She is Lena Cage. The only female hunter of the Shadow Clan, and also a slave to her step-brother. She has a dark past she's not aware of, one that would change her life and her perception of werewolves forever.
And he is Jason Smith, the Alpha of the Black Blood Pack, one of the strongest pack in the whole of New Orleans which is famously known for two things; their monstrous size and the special ability to inflict venomous bites to their enemies. After years of tirelessly searching for his one true mate and Luna, a prophecy arises. His long awaited Luna will be the downfall of the Black Blood Pack, the pack his predecessors fought hard to strengthen. Jason is suddenly faced with two difficult choices after he finds her; to reject her and spare his pack from impending doom or damn the prophecy as well as his pack that sought to end her.
CHAPTER ONE: SWEET DREAMS LOVE
Lena's POV
In the pale moonlight, I ran as fast as my weary legs could take me, without a single clue on where I was heading to or the dangerous creatures that lurked inside the dark forest. The only instructions that clung to my brain was to lure the beast into the forbidden forest and not to lose my worthless life in the process. I haven't been in this part of the forest since I was eleven, female shadow hunters were prohibited from wandering in the forbidden forests at night, especially on a full moon, yet here I am.
Yes, I'm a huntress, the only shadow huntress of the shadow clan and a weak one at that, I'm what the other hunters, including my jerk of a brother call a failure and a disappointment. Well, Jared certainly couldn't be considered as my brother, he was far from it. We had no blood connection as I was informed several times by him, he was just the son of the man who saved me from dying like my real parents, he raised and cared for me like his own daughter. The shadow lord taught me every little thing I know about hunting the supernatural such as: werewolves, vampires, witches, mermaids, sirens and many more unexplainable things. He also could've taught me more if he wasn't dead, murdered brutally while hunting one of deadliest wolf pack in this part of New Orleans. Their Alpha did the honours in killing him, he wanted his death to serve as a stern warning to humans hunting his kind.
Jared on a revenge streak saw to the demise of some members of the pack, including their precious Alpha. I could say I was glad when Jared returned home from war with the Alpha's head, the one they called Ryker. It was quite a shame that Jared didn't finish off the rest of the pack, he absconded after he beheading their Alpha, but nevertheless we got our revenge.
I got my revenge.
I dived deeper into the forest, bumping into trees, rocks and some other things I couldn't see in the dark. I almost halted when I heard a loud frightening growl from behind me. No, I think I heard several growls from behind, I wanted to turn back but I was too scared of a coward to turn back and confirm my suspicions. If there were two wolves chasing me, then I might as well be on the verge of losing my life to them.
'Curse you Jared!' I didn't forget to say inwardly, venting my frustration on the one who sent me on what seemed like a suicide quest.
Jared took over as leader of the shadow hunters when our father died. He didn't hesitate to deem himself fit for the title shadow lord, ruling over the shadow clan with great pride and arrogance. Those who were brave enough to rebel against his violent leadership were never seen or heard of ever again, my best guess was that Jared had silenced them permanently, of course with the help of his lapdog Stanley.
I sprinted into a safer part of the forest, I still could hear several growling from afar. I couldn't help but heave out a sigh of relieve as I hid behind a tree, hoping and beseeching that Jared got to me before the werewolves rip my heart out. Deep down I knew if Jared had his way he would've fed me to the werewolves a very long time ago to save himself the pains of sharing his father's love with me.
Perhaps, this was all his shady plan to get rid of me. My ocean blue eyes widened at the mere thought, then it froze as I heard a stomped over twig crack into pieces, another twig cried out right after the first.
"They're here!" I whispered with utmost certainty, jerking up slowly from my resting position.
"How the hell did they find me," I asked myself stupidly, totally forgetting my racing heartbeat and strawberry and vanilla perfume instantly gave my location away. There was no running for me any longer, my legs couldn't go any further, they weren't trained for that. It was up to me to protect myself from those creatures, it was my all or nothing.
My gloved fingers tightened around my silver dagger that was dipped in wolfsbane. As young hunters, we all were informed that a silver blade straight to a werewolf's heart or chopping off it's head would end the beast permanently, that's what we were told by our trainers. But what do you do when you're faced against not just one but two vicious werewolves.
'You die a shadow hunter,' a loud voice of negativity said from inside of me. It demanded that I quit the struggle for survival, that I lose my life trying to be something or someone I'm not even sure I am. Instead of listening to the sickening voice of negativity, I let myself up with my dagger on my right hand. I wiped the beads of sweats that trickled down my forehead due to my nervousness. With shivering hands, I removed the red crystal pendant on my neck and shoved it into the back pocket of my black ripped jeans.
The pendant meant a lot to me, it's been with me since I was a child, I remembered vividly the Shadow lord telling me never to take it off my neck or lose it to anyone. Acknowledging his words, I needed to safeguard it. After mustering up some courage, I courageously yelled.
"Over here freaks, come and get me!" I signaled them, my voice shaking slightly.
Fear rushed down my spine but I tried not to let it show on my girlish face, although I was certain they could smell my fear, lots of it.
They growled as they bounded forth, endeavoring to intimidate me with their canines and paws.
"Let's dance!" I said with my child-like voice, pointing and rotating my dagger at both of them, my eyes undistracted by their movement. Their paws stamped firmly on the grass as they circled around me, they had eyes black as night itself.
My gaze riveted to the brown wolf that stood like a sentinel, anticipating my next move, pondering on the right time to strike his prey, to strike me. I started backwards not retracting my gaze from them, I'll surely be dead if I do. The biggest and seemingly the strongest started towards me with a predatory calmness, its paws struck terror on the ground and everything underneath it, without a doubt it dominated the mini creatures of the forest. And by the look of confidence it narrowed at me, it perceived me as a weak opponent.
It was wrong.
I stared at them for a moment before registering that I was sandwiched between the two werewolves, both assessing the neigh time to strike.
Unfortunately for me, the neigh time wasn't up to a second. The less biggest jumped on me, pinning me down hard on the forest floor, trying viciously to devour my whole being. I struggled to free myself from its sharp paws. I had accidentally dropped my dagger due to the shock that embraced me as I was being tackled on the forest floor. One stretching of my arm on the bare grassy floor was all I needed to retrieve my silver blade just in time to slit any part of flesh I could find in its hideous body. It whimpered off me to gain more momentum, I too desperately needed the timeout.
The biggest furiously snarled at me---- now rapidly advancing towards my direction. It launched itself at me, its jaws wrapped around my right arm, craving to shred it apart. The excruciating pain of its sharp paws into my shoulder left me paralyzed and almost screaming for help, but I didn't want to give it that satisfaction even though I was I was a bloody mess.
One thing was clear to me, I wasn't going to survive this vicious ordeal. Definitely, I was going to die here, all alone in the forest with no one around to save me. Oh God, if I die who will watch over little Ash, it sucked to feel this way, vulnerable.
"Get the hell away from her!" Yelled someone in the shadows with an angelic voice. His words ignited a spark of hope inside me, hope that I just might see another day, I just might see Ash. Then I saw a silhouette figure of a wolf much more bigger and fiercer than the ones that tried to rip me apart, it darted to my aid like some fearless hero seeking to rescue a damsel in distress.
It's fearsome growl struck a little fear in the hearts of my attackers like it meant something to them; authority. They deserted me and darted towards the anonymous wolf who bravely lunged closer to them, obviously it was ready for a fight, but why would a werewolf risk his life for a huntress. In the shadows I stared at the two on one brawl that shortly ended with the anonymous wolf being the victor.
Weakly, I tried to steal a few glances at the black wolf in the shadows but the excruciating pain that rose inside my head ended that possibility. I clutched the left side of my head as it was spinning in an endless circle, soon enough I fell into a dizzy spell. I moaned and shivered uncontrollably as I felt cold creeping into my bones, doubling my pains ten fold.
I felt a warm hand on my forehead and when I was about to react to his tender touch, his hand was withdrawn from my forehead.
I moaned in pain again. I yearned for his touch, nearly like I was addicted for it.
Shortly his hand was back on my forehead where it was supposed to be, I barely knew him but I felt like our souls were intertwined. He took away my pains and sorrow, his touch was alleviating me in ways I couldn't fathom, he said something to me but it didn't feel like it he was actually speaking. I heard his angelic voice in my head, I felt safe, peaceful for once in my life.
My consciousness might have faded to black but his words lingered in my mind. "Sweet dreams love."
A/N
Hey guys, hope you enjoyed this thrilling chapter. Whew! That was a narrow escape for Lena, who do you think could be the anonymous black wolf that got there just in time. Share your comments,I would love to know what you think.
