Chasing Melody

Dear Journal,

Well, shit! Nothing ever goes as planned, does it?

Not feeling so badass,

Melody Hunter

“Angel?” His voice is carried by the breeze and even though I have not spoken to him since the party I recognize it as if we have spoken to each other every day since then.

My eyes dart to Chase and his darken gaze stays on the man behind me.

The rumble in his chest hits me and if the other wolves hear it they will know that Chase is on my side.

“Get up you mutt!” I hiss at Chase begging for the love of God that he does as I ask.

It is as if a switch flicked in Chase’s head and his eyes fall onto me. My jaw clenches and I give him the most menacing glare that I can muster.

Chase rises to his feet and with my gun, I gesture for him to move around me and stand on behind me. He follows my direction and now we are both face to face with Luke and some other werewolves.

Luke stands before us in all his shirtless glory and his sweat-soaked hair clings to his forehead. There is an impressionable smile on his lips as he takes me all in. He gives his friends a nod and they do not seem to be too welcoming.

“Angel,” his eyes beam at me as he returns his gaze to me, “what are you doing here?” He still does not know my name, good let's keep it that way.

“Duke,” I breathe out and the man next to Luke bites his lip trying to stop his laugh but loses it when his light brown eyes fall on me.

“She doesn’t even know your name,” he burst out laughing and smacks Luke on his back, “I like her.”

“Tell the pack to back off,” he hisses at the man before him.

“Alright pups Wanderer knows them so head back,” he yells and then the man runs into the trees vanishing behind the bushes.

“That was a stupid move,” I stare at Luke now that we are alone or at least I think we are.

“Why? What is a little girl like you going to do to me,” he wiggles his eyebrows and then his white glimmering teeth shine at me, “bite me? I don’t think I’ll mind that one bit. Plus, who says that I wouldn't like it?” Chase takes a step forward and my arms straighten up and aim at him once again.

“I don’t bite,” I smirk at Luke, “but I do shoot ask this one if you don’t believe me.” Luke looks over at Chase.

“Dude, I thought you were the badass of the Moonless Pack and you are beaten down by a human girl,” he shakes his head. Luke seems to have already assessed the situation and from the looks of it, he likes what he sees.

“She’s not just any human,” Chase breathes in through his teeth, “she’s a werewolf hunter.”

To say that Luke is surprised would be an understatement he is flabbergasted, “Angel here is a Huntress?” He is talking to Chase as if I were not standing before them.

“She took down two other wolves before taking me as her prisoner.” Luke’s eyes take me in from head to toe and he seems to start believing the bogus story. “She infiltrated our pack and wanted to go after Alpha Hunter herself but it seems that you and your pack beat her to it.”

How would a badass wolf hunter react to her prisoner spilling his guts to a stranger?

Most likely aggressively.

My hand whips back and slams across his head with the butt of the gun connecting with his head, hard. Chase drops to the side and his hand grips his head, “what the fuck?” He hisses and then his angry eyes lock my gaze from the ground.

“Keep it up and you’ll be digging another bullet out of your leg,” I hiss at him.

“Oh shit,” Luke breathes out, “you are a wolf hunter.” His eyes narrow and then darken, “Should I be worried?”

Hell yeah!

“No,” I smile at him, “I was working for a man under the alias Shadow Hunter.” Please tell me that this alias sounds believable, “I worked for him because he was going to have one of the strongest alphas out there under his control. But since you beat me and him to her I wanted to work for your head wolf. My talent might come to great use to him.”

“You, you want to work for Floyd!” Luke scratches his head as he thinks about it.

“Mayweather?” The American boxer comes into my mind and I do not want to work with him. Does he know about our kind?

“Who? The boxer,” he scoffs, “no the head wolf in this rogue group that you just walked into.”

“Oh, can I meet him?” Luke mulls it over and then shrugs. He is sure that one person cannot do much damage to his pack.

“He owes me so I might be able to get you in but what about pup over here,” Luke and I turn to look at Chase that is still on the ground rubbing his head.

“He goes where I go,” I state matter of factly.

“Well it’s your twos funerals if it all goes downhill,” he nods to me to fall him but I put a finger up.

“Give me a minute,” I gesture for Chase to keep a lookout with my eyes and then head to the car. I position myself so that I can spy on them from the side of my eyes and the gun never leaves my hands. Grabbing the bag I open it up and throw in the bottles and zip it up nice and tight. Throwing the strap over my head the duffle bag rests on my hip.

“What’s in the bag?” Luke asks as we make our way to him.

“That’s on a need to know basis,” Luke shrugs and he leads us through the trees and before I know it the trees start thinning and small house appear. It seems like a couple could live in them, not a family.

“This is were banished and rogues wolves tend to come and have a place to sleep and if Floyd accepts them they become part of his rogue pack,” Luke states calmly.

“So you’re part of his pack?” My hand tightens on my gun. My hands are sore from holding it for so long but I have to keep the act.

“Not exactly, he needs me for some things so I’m here on business at the moment─private business.”

Men and women make their way out of their small homes and stare at us wearily. They feel threatened by our presence.

“Wait here,” Luke stops and I listen to him. “James call Floyd we have some visitors that want to meet with him.” A young male nods and runs in the direction that we were heading towards.

“Why didn’t he just mind link him?” I ask when Chase catches my eye and rolls his eyes.

“Because they can’t,” Chase hisses out, “they’re not a pack. Rogues are never going to be able to mind link each other.”

“That’s why a rogue is closer than a normal pack. They know they can count on each other even if they can’t mentally talk to each other they know that they have each other’s backs.”

Chase’s chest heaves and his unfaltering dark eyes stare down at Luke, “you were never part of Melany’s pack.” My mother’s name coming out of his lips makes my knees weak.

I’m here for her.

“Luke, you say we have visitors,” the man’s voice is very deep it makes him seem older than he appears. His light skin seems paler since the sunlight hits him from where he stands. I can see the laugh line and his dark beard sure makes him look well into his thirties.

“Yes, we have a wolf from the Moonless pack,” his eyes take me in and then slowly make their way towards Chase, “and the female is a wolf hunter.”

The gasp through the crowd that has suddenly gathered surprises me, “You brought a wolf hunter into our territory.” He growls and I know he is not an alpha but his tone would say otherwise.

“She was after the she-wolf as well,” Luke states, “she wants to be part of the group that brought down the infamous she-wolf alpha,” Luke looks at me from the corner of his eye.

“Yes, I even brought one of their fighters down and took him as my prisoner,” the man looks at Chase. Chase refuses to look at the man in front of us.

“You,” Floyd looks at Chase, “you’re part of the moonless pack?”

“Recently joined but yes I am.” He grunts. Floyd seems to accept that bit of information.

“So a human wants to join our pack?” Hell no, but I need to be here.

“Not before I see the alpha myself. I have a boss to report to and if he thinks I’m lying he would surely kill me. All he wants is for the alpha to be dethroned. I need to see her so that I can pass down that information.”

“Okay Wanderer, take her to the place she wishes to see,” Floyd smiles menacingly, my gut twists and I know I cannot trust this man.

“Come on,” Luke leads Chase and I past Floyd and there in the middle of the houses lays a huge black almost circus-like tent. “She’s in there.” My heart hammers away at my chest. “The pup can stay out here with ─”

“No, I want him to see his fallen alpha,” Luke does not fight me he nods and makes his way towards pulling the slit open.

“Careful the wolves that took care of her are still in the healing process, they sure as hell took a beating.” This makes my heart swell with pride. Of course, she would not go down without a fight.

Chase walks in and I follow. There is a huge wooden pole holding the tent up high from the middle. There are no windows except for the gaping hole above that lets a bit of sunlight to seep through. There is absolutely nothing in this dark tent except for a lump on the ground next to the pole.

Making our way I see that it is my mother.

A gasp escapes me and Chase arm snakes around me holding me back his lips to my ear. “Remember they can hear you,” he breathes into my ear.

I nod trying to control my trembling hands. We slowly make our way towards her. Her body is sprawled across the dirt floor. Her beautiful fierce red hair is fanned across her face. Under her hair, I can see the bruises that they inflicted on her. Even though they were healing they stung me as if I were the one taking the hits. Her beautiful eyes closed. Her wrists are chained with blisters filling bubbling where ever they come into contact with her cuffs. Dried blood trickles down her neck and vanishes beneath her clothes.

“Alpha Hunter,” I try to make my voice sound monotone but the bubble of emotions in my throat makes it too hard.

I want to yell at her, tell her, that she is going to be okay. I want to tell her ─ Mom, I’m here. Mom, I’m so sorry. I love you!

My shaking body makes me want to drop to the ground and curl up next to her. Chase pulls me into him. His warmth brings me closer to him. They left my mother chained to the floor like an animal. Left her all alone in this dark lifeless place. I bury my face into Chase’s chest fighting back the sob that threatens to rise out of me.

The rattling of chains and a hiss of pain pulls me out of Chase’s chest and I look at my mother her grey hazed eyes lock on mine.

She seems to be in so much pain and there is nothing that we can do at the moment to stop it.