Chapter 8. Fucking Hunters
Will something bad happen tonight? Dark clouds shroud the full moon and the sliver of light in the night disappears. I can't shake the feeling away it's like-
"Eva!" Raven calls to me.
She stands by the door in a blue suit with her hair weaved in vibrant flowers to make a single braid. She throws me a toothy smile before walking to me, her arms wrap around my waist from behind and her chin rests on my shoulder. Our faces reflected in front of my bedroom's mirror.
Raven puts down the lipstick I held and whispers in my ear, "Are you ready for our party, birthday girl."
"Yeah," but why do I feel like I'm missing something? Or someone? My wolf scratches at the back of my mind, trying to tell me something but I'm still not able to understand her, since that day...
"Are you sure you're ready? You look pale?" She says, the reflection reveal the worry and frustration written on her face.
I stand up from the dresser, feeling sick in the pit of my stomach, I try to ignore the feeling. "I'm fine, it's just your imagination." I try to play it off.
Raven does not seem convinced as she picks up the tail of my dress that drags across the floor. But she doesn't question me any further, ending it with an, "Alright." she holds me back in her arms, guiding us down to the party.
I shouldn't have ignored my feelings.
Less than twenty minutes Into the party there is nothing but chaos. First, the lights were cut off, then a gun was shot. The noise was deafening that some of the sensitive wolves howled in pain. When the lights came on, someone screamed,
"My baby!"
A masked Hunter hidden in a dark cloak stands on the railing of the grand stairs, a blade up to a child's neck. Nobody moved or said anything, the Hunter was in control.
"What do you want." The Alpha came closer to the Hunter but not too close as the Hunter's grips around the child became tighter. The tip of the blade touched the boy's skin.
"I want the Oracle." They said.
An oracle? Why does a Hunter need an oracle?
"We have no Oracle, so put the-"
"Liar!" The Hunter screams. "You took the Oracle after trespassing into Gangwood. Tell me where she is, or suffer the consequences." Their knife digs into the child's flesh causing a red line to appear and a whimper from him.
The crowd growled in response and Alpha Jack spared no time to attack. Pack members hidden in the crowd had sneaked behind the Hunter, but they were not perturbed by the situation. They pushed the kid into the crowd before backflipping onto the face of a random pack member before jumping back into the air. Taking out their gun again and pulling the trigger in one smooth movement.
"Nooo!" This time the scream is from Luna and Raven.
The Hunter's aim was on the Alpha, who had no room in the crowd to dodge the bullet. The Alpha staggered for a moment as the bullet hit his chest until he dropped on one knee, then fell on his back. His hands over his chest with his face distorted in pain. He says breathlessly, "Wolfbane," before passing out from the poison.
For a moment almost nobody gave attention to the Hunter, who moved to higher ground. The Luna held onto her husband, screaming for the pack doctor to come. Raven shook her father, telling him to wake up and that he can't die now. The pack rushed around to get the pack doctor and make space for their Alpha and Luna.
Meanwhile, our Gamma and pack warriors chase after the Hunter, who seem to be beating them with leisure. None of their attacks seem to land with our enemy having supernatural speed. This can't be Judith's hunter, can it? This hunter didn't smell like a human and their ability is not human either.
I had doubts, until the final disaster crashed the party. Human hunters burst through the windows.
Now, everyone is fighting. Through the crowd, Judith stands untouched in the middle of the chaos. I can't hear him over the growls and war cries, but I can see the words shaped by his mouth.
"Thank you," he says.
I shouldn't have showed that card. It was a trap.
"Fucking hunters."