lowered.
“Your mark was never royal.”
Each word felt wrong.
Like the world cracking open.
“It was a seal.”
My breath stopped.
“A seal for what?”
Lucien answered softly.
“For what lives inside you.”
The cave trembled.
Deep beneath the mountain
Something roared.
Ancient.
Massive.
Awake.
The Black Gate.
Kael swore under his breath.
Lucien’s smile widened.
“Too late.”
The ground split.
A jagged fissure tore across the cave floor.
Heat surged upward.
Dark smoke poured through stone.
Screams erupted outside.
Hunters stumbled.
Wolves howled in the distance.
Then claws emerged from the crack.
Huge.
Bone-black.
Followed by glowing blue eyes.
Shades.
Dozens.
No
Hundreds.
Kael grabbed my waist and yanked me hard against him as the floor gave way beneath us.
My scream tore free.
Stone collapsed.
Fire erupted below.
Lucien shouted orders.
Hunters scattered.
Too late.
The earth shattered.
Kael wrapped his body around mine.
Protective.
Terrifying.
Possessive.
Then we fell.
Down.
Into darkness.
Into heat.
Into the hidden depths beneath the mountain.
Straight toward the Black Gate.
And just before impact
Something moved in the abyss below us.
Something enormous.
And it opened its eyes.
- Writer
