Two Sides of The Moon (Book 2)

I watch with teary eyes as my claws retract and blo*d starts sipping from my Mate’s chest. The look in her eyes is k*lling me. She parts her lips slowly and smiles while placing her right hand on my cheek. “Thank you, Mate!” My hands are now shaking as my heart breaks into millions of pieces. I was supposed to save her, not to k*ll her. “Ellaire!!” I close my eyes and wipe my forehead, which is covered in sweat, before opening them again. I look around me, searching for any sign of her. But as always, she is not here. It’s been around five years since I left the Imperial Pack, leaving behind my home, my family, but not the memories. My twin, Rhys and his Mate, Freya, are taking good care of the Pack members; words travel fast in these woods. I also heard that my nieces had their first shift two years ago. I wish I could have been there to see their tiny Lycan faces. But I can’t. Since I chose this rogue life, things have changed; Shade has changed, and so have I. We looked for the one person that seemed to have the same scent as Ellaire, but we never found her; the closer we got, the further she went. It’s like I’m chasing ghosts. So, I am now, miles away from home, living in the shadows and hunting rogues. This is all I’ve been doing in the last couple of years. I feel that this is the only way to apologise or not forget her, my Ellaire. Apart from the usual nightmares, this is the only time she appears in my head. Even if she was in pain, her smile was the most beautiful I had ever seen. I slowly lift my right hand and pull a black arrow from the holder, then place it next to the bow and wait. The two rogues I chased for the last twelve hours finally noticed my presence. “The Black Hunter!! He’s here!!” One of the rogues yell, shifting and running. They gave me this name three years ago after I k*lled a whole Pack. The same Pack that helped Samuel, or what was left of it. I let some of them escape among women and children as I thought it would be enough to quench my thirst for revenge. But I was so wrong. The news went from rogue to rogue and from Pack to Pack. No one knows who I truly am. And I want things to stay this way. All they know is that I am a rogue hunter, an assassin. The ones that find out the truth will never get the chance to spread the word. I let the arrow fly, and in the next second, the air filled with screams. The rogue fell to the ground and shifted involuntarily, holding his throat. It seems that I have pricked the carotid. “Nice!” I shout and bump the air with my fist like saying ‘good job’! The second rogue smirks at me and then shifts as well. But unlike his friend, he gets in a fighting position and growls, pacing in circles in front of me. “Really? Do you truly want to do this?” I ask and lean over the tree that I used to hide before. The rogue runs towards me, clamping in the air while slobber is dripping abundantly from its mouth. I carefully place my holder and the bow on the ground, keeping only one arrow, and wait for the rogue to come closer. When he is close enough, I break the arrow in two and lean forwards, placing one leg slightly behind. Exactly how I predicted, the rogue aims straight away for my throat. I lean to a side and push my legs on the ground, jumping high enough so I can st*b him in the soft of his head. The rogue lets out a short, weak whine before slumping onto the ground, and I watch him for a second to ensure he is done. “Such a moron!” I say and pick up my bow and arrows. I place the other half in the holder and walk away, searching for my next target. There is something about these rogues. As Beta Jack once said, they seem to be controlled somehow. What I want to find out is why and who is doing this. As I walk carefree, knowing there aren’t any rogues in a few miles radius, I am brought back to reality by the same scent that brought me here. ‘She’s here!’ I thought, and I felt Shade taking off the walls for the first time in months, growling softly. ‘Oh! So you are still here?’ I asked, annoyed by my wolf’s antiques. All I receive in return is an even more annoying growl. ‘You should know by now that this does not affect me, Shade! And try to come back to your senses for once!! I shout through the mind link, thinking about the few times he tried to take complete control, blaming me for our Mate’s death. He was right; it was my fault; there was nothing I could do now. A knife flew near my head and stuck in the nearest tree. With the blaming problem, the bond with my wolf is hanging on by a thin thread, making my senses only a bit better than a human’s. But I was still agile. I looked in the direction from where it came from and exactly how I was expecting; no one was there. I start walking again, keeping my eyes wide open, ready for anything. After a couple more moments, I got sick of this continuous hide-and-seek game and stopped in a place, closing my eyes and waiting for my stalker's next move. I focused on the sounds around me, pushing them all away with my bow ready. Then I heard it. Another knife was heading towards my head. I pull an arrow quickly and let it fly in the same direction the sound came from, with my eyes closed. Then I promptly remove another one and do the same. The sound of the clanking metals told me that my first arrow successfully blocked the knife while my second arrow was still flying. A hiss made me open my eyes. ‘I think I got her!’ I shout in my excited head and run in that exact direction. I stopped in my tracks and noticed bl*od on the leaves covering the forest floor—the same dark bl*od whose smell messes with my senses. Kneeling and sticking my fingers in it, I made a weird sound as pain surged through my shoulder. I knew I had a knife stuck in it, so when I looked back, that didn't surprise me. But what surprised me was her, the one watching me with satisfaction in her eyes. “Who are you?”